Legality of Drilling Permits Issued During Shutdown Challenged
- Environmentalists deliver warning shot on lease sales, permits
- So far, 153 permits have been issued under shutdown exception
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The Trump administration’s decision to keep issuing oil drilling permits during the government shutdown is putting those authorizations in legal jeopardy, environmentalists argued in a filing Thursday.
The Bureau of Land Management has already violated a federal spending law and legal requirements for public consultation by issuing at least 153 drilling permits since the shutdown began on Dec. 22, WildEarth Guardians, the Western Watersheds Project and the Center for Biological Diversity said in a lodged with the agency.