Congress/Federal Agencies Oil & Gas

摘要

Congress Passes Omnibus Public Lands LegislationDecember saw the passage of a number of public lands bills as part of the Carl Levin and Howard P. "Buck" McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (NDAA), Pub. L. No. 113-291, 128 Stat. 3292 (Dec. 19, 2014). Among the public lands provisions included in the NDAA was an increase in fees paid by operators for applications for permits to drill, discussed in further detail below, as well as the following: Section 3023 of the NDAA amended section 402 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, 43 U.S.C. § 1752, to make permanent what has up to now been an annually renewed provision extending grazing permits until the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service (Forest Service) complete required environmental reviews.