"A U.S. judge at the urging of environmental groups has thrown out an assessment by a federal agency governing how endangered and threatened marine species should be protected from oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman in Greenbelt, Maryland, on Monday ruled the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Services' so-called "biological opinion" was flawed and did not adequately address risks species face from oil spills and vessel strikes.
The assessment was issued in 2020 during Republican former President Donald Trump's administration and was legally necessary for oil and gas exploration and drilling to be conducted.
The judge, appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden, said the assessment violated the Endangered Species Act. She faulted it for assuming an oil spill like the catastrophic Deepwater Horizon one in 2010 would not occur."
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