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S 722 119th Congress Senate Energy

Bureau of Land Management Mineral Spacing Act

Introduced: February 25, 2025 Introduced by: Hoeven, John Republican · North Dakota See on congress.gov
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 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Feb 25, 2025
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Feb 25, 2025
Introduced in Senate
 Votes taken on this bill 2
DateChamberWhat was voted onResultYes–No
Jun 15, 2017 Senate · vote #147 On Passage of the Bill S. 722 Passed 98–2 See who voted →
Jun 7, 2017 Senate · vote #140 On the Cloture Motion S. 722 Agreed To 91–8 See who voted →
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 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Bureau of Land Management Mineral Spacing Act

This bill exempts certain exploration and production activities from federal oil and gas drilling permit requirements. Generally, the exemption applies to activities on land with (1) a surface estate that the federal government does not own, and (2) an underlying mineral estate only partially owned by the federal government. It does not apply to tribal lands.

Specifically, the bill bans the Department of the Interior from requiring a permit under the Mineral Leasing Act (MLA) when

  • the federal government does not own or lease the surface estate, and it owns less than 50% of the mineral estate;
  • a well is located on nonfederal land overlying a nonfederal mineral estate, but some portion of the wellbore (i.e., drilled hole) enters and produces oil and gas from the federal mineral estate subject to the lease; or
  • a well is located on nonfederal land overlying a nonfederal mineral estate, but some portion of the wellbore traverses but does not produce oil or gas from the federal mineral estate subject to the lease.

The bill also specifies that, in the case of an oil and gas lease on such land, the MLA does not authorize Interior to require a bond to protect nonfederal land, impose mitigation requirements, require approval for surface reclamation, or enter nonfederal land without consent of the landowner. However, lessees of federal mineral estates must authorize Interior to enter nonfederal land for inspection and enforcement of the terms of the federal lease.

What's happening now February 25, 2025

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
 Lobbying activity 4

Registered lobbyists who named this bill in their disclosure filings. Source: federal Lobbying Disclosure Act filings.

 Cosponsors 3
All 3 Republican 3
R
Barrasso, John
Wyoming · Feb 25, 2025
 R
Cramer, Kevin
North Dakota · Feb 25, 2025
 R
Daines, Steve
Montana · Feb 25, 2025
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 722: Bureau of Land Management Mineral Spacing Act. 119th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-722/
MLA
"S. 722: Bureau of Land Management Mineral Spacing Act." 119th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-722/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 722, 119th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-722/.
Markdown link
[S. 722: Bureau of Land Management Mineral Spacing Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-722/)
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