Waste Prevention Rule

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is issuing this notice to inform operators that it is choosing to exercise its enforcement discretion to delay enforcement of certain compliance deadlines found in the rule entitled, “Waste Prevention, Production Subject to Royalties, and Resource Conservation Rule” (Waste Prevention Rule), published as final on April 10, 2024. 

The delayed enforcement deadlines are as follows: 

• 43 CFR 3179.71(f) - for flares flowing between 1,050 and 6,000 mcf/month. These regulations require operators to have measurement devices and sampling in place for flares with flows between 1,050 mcf/month and 6,000 mcf/month by December 10, 2025. Other compliance deadlines for high-pressure flares with flows between 6,000 mcf/month and 30,000 mcf/month (in effect since June 10, 2025), and flares with flows of more than 30,000 mcf (in effect since December 10, 2024) remain in effect.  

• 43 CFR 3179.100(d). 43 CFR 3179.100 requires operators with Federal or Indian leases to maintain and submit a BLM administrative statewide Leak Detection and Repair (LDAR) program for applicable leases to the appropriate BLM state office(s), and 43 CFR 3179.102 requires operators to maintain records related to an LDAR program. For leases that were in effect on June 10, 2024, 43 CFR 3179.100(d) requires operators to submit a statewide LDAR program to the applicable BLM state office no later than December 10, 2025. 

Since BLM is in the process of considering revisions to the regulations related to the above measurement-and-sampling requirements and the LDAR program filing requirements, BLM is choosing to delay enforcement of these two December 10, 2025, regulatory compliance deadlines. The BLM will not enforce these December 10, 2025, deadlines for an additional year until December 10, 2026, before which BLM will reassess this notice. 

Please note that the obligation to repair leaks required by 43 CFR 3179.101 remains in effect.   

BLM will also post this notice on its webpage and plans to publish an extension of the two December 10, 2025, regulatory deadlines in the Federal Register.  

Please direct your questions to John Ajak, Deputy Division Chief, Fluid Minerals at 505-549-9654 or [email protected] or Amanda Fox, Petroleum Engineer, at 907-538-2300 or [email protected].