Last week, a federal judge in the Northern District of California threw out a Trump administration repeal of an Obama-era regulation that aimed to fairly value oil, gas and coal production on our public lands.

Back in August 2017, the Trump administration repealed and the Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) rule, reducing the royalties the government collected from fossil fuel companies by millions of dollars, benefiting industry and shortchanging American taxpayers.

But last week’s ruling found the Trump administration failed to justify repealing the Obama-era ONRR rule and that the public was not given ample ability to provide input, an issue we have seen far too long from this administration.

Why the Court struck down the rule:

The court found that Trump’s administration's attempt to repeal the Obama-era rule violated two key aspects of the Administrative Procedure Act – one of our most important laws guaranteeing public involvement in how we are governed. First, the administration offered no reasoned explanation for returning to an old, flawed royalty regime.  Second, it violated the notice and comment provisions of the APA requiring adequate and thorough public input.

What this could mean for other environmental rollbacks:

The court’s decision will result in reinstatement of the Obama-era ONRR rule, but it also could have implications for other Obama-era rules eliminated by Trump in similar ways, including the BLM’s Methane Waste and Prevention Rule and the Hydraulic Fracturing Rule. Both of which were dumped using the same summary and conclusory process as was rejected in this ONRR opinion.