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H.R. 526In committee

Declaration of Energy Independence Act

Introduced: Jan 16, 2025

Latest action date: Jan 16, 2025

Latest development

Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.

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Congress
119th Congress
Introduced
Jan 16, 2025
Recorded roll calls
0

Status detail: The most advanced recorded stage is committee consideration.

Plain-language overview

What this bill does

Declaration of Energy Independence Act

This bill reduces certain royalty rates, minimum bids, rental rates, and fees for onshore oil and gas leases on federal lands and modifies related leasing procedures.

Specifically, the bill (1) decreases the royalty rate from 16 2/3% to 12 1/2% for developing oil and gas on federal lands, (2) lowers the minimum bid amount from $10.00 to $2.00 per acre for oil and gas leases on federal lands, and (3) decreases the rental rates from a maximum of $15.00 per acre to $1.50 per acre for the first five years and $2.00 per acre thereafter. The bill also eliminates the fee for expressing interest in a lease. 

It also modifies leasing procedures to provide for noncompetitive leasing under certain circumstances.

In addition, the bill modifies the conditions for the reinstatement of leases that have been cancelled or terminated, including by reducing the applicable royalty and rental rates.

Civixly topics

What this legislation is about

Civixly topics make federal and state legislation comparable. They are derived from the official CRS policy area and legislative subjects.

Official CRS policy area

Energy

Committee activity

Committees and subcommittees that received, reviewed, marked up, or reported this legislation.

Amendments

Proposed changes to this measure, with their latest official outcome or action from Congress.gov.

No amendments are listed for this measure.

Checked against Congress.gov Sep 13, 2026.

Action timeline

Newest action first. Action language comes from the official Congress.gov record.

View full action timeline3 actions
  1. Introduced in House

    IntroReferralLibrary of Congress
  2. Introduced in House

    IntroReferralLibrary of Congress
  3. Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.

    IntroReferralHouse floor actions

Roll-call votes

Recorded House and Senate votes connected to this bill. Your representatives appear first when available.

No connected roll-call votes are currently available for this bill.

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Sources: Congress.gov and official House and Senate vote records.

View data freshness details

Base metadata check pending · Summary check pending · Action timeline checked Sep 13, 2026 · Complete sponsorship check pending · Topics checked Sep 13, 2026 · Committees checked Sep 13, 2026 · Status checked Sep 13, 2026 · Related bills checked Sep 13, 2026.