The Trump administration notched a victory Friday when a federal judge upheld its repeal of a 2015 rule aimed at tightening the fracking industry.
As The Hill noted, Friday's ruling by Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. concluded companies that use the hydraulic fracking method to reach fossil fuels under layers of rock do not have to abide by the Obama-era law that was aimed to protect federal land.
"The record does not compel the conclusion that [the Bureau of Land Management] arbitrarily ignored foregone benefits or arbitrarily overvalued the costs associated with the 2015 rule, as California plaintiffs urge," Gilliam wrote.
"Although BLM could have provided more detail, it did enough to clear the low bar of arbitrary and capricious review, and that is all the law requires."
In January 2018, California and several environmental groups banded together to appeal the Trump administration's revocation of the rule, which would have required companies to disclose which chemicals they use during the fracking process, ensure the structural integrity of wells near the drilling site, and other related actions.
According to The Hill, the Interior Department applauded Friday's court ruling.
"We are grateful the court has affirmed that the department's actions were fully compliant with all legal requirements," it said in a statement.
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