The US Bureau of Land Management will increase the fee it charges to process oil and natural gas drilling permit applications on public and Indian lands it administers by $110 to $9,610 effective Oct. 1.
The nonrefundable processing fee will be collected when an oil and gas operator submits a drilling permit application, and is required whether or not a particular permit is subsequently approved, BLM noted on Sept. 26.
Congress directed BLM to adjust the processing fee annually for inflation over 10 years as part of the Fiscal 2015 National Defense Authorization Act, it noted.
BLM already has issued guidance to its field offices concerning collection and handling of drilling permit processing fees, the agency said. It largely tracks prior guidance on collection and handling policies, BLM said.
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