CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Consistent with the direction in the Inflation Reduction Act, the Bureau of Land Management Wyoming today released an environmental assessment analyzing 115 oil and gas parcels totaling approximately 95,419 acres for a proposed lease sale that would be held in September 2023. The release of this environmental assessment starts a 30-day public comment period, which will end April 7, 2023.

The BLM completed scoping on these parcels in January and is now seeking public comment on the parcels, potential deferrals, and related environmental analysis. BLM will use input from the public to help complete its review of each parcel and determine if leasing of these parcels conforms with all applicable laws, policies, and land use plans. All parcels that are leased as part of an oil and gas lease sale include appropriate protections and stipulations, such as seasonal timing limitations and controlled surface use to protect sage-grouse habitat and other important natural resources.

The parcels the BLM is analyzing, as well as maps and instructions on how to comment are available on our ePlanning website at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2021772/510.

This BLM lease sale would include updated fiscal provisions authorized by Congress in the Inflation Reduction Act:

• Minimum bids for all offered parcels will be $10 per acre, an increase from the $2 per acre minimum bid set in 1987;
• Royalty rates will be 16.67 percent, up from the previous minimum of 12.5 percent; and
• Rental rates will be $3 per acre for the first two years, $5 per acre for years three through eight, and $15 per acre in years nine and ten. Prior to the Inflation Reduction Act, rental rates were $1.50 per acre for the first five years and $2 per acre for each year thereafter, rates originally set in 1987.

You can find further information about the Inflation Reduction Act in the BLM’s online fact sheet.