Washington, D.C. — Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued a final rule to update the federal oil and gas program. The reforms would apply to hundreds of millions of acres of public lands and modernize rates for royalties, rents, fees, and bonding. They would also address other reforms to fix the de facto subsidies for oil and gas companies. In response, Nicole Gentile, senior director for Conservation at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement:
These long-overdue reforms will finally hold the oil and gas industry accountable for its actions on taxpayer-owned public lands. For too long, oil and gas companies have taken advantage of loopholes in the federal leasing program to rip off taxpayers, shirk liabilities, and leave communities on the hook for pollution cleanup. These final rules will make companies pay their fair share, protect communities at risk from oil and gas extraction, and set basic minimum standards for companies awarded leases to better protect public resources. The American public knows that actions have consequences. The Biden administration is now holding the oil and gas industry to that same standard.
For more information on this topic or to speak with an expert, please contact Sam Hananel at [email protected].