WASHINGTON, April 29 (UPI) -- A decision by a circuit court of appeals regarding disclosure issues tied to the oil industry and governments is a victory, Earthrights International said.
Earthrights International hailed a decision from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals that said the American Petroleum Institute can't pursue its case against the Securities and Exchange Commission in appellate courts.
API takes issued with U.S. legislation that requires those in the extractive industry to disclose payments they've made to the governments that host their exploratory campaigns.
API filed suit against the SEC in October. ERI intervened on behalf of Oxfam America.
"The upshot of the D.C. Circuit's decision is that after six months of litigation, API must start over, in the district court," Earthrights International said.
The SEC ruled last year that oil and natural gas companies must disclose said payments. The legislation in question is the so-called Cardin-Lugar provision of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform act.
In the past, the API said it considered some provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act to be a violation of free-speech protections in the U.S. Constitution. It issued no statement on the D.C. Circuit Court's ruling.
