To streamline the oil and gas permitting process and to recognize fee ownership for certain oil and gas drilling or spacing units, and for other purposes.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
ReportedReported by Mr. Manchin, without amendment
Reported by Mr. Manchin, without amendment
Mr. Hoeven (for himself, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Cramer, and Mr. …
Mr. Hoeven (for himself, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Cramer, and Mr. …
Summary
What This Bill Does
Allows oil and gas drilling without BLM permits when federal minerals are less than 50% of a spacing unit and federal surface is not impacted. Operators must notify Interior and use state permits instead.
Who Benefits and How
- Oil and gas producers avoid duplicate federal permitting when mostly developing state/private minerals
- State regulators maintain authority on mixed-ownership spacing units
- Energy development proceeds faster with streamlined permitting
Who Bears the Burden and How
- BLM loses some permitting authority and oversight
- Environmental interests lose federal environmental review on these wells
- Federal government relies on state permits for mineral extraction
Key Provisions
- No BLM permit required if federal minerals less than 50% of unit
- Must use state permit and notify Interior within 5 days
- Does not affect Indian lands
- Federal royalty collection authorities preserved
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Exempts certain oil and gas operations from BLM permit requirements when federal minerals are minority ownership within a spacing unit
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Reduce federal permitting burden on mixed-ownership drilling units"
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Interior
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