Biden Could Get Creative in Capping Federal Lands Drilling

摘要

President-elect Joe Biden is widely expected to limit new gas leasing in federal lands and offshore, but some legal experts suggest he could take various routes to that goal - with varying degrees of stringency. Those options include the obvious: an immediate freeze on lease sales and permitting by both the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for onshore and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for the Gulf of Mexico. But both alternatives face significant legal obstacles under their respective authorizing statutes - the Mineral Leasing Act requires timely issuance of drilling permits once a lease is finalized, and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act mandates periodic offshore lease sales.