House Republicans are on the verge of overturning a series of Biden-era land-use plan revisions that restrict new oil and gas development and coal mining on millions of acres of federal lands.
The Natural Resources Committee’s portion of a massive budget reconciliation package approved early Wednesday after a marathon markup hearing would block the Interior secretary from implementing six revised BLM land management plans.
They include a resource management plan for the Rock Springs region in southwest Wyoming, finalized in December, that removed nearly 1 million acres from new oil and gas leasing, as well as an updated plan for the Buffalo Field Office that blocked new coal leasing in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin area.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum last month pledged to take steps to revoke bans on new leasing in the Powder River Basin area, including both in Wyoming and at the Miles City Field Office in eastern Montana.
