Notice2026-00386
Minerals Management: Annual Adjustment of Cost Recovery Fees
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
January 12, 2026
Effective
January 12, 2026
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentLand Management Bureau
Abstract
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is adjusting the fixed fees set forth in the Department of the Interior's onshore mineral resources regulations for the processing of certain minerals program- related documents and actions.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 7 (Monday, January 12, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 7 (Monday, January 12, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1194-1196]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-00386]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[A2407-014-004-065516, #O2509-014-004-125222]
Minerals Management: Annual Adjustment of Cost Recovery Fees
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of fee adjustments.
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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is adjusting the fixed
fees set forth in the Department of the Interior's onshore mineral
resources regulations for the processing of certain minerals program-
related documents and actions.
DATES: The adjusted fees take effect on January 12, 2026.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John G. Ajak, Deputy Division Chief
of Fluid Minerals, 505-549-9654, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#086269626963486a6465266f677e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="9df7fcf7fcf6ddfff1f0b3faf2eb">[email protected]</span></a>; Indra Dahal, Deputy
Division Chief, Division of Solid Minerals, 571-458-6637,
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#4d24292c252c210d2f2120632a223b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="95fcf1f4fdf4f9d5f7f9f8bbf2fae3">[email protected]</span></a>. 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.
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.
[[Page 1195]]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Independent Offices Appropriations Act
of 1953, 31 U.S.C. 9701, and section 304 of the Federal Land Policy and
Management Act of 1976, 43 U.S.C. 1734, authorize the BLM to charge
fees for processing applications and other documents related to public
lands. In 2005, the BLM published a final cost recovery rule (70 FR
58854) that established new fees or revised existing fees for
processing documents related to its minerals program. This rule also
established the method that the BLM uses to adjust those fees and
services charges for inflation on an annual basis.
BLM regulations at 43 CFR 3000.120 provide that the BLM Director
will post the fees on the BLM's web page (<a href="http://www.blm.gov">www.blm.gov</a>) and publish a
notice in the Federal Register announcing the fee adjustments by
October 1 of each year to provide additional public notice. The new
fees take effect each year on October 1. This is the 20th year that the
BLM is adjusting its fees based upon inflation.
The fee adjustments are based on mathematical formulas that were
established in the 2005 final cost recovery rule and, in the case of
the Application for Permit to Drill fee, section 3021(b) of the
National Defense Authorization Act of 2015. For more details on how the
BLM calculates the fee increases, please refer to the BLM website.
Processing and Filing Fee Table
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Document/action FY 2026 fee
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Oil & Gas (parts 3100, 3110, 3120, 3130, 3150, 3160, and
3180):
Competitive lease application....................... $3,175
Leasing and compensatory royalty agreements under 675
right-of-way pursuant to subpart 3109..............
Lease consolidation................................. 590
Assignment and transfer of record title or operating 120
rights.............................................
Overriding royalty transfer, payment out of 15
production.........................................
Name change; corporate merger; sheriff's deed; 280
dissolution of corporation, partnership, or trust;
or transfer to heir/devisee........................
Lease reinstatement, Class I........................ 1,290
Geophysical exploration permit application--all 1,180
states.............................................
Renewal of exploration permit--Alaska............... 35
Final application for Federal unit agreement 1,230
approval, Federal unit agreement expansion, and
Federal subsurface gas storage application.........
Designation of successor operator for all Federal 125
agreements, except for contracted unit agreements
that contain no Federal lands......................
Geothermal (part 3200):
Noncompetitive lease application.................... 535
Competitive lease application....................... 205
Assignment and transfer of record title or operating 120
rights.............................................
Name change, corporate merger or transfer to heir/ 280
devisee............................................
Lease consolidation................................. 590
Lease reinstatement................................. 105
Nomination of lands................................. 150
plus per acre nomination fee........................ 0.14
Site license application............................ 80
Assignment or transfer of site license.............. 80
Coal (parts 3400, 3470):
License to mine application......................... 15
Exploration license application..................... 440
Lease or lease interest transfer.................... 90
Leasing of Solid Minerals Other Than Coal and Oil Shale
(parts 3500, 3580):
Applications other than those listed below.......... 50
Prospecting permit application amendment............ 90
Extension of prospecting permit..................... 145
Lease modification or fringe acreage lease.......... 40
Lease renewal....................................... 685
Assignment, sublease, or transfer of operating 40
rights.............................................
Transfer of overriding royalty...................... 40
Use permit.......................................... 40
Shasta and Trinity hardrock mineral lease........... 40
Renewal of existing sand and gravel lease in Nevada. 40
Public Law 359; Mining in Powersite Withdrawals: General
(part 3730):
Notice of protest of placer mining operations....... 15
Mining Law Administration (parts 3800, 3810, 3830, 3860,
3870):
Application to open lands to location............... 15
Notice of location*................................. 25
Amendment of location............................... 15
Transfer of mining claim/site....................... 15
Recording an annual FLPMA filing.................... 15
Deferment of assessment work........................ 145
Recording a notice of intent to locate mining claims 40
on Stockraising Homestead Act lands................
Mineral patent adjudication (more than 10 claims)... 4,010
(10 or fewer claims)................................ 2,005
Adverse claim....................................... 145
Protest............................................. 90
Oil Shale Management (parts 3900, 3910, 3930):
Exploration license application..................... 420
[[Page 1196]]
Application for assignment or sublease of record 85
title or overriding royalty........................
Onshore Oil and Gas Operations and Production (parts
3160, 3170):
Application for Permit to Drill..................... 12,850
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* To record a mining claim or site location, this processing fee along
with the initial maintenance fee and the one-time location fee
required by statute and at 43 CFR part 3833 must be paid.
Tina Roberts-Ashby,
Acting Assistant Director, Office of Energy, Minerals, and Realty
Management.
[FR Doc. 2026-00386 Filed 1-9-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4331-27-P
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