Interior Plans To Drop Environmental Reviews Of Energy Development In The West

By

Kurt Repanshek

Published Date

April 10, 2025

The Interior Department is dropping environmental reviews for oil and gas drilling in the West/Rebecca Latson file

Environmental reviews designed to protect landscapes and communities from oil and gas development in the West will be done away with, the Interior Department announced Thursday.

In a brief release the department said it would no longer "require the Bureau of Land Management to prepare an environmental impact statement for approximately 3,244 oil and gas leases in seven Western states."

The decision stems from an executive order from President Donald Trump and a secretarial order from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum designed to reduce regulatory barriers for oil and gas companies and to expedite domestic energy development.

"With this action, the Bureau of Land Management will no longer move forward with preparing an environmental impact statement for oil and gas leasing decisions encompassing 3.5 million acres across Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming," the release said, adding that "the Bureau is evaluating options for compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act for these oil and gas leasing decisions."

The release closed by stating that the Interior Department and BLM both "remain committed to responsibly developing energy on public lands."

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