Pennsylvania energy attorneys said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit’s recent ruling restricting the U.S. Forest Service’s regulatory authority over drilling in the Allegheny National Forest reaffirms the longstanding legal tenet that mineral rights owners have primacy over surface owners and could potentially apply more broadly to other federally-owned land.
Other attorneys said the ruling also provides guidance as to when the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), which requires a lengthy environmental impact study, is triggered.
