Summary
On August 24, 2026, more than 50 conservation, environmental-justice, public-health, recreation, wildlife, and community organizations—representing millions of members—urged Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Bureau of Land Management Director Steve Pearce to withdraw the Department of the Interior’s proposed oil and gas leasing rule. The groups ask the department to retain and fully implement BLM’s 2024 Fluid Mineral Leases and Leasing Process Rule.
The organizations argue that the 2024 rule modernized an outdated federal leasing system by holding oil and gas companies financially responsible for cleanup, discouraging participation by irresponsible operators, protecting lands with important cultural and natural resources, and preserving meaningful opportunities for public involvement. In their view, the proposed replacement would undo those reforms and favor the oil and gas industry at the expense of taxpayers, private landowners, public health, wildlife, and other public-land uses.
The letter identifies four principal concerns:
Restricting public participation. The proposed rule would eliminate both the 30-day public-scoping period and the 30-day comment period on draft environmental reviews. It would shorten advance notice of lease sales from 60 to 45 days and reduce the protest period from 30 days to 10 days. Protests exceeding 50 pages—including supporting exhibits—would incur a fee of $1 per page. At the same time, the filing fee paid by oil and gas companies for competitive and noncompetitive leases would fall from $3,100 to $155. The organizations characterize this combination as a “pay-to-play” system that limits community participation while reducing industry costs.
Restoring outdated bonding requirements. The proposal would reduce statewide bonds from $500,000 to $25,000 and individual lease bonds from $150,000 to $10,000. These lower minimums originated more than 50 years ago, were not indexed for inflation, and do not reflect modern reclamation costs, which the letter says can average approximately $145,000 per well in high-cost scenarios. The organizations argue that inadequate bonds make it easier for companies to abandon unprofitable wells and transfer cleanup costs to taxpayers.
The letter cites an estimated 15,000 orphaned wells on federal lands as of 2024, plus at least 10,000 idled wells that may eventually become orphaned. Congress has already allocated $4.7 billion for abandoned-well cleanup nationwide. The signatories warn that weakening federal bonding protections could leave taxpayers responsible for substantially greater future costs while damaged or abandoned sites remain unavailable for other public uses.
Eliminating leasing preference criteria. The 2024 rule established criteria for screening nominated parcels for conflicts with wildlife habitat, recreation areas, cultural resources, and Native American sacred sites. Removing those criteria, the groups contend, would encourage speculative leasing on lands with little likelihood of development and place high-value natural and cultural resources at unnecessary risk. They argue that the change would undermine BLM’s obligation to balance energy development with recreation, conservation, wildlife, cultural resources, and the needs of future generations.
Weakening private landowner protections. More than 57 million acres are “split estate,” where the federal government owns the mineral rights but private individuals own the surface. Since 2009, BLM has been required to notify these landowners before offering the minerals beneath their property for leasing, and lease nominations must identify the affected owner. The proposed rule would eliminate both requirements. The signatories maintain that this would prevent landowners from receiving timely notice or having a meaningful voice in decisions affecting their property.
The letter concludes that the proposal would revive a discredited leasing system that prioritizes industry profits over taxpayers, landowners, communities, and responsible stewardship. The participating organizations ask the Department of the Interior to withdraw the proposed rule and continue implementing the fiscal, environmental, and public-participation safeguards adopted in 2024.
Click here to read the full letter.