Clay Higgins U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana's 3rd district | Official U.S. House Headshot
Clay Higgins U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana's 3rd district | Official U.S. House Headshot
Congressman Clay Higgins of Louisiana has reintroduced the Federal Lands and Waters Leasing Transparency Act, aiming to address issues in the federal leasing process for oil and gas. The bill seeks to enhance accountability among energy regulators and simplify procedures managed by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
In recent years, challenges have emerged within the oil and gas sector concerning how BOEM evaluates bids during the leasing process. Industry leaders argue that current evaluation methods fail to reflect true market values, leading to bid rejections without sufficient explanation. This uncertainty hampers investment in new exploration and production activities.
The proposed legislation includes several key provisions:
- It mandates that the Secretary of Interior provide detailed explanations when rejecting bids, offering transparency through comparisons with valuation metrics.
- The Mineral Leasing Act would be amended to prevent court orders from delaying onshore lease issuance unless a violation of federal law occurs, thereby expediting processes.
- The bill ensures that civil actions challenging offshore lease sales do not invalidate leases or delay related approvals.
"Every FedGov bureaucracy will serve the interests of the American people or MAGA Republicans will aggressively restructure that bureaucracy," Congressman Higgins stated. "Through Executive Branch action and Congressional legislation, every alphabet agency is being forced to comply with the America First agenda. The American energy industry produces clean, affordable, abundant, transportable energy for the entire world, and I will continue to fight for American energy dominance."
Alerts Sign-up