Tuesday’s decision, in a case brought by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority against the Interior Department and federal officials, is the latest twist in the decades-long fight.

A federal judge ruled that the Biden administration overstepped its authority in canceling oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, sending the issue back to the Interior Department.

The Department of Interior neglected its obligation to obtain a court order before it canceled the state agency’s oil and gas leases on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a federal court determined.