The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver has heard the arguments of North Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado and Utah against speeding up any consideration of their challenge to Bureau of Land Management rules governing hydraulic fracturing on federal and tribal land. The four states contend there is no urgency requiring such a move even though the BLM and environmental groups want a speedy resolution to the lawsuit filed last year by the states.
The government wants the appeals court to expedite hearings after a federal judge in Wyoming put the new fracking controls on hold last September. The BLM and the environmentalists appeal the decision of the judge. The fracking control rule was issued nearly one year ago as the BLM tried to claim jurisdiction over hydraulic fracturing on federal and Indian lands. But the judge’s decision puts the rule on hold while the litigation over the rule is pending.
The original lawsuit was filed in Wyoming federal court by the Independent Petroleum Association of America and the Western Energy Alliance. Eventually, Wyoming, North Dakota, Colorado and Utah and the Ute Indian Tribe joining the lawsuit.
