HR513Referred to Committee

Offshore Lands Authorities Act of 2025

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Introduced
In Committee
3
Passed One Chamber
4
Passed Both
5
Signed into Law
119th
Congress
2025-01-16
Introduced
25
Cosponsors
HR
ⓘ
Type

Sponsor

Clay Higgins
Clay Higgins
Republican · LA · Representative
Votes with party: 91.7% (593 recorded votes)

Full profile: /officials/H001077

Source: Congress.gov · FEC

Cosponsors (25)

Members who have signed on to support this bill since introduction. Source: Congress.gov.

Latest Action

The most recent step in the bill's legislative path. Committee Activity below shows referrals and reports; the full action-by-action history including floor proceedings lives at Congress.gov →

Subcommittee Hearings Held

2025-05-20

Source: Congress.gov

Committee Activity

Currently in

Plain-English Summary

Offshore Lands Authorities Act of 2025 This bill limits the withdrawal of unleased lands of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) from areas that may be leased for mineral development and nullifies certain past withdrawals. The OCS includes the federally managed ocean area extending from the outer boundaries of state-controlled waters (generally 3 nautical miles [nmi] from shore) to 200 nmi from shore, with some exceptions. Specifically, the bill limits the President's authority to restrict offshore development of minerals, such as oil and gas, on the OCS. For example, the bill (1) caps the number of acres of OCS lands that a President may withdraw from areas that may be leased; (2) prohibits withdrawals from being made for a period longer than 20 years; (3) prohibits the President from making withdrawals of unleased land that conflict with areas included in lease sales scheduled under approved oil and gas leasing programs; and (4) prohibits the President from withdrawing unleased lands unless the Department of the Interior has completed assessments addressing issues such as mineral resources and the national security, economic, and energy value of the identified mineral deposits. The President must also obtain congressional approval before withdrawing more than 500,000 acres cumulatively. Further, the bill gives Congress the authority to review and disapprove withdrawals by enacting a joint resolution. In addition, the bill nullifies certain presidential memoranda and executive orders related to withdrawing unleased land from areas that may be leased for the development of oil, gas, or other minerals on the OCS.

Plain-English rewrite of the Congressional Research Service summary published on Congress.gov. Cached and reviewed.

Subjects

Energy
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