Sec. 2. Findings
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Congress finds that— Federal land should be managed for multiple uses, resources, and values, including recreation use, grazing use, timber resources, mineral resources, watershed management, wildlife and fish habitat, and natural, scenic, scientific, and historic values; section 17(a) of the Mineral Leasing Act ( 30 U.S.C. 226(a) ) authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to offer for lease only land that is known or believed to contain oil or gas deposits ; in determining whether a parcel of Federal land should be made available for oil and gas leasing and development, and in offering such a parcel for sale, the Secretary does not meaningfully take into consideration the oil and gas development potential of that parcel; and as a result, the Secretary regularly offers and leases for oil and gas development Federal land that has no or low potential for the development of oil and gas resources (referred to in this section as no- or low-potential Federal land ); no- or low-potential Federal land is frequently leased for or near the minimum lease bid, or noncompetitively, and rarely produce oil or gas resources; and as a result, taxpayers in the United States receive minimal revenue from the leasing of no- or low-potential Federal land; making no- or low-potential Federal land available for oil and gas leasing can result in leases being obtained for speculative purposes; the Secretary wastes taxpayer resources in issuing and managing leases on no- or low-potential Federal land; no- or low-potential Federal land frequently supports other economically important uses, resources, and values including the uses, resources, and values described in paragraph (1); the existence of leases on no- and low-potential Federal land can and does limit the ability of the Secretary to support and enhance the uses, resources, and values described in paragraph (1); and meaningful public participation in leasing decisions is essential and can help to ensure that the decisions of the Secretary are well-informed and based on current and reliable information and data.
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U.S. Code