The new rule “provides a fair return to taxpayers, adequately accounts for environmental harms and discourages speculation by oil and gas companies,'' said Laura Daniel-Davis, principal deputy assistant Interior secretary for land and minerals management.
The rule also would increase the minimum leasing bond paid by energy companies to $150,000, up from the previous $10,000 established in 1960. The higher bonding requirement is intended to ensure that companies meet their obligations to clean up drilling sites after they are done or cap wells that are abandoned.
Bureau of Land Management Director Tracy Stone-Manning, whose agency issued the new rule, said the proposal “aims to ensure fairness to the taxpayer and balanced, responsible development as we continue to transition to a clean energy economy. It includes common-sense and needed fiscal revisions to BLM’s program, many directed by Congress.”
“These changes were badly needed — to put it mildly — and will help make onshore leasing more fair to taxpayers and hold industry accountable for its harms,'' said Josh Axelrod of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
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