US District Judge Sharon Gleason in Alaska declared Friday that the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which authorized presidents to withdraw offshore drilling areas from the national oil and gas leasing program, did not say that a president could re-introduce areas, thereby making Trump's 2018 order to revoke his predecessor's legacy ban on drilling in 128 million acres of federal waters "unlawful."
"As a result, the previous three withdrawals issued on January 27, 2015 and December 20, 2016 will remain in full force and effect unless and until revoked by Congress," the judge said in her ruling, as quoted by The Washington Post newspaper.
Earlier on Friday, Gleason also blocked an agreement signed by the Department of the Interior in early 2018 to allow the construction of a road through Alaskan Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.
Trump's administration has been trying to roll back many of Barack Obama's climate policies, including those on air pollution, drilling and public planning. Some of Trump's rollbacks have been overturned, largely on procedural grounds. The US administration is appealing many of the rulings.
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