BLM Oil and Gas Rule Rescission Threatens Wildlife Habitat — and American Pocketbooks

The Bureau of Land Management today announced a proposed rule to rescind the BLM Oil and Gas Rule (also known as the Fluid Mineral Leases and Leasing Process Rule) and roll back bonding requirements that help ensure oil and gas companies are accountable for cleaning up after drilling. In 2024, the federal government updated those requirements for the first time in more than 60 years to better reflect modern cleanup costs and reduce the risk that taxpayers would be left footing the bill for orphaned wells and unreclaimed lands. The proposed rule would reverse those reforms by restoring minimum bond amounts to levels set in the 1960s. By seeking to reduce bond amounts, the administration is increasing the risk that operators will walk away from their cleanup obligations, leaving wells unplugged, lease areas unreclaimed and wildlife habitat unrestored. The result could be billions in cleanup costs shifted to taxpayers and lasting damage to public lands.  A separate regulatory rollback, also released today, would cancel a requirement that drilling operations monitor and fix leaks of methane, a potent and dangerous greenhouse gas.

“This is yet another attempt by the Trump administration to favor fossil fuel companies over responsible public land management.” said Stephanie Altman, senior energy and biodiversity specialist at Defenders of Wildlife. “Reduced bonding will threaten wildlife by accelerating habitat fragmentation, pollution and environmental degradation, which could lead to an unsalvageable future for wildlife. Our wildlife deserves better than having their well-being repeatedly put at risk by political decisions.”

The 2024 reforms garnered broad public support, yet the administration is now seeking to reverse them. An analysis by the Center for Western Priorities found more than 99% of the 260,000 comments submitted to the Department of Interior supported the 2024 bonding reforms. A 2025 report from Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship revealed how the Trump administration’s plan to weaken federal oil and gas bonding requirements could leave American taxpayers responsible for up to $753.5 billion in cleanup costs on public lands. 

Defenders is working to protect iconic species like the sage-grouse from the harmful effects of drilling on public lands. Weakening the requirements for companies to clean up after concluding operations creates a more perilous landscape for wildlife. When oil and gas wells are left unreclaimed, they fragment habitat, contaminate water sources that wildlife depend on, and create long-term hazards for fish, birds and other species.

“Americans should not be left holding the bag for the financial and environmental harm wrought by oil and gas companies on our public lands,” said Altman. 

Defenders of Wildlife urges members of the public to submit comments opposing the proposed rule and to tell the administration that it must not sacrifice wildlife, healthy ecosystems and American communities in pursuit of this regulatory rollback.

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