Passed
216 Yea209 Nay8 Not voting1/2 required
SJRES-80-119
Became Public Law No: 119-47.
Sponsored by Dan Sullivan (R-AK)
What it does
This law uses the Congressional Review Act to nullify the Bureau of Land Management's 2022 Integrated Activity Plan for the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A), a roughly 23-million-acre area on Alaska's North Slope. The 2022 rule had closed approximately 48% of the reserve to oil and gas leasing to protect wildlife habitat and subsistence resources for local communities. By nullifying the 2022 rule, the law reinstates the prior 2020 management plan, which allowed oil and gas leasing across a larger portion of the reserve.
Who benefits
Oil and gas companies holding or seeking leases in the NPR-A, who would regain access to previously closed acreage. Alaska state government, which receives a share of federal oil and gas revenues. Workers in Alaska's oil and gas industry who may see expanded employment opportunities. Energy consumers broadly, to the extent increased domestic supply affects prices. Federal government, which collects royalties and lease revenues from production.
Who is hurt
Alaska Native communities — particularly Iñupiat villages — that relied on the 2022 plan's subsistence protections for hunting and fishing. Wildlife dependent on the closed areas, including caribou, migratory birds, and polar bears. Environmental organizations that advocated for the 2022 protections. Downstream industries such as ecotourism and sport hunting that depend on intact wildlife populations. Future generations who may bear costs of any environmental degradation in the reserve.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue that the NPR-A was established by Congress specifically for petroleum development and that the 2022 rule's closure of nearly half the reserve contradicted that statutory purpose. They contend that expanding domestic oil production in the reserve strengthens U.S. energy security, reduces dependence on foreign suppliers, and generates significant federal and state revenues — with Alaska receiving roughly 50% of federal oil and gas receipts from the area. They further argue the 2020 plan already balanced development with environmental protections and that the 2022 rule imposed unnecessary restrictions without sufficient congressional authorization.
Opponents argue
Opponents argue that the 2022 plan was developed through years of scientific review and consultation with Alaska Native communities whose subsistence ways of life depend on the reserve's ecosystems, and that reinstating the 2020 plan strips away those hard-won protections. They contend that opening an additional 11 million acres to potential leasing poses serious risks to caribou calving grounds, migratory bird habitat, and coastal areas critical to polar bear survival. They further argue that the Congressional Review Act's use here prevents BLM from issuing any substantially similar rule in the future without new legislation, permanently foreclosing adaptive management options.
Constitutional context
The BLM's authority to manage the NPR-A derives from the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, both grounded in Congress's Property Clause power (Art. IV, §3, cl. 2) and the Commerce Clause. Post-Loper Bright (2024), courts would independently review whether BLM's 2022 rule exceeded its statutory authority — a question now moot given congressional nullification. The Congressional Review Act itself is a straightforward exercise of Congress's legislative power to rescind agency rules.
Checks and balances
Congress gains direct control over NPR-A land management by nullifying the executive agency's rule; the CRA also bars BLM from issuing any substantially similar rule without new congressional authorization, limiting future executive flexibility.
Historical precedent
Congress has used the Congressional Review Act to nullify major land and environmental rules before, most notably in 2017 when it rescinded the Stream Protection Rule issued by the Office of Surface Mining, which had restricted coal mining near waterways.
Passed