Sponsors (7)
The bill reduces compliance complexity and clarifies administration for energy lessees and the Interior Department, but does so by removing an administrative fee that may cut oversight funding and create short-term compliance uncertainty, potentially shifting costs to taxpayers.
Energy companies and mineral lessees will face simplified statutory text and fewer administrative fee requirements, reducing compliance complexity and likely lowering administrative costs for those businesses.
Department of the Interior lease administrators and federal employees will have clearer statutory cross‑references, lowering the risk of procedural errors and improving lease administration efficiency.
Taxpayers may face higher costs because removing the administrative fee reduces dedicated revenue that funded oversight and processing, potentially shifting those costs onto the federal budget.
Energy companies and mineral lessees may experience short-term uncertainty and compliance difficulties during the transition as provisions and cross‑references are changed or deleted, increasing administrative burden temporarily.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Removes an administrative fee from the Mineral Leasing Act and updates related statutes and cross‑references, restoring revenue previously reduced by that fee.
Introduced February 6, 2025 by Steve Daines · Last progress February 6, 2025
Removes a federal administrative fee tied to mineral leasing and updates several related statutes so state mineral revenues previously reduced by that fee are restored. The bill deletes the fee provision from the Mineral Leasing Act and makes conforming edits to the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands, the Geothermal Steam Act, and the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act to fix cross‑references and wording. The change shifts small sums previously retained as a federal administrative charge back toward state receipts and requires federal agencies to adjust statutory references and administrative practice; it does not create new programs or appropriate funds.