Notice2025-19237
Implementing Section 50203 of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
October 2, 2025
Effective
October 2, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentLand Management Bureau
Abstract
Pursuant to section 50203 of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), enacted on July 4, 2025, the Secretary of the Interior is making available for coal leasing approximately 13,103,000 acres of Federal mineral estate. The OBBBA directs the Secretary of the Interior to make available for coal leasing a minimum of 4,000,000 additional acres of the Federal mineral estate within 90 days of enactment. This notice identifies the additional acreage that is available for leasing. All future coal lease applications will be subject to existing regulatory requirements that apply to leasing Federal coal.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 189 (Thursday, October 2, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 189 (Thursday, October 2, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47813-47815]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-19237]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[A2407-014-004-065516; #O2412-014-004-047181.1]
Implementing Section 50203 of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of land available for coal leasing.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 50203 of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
(OBBBA), enacted on July 4, 2025, the Secretary of the Interior is
making available for coal leasing approximately 13,103,000 acres of
Federal mineral estate. The OBBBA directs the Secretary of the Interior
to make available for coal leasing a minimum of 4,000,000 additional
acres of the Federal mineral estate within 90 days of enactment. This
notice identifies the additional acreage that is available for leasing.
All future coal lease applications will be subject to existing
regulatory requirements that apply to leasing Federal coal.
DATES: Lands identified in this notice are available for coal leasing
effective October 2, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Indra Dahal, Deputy Division Chief,
Solid Minerals Division, at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#f59c91949d9499b5979998db929a83"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c4ada0a5aca5a884a6a8a9eaa3abb2">[email protected]</span></a> or by phone at (202) 742-
0601. For technical or regulatory questions, you may reach out to
Thomas Huebner, Coal Program Lead, at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#1e6a766b7b7c707b6c5e7c727330797168"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="baced2cfdfd8d4dfc8fad8d6d794ddd5cc">[email protected]</span></a> or by phone at
(307) 775-6195.
Individuals in the United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of
hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or
TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services for contacting
Mr. Huebner. Individuals outside the United States should use the relay
services offered within their country to make international calls to
the point-of-contact in the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On July 4, 2025, President Trump signed into
law H.R. 1 (Pub. L. 119-21), also known as the OBBBA. Section 50203 of
the
[[Page 47814]]
OBBBA states that notwithstanding section 2(a)(3)(A) of the Mineral
Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 201(a)(3)(A)) and section 202(a) of the Federal
Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712(a)), not later
than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of
the Interior shall make available for lease known recoverable coal
resources of not less than 4,000,000 additional acres on Federal land
located in the 48 contiguous States and Alaska subject to the
jurisdiction of the Secretary, but which shall not include any Federal
lands within--
(1) a National Monument;
(2) a National Recreation Area;
(3) a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System;
(4) a component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System;
(5) a component of the National Trails System;
(6) a National Conservation Area;
(7) a unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System;
(8) a unit of the National Fish Hatchery System; or
(9) a unit of the National Park System.
One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Sec. 50203, Public Law 119-21, 139
Stat. 72.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages 248 million surface
acres of public land, predominantly in the western United States, and
over 700 million subsurface acres of mineral estate nationwide. BLM
conducted an analysis to identify lands that could be made available
for coal leasing under section 50203. BLM analyzed public lands that it
manages, lands where the surface estate is managed by other federal
agencies and the subsurface is managed by the BLM, as well as split
estate lands where the surface estate is owned by private owners or
State or local governments and the subsurface minerals are owned by the
federal government and managed by the BLM. This analysis incorporated
multiple data sources, such as United States Geological Survey coal
field data, BLM surface management agency data, Federal mineral data,
existing authorized coal leases, and the BLM's Land Use Planning data
to identify coal resources that were unavailable for coal leasing as of
the date of enactment of the OBBBA. The BLM reviewed the areas where
there are known coal resources that are currently closed to coal
leasing and compared them to the nine exclusions listed in section
50203, areas already under coal lease, areas withdrawn from mineral
leasing and other public laws, and mineral estate with surface acres
that are under the jurisdiction of other Federal agencies, not
including lands, where appropriate, or portions of lands under the
jurisdiction of the Department of War, including through the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of
Veterans Affairs, Department of Energy, and the Bureau of Indian
Affairs, to identify acreage that could be made available for coal
leasing. Lands were removed in areas around public schools and U.S.
Census-designated populated places with 1,000 or more residents.
However, the BLM will continue to process leases in these areas through
the existing land use planning process, outside of section 50203 of the
OBBBA. Additionally, lands were removed from habitat for greater sage
grouse, alluvial valley floors, and areas within one quarter of a mile
of recreation sites. Finally, the analysis identified the remaining
recoverable coal acreage that could be made available for coal leasing.
Although this notice makes the identified areas available for coal
leasing, this action does not authorize any coal leasing or coal
development, and any future coal leasing is subject to BLM discretion
following review of any applications under applicable laws and
regulations. The application process for leasing coal remains
unchanged. Interested parties must submit lease applications for
leasing coal via the Lease by Application method found in the
regulations at 43 CFR 3425.1. The BLM will review each application
under the suitability criteria (43 CFR 3461.5) and in accordance with
the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 U.S.C. 4321-4347, and
other statutes. If deemed unsuitable, the application will be rejected
or the applicant will be invited to modify the application to meet
suitability criteria or show that it falls within an available
exemption or exception. Consistent with the Mineral Leasing Act of
1920, at 30 U.S.C. 201(a)(3)(A)(iii), and 43 CFR 3400.3-1, the BLM must
obtain consent from the relevant surface management agency to lease
Federal coal in an area in which the surface is managed by another
surface management agency and those agencies will follow the laws that
apply to the lands they manage and may, in some instances, involve the
need for a surface management agency plan amendment.
Lands Made Available for Coal Leasing
The 13,103,000 acres made available by this notice under the
authority of section 50203 of the OBBBA are derived from Geographic
Information System data and analyses and are intended for general
planning and illustrative purposes only. These estimates are
approximate and may contain errors or omissions due to limitations in
source data, resolution, or processing methods. The following table
summarizes the acres made available for coal leasing by BLM Resource
Management Plan (RMP) or by State (various RMPs). The table presented
below rounds down the acreage to the nearest whole number to account
for the inaccuracies in the geographic datasets underlying these
analyses.
Additional Acres Available for Coal Leasing
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DOI surface
management
agencies U.S. Army Corps Split-estate
Resource management plan/state (excluding Bureau of Engineers (private, state, Total
of Indian local)
Affairs)
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Four Major RMPs
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Buffalo, WY......................... 400,000 ................. 1,700,000 2,100,000
Miles City, MT...................... 1,100,000 ................. 5,600,000 6,700,000
North Dakota, ND.................... 30,000 65,000 3,700,000 3,795,000
Rock Springs, WY.................... 100,000 ................. ................. 100,000
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Various RMPs in Each State
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Colorado............................ 100,000 ................. 60,000 160,000
Utah................................ 29,000 ................. 19,000 48,000
[[Page 47815]]
New Mexico.......................... 200,000 ................. ................. 200,000
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Total........................... 1,959,000 65,000 11,079,000 13,103,000
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Maps that display lands made available for leasing by this notice
under section 50203 of the OBBBA can be found at: <a href="https://www.blm.gov/programs/energy-and-minerals/coal/lands-made-available-coal-leasing">https://www.blm.gov/programs/energy-and-minerals/coal/lands-made-available-coal-leasing</a>.
Katharine Sinclair MacGregor,
Deputy Secretary of the Interior.
[FR Doc. 2025-19237 Filed 10-1-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4331-29-P
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