On Dec. 30, 2020, the BLM issued a decision regarding the February 2020 RPFO and FFO Lease Sales. The decision was challenged in Diné Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment v. BLM, No. 1:20-cv-00673 (D.N.M.) (Diné CARE 3). On April 5, 2022, the BLM entered into a settlement agreement in Diné CARE 3 in which the BLM agreed to review the adequacy of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analyses underlying the challenged leasing decisions. The BLM decided to reaffirm the previous decision to lease the parcels based on that supplemental analysis in July 2022. Plaintiffs subsequently filed a new lawsuit, Diné CARE v. BLM, 1:22-cv-00804 (D.N.M.) (Diné CARE 4), challenging the July 31, 2022 decision. That lawsuit is pending as to the parcels undergoing supplemental review.

These supplemental analyses to the RPFO and FFO February 2020 Oil and Gas Lease Sale Environmental Assessments (DOI-BLM-NM-A010-2019-0084-EA and DOI-BLM-NMA010-2019-0103-EA) are the result of BLM’s review of the subject NEPA analyses and provides information, data, and/or analyses that are 1) new since work was completed on the Final EA (Dec. 30, 2020) and the accompanying supplement (July 31, 2022), and 2) substantive and relevant to the BLM’s informed decision making and public disclosure process. This supplemental analysis focused on air quality and greenhouse gases replaces previous iterations of the same analysis in prior supplements (July 2022) and the original EA