Arches National Park and Filling Station

They really are bastards, you know.

The Bureau of Land Management has expanded its oil and gas lease program in eastern Utah to include tens of thousands of acres on or near the boundaries of three national parks, according to revised maps published this week.

National Park Service officials say that the decision to open lands close to Arches National Park and Dinosaur National Monument and within eyeshot of Canyonlands National Park was made without the kind of consultation that had previously been routine.

The inclusion of the new lease tracts angered environmental groups, which were already critical of the bureau’s original lease proposal, made public this fall, because they said it could lead to industrial activity in empty areas of the state, some prized for their sweeping vistas, like Desolation Canyon, and others for their ancient petroglyphs, like Nine Mile Canyon.

The bureau’s new maps, made public on Election Day, show not just those empty areas but 40 to 45 new areas where leasing will also be allowed.

The tracts will be sold at auction on Dec. 19, the last lease sale before President Bush leaves office a month later. The new leases were added after a map of the proposed tracts was given to the National Park Service for comment this fall. The proximity of industrial activity concerns park managers, who worry about the impact on the air, water and wildlife within the park, as well as the potential for noise, said Michael D. Snyder, a regional director of the Park Service who is based in Denver.

The Park Service is usually given one to three months to comment on leases, Mr. Snyder added.

"This is the first time," he said, "where we have not had sufficient opportunity to comment."

He said he had asked the Bureau of Land Management’s state director, Selma Sierra, to pull the new tracts from the December auction for more study. She refused.

At least it's the last sale of Bush's term. They've been on an absolute orgy of public land lease sales during the entire eight years in office, but with a serious uptick--and on much more controversial and environmentally sensitive grounds--in the last year. The good news for Arches and the surrounding canyonlands is this:

President-elect Obama's transition chief said Sunday the incoming administration is looking to reverse President Bush's executive orders on stem cell research, oil and gas drilling and other matters....

"There's a lot that the president can do using his executive authority without waiting for congressional action, and I think we'll see the president do that," Podesta said....

Also, the federal Bureau of Land Management is opening about 360,000 acres of public land in Utah to oil and gas drilling, leading to protests from environmentalists.

"They want to have oil and gas drilling in some of the most sensitive, fragile lands in Utah," Podesta said. "I think that's a mistake."

That's good news for Utah, but there are still acres and acres of sensitive public lands that have been leased for drilling, including the recent Roan Plateau sale in Colorado. These, and a good chunk of the record 44+ million acres that have gone on the auction block, need to be considered for revocation.

The question is how easily these lease sales, including the upcoming Utah auction, can be reversed. It's not at all clear that a new executive order from the new White House would be enough to do it. It looks like it's going to take administrative, and possibly legal, action.

Title 43: Public Lands: Interior
PART 3150—ONSHORE OIL AND GAS GEOPHYSICAL EXPLORATION

§ 3150.1   Suspension, revocation or cancellation.

The right to conduct exploration under notices of intent and oil and gas geophysical exploration permits may be revoked or suspended, after notice, by the authorized officer and upon a final administrative finding of a violation of any term or condition of the instrument, including, but not limited to, terms and conditions requiring compliance with regulations issued under Acts applicable to the public lands and applicable State air and water quality standards or implementation plans. The Secretary may order an immediate temporary suspension of activities authorized under a permit or other use authorization prior to a hearing or final administrative finding if he/she determines that such a suspension is necessary to protect health or safety or the environment. Further, where other applicable law contains specific provisions for suspension, revocation, or cancellation of a permit or other authorization to use, occupy, or develop the public lands, the specific provisions of such law shall prevail.

There's a good case to be made in the Utah leases that the sales themselves didn't comply with "regulations issued under Acts applicable to the public lands and applicable State air and water quality standards or implementation plans."

So there's finally some good news on this front: it's on the Obama team's radar screen to fix, and there's a way to do it.

Update: Just received this note by e-mail in which an attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance clarifies the statute to revoke these leases:

Even if the leases are issued before January 20th, federal regulation [43 C.F.R. § 3180.3(d)] provides that leases are subject to cancellation if improperly issued and thus the administration would have room to act and cancel the leases.

(H/T Willyr)