BLM Issues New Protest Procedures for Oil and Gas Lease Sales/Sale Parcels

The Bureau of Land Management today issued new procedures for the filing of protests on lands included in oil and natural gas lease sales. Protests will have to be received at least 15 days prior to the date of the sale.

“These new procedures protect the rights of the public to protest the sale and provide input,” said Tom Lonnie, the BLM’s Assistant Director for Minerals, Realty and Resource Protection. “It also gives land managers an opportunity to resolve disputed issues or make adjustments to a lease sale.”

Protest filing criteria include:

• The BLM state office handling the sale must receive all protests of competitive oil and gas sales or sale parcels at least 15 calendar days prior to the date of the sale.
• Protests may be submitted by mail in hard-copy form or by telefax, but not by e-mail.
• Protests must include the name and address of the protesting party. Protests must state the relationship between the party submitting the protest and the protesting party. For instance, a member of an environmental group can submit a protest, but cannot submit one on behalf of the group unless authorized to do so.

The BLM is establishing a deadline for filing protests and statements of reason to ensure an orderly process, provide an appropriate announcement of protests at sales, and to help meet the statutory deadline for issuance of leases. The agency will make every effort to resolve protests, one way or the other, within 60 days of a sale.

Several states, particularly in the Rocky Mountain region, routinely receive one or more protests on posted sale offerings. Frequently, the BLM does not receive protests until the day before or the morning of a sale. In other cases, the Bureau receives the protest in a timely fashion but does not receive the statement of reasons until just before or even after the sale. When this occurs, the BLM state office handling the sale has no opportunity to review the reasons for the protest in advance of the sale and decide whether withdrawing a protested parcel from the sale is appropriate. Late receipt of the protest and supporting materials makes it difficult for the BLM to adequately review this information and then issue a lease – if the agency decides to deny the protest – within the statutorily-mandated 60 days.

The BLM, an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior, manages more land – 261 million acres – than any other Federal agency. Most of this public land is located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The Bureau also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation.

This page was created by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Office of Public Affairs 1849 C Street, Room 406-LS Washington, DC 20240 Phone: (202) 452-5125 Fax: (202) 452-5124

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