Appeals court gives Interior reprieve on deepwater drilling permits

Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement last month approved the first deepwater drilling permit for the type of project that was halted after last year’s BP oil spill began, and Friday approved a second deepwater permit. Neither were among the applications at issue in the court case.

Feldman — who sits on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana — has issued a string of decisions that are highly critical of Interior’s offshore drilling restrictions.

Interior lifted a ban on deepwater drilling in October but is requiring companies to comply with a suite of beefed-up safety rules. The pace of permitting has led to attacks from Republicans and some Democrats who want faster action.