Comments closed August 24
Stop rollback of safeguards on public lands drilling
Bureau of Land Management
- What
- A new federal rule would weaken the financial protections meant to ensure oil companies clean up abandoned wells on public lands.
- Where
- The notice names no place; see the agency’s own words under Case.
- How much
- Public lands across the country face the risk of unplugged, leaking abandoned wells if drilling companies lack sufficient bonds to cover cleanup costs.
- Decided
- Comments closed August 24, 2026. No decision document is on file yet.Date from Federal Register ↗, read June 25, 2026.
Where these four lines come from
- WhatOur plain-English read of the Federal Register 2026-12734 ↗. Check it against the agency’s own words under Case.
- WhereThe places and states the notice names, as PLAN read them.
- How muchThe first sentence of our What’s at risk read of the notice; the whole read is under Case.
- DecidedAugust 24, 2026, from Federal Register, the document’s comment close date (federalregister.gov) ↗. Read June 25, 2026. The decision document is the one on file in PLAN’s record.
- Read from PLAN’s record November 9, 2026.
Lanny E. Erdos
Director, Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation, and Enforcement Exercising Authority of the Assistant Secretary--Land and Minerals Management
A person signed this, not an agency. The window has closed and the signature stands, which is exactly when accountability matters.
Short is better. You are asking Assistant Secretary Erdos to answer for a decision their office made.
My name is [your name] and I'm calling from [your city and state]. Lanny E. Erdos, Director, Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation, and Enforcement Exercising Authority of the Assistant Secretary--Land and Minerals Management, signed the decision on Stop rollback of safeguards on public lands drilling. I'm asking that office to answer for it publicly. Please record that I called and tell me what the office intends to do.
Official channels only, about this decision. No personal phone numbers, no home addresses, no personal social accounts, and nothing abusive. The point is to make the office answer, and an abusive call is the one thing that lets it off the hook.
What the proposal said, and what the decision did
No figure from the proposal has been checked against the decision on this fight yet. What the record does hold is the issues ledger below.
No decision document is on PLAN’s record for this fight yet. When the agency’s decision lands, what it answered goes here.
PLAN's read: high threat
A new federal rule would weaken the financial protections meant to ensure oil companies clean up abandoned wells on public lands.
What’s at risk
If this goes through
Our plain-English read of the official notice ↗. Check it against the agency’s own words below.
In the agency’s own words
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is proposing to revise its oil and gas leasing regulations to reflect new requirements in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB); policy direction in Executive Orders (E.O.) entitled Unleashing American Energy and Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementing the President's "Department of Government Efficiency" Deregulatory Initiative and Modernizing Payments To and From America's Bank Account; and policy guidance in Secretary's Order entitled Unleashing American Energy. In addition, the proposed rule would reflect provisions of the Royalty Resiliency Act, which pertains to appli…
The groups on this fight
6 groups are in on this fight
In on this fight means a link on this decision itself: the group's own regulations.gov comment on it, or a case filed over it naming the group. Give straight to them; nothing routes through us.
- Conservation Alliance
In on this fight · linked
Filed its own comment on this decision on August 20, 2026.
Their comment on regulations.gov ↗ - Continental Divide Trail Coalition
In on this fight · linked
Filed its own comment on this decision on August 13, 2026.
Their comment on regulations.gov ↗ - National Parks Conservation Association
In on this fight · linked
Filed its own comment on this decision on August 24, 2026.
Their comment on regulations.gov ↗ - National Wildlife Federation
In on this fight · linked
Filed its own comment on this decision on August 25, 2026.
Their comment on regulations.gov ↗ - Outdoor Alliance
In on this fight · linked
Filed its own comment on this decision on August 25, 2026.
Their comment on regulations.gov ↗ - Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership
In on this fight · linked
Filed its own comment on this decision on August 24, 2026.
Their comment on regulations.gov ↗
Every group above is on STAND for Public Lands, with its court record, its filings and who backs it.
Who signs it
Lanny E. Erdos
Director, Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation, and Enforcement Exercising Authority of the Assistant Secretary--Land and Minerals Management
Where the notice says so
The ground
The window has closed, so there’s no watch to set on it here.
The photograph on this page: Caribou on foggy tundra. It’s the country this decision sits in, not the site itself. More Than Just Parks.
In court on this ground
This fight isn’t bound to a land unit in PLAN’s record yet, so there are no court cases to show for its ground.
Who holds the vote
PLAN’s record doesn’t tie a member of Congress to this fight yet. The scorecard grades the votes and bills that decide public lands; nothing joins a vote or a bill to this decision, so there’s no member to name here without guessing.
See how your members vote ↗Know an open comment period we are missing, or spotted a wrong deadline? .
More fights that need you
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Every representative, graded on the votes that decide the fate of parks, forests, and refuges.
Open ↗The mapSee the places under active threat
A live map of the parks, monuments, and wild country in the crosshairs right now.
Open ↗A wrong fact, a dead link, a form that wouldn’t take your letter: one tap and it comes to the people who build PLAN, with this fight attached.