July 21, 2025
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The Honorable Tom Cole |
The Honorable Rosa DeLauro |
Re: Oppose Onshore Oil and Gas Riders in the FY26 House Interior Appropriations Bill
Dear Chairman Cole, Ranking Member DeLauro, and Members of the House Committee on Appropriations:
On behalf of our millions of members and supporters, the 33 undersigned organizations urge you to oppose Sections 143 and 504 in the House Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26). These provisions amount to a reckless giveaway to the oil and gas industry – reinstating wasteful leasing practices, forcing the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to offer more than 200 million acres of public land for extraction with little to no public process, and stripping away commonsense fiscal reforms to ensure industry pays its fair share.
Sec. 143
This section mandates quarterly lease sales in at least nine states. The section further mandates that half of all industry-nominated acreage be offered for lease at the next quarterly lease sale and requires all acreage to be made available for leasing, regardless of public protest or identified resource conflicts.
Sec. 504
This section blocks implementation, administration, and/or enforcement of BLM’s 2024 “Fluid Mineral Leases and Leasing Process Rule” (i.e., Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Rule). BLM’s Onshore Oil and Gas Rule modernized the antiquated federal oil and gas program, updating minimum bonding levels for the first time since the 1950s and 60s; realigning rents and fees to account for decades of inflation; and reducing speculation by ending non-competitive leasing and implementing a new nomination fee.
The Oil and Gas Rule provides taxpayers with a fair return for the extraction of our public resources, protects cultural resources, and critical wildlife habitats. Prior to the rule, historically flawed bonding requirements resulted in massive liabilities that the federal government and states have had to assume. In BLM producing states like Alaska, Colorado, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming, taxpayer costs to decommission and remediate abandoned and orphaned wells is estimated to be at least $51.2 billion. Section 504 will repeat the well documented mistakes of the past, further adding to this growing economic burden.
Repealing these critical reforms – which have the overwhelming support of Republicans, Independents, and Democrats from the states where most oil and gas leasing occurs – would rob local and state governments of billions of dollars in revenue and steal money from hard-working taxpayers, communities, and states that will be forced to pay to clean up after the oil and gas industry.
We urge the Committee to oppose these provisions as you consider FY26 Appropriations legislation.
Sincerely,
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198 methods |
Sierra Club |