The Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation in North Dakota hosts more than 1,000 fracking wells and has driven a huge increase in energy production in Indian Country. Photo by Talli Nauman / Native Sun News
Environmental groups are defending a controversial Bureau of Land Management rule that imposes hydraulic fracturing standards on public and Indian lands. The Ute Tribe of Utah, four states and two industry groups secured an injunction that prevents the BLM from implementing the rule. But the environmental groups have joined the Obama administration in taking the case to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, the Associated Press reported. The Ute Tribe and other tribes oppose the rule because they contend the BLM lacks the authority to impose fracking standards on Indian lands. Judge Scott Skavdahl has not ruled on the merits of that claim but he issued the injunction while the lawsuit proceeds. The BLM cited the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 as the basis for imposing fracking standards on public lands. By extension, the Interior Department argues that the Act of March 3, 1909, the Indian Mineral Leasing Act of 1938 and the Indian Mineral Development Act of 1982 require Indian lands to receive the "same protections" as public lands. Get the Story:
Groups appeal suspension of federal oil, gas drilling rules (AP 12/3) Federal Register Notice:
Oil and Gas; Hydraulic Fracturing on Federal and Indian Lands (March 26, 2015)
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