Wyoming Judge, An Obama Appointee, Declares BLM Fracking Rules Illegal
A federal judge in Wyoming on Tuesday tossed out Obama administration rules on fracking. District Judge Scott Skavdahl ruled that the Bureau of Land Management lacked authority to issue the regulations when it did so, in March 2015. Skavdahl, an Obama-appointee nominated to the bench in 2011, said BLM had narrow jurisdiction when regulating energy production. “Congress delegated regulatory authority for environmental protection of underground water sources to the Environmental Protection Agency, not the BLM,” he concluded. Administration lawyers had argued that Congress granted BLM…