Sponsors (106)
The bill trades a narrower tax provision repeal—delivering modest budget gains and simpler tax law—for permanent protection of 1.56 million acres of coastal plain, at the cost of higher taxes or lost tax provisions for some, short-term administrative uncertainty, and foregone development, revenues, and access in affected rural and tribal communities.
Taxpayers and IRS: Repealing Section 20001 simplifies the statutory tax code for affected filers and administrators, reducing legal complexity and compliance friction.
Federal finances/taxpayers: Removing the provision could modestly improve the long-term federal budget outlook by eliminating a revenue-reducing rule.
Indigenous and rural communities, wildlife, and recreation: Permanently protects 1.56 million acres of coastal plain, preserving habitat, biodiversity, subsistence resources, cultural uses, and recreational/tourism value.
Taxpayers and small businesses: Repeal eliminates whatever tax relief or rule Section 20001 provided, potentially raising tax liabilities for individuals and businesses that relied on it.
Taxpayers, tax professionals, and financial institutions: Removing the statutory rule creates transitional uncertainty and may increase short-term administrative burden as the IRS, preparers, and institutions update forms, guidance, and compliance processes.
Rural communities, local governments, and energy companies: Wilderness designation bars oil, gas, and mineral development on the protected lands, foregoing potential local jobs, lease revenues, and tax base growth.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Removes the 2017 statutory leasing authority for the ANWR coastal plain and designates ~1,559,538 acres of the coastal plain as federal wilderness.
Introduced April 29, 2025 by Jared Huffman · Last progress April 29, 2025
Repeals the 2017 statutory provision that opened the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) coastal plain to oil and gas leasing and adds about 1,559,538 acres of the ANWR coastal plain to the National Wilderness Preservation System. The Secretary of the Interior would administer the newly designated area under the Wilderness Act, which generally prohibits new commercial development, motorized access, and permanent structures in designated wilderness. The bill also includes a formal short-title provision. The changes take effect on enactment and would block future leasing and most development activities in the newly designated wilderness area, while shifting management to Wilderness Act rules.