Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Amends Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act to allow the Secretary of the Interior to approve commingling of production from two or more sources before royalty measurement, regardless of ownership, royalty rates, or acreage shares. Applicants must install measurement devices for each source or use allocation methods achieving volume-measurement uncertainty within ±2 percent, with production reported monthly.
Liberal emphasizes royalty, tribal revenue, and transparency risks
Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill clearly effects a substantive statutory change by authorizing commingling and setting a basic measurement requirement, but it provides limited implementation detail and omits fiscal, procedural, and enforcement provisions that would normally accompany a change of this scope.
Amends Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act to allow the Secretary of the Interior to approve commingling of production from two or more sources before royalty measurement, regardless of ownership, royalty rates, or acreage shares.
Applicants must install measurement devices for each source or use allocation methods achieving volume-measurement uncertainty within ±2 percent, with production reported monthly.
The bill also redesignates certain subsections of Section 17.
Technically narrow but stakeholder-sensitive change; plausible House support, significant Senate and stakeholder hurdles remain.
Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill clearly effects a substantive statutory change by authorizing commingling and setting a basic measurement requirement, but it provides limited implementation detail and omits fiscal, procedural, and enforcement provisions that would normally accompany a change of this scope.
Liberal emphasizes royalty, tribal revenue, and transparency risks
These are examples from the analysis, not a ranked list of the most-affected groups.
Liberal emphasizes royalty, tribal revenue, and transparency risks
Cautiously skeptical.
The persona acknowledges potential surface-disturbance reductions but is worried the change could weaken royalty transparency and tribal or public revenue protections.
They would seek stronger safeguards, independent audits, and explicit tribal consent provisions.
Pragmatic but conditional.
Views commingling as a useful operational flexibility that can reduce surface impacts and costs, but wants clear DOI regulations, verification, and enforcement to protect royalty streams and prevent disputes.
Strongly favorable.
Sees the bill as reducing unnecessary regulatory friction and minimizing surface disturbance while enabling flexible operations across leases and properties.
Finds the ±2% measurement standard acceptable though it adds modest compliance costs.
Reached or meaningfully advanced
Reached or meaningfully advanced
Still ahead
Still ahead
Still ahead
Technically narrow but stakeholder-sensitive change; plausible House support, significant Senate and stakeholder hurdles remain.
The bill has not accumulated any surfaced votes yet.
Liberal emphasizes royalty, tribal revenue, and transparency risks
Technically narrow but stakeholder-sensitive change; plausible House support, significant Senate and stakeholder hurdles remain.
Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill clearly effects a substantive statutory change by authorizing commingling and setting a basic measurement requirement, but it provides limited implementation detail a…
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