In July of last year, the North Dakota Industrial Commission, the administrative body charged with regulating oil and gas production, responded to media and public pressure by promulgating strict new rules to reduce the amount of gas flared in the state. Under these rules, producers may flare for 90 days without restriction. After the 90-day […]
On April 27, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for writ of certiorari to review a Colorado rancher’s attempt to prevent oil development and related access on his ranch. Petitioner Stull Ranches had requested that the high court review and reverse a 2014 decision of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided […]
Colorado has now joined eight other western states in the ongoing discussion of state assumption of control of federally-managed public lands. This has been a hot button issue among western conservatives since the 1970’s, but the movement has recently gained new momentum with the States of Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Nevada in various stages […]
Developing federal lands in the Northern Denver Julesburg Basin (“DJ Basin”), Colorado, has been a challenge for many operators active in the area because of the presence of the Pawnee National Grasslands (“PNG”), an area that has been largely off-limits to oil and gas development. While development of fee minerals in the DJ Basin has […]
As promised by Secretary Jewell in March, see previous post, BLM is initiating a rulemaking process– Announcement of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR)– to “solicit public comments and suggestions that may be used to update the BLM’s regulations related to royalty rates, annual rental payments, minimum acceptable bids, bonding requirements, and civil penalty assessments for Federal onshore […]
The Wyoming Historical Society published an interesting piece by Wyoming reporter Dustin Bleizeffer on the history of coalbed methane development in Wyoming, “Coalbed Methane: Boom, Bust and Hard Lessons.” The article covers the boom of the early years of 2000’s and the current bust that has left companies bankrupt and the State addressing the abandoned […]
At the end of March 2015, Montana’s U.S. Senator Jon Tester joined the Blackfeet Nation in calling on the federal government to cancel 18 existing federal oil and gas leases located in Northwestern Montana. These leases have been the focus of controversy for several decades, and Senator Tester’s recent letter appears to signal a new […]
On April 7, 2015, EPA proposed a new rule to prohibit the discharge of wastewater pollutants associated with unconventional oil and gas (“UOG”) extraction to publicly owned treatment works (“POTWs”). Given that EPA is not aware that any UOG wastewater is currently being sent to any POTW, the rule is not expected to have much […]
Last week, the United States Senate passed a largely symbolic budget amendment sponsored by Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski (chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee) that “supports” the idea of selling, transferring or trading federally-managed public lands to the states. The idea of western states “taking back” public lands has been around since […]
Mediation typically occurs at some stage of the adversarial process. That process involves parties who are focused on the strengths of their respective positions/cases, and who are committed to convincing a decision maker that the other side should be defeated. The challenge for mediation is that these same parties are suddenly asked to shift gears, […]