A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction to block the enforcement of a Biden administration rule on natural gas venting and flaring in North Dakota, Montana, Utah, Texas, and Wyoming. The judge stated that the rule posed a significant impingement on states’ sovereign rights and lacked specific details about when waste occurs in the process. The rule, finalized by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in April, aimed to reduce natural gas waste during oil and gas production on federal and Tribal lands. The judge noted that the rule conflicted with existing federal and state laws and added unnecessary federal regulation. The BLM said that the new rule would generate over $50 million in additional natural gas royalty payments annually. The states argued that the rule would cause economic harm due to reduced state revenue from royalties and extraction taxes. Governors and officials from the affected states praised the court’s ruling, calling it a temporary victory for consumers and U.S. energy independence. They expressed concerns about the harmful and unnecessary regulations imposed by the BLM rule and vowed to continue fighting to protect their states’ economies.
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