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Utah and Wyoming sue BLM, saying agency skipped NEPA before new conservation rule
Summary
Utah and Wyoming have filed a lawsuit arguing the Bureau of Land Management failed to conduct required NEPA review before issuing a rule that could limit uses across millions of acres of federal land and allow mitigation leases to nongovernmental groups, the states say.
Utah and Wyoming have sued the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, alleging the agency issued a conservation-focused rule without the required National Environmental Policy Act review and by doing so exceeded its authority over federal public lands.
"The Utah attorney general's office is on top of this lawsuit," host Richard Pyatt said while introducing Jason DeForest, an assistant attorney general with Utah's office who is working on the case. DeForest said the states argue the BLM "didn't comply with the National Environmental Policy Act, NEPA," a procedural claim central to the complaint.
DeForest said the rule has a potentially broad scope in Utah. "This rule could potentially affect all BLM-managed land within the state of Utah going forward," he said, noting the rule purports to protect intact landscapes and to permit new mitigation or restoration leases that could be issued to…
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