Bismarck, North Dakota — A federal judge in North Dakota has temporarily blocked the Biden administration’s new rules aimed at reducing natural gas emissions and flaring at oil refineries.
“At this preliminary stage, the plaintiffs have shown that they are likely to succeed on the merits of their claim that the 2024 rule is arbitrary and capricious,” U.S. District Judge Daniel Trainor wrote in a ruling Friday, the Bismarck Tribune reported.
North Dakota, along with Montana, Texas, Wyoming and Utah, challenged the rule in federal court earlier this year, arguing that it would hinder oil and gas production and that the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management overstepped its authority to regulate nonfederal minerals and air pollution.
Authorities say the rule is intended to reduce gas waste and that if implemented, royalty holders would face additional payments of more than $50 million.
But the trainer wrote that the rule “simply adds another layer of federal regulation on top of existing federal regulations.”
When oil is pumped, natural gas is often produced as a byproduct. Gas is not as profitable as oil, so unless properly captured, it is vented or flared.
Methane, a major component of natural gas, is a climate “metapollutant” several times more potent than carbon dioxide in the short term.
The Tribune reported that North Dakota well operators have reduced their flaring rate significantly in recent years, but it still remains at 5 percent. The reduction requires infrastructure to capture, transport and use the gas.
North Dakota politicians praised the ruling.
“The Biden-Harris administration continues to pursue excessive regulation that ultimately undermines North Dakota’s ability to produce energy,” Attorney General Drew Wrigley said in a statement.
The Bureau of Land Management declined to comment.
