A federal judge in Alaska ruled on Tuesday that the Department of the Interior (DOI) acted unlawfully when it canceled seven oil and gas leases issued for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) because the agency failed to obtain a court order beforehand.
In a 22-page order, U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason stated that DOI needed to obtain a court order to cancel the seven leases that had been awarded to the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) before the Biden administration took office in 2021.
“There is no reason DOI could not file an action seeking declaratory relief in such circumstances,” Gleason stated. “Accordingly, Federal Defendants’ cancellation of AIDEA’s leases was not in accordance with law because it failed to seek a court order.”
AIDEA filed the lawsuit against the Biden administration in 2023 after DOI canceled oil and gas leases it won in January 2021, during the final days of President Donald Trump’s first term.
After taking office on Jan. 20, 2021, President Joe Biden issued an executive order directing DOI to review oil and gas leasing in the ANWR, citing “the alleged legal deficiencies underlying the program.” This resulted in the suspension of AIDEA’s leases.
AIDEA filed a lawsuit in November 2021 to challenge the order, but the court dismissed it, ruling that the moratorium’s “temporary duration and limited scope” were legal.
The Biden administration subsequently canceled the leases in 2023 on the basis that the 2021 lease sale was flawed, which prompted AIDEA to file another lawsuit that year.
Gleason, in her recent ruling siding with AIDEA, cited the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provision that authorized leasing in the ANRW.
According to her order, the Tax Act allows DOI to manage the leasing program for the ANRW in a manner similar to the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act, which stipulates that leases containing valuable oil or gas deposits can only be canceled by court order.
AIDEA Executive Director Randy Ruaro welcomed the ruling, saying that it showed DOI has no authority to alter federal laws in a way that serves “its boss in the White House.”
“Today’s decision by Judge Gleason proves that federal agencies with a political agenda to shut down Alaska and keep Alaskans from good-paying jobs must still follow the laws set by Congress,” Ruaro said in a March 25 statement.
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy also praised the judge for upholding the country’s rule of law.
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