Within a week of President Biden's inauguration, the incoming administration issued two separate orders-a secretarial order suspending authority of bureaus to issue oil and gas authorizations and an executive order pausing onshore and offshore oil and gas leasing. First, on January 20, 2021, the Acting Secretary of the Interior, Scott de la Vega, issued Secretarial Order No. 3395, "Temporary Suspension of Delegated Authority" (Jan. 20, 2021) (Order). The Order suspends the delegated authority of bureaus within the U.S. Department of the Interior (Department), including the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), "to issue any onshore or offshore fossil fuel authorization, including but not limited to a lease, amendment to a lease, affirmative extension of a lease, contract, or other agreement, or permit to drill." Id. § 3(g). The suspension lasts for 60 days. Id. § 5.
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