The Bureau of Land Management has been told to slow down the approval process for drilling projects on 262 million acres of land.

Interior Department officials said BLM can delay oil and gas projects as they rewrite their management plans. The 162 plans are expected to be completed by 2006.

The conservation group Boone and Crockett Club praised the announcement. But other environmental groups said it made no difference because the Bush administration, for the last three years, has sought to speed up drilling on federal lands.

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Interior May Delay Oil and Gas Projects (The Washington Post 8/18)
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