JUNEAU, Alaska–Interior Department approval of oil spill response plans for an Arctic drilling programme off the Alaska coast did not violate environmental laws and policies, a federal judge has ruled.Monday's ruling by US District Judge Ralph Beistline comes in consolidated cases over the approval of Shell Oil's response plans for the Beaufort and Chukchi seas by the department's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, or BSEE.
Conservation groups sued last year, arguing the approvals violated the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act. The government countered that the groups' claims were based, in part, on a misreading of the laws and Shell's response plans.
Shell asked that Beistline uphold the approvals.Beistline found BSEE was not required to conduct an environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act and was not required to go through a process to determine whether its approvals of the plans would affect protected species and their habitat.
AP