H.R. 1555 · 119th Congress

Bureau of Land Management Mineral Spacing Act

Introduced on Feb 25, 2025 by Stephanie I. Bice (R-OK-5). 3 cosponsors, all from the sponsor's party. Latest action (Sep 15, 2026): Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by the Yeas and Nays: 21 - 16.

Stage
Introduced
Introduced
Feb 25, 2025
Cosponsors
3
0 from the other party
Policy area
Energy
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Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. 2Reported by committee
  3. 3Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to streamline the oil and gas permitting process and to recognize fee ownership for certain oil and gas drilling or spacing units, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Energy revenues and royalties
  • Indian lands and resources rights
  • Mining
  • Oil and gas

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Introduced in House, Feb 25, 2025). Public domain.

Bureau of Land Management Mineral Spacing Act

This bill exempts certain oil and gas exploration and production activities from permit and environmental review requirements. This exemption applies to activities conducted on nonfederal surface estates located on partially federally-held mineral rights.

Specifically, the bill prohibits the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from requiring an operator to obtain a federal drilling permit under the Mineral Leasing Act for oil and gas exploration and production activities conducted on a nonfederal surface estate if (1) less than 50% of the subsurface mineral estate to be accessed by the proposed action is federally owned, and (2) the operator submits to the BLM a state permit to conduct such activities on the nonfederal surface estate.

Those activities are not considered to be a major federal action under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), and thus are exempt from environmental review requirements under NEPA. Further, those activities are exempt from requirements for federal actions under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 and the Endangered Species Act of 1973.

The bill does not apply to Indian lands.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Stephanie I. BiceR-OK-5Sponsor

Republicans · 3

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Feb 25, 2025Introduced in House
  2. Feb 25, 2025Introduced in House
  3. Feb 25, 2025 · HouseReferred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
  4. Mar 18, 2026 · HouseReferred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.
  5. Mar 25, 2026 · HouseSubcommittee Hearings Held
  6. Sep 15, 2026 · HouseSubcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources Discharged
  7. Sep 15, 2026 · HouseCommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
  8. Sep 15, 2026 · HouseOrdered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by the Yeas and Nays: 21 - 16.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Who lobbied on it

Organizations whose lobbying reports (LD-2) name this measure. Spending is what they reported for those quarters on all issues, not on this measure alone.

  1. American Exploration & Production Council4 reports
    $2.3M reported (all issues)
  2. DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE2 reports
    $370K reported (all issues)
  3. Independent Petroleum Association of America2 reports
    $430K reported (all issues)
  4. CONOCOPHILLIPS1 report
    $750K reported (all issues)
  5. LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS, INC1 report
    $200K reported (all issues)

Reports filed in 2025, 2026.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 9, 2026 · loaded Oct 9, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 9, 2026 · loaded Oct 9, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.
  • Money and votes are shown side by side; neither explains the other.