Joint NGO Statement on BLM Methane Rule Circuit Court Victory

A coalition of NGOs issued a statement following a U.S. District Court ruling that granted a preliminary injunction against the delay of the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) methane waste rule. The court found that the BLM failed to follow legal requirements for agency rulemaking, relying on "opinions untethered to evidence" rather than reasoned analysis. The statement highlights that the 2016 rule requires oil and gas companies to reduce methane venting and flaring and perform leak detection and repair on federal public lands. The NGOs argue that allowing methane waste results in significant financial losses for taxpayers, public health risks from toxic pollutants like benzene, and increased climate emissions due to methane's potency as a greenhouse gas.

• A U.S. District Court issued a preliminary injunction to stop Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke from delaying the implementation of the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) methane waste rule for one year.
• The court determined that the BLM did not follow the legal process for rulemaking, specifically failing to consider all necessary comments and basing its decision on evidence-free opinions.
• The 2016 BLM waste rule mandates that companies use affordable technologies for leak detection and repair and limits the practice of flaring and venting methane on public lands.
• Methane waste on federal lands has significant economic and environmental impacts, including an estimated $330 million in wasted gas annually and a projected loss of $800 million in taxpayer royalties over ten years.
• Methane is identified as a potent greenhouse gas, 87 times more powerful than carbon dioxide during its time in the atmosphere, and its release is associated with toxic pollutants such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene.

APA

andi_5ive (2018). Joint NGO Statement on BLM Methane Rule Circuit Court Victory. Clean Air Task Force. https://www.catf.us/2018/02/blm-methane-rule-circuit-court-victory/

Chicago

andi_5ive. Joint NGO Statement on BLM Methane Rule Circuit Court Victory. Clean Air Task Force, 2018. https://www.catf.us/2018/02/blm-methane-rule-circuit-court-victory/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=andi_5ive |title=Joint NGO Statement on BLM Methane Rule Circuit Court Victory |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=23 February 2018 |url=https://www.catf.us/2018/02/blm-methane-rule-circuit-court-victory/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{andi5ive2018joint, author = {andi\_5ive}, title = {{Joint NGO Statement on BLM Methane Rule Circuit Court Victory}}, publisher = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2018}, month = feb, url = {https://www.catf.us/2018/02/blm-methane-rule-circuit-court-victory/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }