April 15, 2024 - Washington, D.C. – Last Friday, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) announced the administration has released new rules to cut wasteful speculation and prioritize oil and gas leasing on lands with higher potential for development. The senator repeatedly pushed the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to allow lands with low or no potential to be reprioritized for wildlife habitat preservation, outdoor recreation, grazing, and other uses. This action was first announced by the BLM in July of last year and will go into effect in June. Cortez Masto will continue to push for passage of her legislation, the End Speculative Oil and Gas Leasing Act, to ensure these changes are codified into law and cannot be undone by a future administration.

“I’m glad to see the administration heed my calls to safeguard Nevada’s public lands that have little to no potential for oil and gas development,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “This commonsense rule will ensure we are prioritizing lands that are actually suitable for development, instead of wasting time and money on speculative leasing. I’ll keep working to pass my legislation to codify this change into law and protect Nevada’s outdoor spaces.”

The BLM’s rules also include reforms to ensure that oil and gas companies, rather than taxpayers, pay the costs of cleaning up oil and gas wells. It also implements key reforms included in the Inflation Reduction Act by updating BLM’s administration of public lands.

Senator Cortez Masto has been a champion for Nevada’s great outdoor spaces and public lands. She’s introduced legislation to ban oil and gas development in Nevada’s beautiful and pristine Ruby Mountains. She passed critical legislation to permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which protects public lands in Nevada and across the U.S. Cortez Masto has also introduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation to reauthorize the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act, and she delivered critical funding to protect Lake Tahoe in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. 
Source: Senator Catherine Cortez Masto