A judge for the US District Court for the District of Alaska has ruled that President Donald Trump’s 2017 executive order that overturned Obama-era restrictions on drilling for gas and oil in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans is unlawful.

In a late decision Friday night, Judge Sharon Gleason found that the administration had exceeded its authority when issuing the order in question. Section 12 (a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act< (OSCLA) states, "The President of the United States may, from time to time, withdraw from disposition any of the unleased lands of the outer Continental Shelf." The language, according to Gleason, allows the President to remove certain lands from development, but only Congress can revoke the withdrawals.Under the ruling, over 120 million acres of federal waters, including vast parts of the Arctic Ocean and dozens of canyons in the Atlantic Ocean, will remain protected.