Defenders of Wildlife v. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

DUBINA, Chief Judge:

This case concerns a challenge to an exploratory drilling plan under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (“OCSLA”). 43 U.S.C. § 1331 et seq. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 1 (“BOEM”) approved the Shell Exploration Plan S- 7444 (“Shell EP”) to conduct drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. The Shell EP covers ten exploratory wells on offshore Alabama leases in the Central Gulf of Mexico between 7,100 and 7,300 feet deep. This case is a consolidated appeal in which Petitioners, Defenders of Wildlife, et al. and Gulf Restoration Network, et al. (“Petitioners”), filed…