The Bureau of Land Management has announced new regulations for 245 million acres of public property. Important modernization includes conservation measures and increased bonds and royalties. BLM itself says this will concentrate exploitation, thus reducing pressure on sensitive wildlife habitat, important cultural resources, or places used by many for recreation.
Here I give a hat tip to the Good News Roundup which mentioned this and I give more details.
According to the Washington Post article
“for the first time, the nearly 80-year-old agency will auction off “restoration leases” and “mitigation leases” to entities with plans to restore or conserve public lands.”
“also directs the BLM to prioritize landscape health for the first time and to incorporate Indigenous knowledge into its decision-making.”
The Fluid Mineral Leases and Leasing Process is here (link to BLM)
Iʼd like to congratulate Secretary Deb Haaland and the Biden administration for this progress.
The Bureauʼs press release of April 12
“ bonding requirements, royalty rates, and minimum bids – which will increase returns to the public and disincentivize speculators and irresponsible actors. The rule is the BLM’s first comprehensive update to the federal onshore oil and gas leasing framework since 1988, the first update to minimum bonding levels since 1960, and the first increase in royalty rates in more than 100 years.”
Hereʼs one of the changes:
“Base, or minimum, rental rate: Leases will include a rental of $3 per acre per year during the first two-year period beginning upon lease issuance, then $5 per acre per year for the subsequent 6 years, and then $15 per acre per year thereafter. After August 16, 2032, those rental rates will become minimums and are subject to increase. Previously, companies paid $1.50/acre for each of the first five years of holding a lease, then $2/acre for the next five years.”
Typical voices spoke up against the new regulations (including AK Sullivan and WY Barraso in the US Senate), saying Barraso will “introduce a Congressional Review Act resolution to repeal this outrageous rule” in a statement