In accordance with congressional direction in the Inflation Reduction Act, the Bureau of Land Management New Mexico State Office started a 30-day scoping period to receive public input on 12 parcels totaling 915.59 acres that may be included in an upcoming lease sale. Scoping ends on March 20.
The parcels in New Mexico and Oklahoma that BLM will analyze, as well as maps and instructions on how to comment, are available on our ePlanning website at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022467/510
BLM lease sales that may be offered from these parcels would include updated fiscal provisions authorized in the Inflation Reduction Act:
- Minimum bids for all offered parcels will be $10 per acre, an increase from the $2 per acre minimum bid set in 1987;
- Royalty rates will be 16.67 percent, up from the previous minimum of 12.5 percent; and
- Rental rates will be $3 per acre for the first two years, $5 per acre for years three through eight, and $15 per acre in years nine and ten. Prior to the Inflation Reduction Act, rental rates were $1.50 per acre for the first five years and $2 per acre for each year thereafter, rates originally set in 1987.
Original source can be found here