Last year, we posted about litigation concerning the Bureau of Land Management’s controversial rule purporting to regulate hydraulic fracturing on federal and Indian lands. After a federal court found that the rule exceeded the scope of the BLM’s regulatory authority, appeals were filed with 10th District Court of Appeals. Earlier this year, the BLM announced that at the direction of the new administration, it would begin the process of rescinding the rule. Yesterday, the Court of Appeals dismissed these appeals, concluding that in light of the BLM’s decision to rescind its rule, proceeding with the case “appears to be a very wasteful use of limited judicial resources.” The Court of Appeals also vacated the district’s court’s decision on prudential grounds.
