The Biden administration is proposing to restrict the use of federal lands in North Dakota for coal mining and oil and gas production in the coming decades, escalating a dispute with the state’s Republican senators and the mining industry.
The Bureau of Land Management on Friday released an update to the state’s 36-year-old resource management plan, which applies to more than 58,000 acres of state-managed lands and more than 4 million acres of mineral leases in the state.
The proposal, which is now open to a 30-day protest period, would prohibit the leasing of oil and gas deposits in areas with “low development potential” or in federally designated drinking water protection areas. It would also allow the leasing of federal coal within 4 miles of existing coal mining areas and includes protections for national scenic rivers, special recreation areas and areas of critical environmental concern.
The BLM said it does not expect the plan to affect the amount of coal mined on federal lands in the state until about 2040, at which point the plan would “prevent the development of future mines using federal coal.” North Dakota ranks third in oil and gas production in the U.S. after Texas and New Mexico and is the fifth-largest coal-producing state, according to federal data.
