United States 119th Congress Status: In Committee 4 R cosponsors

S 722 — Bureau of Land Management Mineral Spacing Act

Last action — Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed Senate
  4. 4
    Passed House
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill is in committee in the Senate. Introduced February 25, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee vote, then a floor vote in the Senate.

Odds of enactment

Low chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a low chance of becoming law.

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A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.

Prognosis

Stalled 22% · moderate confidence

  • In Committee

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 4 sponsors

    1 primary, 3 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (4 R).

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

Summary

Bureau of Land Management Mineral Spacing ActThis bill exempts certain exploration and production activities from federal oil and gas drilling permit requirements. Generally, the exemption applies to activities on land with (1) a surface estate that the federal government does not own, and (2) an underlying mineral estate only partially owned by the federal government. It does not apply to tribal lands.Specifically, the bill bans the Department of the Interior from requiring a permit under the Mineral Leasing Act (MLA) whenthe federal government does not own or lease the surface estate, and it owns less than 50% of the mineral estate;a well is located on nonfederal land overlying a nonfederal mineral estate, but some portion of the wellbore (i.e., drilled hole) enters and produces oil and gas from the federal mineral estate subject to the lease; ora well is located on nonfederal land overlying a nonfederal mineral estate, but some portion of the wellbore traverses but does not produce oil or gas from the federal mineral estate subject to the lease.The bill also specifies that, in the case of an oil and gas lease on such land, the MLA does not authorize Interior to require a bond to protect nonfederal land, impose mitigation requirements, require approval for surface reclamation, or enter nonfederal land without consent of the landowner. However, lessees of federal mineral estates must authorize Interior to enter nonfederal land for inspection and enforcement of the terms of the federal lease.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Introduced in Senate

  2. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 3 co-sponsors · 543 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (3)

Not signed on (543)

543 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 543 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

environment energy
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does S 722 do?
Bureau of Land Management Mineral Spacing ActThis bill exempts certain exploration and production activities from federal oil and gas drilling permit requirements. Generally, the exemption applies to activities on land with (1) a surface estate that the federal government does not own, and (2) an underlying mineral estate only partially owned by the federal government. It does not apply to tribal lands.Specifically, the bill bans the Department of the Interior from requiring a permit under the Mineral Leasing Act (MLA) whenthe federal government does not own or lease the surface estate, and it owns less than 50% of the mineral estate;a well is located on nonfederal land overlying a nonfederal mineral estate, but some portion of the wellbore (i.e., drilled hole) enters and produces oil and gas from the federal mineral estate subject to the lease; ora well is located on nonfederal land overlying a nonfederal mineral estate, but some portion of the wellbore traverses but does not produce oil or gas from the federal mineral estate subject to the lease.The bill also specifies that, in the case of an oil and gas lease on such land, the MLA does not authorize Interior to require a bond to protect nonfederal land, impose mitigation requirements, require approval for surface reclamation, or enter nonfederal land without consent of the landowner. However, lessees of federal mineral estates must authorize Interior to enter nonfederal land for inspection and enforcement of the terms of the federal lease.
Who sponsors S 722?
S 722 is sponsored by Hoeven, John (Republican), Barrasso, John (Republican), Cramer, Kevin (Republican), and Daines, Steve (Republican).
What is the current status of S 722?
This bill is in committee in the Senate. Introduced February 25, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track S 722?
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