HR 7831 Re-checks Congress.gov for new actions and updates the bill's status, and fills in any sponsors, committees, or related bills that are missing. It does not re-pull sponsors/cosponsors/committees/related — those rarely change — and it skips all work if nothing has changed upstream, so it's cheap to click.
Referred to
Policy area
Issues
Climate & Energy
Legislative subjects (3)
Summary
- Extends the deadline for the Secretary of the Interior to collect fees for new oil and gas drilling permit applications from 2026 to 2037.
- Directs that all fees collected for fiscal years 2027 through 2037 be transferred to the BLM Permit Processing Improvement Fund.
- Updates related provisions of the Mineral Leasing Act to align with the extended 2037 deadline.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Rep. Kennedy, Mike [R-UT-3] (R-UT)
3 cosponsors
Actions (18)
- Jul 29, 2026 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably. · senate
- Jul 15, 2026 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining. Hearings held. · senate
- Jun 3, 2026 Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. · senate
- Jun 2, 2026 Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection. · house
- Jun 2, 2026 On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H3757) · house
- Jun 2, 2026 Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H3757)
- Jun 2, 2026 DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 7831. · house
- Jun 2, 2026 Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H3757-3578) · house
- Jun 2, 2026 Mr. Westerman moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill. · house
- May 20, 2026 Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 579. · house
- May 20, 2026 Reported by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 119-665. · house
- May 14, 2026 Ordered to be Reported by Unanimous Consent. · house
- May 14, 2026 Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held · house
- May 14, 2026 Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources Discharged · house
- Mar 25, 2026 Subcommittee Hearings Held · house
- Mar 18, 2026 Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources. · house
- Mar 5, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources. · house
- Mar 5, 2026 Introduced in House
More bills on these subjects (8)
Other bills that carry the most legislative subjects in common with this one (topical discovery — distinct from the procedural related bills above).
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (4)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Committee action
What happened to this bill in committee — the meetings where it was considered and every recorded vote taken on it.
Meetings where this bill was on the agenda
- Business meeting to consider S.365 and H.R.1729, bills to amend the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act to allow for additional entities to be eligible to complete the maintenance work on Bolts Ditch and the Bolts Ditch Headgate within the Holy Cross Wilderness, Colorado, S.764, to provide for the designation of certain wilderness areas, recreation management areas, and conservation areas in the State of Colorado, S.791, to establish the Justice Thurgood Marshall National Historic Site in the State of Maryland as an affiliated area of the National Park System, S.888, to designate certain land administered by the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service in the State of Oregon as wilderness and national recreation areas, to withdraw certain land located in Curry County and Josephine County, Oregon, from all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public land laws, location, entry, and patent under the mining laws, and operation under the mineral leasing and geothermal leasing laws, S.945, to amend the Smith River National Recreation Area Act to include certain additions to the Smith River National Recreation Area, to amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate certain wild rivers in the State of Oregon, S.1005, to provide for conservation and economic development in the State of Nevada, S.1088, to provide that the memorial to commemorate the sacrifice and service of the women who worked on the home front to support the efforts of the United States military during World War II may be located on the National Mall, S.1195, to promote conservation, improve public land management, and provide for sensible development in Pershing County, Nevada, S.1257, to amend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to authorize the use of funds for certain additional Carey Act projects, S.1341, to amend the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 to add certain land to the Sarvis Creek Wilderness, S.1349, to withdraw the National Forest System land in the Ruby Mountains subdistrict of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest and the National Wildlife Refuge System land in Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Elko and White Pine Counties, Nevada, from operation under the mineral leasing laws, S.1476, to amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate certain segments of the Gila River system in the State of New Mexico as components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, to provide for the transfer of administrative jurisdiction over certain Federal land in the State of New Mexico, S.1737, to designate and expand wilderness areas in Olympic National Forest in the State of Washington, and to designate certain rivers in Olympic National Forest and Olympic National Park as wild and scenic rivers, S.1777, to amend the California Desert Protection Act of 1994 to expand the boundary of Joshua Tree National Park, to redesignate the Cottonwood Visitor Center at Joshua Tree National Park as the "Dianne Feinstein Visitor Center", S.1870, to adjust the boundary of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area to include the Rim of the Valley Corridor, S.2498, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to extend certain leases within units of the National Park System without opening the lease to bidding, S.2767 and H.R.5254, bills to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to enter into an agreement with the Gateway Arch Park Foundation to host private events in Gateway Arch National Park buildings, S.2801, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study to assess the suitability and feasibility of designating the Canterbury Shaker Village National Heritage Area, S.2887, to amend the National Trails System Act to designate the Route 66 National Historic Trail, S.2933, to redesignate a playground in the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve in the State of West Virginia as the "Hearts of Gold Playground: In Honor of West Virginia Children and Families Impacted by Childhood Cancer", S.2968, to ensure access to certain public land, S.3194, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study to assess the suitability and feasibility of designating certain land in California as the Monterey Bay National Heritage Area, S.3313 and H.R.6365, bills to require the Secretary of the Interior to issue a right-of-way for an emergency exit on certain National Park Service land in the State of Virginia, S.3409, to reaffirm that the Bureau of Reclamation retains exclusive ownership, operational control, and financial responsibility for the Lower Yellowstone Fish Bypass Channel, ensuring long-term conservation of the endangered pallid sturgeon and other native aquatic species in the Yellowstone River while protecting the Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Project and District from undue financial and operational burdens, S.3635 and H.R. 7250, bills to reauthorize the Fort Peck Reservation Rural Water System Act of 2000, S.3715 and H.R.6380, bills to establish the Chiricahua N
- Hearings to examine S.1791, to designate certain special management areas, wildlife conservation areas, protection areas, recreation areas, wilderness areas, and a scientific research and education area in the State of Colorado, S.4200, to promote conservation, improve public land, and provide for sensible development in Douglas County, Nevada, S.4239, to require the Secretary of the Interior to annually submit to Congress, and make publicly available on a website, a report on decommissioning offshore oil and gas wells, platforms, and pipelines, S.4383, to appoint a Geothermal Ombudsman and establish a Geothermal Permitting Task Force from within the Bureau of Land Management, S.4410, to amend the Mineral Leasing Act to provide for the payment of bonus payments of certain coal leases issued under that Act, S.4458, to establish the Caja del Rio Special Management Area and Caja del Rio National Conservation Area in the State of New Mexico, S.4561, to modernize and streamline the permitting process for broadband infrastructure on Federal land, S.4605, to amend the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 to provide cost-recovery authority for the Department of the Interior, S.4715, to amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to establish fitness to operate standards and decommissioning escrow accounts for offshore oil and gas operators, H.R.655, to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain Federal land to the City of The Dalles, Oregon, S.4960 and H.R.1687, to amend the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 to increase the frequency of lease sales, to require replacement sales, H.R.4090, to codify certain provisions of certain Executive Orders relating to domestic mining and hardrock mineral resources, S.4975 and H.R.5587, to amend the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 to waive the requirement for a Federal drilling permit for certain activities, to exempt certain activities from the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, H.R.5631, to appoint a Geothermal Ombudsman and establish a Geothermal Permitting Task Force from within the Bureau of Land Management, and H.R.7831, to amend the Mineral Leasing Act to extend the period of time during which the Secretary of the Interior is required to collect a fee for each new application for a permit to drill.
- Markup of: • H.R. 741 (Rep. Stanton), “Stronger Engagement for Indian Health Needs Act of 2025” • H.R. 3924 (Rep. Neguse), “Wildfire Risk Evaluation Act” • H.R. 5694 (Rep. Begich), “Alaska’s Right To Ivory Sales and Tradition Act” or the “ARTIST Act” • H.R. 7250 (Rep. Downing), To reauthorize the Fort Peck Reservation Rural Water System Act of 2000. • H.R. 7487 (Rep. Boebert), “Rural Jobs and Hydropower Expansion Act” • H.R. 7831 (Rep. Kennedy of UT), “License to Drill Act”
Full text
AN ACT
To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to extend the period of time during which the Secretary of the Interior is required to collect a fee for each new application for a permit to drill, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “License to Drill Act”.
SEC. 2. BLM OIL AND GAS PERMIT PROCESSING FEE.
Section 35(d) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 191(d)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking “2026” and inserting “2037”;
(2) in paragraph (3)—
(A) by striking “Of the fees collected under this subsection for a fiscal year, the” and inserting “The”; and
(B) by striking “transfer—” and all that follows through “the Fund” and inserting “transfer, for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2037, all of the fees collected under this subsection for each such fiscal year to the BLM Permit Processing Improvement Fund”; and
(3) in paragraph (4), by striking “2026” and inserting “2037”.
Passed the House of Representatives June 2, 2026.
Attest:
Clerk. 119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7831
AN ACT
To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to extend the period of time during which the Secretary of the Interior is required to collect a fee for each new application for a permit to drill, and for other purposes.
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