update the bonding requirements for leasing, development, and production; and,
Environmental groups were generally optimistic about the proposed rule while also admonishing the Biden administration to do more to restrict drilling on federal lands, citing the conflict of leasing public lands for fossil fuels while facing climate and biodiversity emergencies.
eliminate an existing national bond under which companies can pay $150,000 as insurance against damaged, abandoned wells anywhere in the country; The changes could take effect as soon as 2024. The Interior Department estimates the new rule would increase costs for fossil fuel companies by about $1.8 billion between now and 2031 — and even possibly more after that. These monies would be apportioned so that about half goes to states, a third to water projects in the West, and the rest would be split between the Treasury Department and Interior.
The law also orders the agency to set a minimum rental rate of $3 per acre on public drilling leases in the first two years after a lease is issued, rising to $15 per acre after 10 years, and to establish a new fee of $5 per acre for companies to formally register their interest in leasing public land for drilling.