Unintentional Misconduct and Standardless Discretion: The Department of Interior’s New Rules for Valuing Oil, Gas and Coal

The Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) within the Department of the Interior issued new royalty valuation rules on July 1, 2016. Although the goal of the regulations is to simplify the calculation of royalties on federal oil, gas and coal, the 65 pages of rules please no one. Under a new definition for “misconduct,” […]