ANWR Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program

Current understanding

The Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program, established by Section 20001 of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, directs the Bureau of Land Management to hold lease sales across the 1.56-million-acre Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In December 2024 BLM issued a Record of Decision restricting leasing to a smaller footprint and making roughly 1.2 million acres unavailable; Congress used the Congressional Review Act to nullify that ROD, restoring broader availability for oil and gas leasing. Practical effects include renewed uncertainty for prospective bidders, ongoing litigation over prior lease cancellations, and continuing disputes over caribou, polar bear, and subsistence-use impacts.

Evidence log

• 2025-09-18 — Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to “National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Integrated Activity Plan Record of Decision”.: cross-connection with npr-a-integrated-activity-plan: Parallel CRA disapprovals of Biden-era Alaska federal leasing decisions (NPR-A 2022 IAP and ANWR Coastal Plain ROD) reverting to earlier, more leasing-permissive plans. (novelty: 2)
• 2025-12-11 — Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program Record of Decision.: cross-connection with npr-a-integrated-activity-plan: Both Alaska federal lands leasing programs saw their 2022/2024 restrictive Records of Decision nullified via CRA joint resolutions, reflecting a coordinated congressional reversal of Biden-era Interior leasing restrictions on the North Slope. (novelty: 3)

Open questions

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