License to Drill Act This 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.)
Summary by the Congressional Research Service, from the official record. Plain-language version below. Not legal advice.
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AI plain language2 sections
Written by AI from the complete official bill text and independently fact-checked against it. Not legal advice.
1Short title
This section would let the Act be called the License to Drill Act.
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Official text, verbatim from the record
1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the License to Drill Act .
2BLM oil and gas permit processing fee
This section would amend section 35(d) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 191(d)), the law that requires the Secretary of the Interior to collect a fee for each new application for a permit to drill for oil or gas. It would extend the fee-collection period set out in paragraph (1) so that it runs through fiscal year 2037 instead of ending after fiscal year 2026. It would rewrite paragraph (3) so that, for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2037, all of the fees collected under this subsection for that fiscal year would be transferred to the BLM Permit Processing Improvement Fund. It would also change a 2026 date to 2037 in paragraph (4) of the same subsection, extending by the same span of years whatever fee-related deadline or authority paragraph (4) sets, though the text given here does not describe what that paragraph covers beyond the date itself.
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Official text, verbatim from the record
2. BLM oil and gas permit processing fee
Section 35(d) of the Mineral Leasing Act ( 30 U.S.C. 191(d) ) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking 2026 and inserting 2037 ;
(2) in paragraph (3)—
(A) by striking Of the fees collected under this subsection for a fiscal year, the and inserting The ; and
(B) by striking transfer— and all that follows through the Fund and inserting transfer, for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2037, all of the fees collected under this subsection for each such fiscal year to the BLM Permit Processing Improvement Fund ; and
(3) in paragraph (4), by striking 2026 and inserting 2037 .
The on-site text is shown verbatim from the GovInfo publication, captured 2026-07-23. The same version at GovInfo.
The numbers
29%
of bills that passed one chamber became law in the 118th Congress, 2023 to 2024 (n=939)
4
sponsors, out of 218 needed to pass
Who is lobbying on this
AMERICAN EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION COUNCILvia AMERICAN EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION COUNCIL
2 filings
CHEVRON U.S.A. INC.via CHEVRON U.S.A. INC.
2 filings
CONOCOPHILLIPSvia CONOCOPHILLIPS
2 filings
INDEPENDENT PETROLEUM ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAvia INDEPENDENT PETROLEUM ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
2 filings
From 8 filings in federal lobbying disclosures (LDA), via lda.gov, naming this bill (2026). Filings are self-reported by lobbying firms and show who is paid to influence this bill. They do not say which side, or whether it worked.
Every fact on this page links to its source, starting with the official bill record. Last action: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably. (2026-07-29).