The project had been approved by a planning commission and was under construction when Corlew reversed that approval because of what he said was the insufficient notice.
To encourage the development of new consent methods, the Commission establishes a voluntary 120-day notice and comment process so parties can seek approval of a particular consent method.
The administration eventually lifted the moratorium in October of 2010, but drilling applicants then began to notice that permits were being slow-walked through the approval process.
President Bush not only failed to secure Moscow's approval for a U.S. use of force, he was put on notice that the USSR would take strong exception to such use.