On Friday, two groups of oil and gas producers, the Independent Petroleum Association of America and the Western Energy Alliance, filed an injunction in the U.S. District Court of Wyoming against the first-ever federal rule to regulate hydraulic fracturing.
The Bureau of Land Management’s new rule deals with things like protection of groundwater, and disclosure of chemicals on federal and Native American lands. In March, Wyoming sued the BLM saying the new regulations interfered with the state’s own existing fracking regulations. Other energy states like Colorado and North Dakota joined that lawsuit soon after. Mark Barron is one of the lawyers who filed the injunction last week. He wants the implementation of the rule to be delayed until the lawsuits filed by the states are cleared up.
"Our clients are already incurring expenses necessary to prepare for and comply with the rule and it is our view that because we believe the rule was issued illegally that the court should simply preserve the current status quo until it can rule on the merits of the lawsuit," Barron said.
So far, Wyoming has led the charge again the rule and the state does have a lot at stake. In 2014, Wyoming had more oil and gas production on federal land, in terms of acreage, than any other state.