HR408-119

In Committee

To nullify the Presidential memoranda on the withdrawal of certain areas of the outer Continental Shelf from oil or natural gas leasing.

119th Congress Introduced Jan 15, 2025

Summary

What This Bill Does

This bill cancels two January 6, 2025 presidential memoranda that withdrew specified Outer Continental Shelf areas from oil or natural gas leasing. One memorandum covers Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic, and Pacific areas; the other covers the Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area. By declaring those memoranda to have no force or effect, the bill reopens the legal possibility of offshore oil and gas leasing in the affected areas, subject to the ordinary Outer Continental Shelf leasing process and other environmental, safety, and agency requirements.

Who Benefits and How

Offshore oil producers benefit because the withdrawal memoranda would no longer block leasing in the covered OCS areas. Natural gas producers benefit from restored access to potential federal offshore lease areas. Offshore drilling contractors benefit if future lease sales generate exploration and development work. Energy-state officials benefit if leasing activity supports jobs, royalties, or energy production tied to nearby offshore areas.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Environmental advocacy organizations bear the burden because the bill removes withdrawal protections for the covered offshore areas. Coastal communities concerned about spills face renewed leasing risk in nearby waters. Interior Department offshore energy staff must treat the memoranda as ineffective and administer any resulting leasing process. Tribal and Alaska Native communities near the Northern Bering Sea may face renewed concern over offshore industrial activity.

Key Provisions

  • Provides that the January 6, 2025 Gulf, Atlantic, and Pacific OCS withdrawal memorandum has no force or effect.
  • Provides that the January 6, 2025 Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area withdrawal memorandum has no force or effect.
  • Restores the possibility of oil or natural gas leasing in the affected OCS areas.
  • Uses statutory nullification of presidential memoranda rather than creating a new lease sale mandate.

Evidence Chain:

This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.

At a Glance

What This Bill Does

Nullifies the January 6, 2025 presidential memoranda withdrawing Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic, Pacific, and Northern Bering Sea Outer Continental Shelf areas from oil or natural gas leasing.

Key Policy Areas

Energy, Offshore Leasing, Executive Action

Primary Purpose

Nullifies the January 6, 2025 presidential memoranda withdrawing Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic, Pacific, and Northern Bering Sea Outer Continental Shelf areas from oil or natural gas leasing.

Policy Domains

Energy Offshore Leasing Executive Action

Resolution provisions

Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
  • Offshore oil producers
  • Natural gas producers
  • Offshore drilling contractors
  • Energy-state officials
Model: codex-gpt-5 | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: ih

Contextual inference, no direct clause citation

Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
  • Environmental advocacy organizations
  • Coastal communities near leasing areas
  • Interior offshore energy staff
  • Alaska Native communities
Model: codex-gpt-5 | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: ih

Contextual inference, no direct clause citation

Legislative Progress

In Committee
Introduced Committee Passed
Jan 15, 2025

Mr. Arrington introduced the following bill; which was referred to …

Jan 15, 2025

Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.

Jan 15, 2025

Introduced in House

Bill Structure & Actor Mappings

Who is "The Secretary" in each section?

Domains
Energy Offshore Leasing Executive Action

We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.

Learn more about our methodology