US Energy Authorities and Texas Blockchain Council Halt Crypto Mining Data Survey
Summary:
US energy authorities, the Texas Blockchain Council (TBC) and Riot Platforms, a Bitcoin mining company, have agreed to stop a proposed emergency survey collecting data from nationwide crypto miners. The accord also means all data previously and further collected will be scrapped. The TBC and Riot have agreed that the EIA is permitted to release a new notice seeking public feedback on permissible data collection for two months.
In a recent agreement between US energy officials and the Texas Blockchain Council (TBC) along with Riot Platforms, a Bitcoin mining company, a planned emergency survey aimed at nationwide crypto miners will be halted. The accord, mentioned in a March 2 filing, reveals that the US Department of Energy, the Energy Information Administration (EIA), and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), reached an agreement with TBC and Riot to end the data collection from crypto miners proposed in their "EIA-862 Emergency Collection Request" survey.
The agreement, filed at the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, also stipulates that previously accumulated data from this survey, which TBC and Riot criticized as intrusive, will be scrapped, just as any future information collected. The defendants have agreed that any information received concerning the EIA-862 Emergency Survey will be destroyed by the EIA.
The latest development nullifies the temporary restraining order which was set to last until March 8. Cointelegraph had earlier reported that on February 23, the court temporarily halted the US energy authorities from gathering data during the pendency of the lawsuit.
This followed a successful persuasion by TBC and Riot to the judge that it would lead to irreversible damage if further data collection was not prevented. The plaintiffs argued that the survey could cause non-recoverable compliance expenses, a credible prosecution threat for noncompliance, and the disclosure of asked proprietary data.
According to EIA, completing the survey was estimated to take roughly 30 minutes, but the court deemed this estimation as highly inaccurate. Both TBC and Riot contested this estimation, stating that the compliance cost was in excess of 40 hours.
Nonetheless, both parties agreed that the EIA is permitted to release a new notice, requesting public feedback over a duration of two months regarding the kind of information it may collect. As stated in the court filing, EIA has agreed to accept comments for 60 days, starting on the date of publication of the New Federal Register Notice.
Published At
3/2/2024 4:44:51 AM
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