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On February 24, 2026, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issued aRecord of Decision (ROD)reaffirming its approval of Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Lease Sales 259 and 261.See91 Fed. Reg. 9296 (Feb. 25, 2026). BOEM confirmed its original 2023 leasing decisions under the same terms, concluding that its newGulf of America Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS)addressed the issues identified by the court inHealthy Gulf v. Burgum, 775 F. Supp. 3d 455 (D.D.C. 2025). According to BOEM, the PEIS confirms that existing lease stipulations and mitigation measures for Lease Sales 259 and 261 adequately address space-use conflicts, greenhouse gas emissions, impacts to Rice's whales, and other environmental concerns.
InHealthy Gulf v. Burgum, environmental groups challenged BOEM's NEPA analysis for Lease Sale 259.See775 F. Supp. 3d at 465-466. On March 27, 2025, the US District Court for the District of Columbia held that BOEM's failure to adequately evaluate greenhouse gas emissions and impacts to Rice's whale rendered its NEPA analysis insufficient. During this time, a separate but related challenge to Lease Sale 261 was stayed prior to the court's decision on the merits, pending resolution of the Lease Sale 259 litigation.SeeHealthy Gulf, et. al. v. Haaland, et. al.,1:23-cv-02487-APM (D.D.C.stay grantedNov. 29, 2023).Although the court in the Lease Sale 259 litigation ruled on the merits, it has not yet determined the appropriate remedy and ordered additional briefing from the parties addressing remedy. On the remedy issue, plaintiffs seek vacatur of BOEM's Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) andpartial vacatur of the leases issued pursuant to Lease Sale 259. In contrast, defendants and intervenors argue that the appropriate remedy is remand without vacatur. Briefing on the remedy issue was completed in June 2025, but the court has yet to rule on the remedy issue. In a March 2, 2026, filing, federal defendants took the position that because "BOEM has completed an additional NEPA analysis and reached a new decision, the remedy proceedings are now moot."See Healthy Gulf v. Burgum, No. 23-cv-000604-APM, R.Doc. 95 (D.D.C. March 2, 2026).
While BOEM's ROD reflects its reliance on the PEIS to reaffirm Lease Sales 259 and 261, the PEIS has broader implications. BOEM plans to use the PEIS, "among other things, as a NEPA analysis that can be tiered to when conducting post-lease and site-specific NEPA reviews of plans, permits, and other approvals" and to "inform extraordinary circumstance reviews to ensure categorical exclusions are used appropriately."SeeROD, p. 2.
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