The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced it will hold a Congressional-mandated oil and gas lease sale in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The sale of the 400,000-acre leasehold property in the northwest portion of ANWR’s 1.6 million-acre coastal plain will be held on January 9, 2025. The sale of rental properties was mandated by Congress in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which mandated BLM. Provide for two lease sales within seven years of enactment of the law. According to the American Petroleum Institute, “This lease is the absolute minimum allowed under federal law and covers less acreage than leases canceled by the BLM over the past four years.”
background
The first lease sale took place at the end of the Trump administration, with nine leases issued. The lease didn’t garner much attention as President Biden won the election and vowed to “end fossil fuels.” Then, in 2021, President Biden issued an executive order directing the Department of the Interior to review the leasing program, which resulted in the leasing program being suspended and a separate analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act. In 2023, BLM and the Fish and Wildlife Service found that Trump’s lease sales were “seriously flawed and based on a number of fundamental legal flaws,” resulting in all nine leases being closed. has been cancelled. The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, the state agency that owned seven of the nine previously canceled leases, is expected to submit offers for new lease sales. In October, the company approved plans to spend up to $20 million bidding in the upcoming ANWR auction.
In addition to canceling previous leases, the Biden-Harris administration also closed 13 million acres of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A). The reserve was established by Congress in 1923, is approximately the size of the state of Indiana, and was designated as an oil reserve. Although the move was heavily criticized by environmental groups, the Biden administration approved ConocoPhillips’ $8 billion Willow oil and gas project in NPR-A, albeit on a smaller scale than originally proposed. . The Willow Project is expected to keep oil flowing through the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System and provide vital income and jobs to local Alaska communities.
The administration also denied permission for the Ambler Road mining project, which sought a right of way to access a mining district rich in copper and other minerals. Even though access was guaranteed under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, the Biden-Harris administration has suspended water and wetland permits needed for roads, a law that has been in place for more than 40 years, requiring the Secretary of the Interior to do so. was virtually ignored. To issue permits for this project. In August, the Department of the Interior announced restrictions on oil, gas, and mineral extraction on 28 million acres of Alaska’s public lands (nearly 7% of the state’s total area). These actions are consistent with President Biden’s longstanding opposition to oil development in Alaska, including voting against the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) in 1973, his first year in the Senate. are.
Two lawsuits were recently filed against the Biden administration over the loss of leases on Alaska’s North Slope. A coalition of local governments, tribal organizations, and Native American businesses filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Anchorage challenging the environmental regulations imposed by NPR-A. Additionally, the State of Alaska filed suit in the United States Court of Federal Claims to recover lost revenue from the termination of nine federal oil and gas leases in the ANWR Coastal Plain. Alaska’s economy is heavily dependent on oil production, with oil and gas employment accounting for approximately 25% of employment and generating approximately half of the state’s economic output. Oil also provides up to 90% of the state’s unrestricted general fund revenue.
Trump administration supports oil and gas development in Alaska
President-elect Trump is expected to roll back many of the Biden administration’s environmental regulations, including more favorable leasing programs for federal lands and waters, through executive action early in his second term. Alaska State Sen. Dan Sullivan compiled a list of more than 60 Biden-era decisions that negatively impacted Alaska’s oil and gas production, including the day-one suspension of oil activity at ANWR. This list could serve as a blueprint for undoing the Biden administration’s policies. In the area.
Some Biden administration-era regulations, such as ANWR’s environmental impact statement, may be difficult to rescind quickly. However, Congress could use the Congressional Review Act to override that statement and return the ANWR oil project to an environmental review conducted during President Trump’s first term. It would also remove restrictions the Biden administration had placed on the program, including limiting leases to only 400,000 acres of ANWR, the minimum acreage established in the 2017 tax law.
Another issue is Public Lands Ordinance (PLO) 5150, which restricts the use of federal land along the 800-mile pipeline connecting North Slope oil fields to central Alaska. Under state law, Alaska was supposed to receive the land, but the Biden administration has not made good on its promise to consider revoking the order. If President Trump is elected, he may need to address this issue and lift orders that allow land to be transferred to states for other uses, such as mining.
Finally, Alaskans are hoping that President-elect Trump will reverse rules finalized by the Biden administration that make drilling in NPR-A more difficult. The rule is currently being fought in court by the state of Alaska and industry groups, and a settlement could allow the Trump administration to modify or repeal it.
President-elect Trump has appointed North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum as Secretary of the Interior (a department that plays a key role in implementing President Trump’s energy policy and “Drill, Baby, Drill” policy) and will serve as his administration’s National Energy Council. He was appointed as the head of the association. Burgum will play a key role as President Trump has vowed to open land and waters for drilling, overcoming opposition from the Biden-Harris administration.
conclusion
The Biden-Harris Interior Department plans to hold an oil and gas lease sale for the ANWR development next month, which is a congressionally mandated lease sale. The Biden-Harris administration has made more than 60 decisions that negatively impact energy development in Alaska, and Alaska lawmakers hope to reverse them during President Trump’s second term. President Trump has nominated North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum to be Secretary of the Interior. She will play a key role in reversing policy decisions by the Biden-Harris administration that affect the use of public lands that Congress has insisted should be used. Multiple ways to benefit Americans.
