Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) appreciates the opportunity to comment on the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) proposed rule regarding the federal onshore oil and gas leasing system. Since 1995, TCS has served as a nonpartisan budget watchdog dedicated to ensuring that federal resources are managed responsibly and that taxpayers receive a fair return on public assets.

The United States is home to vast onshore mineral resources owned by the American public. BLM manages the development of these taxpayer-owned oil and gas resources by leasing federal mineral rights to private companies for development and production.

The proposed rule would reduce minimum federal bonding requirements for oil and gas operators, eliminate certain public participation periods, implement the recently restored noncompetitive leasing process and new replacement sale requirements, and remove leasing preference criteria that guide which lands are offered for leasing, among other policy changes.

TCS strongly opposes several of the changes in the proposed rule and urges BLM to consider the following taxpayer concerns as it moves forward with this rulemaking.