Congress approves measure to overturn Biden-era management plan for Alaska petroleum reserve

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JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Congress has passed a measure to overturn a plan enacted during the Biden administration that put off limits to oil and gas leasing nearly half a vast petroleum reserve in Alaska. Critics see the vote as political meddling that creates confusion over the future management of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.

Tuesday's House vote followed passage by the Senate during the government shutdown of the resolution disapproving a management plan for the reserve that was finalized in 2022 under then-President Joe Biden. The offices of Alaska's Republican congressional delegation members have said the resolution “fulfills the objectives” of an Alaska-specific executive order signed by President Donald Trump earlier this year. The executive order called for reinstating a plan dating to the first Trump administration that sought to make available for leasing about 80% of the reserve.

The measure next goes to Trump for consideration.

There has been outsized attention on Alaska since Trump’s return to office, with moves to expand development of oil and gas and other resources cheered by state political leaders who had considered the Biden administration overly restrictive in its approach.

The votes are among the latest taken under the Congressional Review Act that are aimed at nullifying land management plans adopted under Biden. A statement from the congressional delegation last month said the review act provides an expedited way to overturn certain federal rules and forbids an agency from issuing another substantially similar rule unless it's authorized by law.

But Alex Cohen, director of government affairs for the Alaska Wilderness League, called use of the act a “super, super blunt instrument." Regulatory policy instead requires “very careful, considered stakeholder engagement, scientific analysis," he said.

The approach taken by Congress also raises questions about what constitutes a substantially similar rule, Cohen said, adding there is a lack of clarity around what happens when a plan is overturned.

A bill passed earlier this year calls for oil and gas lease sales in the petroleum reserve, for which the last sale was held in 2019, and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Major companies sat out the first two lease sales held for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; the first was at the end of Trump's first term and the second near the end of Biden's.