For now, the Department of the Interior can breathe easy when it comes to oil drilling in the Gulf. Secretary Ken Salazar has been under fire recently for holding up drilling permits, but late Tuesday, he won a court victory.

A federal appellate court ruled Tuesday evening that Salazar does not have to comply with a previous court order to act on five pending permits in 30 days. The time limit would have been up this Saturday.

In February, Judge Martin Feldman of the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the Eastern District of Louisiana, ordered Salazar to act on five deep-water drilling projects. Salazar then appealed the court order, and Tuesday’s decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is a temporary stay on Feldman’s order.