On August 6, 2018, the U.S. District Court in Wyoming upheld the vast majority of a Obama-era rule issued by the Department of Interior’s Office of Natural Resources Revenue against a challenge by the American Petroleum Institute (API). The Rule related to enforcement of noncompliance and civil penalties for parties that are subject to the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act. API challenged the Rule, arguing that it is arbitrary and capricious and exceeded the agency’s authority under law.
The Court disagreed, upholding the entirety of the Rule with the exception of provisions related to the agency’s ability to seek penalties for a time period during which an administrative law judge had granted a stay of a penalty pending an administrative hearing.
The case is American Petroleum Institute v. U.S. Department of the Interior et al., case number 17-CV-083-F in the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming.