November 18, 2025

DENVER – Today, Western Energy Alliance applauded the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for delaying implementation of portions of the Waste Prevention Rule that was finalized toward the end of the Biden Administration. The following comments are attributable to Alliance President Melissa Simpson:

“We appreciate BLM’s deferral because it’s important that we get the policy right. The agency is currently in the process of reconsidering provisions related to flaring and Leak Detection and Repair (LDAR) because the rule was poorly written last year. As we argued then, the rule contains numerous technical errors for measurement requirements. In fact, since 2015 BLM has failed to get this right. Going back to the Obama Administration, BLM attempted to implement a similar rule. The Alliance filed suit at the time because BLM exceeded the authority it was granted by Congress, and in 2020 we successfully convinced a district court to vacate the rule. Last year, the Biden Administration issued a rule of its own, and it was subsequently sued by multiple states and industry. Again, a federal judge found BLM exceeded its authority by stepping into air quality issues that are relegated to the Environmental Protection Agency. We’re glad BLM is now spending time to make necessary corrections and we expect a better rule in the end as a result.”

# # #