YourVoice.Now
Back to Dashboard
S-5039Senate2026-07-21Energy

License to Drill Act

YourVoice.Now Summary

Environmental ConcernsCorporate BenefitsTransparency & Accountability

Extends BLM's drilling-permit fee through 2037 and routes all of it to speeding up permit reviews.

Environmental Concerns

  • Drilling-permit fees routed to permit processing — From a portion to all, FY2027 through 2037

Corporate Benefits

  • Permit fee on drilling applicants — Collection extended through 2037

Transparency & Accountability

  • Mandatory re-examination of the fee — Sunset pushed from 2026 to 2037

The details

The fee the Interior Department charges for each new application to drill on federal land would keep going for another 11 years. Current law has the Bureau of Land Management collecting that fee through 2026. The bill extends collection through 2037. It also changes where the money goes. Today only part of the fees is transferred to the BLM Permit Processing Improvement Fund, which pays to speed up drilling-permit reviews. For fiscal years 2027 through 2037, all of the fees collected would go to that fund.

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.)

Details

Congress
119th
Chamber
Senate
Status
summarized
Action
Introduced in Senate
Action Date
2026-07-21
Date Added
2026-08-05
Source
Congress.gov →

Like reading a bill in plain English?

We're building an app that does this for every bill in Congress and lets you tell your reps how you want them to vote. We're a small team getting ready to launch, and we're trying to show investors that real people want this. Be one of them. Help us get it built. Leave your email and we'll tell you the moment the app is ready.

By default, we'll only email you once — when the app launches. Unless you opt in below, you won't receive anything else. We don't share or sell your email.