The License to Drill Act extends the Bureau of Land Management's authority to collect a per-application fee from oil and gas companies seeking federal drilling permits, pushing the expiration date from 2026 to 2037. Starting in fiscal year 2027, all fees collected each year — rather than just a portion — must be transferred to the BLM Permit Processing Improvement Fund, which is used to staff and speed up the federal permit review process. The change affects energy companies that apply for drilling permits on federal public lands; ordinary households are not directly charged. No changes are made to environmental review standards, emission rules, or public-lands leasing policy.
Corporate Benefits
- Permit fee program extended — oil and gas companies continue paying per-application fees through 2037 rather than an expiring 2026 deadline
- Fund allocation expanded — 100% of collected fees flow to BLM processing capacity, up from a partial share
Congressional Summary
License to Drill ActThis 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
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Reported to House
- Action Date
- 2026-05-20
- Date Added
- 2026-05-30
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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