The Biden administration is proposing to limit which federal lands in North Dakota can be used for coal mining and oil and gas production in the coming decades, deepening a fight with the state’s Republican senators and the mining industry.
The Bureau of Land Management on Friday unveiled an update to the state’s 36-year-old resource management plan, which applies to more than 58,000 acres of federally managed lands and more than 4 million acres of mineral leases in the state.
The proposal, now open to a 30-day protest period, would close off oil and gas leasing in areas with “low development potential” or state-designated drinking water source protection areas. It would also allow federal coal to be leased within 4 miles of existing coal mine permit boundaries, and includes protections for national scenic rivers, special recreation areas and those of critical environmental concern.
BLM said it doesn’t expect the plan to affect the amount of coal produced on federal land in the state until about 2040, at which time the plan would “preclude the development of future mines using federal coal.” North Dakota ranks third in the nation for oil and gas production, behind Texas and New Mexico, and is the fifth-largest coal producing state, according to federal data.
