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Prohibits the Secretary of the Interior from issuing any lease, lease sale, or other authorization for exploration, development, or production of oil, gas, or other minerals in the Outer Continental Shelf planning areas listed in the 2024–2029 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Final Program and the referenced Bureau of Ocean Energy Management notice. The change adds a statutory restriction that blocks leasing activity in those named planning areas going forward. The provision affects future federal leasing decisions for the specified offshore areas, with direct consequences for companies that develop offshore energy and for coastal communities, ocean users, and federal revenue projections tied to leasing activity. The text does not appropriate new funds or create new programs; it simply prohibits issuing new authorizations in the listed areas.
Amends Section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337) by adding a new subsection (q) titled 'Prohibition of oil and gas leasing in certain areas of outer Continental Shelf.'
Directs that, notwithstanding any other law, the Secretary shall not issue a lease or any other authorization for the exploration, development, or production of oil, natural gas, or any other mineral in specified planning areas.
Prohibits issuance of leases or other authorizations for oil, natural gas, or other minerals in the North Atlantic planning area.
Prohibits issuance of leases or other authorizations for oil, natural gas, or other minerals in the Mid-Atlantic planning area.
Prohibits issuance of leases or other authorizations for oil, natural gas, or other minerals in the South Atlantic planning area.
Who is affected and how:
Offshore oil, gas, and mineral developers and service contractors: They lose the opportunity to bid for and develop leases in the planning areas named in the 2024–2029 Proposed Final Program. That means potential projects, investments, and jobs tied to those specific areas would not proceed under new federal authorizations there.
Coastal shoreline communities and ocean-dependent industries (commercial and recreational fishers, tourism): These groups may see reduced risk of offshore development near their coasts, which proponents argue protects fisheries, tourism, and local ecosystems. Conversely, communities that expected economic activity from leasing (jobs, local contracts) could see fewer near-term economic opportunities.
Federal budget and royalty receipts: Blocking leasing in these areas reduces the pool of future lease sales, which can lower prospective federal bonus bids, royalties, and rents that otherwise would be forecast from those areas. The near-term federal budget impact depends on whether other areas produce compensating revenue.
Federal agencies (Interior/BOEM): The Department of the Interior and BOEM must follow the new statutory restriction, which changes the agency’s leasing options and could shift planning, environmental review, and permitting workload to other areas or to non-leasing activities.
Legal and administrative actors: Because the statute references external documents to define covered areas, there is potential for disputes about whether a given area is covered if BOEM updates maps or program documents; that could lead to litigation or administrative challenges.
Net effect: The provision is a targeted, area-specific prohibition on new leasing authorizations. It primarily constrains future industry activity and federal leasing receipts in the named planning areas while potentially protecting environmental and coastal uses in those locations. It does not create new spending, taxes, or broad regulatory programs.
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Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Introduced April 10, 2025 by Frank Pallone · Last progress April 10, 2025
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Introduced in House