HR-7831 — License to Drill Act

This bill became law on 2026-05-20 as Public Law No. 119-134.

The summary below describes the bill at the version we last reviewed; the enacted text may differ.

YourVoice.Now Summary

EnvironmentCorporate BenefitsTransparency & Accountability

Drilling permit fees for oil and gas companies on federal land now run through 2037 — most people see no change.

Environment

Fund for public land drilling permits — extended through 2037

Every dollar of the fee goes into a fund the agency spends on oil and gas permit work on federal land. The law keeps that money flowing from 2027 through 2037.

Corporate Benefits

Drilling companies' protection from fee increases — extended to 2037

The Bureau of Land Management cannot write a rule raising this fee to cover its rising review costs, though the fee still grows with inflation. That block was due to lift after 2026 and now lasts through 2037.

Money oil and gas companies keep — permit fee extended to 2037

The drilling permit fee was set to stop after 2026. The law keeps companies paying it, $9,500 plus inflation since 2015 per application, for eleven more years.

Transparency & Accountability

Congress's next review of drilling fees — pushed from 2026 to 2037

The fee, the fund transfer, and the block on fee increases all shared a 2026 end date. Moving that date to 2037 means Congress does not have to act on them again until then.

More about this bill

If you do not work in oil and gas, you will notice no change in daily life. This law affects companies that drill on federal public land and the agency that reviews their permits. Companies pay a fee with each new application to drill a well on federal land. That fee was set to end after September 2026. It now runs through 2037. All of the fee money goes to a fund at the Bureau of Land Management, the agency that manages federal public land. The fund pays for the work of reviewing drilling permits. The agency also still may not raise the fee by rule to cover extra review costs. That limit now lasts through 2037 as well. The fee is set at $9,500 per application, rising with inflation since 2015. It costs more than that today.

Congressional Summary

License to Drill Act This bill extends through FY2037 the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) authority to collect oil and gas permit processing fees. For each new permit application, BLM collects a fee that is transferred to the BLM Permit Processing Improvement Fund. (Under current law, the fees are authorized through FY2026.)

Legislative Subjects

Licensing and registrationsMiningOil and gas

Details

Congress: 119th
Chamber: HOUSE
Status: introduced
Action: Became Public Law No: 119-134.
Action Date: 2026-05-20
Date Added: 2026-05-30
Source: Congress.gov →

Record 496efff5-b751-4ad7-9145-1ab7e4c3e233 · JSON

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