Akin Gump Energy Lawyers Author Landman Article on Implications of State and Local Fracking Bans

Landman magazine, in its September/October issue, has published “Silica Sand Mining,” written by Akin Gump partner Stephen Boone, counsel Niki Roberts and associate Katherine Raymond. The article looks at the implications of a decision by the Minnesota Supreme Court upholding a local ordinance “effectively prohibiting silica mining except for uses already legally established prior to such amendment.”

The authors discuss the specific challenges under both the U.S. and Minnesota constitutions that Minnesota Mining LLC made regarding the local law. The company, the authors say, alleged violations of both the dormant Commerce Clause and the Takings Clause.

The authors then identify that analogous scenarios concerning potential ordinances within the oil and gas space have taken place or been discussed in other states. Citing a danger of patchwork regulations that threaten the oil and gas industry, they note that, “Texas and Oklahoma state legislatures each passed laws prohibiting local ordinances that attempt to regulate oil and gas activity.”

The article concludes by noting that restrictions on oil and gas activity “remain a hot topic of political debate at both the local and national level.” With that in mind, the authors predict that the issue “of local oil and gas regulations clashing with state regulatory bodies remains relevant and will continue to evolve on the local, state and national level throughout the November election cycle and beyond.”

To read the entire article, please click here.