California AG and New Mexico AG Filed Motion to Intervene to Defend Interior Department Valuation Rule

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas filed a motion to intervene to defend the Interior Department’s 2016 Valuation Rule against a challenge brought by a group of coal companies. The 2016 Valuation Rule ensures that fossil fuel developers operating on public lands make fair royalty payments for extracted coal, oil and gas resources by closing a loophole that allowed companies to base royalty payments on sham sales to their subsidiaries at far-below market rates. In their motion to intervene, AG Becerra and AG Balderas noted that the Valuation Rule would result in estimated annual royalty payment increases between $71.9 and $84.9 million.