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Floor Speech
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Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I rise today to urge my colleagues to reject the Biden administration's unlawful attempt to stifle Alaska's congressionally mandated oil and gas leasing program in the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, ANWR. I urge my colleagues to support the Alaska congressional delegation's joint resolution of disapproval, H.J. Res. 131 and S.J. Res. 91, to reject unlawful regulatory overreach.
The implementation of the Biden administration's 2024 Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program Record of Decision, ROD, locked away nearly 75 percent of the Coastal Plain, also known as the 1002 Area, including lands that are projected to have substantial resources beneath them, from responsible oil and gas leasing--completely undermining the explicit and express will of Congress and ignoring the needs and input of local residents. Passing this joint resolution will disapprove this Record of Decision and prevent this circumvention of Federal law from happening again.
Alaska has a strong record of responsible resource development. The footprint of drilling pads on the North Slope has declined by 80 percent since the 1970s, while new and safer technology has expanded the reach of underground drilling by a significant margin. The result is that less land is being used to develop resources than ever before, as many modern sites cover just a few acres and are miles apart. These technological advancements have played a significant role in reducing impact to surrounding ecosystems. For example, the Central Arctic Caribou herd, which ranges throughout Prudhoe Bay, has seen its population grow for sustained periods alongside responsible development on the North Slope.
The prospect of oil and gas development within ANWR has a long history that dates back to before Alaska joined the Union as a State in 1959. In 1943, the Federal Government withdrew all the lands on the North Slope by Public Land Order, PLO 82, to prevent certain types of development. In 1960, the Department of the Interior, DOI, issued PLO 2214, setting aside 8.9 million acres to establish the Arctic National Wildlife Range for the purpose of preserving unique wildlife, wilderness, and recreation values, withdrawing the lands from ``all forms of appropriation . . . including mining but not the mineral leasing laws.'' PLO 2214 intentionally left open the possibility of the development of certain resources, including oil and gas.
Under the landmark 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, ANILCA, the Range was expanded to its present size of 19.3 million acres--an area nearly as large as South Carolina--and renamed the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Section 1002 of ANILCA directed the Department of the Interior to study the oil and gas potential of the 1.57-million-acre Coastal Plain, a designated area of ANWR that held great promise of oil and gas resources. However, section 1003 prohibited oil and gas production or leasing in ANWR unless authorized by an Act of Congress.
Over the following years, DOI completed assessments of the area's oil and gas potential and recommended that Congress lease the Coastal Plain area. The Coastal Plain showed remarkable prospects for oil development. The U.S. Geological Survey concluded in 1998 that the Coastal Plain held at least 4.3 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil, reporting: ``Technically recoverable oil within the ANWR 1002 area (excluding State and Native areas) is estimated to be between 4.3 and 11.8 billion barrels (95- and 5-percent probability range), with a mean value of 7.7 billion barrels.'' In 2005, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated that over 3 billion barrels were technically and economically recoverable in the Coastal Plain. Based on estimates such as these, DOI projected in 2024 that ANWR drilling would generate around $29 billion in revenue for the Federal Government through 2050.
Despite numerous efforts by Congress and the leadership of Alaska's congressional delegation to realize this potential, it was not until the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, TCJA, that the groundwork for authorizing drilling in ANWR was laid. Within this budget reconciliation bill, Congress directed the creation of the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program for the express purpose of generating revenue and offsetting the tax cuts included in the Act.
That was why, when Congress passed the TCJA, it included very clear and specific terms to make the lease sales successful and the exploration and development program economically feasible. Section 20001 of the 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act, TCJA, expressly mandates that the Department of the Interior, DOI, shall issue a competitive oil and gas program for the leasing, development, production, and transportation of oil and gas in and from the Coastal Plain. It amended ANILCA to add this purpose for ANWR, set specific royalty rates for leases, and directed that 50 percent of receipts for the oil and gas program and operations on Federal land be deposited in the U.S. Treasury with the State of Alaska receiving the remainder. The bill further directed at least two Coastal Plain lease sales within 10 years of enactment, the first by December 2021 and the second by December 2024, offering the areas with the highest hydrocarbon potential, with lease offerings of not fewer than 400,000 acres.
Congress left little discretion to DOI. DOI's role was only to establish and administer a competitive program and incorporate TCJA requirements to instill success and economic feasibility, including granting any easements or rights-of-way across the Coastal Plain for exploration, development, production, and transportation in the Coastal Plain that were necessary to carry out the terms of section 20001.
To implement Congress' directive, DOI conducted a National Environmental Policy Act process and issued a Final Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program Environmental Impact Statement, Final EIS, in September 2019 that closely followed congressional intent. In 2020, the Bureau of Land Management, BLM, under the first Trump administration, issued its ``Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program Record of Decision,'' based on Alternative B from the 2019 Final EIS that made all of the approximately 1.6 million acres of the program area available for oil and gas leasing. In January of 2021, a competitive lease sale was held and multiple bids were received by prospective developers as intended under the TCJA, raising millions of dollars for the United States. Congress had set out terms and conditions of the program, to give it a sound opportunity to succeed, and DOI followed its statutory directive.
However, following the election of President Biden, DOI reversed direction in 2021. On June 1, 2021, DOI issued a Secretarial Order temporarily halting all activities in the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program. In August 2023, DOI issued a new Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program and selected a much more restrictive plan for development, Alternative D. The new alternative's restrictive terms were contrary to the lease sale requirements set out in the TCJA and Congress' intent that DOI establish a competitive program designed for success and economic feasibility. In a Secretarial Order issued in September 2023, DOI imposed a blanket moratorium on development and canceled the lawfully purchased oil and gas leases in the Coastal Plain, an action the Alaska District Court subsequently found to be unlawful.
Then, in November 2024, BLM issued a Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, Final SEIS, that moved even further away from the TCJA. DOI selected a new preferred Alternative D2, which was so draconian that it was effectively a ``No Development'' plan and made nearly 1.2 million acres unavailable for leasing or exploration. On December 9, 2024, DOI issued its 2024 ROD selecting Alternative D2's terms and conditions for the oil and gas program. The December 2024 ROD's terms were so limiting that they would make leasing, exploration, and development on the Coastal Plain economically infeasible. Much of the Alternative D2 highest hydrocarbon potential area would essentially be off limits, as it would be subject to No Surface Occupancy or Controlled Surface Use stipulations. DOI offered only 995 acres of Surface Disturbance Area, less than half of the maximum 2,000 Surface Acres of Federal Land for Production and Support Facilities that the TCJA allowed. Alternative D2 contained so many limitations, restrictive stipulations, and Required Operating Procedures that it made leasing and development economically infeasible. As a result of this blatant attempt to undermine and disregard Congress' direction for a competitive oil and gas leasing program within the Coastal Plain, the DOI received zero bids and never truly held a competitive oil and gas lease sale. As I said at the time, January 20, 2025, and the inauguration of President Trump could not come soon enough.
Permit terms can undermine the program's economic feasibility in indirect ways, such as limiting the location of future drill pads and other infrastructure. As an example, one stipulation prevented use of areas near the shore, which would usually be used as a critical staging area for loading and unloading barges. The stipulation preventing use of that area requires staging to be pushed further inland, which in turn requires construction of ice or gravel roads to reach the barges-- a higher economic, logistic, and environmental impact. Other stipulations are redundant with existing State requirements. These are just some of the many examples of 2024 ROD terms that make the program economically infeasible. These terms and conditions in the 2024 ROD are part of why the Senate should pass this joint resolution to prohibit similar restrictions in the future.
The clear intent of Congress in the TCJA was that the Coastal Plain would produce billions of barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas which Alaska and the Nation need for energy security and revenue. Not only is it impossible for a competitive oil and gas leasing program to be administered through piecemeal offerings of land tracts which exclude areas known to have proven potential for significant hydrocarbon reserves, but in doing so, the 2024 ROD ignored explicit instructions put forth by Congress in the TCJA. Congress clearly stated the Secretary ``shall establish and administer a competitive oil and gas program for the leasing, development, production, and transportation of oil and gas in and from the Coastal Plain,'' that the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Program ``shall'' be supported by lease offerings of ``not fewer'' than 400,000 acres, and the 400,000 acres ``shall'' consist of ``those areas that have the highest potential for the discovery of hydrocarbons.'' The Biden DOI's sabotage of the program went directly against the policy and purposes of the TCJA.
When an agency fails to follow mandates from Congress, Congress has the tool of the Congressional Review Act, CRA, to correct those actions. DOI must follow the statutory mandates from Congress and allow meaningful and reasonable economic development of the Coastal Plain. No other law or detailed terms and conditions imposed by DOI can destroy the clear statutory direction given by Congress in the 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act. If the Biden administration's onerous terms and conditions were allowed to stand, there would not be any ``program for the leasing, development, production, and transportation of oil and gas'' from any of the most prospective leases in the Coastal Plain.
In its selection of Alternative D2, the Biden administration claimed to be listening to the concerns of indigenous voices when this could not be further from the truth. In practice, the Biden administration deliberately ignored the only communities who live near and within the boundaries of ANWR and was instead beholden to radical environmental interests which, in contrast to local communities, supported a moratorium on ANWR development and led to the creation of the 2024 ROD. Fortunately, elections have consequences, and on January 20, his first day in office of his second term, President Trump signed Executive Order 14153, ``Unleashing Alaska's Extraordinary Resource Potential,'' which called for the rescission of Biden's illegal cancellation of the ANWR leases and the 2024 SEIS, review of the 2024 ROD, and a reinstatement of the 2020 Final EIS and 2020 ROD issued during the first Trump administration.
This past summer, Secretary of the Interior and Chairman of the National Energy Dominance Council Doug Burgum flew to Alaska and held a townhall on the North Slope with regional leaders and listened to their concerns, showing respect for the Alaska Native people who live there. During the townhall, the Secretary heard the testimony of Charles Lampe, a resident of Kaktovik--the only community located fully within ANWR--and the President of Kaktovik Inupiat Corporation, KIC. KIC is a village corporation established by the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. KIC owns approximately 92,000 acres of surface lands, but is completely enveloped within ANWR and hampered from developing these acres to their fullest potential. Mr. Lampe shared the continuous efforts undertaken by KIC in order to open ANWR to oil and gas operations. He highlighted the fact that pursuing oil and gas endeavors in ANWR is essential to realizing self-determination within Kaktovik. In testimony on Coastal Plain oil and gas development delivered to the House Committee on Natural Resources in 2023, Mr. Lampe objected to radical environmental interests that support turning the community and its surrounding land into a giant national park, claiming such an action ``literally guarantees us a fate with no economy, no jobs, reduced subsistence, and no hope for the future of our people.'' In front of those gathered, Secretary Burgum committed to rectifying this injustice.
Because of the opportunities provided by oil and gas operations, this industry has provided thousands of good-paying jobs to Alaskans, become the primary driver of my State's economy, and transformed many of our rural communities. Oil and gas revenues fund education, essential infrastructure, and community services across the State, making responsible resource development truly a matter of life or death for Alaskans. In 1954, the Interior Department, with the help of the University of Pittsburgh, conducted a study of the health of Alaska Natives. Many of our communities in rural Alaska all had some of the lowest levels of life expectancy in the entire world. Between 1980 and 2014, the average lifespan increased by 13 years across the region, largely due to oil and gas revenue providing the opportunity to install what we consider to be basic and essential community infrastructure. To say these operations have had a positive impact on the local communities is a gross understatement, an ideal that is reflected in the testimony of Mr. Lampe.
This Congress has already taken decisive steps to reassert its authority over the Coastal Plain. In the ``Working Families Tax Cut Act,'' P.L. 119-21, Congress mandated lease sales to be offered under the same terms and conditions set forth in the August 2020 ROD for the FEIS of the original Coastal Plain leasing program. In October, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum made good on his commitments to the people of Kaktovik and issued a new Coastal Plain Leasing Program based on the 2020 ROD. Passage of this joint resolution would durably protect against another rogue administration promulgating a substantially similar anti-development leasing program for the Coastal Plain as contained in the 2024 ROD. It will prevent actions that aim to inhibit the self-determination of the people of Kaktovik and other North Slope communities by attempting to turn Alaska into one giant national park while denying access to the abundance of readily available natural resources needed to advance energy security, economic opportunity, and community development.
Congress' direction that DOI establish and administer a competitive lease program was nondiscretionary and much more limited than the action DOI took in the 2024 ROD. To the extent DOI, or any other Agency, imposes permit terms or operational requirements that impede the economic feasibility of the program, they undermine the primary purpose of the TCJA: to establish a competitive program that will actually generate the billion dollars in revenue anticipated. The Act specifically states that DOI must grant easements or rights-of-way across the Coastal Plain that are necessary for exploration, development, production, and transportation in the Coastal Plain to carry out the terms of section 20001, and DOI's permit operating procedure terms must be consistent with Congress' intent in the same way to be consistent with law. Those permit and operational terms can be identified, revised, and readopted to conform to the TCJA intent.
I urge my colleagues to reject this blatant contravention of congressional directives and unlawful regulatory overreach, reinforce American energy dominance, and listen to Alaska Native voices by supporting the Alaska congressional delegation and voting for this joint resolution of disapproval and rescinding this Record of Decision.
Res. 131--Joint Resolution Providing for Congressional Disapproval
of the Rule Submitted by the Bureau of Land Management Relating to ``Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program Record of Decision''--(Rep. Begich, R-Ak)
The Administration strongly supports passage of H.J. Res. 131, which would disapprove a Record of Decision issued by the Bureau of Land Management during the previous Administration. The 2024 Biden-era Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program Record of Decision imposed burdensome and unnecessary restrictions on oil and gas leasing in the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, an area set aside by Congress for potential oil and gas production, by reducing the acreage available for responsible development and imposing broad restrictions that undermine the Nation's energy security and economic interests.
The Record of Decision, against the wishes of those who actually live on the North Slope, effectively nullified statutory directives from Congress to establish and administer a competitive leasing program for the Coastal Plain by placing more than 1 million acres off limits and layering on operational constraints that make leasing commercially impracticable. This disastrous Record of Decision stifled the energy needs of our nation in unnecessary red tape, destroyed confidence in Federal leasing programs, and wreaked investment certainty across the energy sector.
President Trump is committed to unleashing American energy dominance and Alaska's extraordinary resource potential. Unlike the short-sighted and completely failed America-Last energy policies of the Biden Administration, President Trump prioritizes energy independence, global energy dominance against our adversaries, and high-paying job creation that supports Alaska's communities. The Trump Administration is committed to driving down energy costs, and putting hardworking Americans and their paychecks first.
If H.J. Res. 131 were presented to the President in its current form, his advisors would recommend that he sign it into law. ____ Kaktovik Inupiat Corporation, December 3, 2025. Hon. Lisa Murkowski, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC. Hon. Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC. Hon. Nicholas Begich III, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Senators Murkowski, Sullivan and Representative Begich: On behalf of the Kaktovik Inupiat Corporation (KIC) and our shareholders, I am writing to express our strong support for S.J. Res. 91, the resolution disapproving the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) 2024 Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program Record of Decision under the Congressional Review Act.
KIC is the village corporation for Kaktovik, established under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA) to manage surface estate, support economic self- determination, and protect the long-term interests of our Inupiat shareholders. Kaktovik is the only community located within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), and KIC holds significant ANCSA lands within the Coastal Plain lands that Congress specifically conveyed to our people so that local Inupiat, not distant federal agencies, would have a central voice in decisions about our homeland.
For decades, KIC has participated constructively in every federal process affecting the 1002 Area. We have consistently supported responsible, science-based resource development because we live here, we understand this place better than anyone, and our community depends both on a healthy environment and a stable local economy. Support for S.J. Res. 91 and H.J. Res. 131
S.J. Res. 91, introduced by Senator Murkowski and co- sponsored by Senator Sullivan, and its companion measure in the House, H.J. Res. 131, introduced by Representative Begich, are identical resolutions providing for congressional disapproval of BLM's 2024 Coastal Plain ROD (hereinafter referred to as the 2024 ROD) and subsequent Government Accountability Office (GAO) conclusion that such record of decision is a rule.
These resolutions are necessary because the Biden administration's 2024 ROD undermines responsible resource development required by law, disregards ANCSA, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 (ANILCA), and ignores the voices of the only people who live on the Coastal Plain. Background: The History of Federal Direction on the Coastal Plain
The Coastal Plain has long been recognized by Congress as an area with substantial energy potential and is an area where development was explicitly authorized for mineral leasing under P.L. 115-97 (Tax Cuts and Jobs Act). Why the 2024 ROD is Harmful to Kaktovik and ANCSA Rights
2024 ROD:
Kaktovik--the only community in the entire Refuge--bears the full weight of the impacts. Yet our voice was minimized while outside interests were elevated over the rights and concerns of the people who live here and are the most impacted by these decisions. The process in the development of the 2024 ROD, disregarded our local indigenous knowledge, our rights to consultation and the Secretary for the Department of the Interior's own orders for meaningful consultation.
The 2020 Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program (2020 program) included robust protections for wildlife and sensitive habitats and was supported by the elected leadership from the North Slope and Kaktovik. The development of the 2020 program followed a transparent process that incorporated meaningful consultation with our community, recognizing the connection between economic self- determination, our community and our culture.
Restoring the 2020 program ROD and overturning the 2024 ROD as a rule is consistent with the FY 2025 reconciliation bill, which requires four lease sales over the next decade. Secretary Burgum has already reinstated the 2020 program ROD, and both the Senate and House measures ensure future administrations cannot disregard federal law or sideline our people and communities. Bottom Line: The 2024 ROD Must Be Nullified
The 2024 ROD's restrictive approach is unlawful, unworkable, and deeply harmful to our people whose lands and livelihoods are directly affected.
S.J. Res. 91 and H.J. Res 131:
KIC appreciates your leadership in standing with our community and ensuring that the laws governing our homeland are followed. We urge swift passage of S.J. Res. 91 and H.J. Res 131.
Thank you for your continued support of Kaktovik and the Inupiat people of the North Slope. Sincerely, Charles Lampe, President, Kaktovik Inupiat Corporation. ____
Congressional Review Act: Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program
The 1,563,500-million-acre Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) is a frontier basin that holds strong potential for oil and gas development. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates it may contain between 4.25 and 11.8 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil.
The hallmark legislation from President Trump's first term, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, directed the Secretary of the Interior, through the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), to establish and administer a competitive oil and gas program for the Coastal Plain. On Jan. 6, 2021, the BLM conducted its fIrst lease sale in the Coastal Plain of ANWR, pursuant to the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program August 2020 Record of Decision (ROD). Then, in 2021, Biden's Department of the Interior ignored congressional intent and suspended all activities related to implementing the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program pending completion of a comprehensive analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act.
Then, on December 8, 2024, on Biden's way out of office after losing the election, his administration issued a new Record of Decision that made only 400,000 acres available for a second lease sale, effectively closing off 74.4 percent of the Coastal Plain to oil and gas development.
The BLM is currently implementing Executive Order 14153 and Secretary's Order 3422 to unleash the resource potential of the Coastal Plain by reinstating the 2020 ROD and resuming and expanding leasing on the Coastal Plain, in accordance with the law. The BLM is also implementing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act which requires four lease sales in the Coastal Plain over the next seven years.
The table below summarizes and compares key aspects of the Biden 2024 ROD and the 2020 ROD for the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program. The 2020 ROD would govern the program if the Biden 2024 ROD is disapproved. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2024 Biden ROD: 2020 ROD: CRA Implications: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 400,000 acres open for oil and 1,563,500 acres Open 1,163,500 gas leasing. open for oil and additional acres gas leasing. for oil and gas leasing 231,700 acre as access to 358,100 acre as Open 126,400 directional drilling to access access to additional acres oil and gas resources. directional to directional drilling to drilling access oil and gas resources. 84,300 acres requiring No acres requiring Revert 84,300 controlled surface use. controlled acres to leasing surface use. without controlled surface use restrictions 1,532,400 riparian or wetland 1,508,800 riparian Reduce 23,600 acres. or wetland acres. acres identified as riparian areas and wetlands ------------------------------------------------------------------------
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