Expression of Interest Sensibility Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Expression of Interest Sensibility Act revises the Mineral Leasing Act process used before federal oil and gas lease sales. A person may submit an expression of interest in leasing land available for oil or gas exploration and development under procedures set by the Secretary of the Interior. If that land is offered at a lease sale and no bid is received, Interior must assess the expression-of-interest fee against the person who submitted the first expression of interest for the land. If the land receives a successful bid, Interior must assess the fee against the successful bidder. The bill also says an expression of interest remains active for not less than 5 years unless the land is offered at a lease sale. It also amends bonus-bid language so the fee is collected with the remainder of the bonus bid when applicable.
Who Benefits and How
Federal mineral lease applicants benefit from clearer rules on who pays the expression-of-interest fee and how long an expression remains active. Successful lease bidders benefit from predictable fee treatment when a parcel advances to sale and receives a bid. Interior land managers benefit from an explicit fee-assessment rule that distinguishes unsuccessful parcels from parcels receiving bids. Oil and gas developers benefit from expressions remaining active for at least 5 years unless land is offered at sale.
Who Bears the Burden and How
First expression submitters must pay the fee if their nominated parcel is offered but receives no bid. Successful lease bidders must pay the fee when the parcel receives a successful bid. Interior oil and gas leasing staff must track the first expression submitter, successful bidder, parcel status, bonus-bid payment, and 5-year active term. Federal taxpayers bear the administrative cost of tracking and collecting the revised fees, partly offset by fee receipts.
Key Provisions
- Requires Interior to assess the expression-of-interest fee against the first submitter when offered land receives no bid.
- Requires Interior to assess the fee against the successful bidder when offered land receives a successful bid.
- Provides that an expression of interest remains active for at least 5 years unless the land is offered at lease sale.
- Amends bonus-bid payment language to include the expression-of-interest fee when applicable.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Changes Mineral Leasing Act expression-of-interest rules for federal oil and gas leasing by charging the expression-of-interest fee to the first submitter when a parcel receives no bid, charging the successful bidder when a parcel receives a bid, and keeping expressions active for at least 5 years unless the land is offered at lease sale.
Key Policy Areas
Energy, Public Lands, Oil & Gas, Interior
Primary Purpose
Changes Mineral Leasing Act expression-of-interest rules for federal oil and gas leasing by charging the expression-of-interest fee to the first submitter when a parcel receives no bid, charging the successful bidder when a parcel receives a bid, and keeping expressions active for at least 5 years unless the land is offered at lease sale.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Federal mineral lease applicants
- Successful federal lease bidders
- Oil lease developers
- Interior land managers
Identified Costs
- First expression submitters
- Successful lease bidders
- Interior oil and gas leasing staff
- Federal taxpayers
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMs. Hageman introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Federal mineral lease applicants, First expression submitters, Successful federal lease bidders
Positive-direction: Federal mineral lease applicants
Negative-direction: First expression submitters, Successful federal lease bidders
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "agencies"
- → ['Department of the Interior', 'Bureau of Land Management']
- "affected_groups"
- → ['Federal mineral lease applicants', 'Successful federal lease bidders', 'First expression submitters', 'Oil lease developers']
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