Comment on FR Doc # 2026-12734

I strongly oppose weakening the rules governing oil and gas that is vented, flared, leaked or otherwise lost from federal and Indian leases. A publicly owned or Indian-owned natural resource does not cease to have value merely because an operator fails to capture it. Avoidable losses waste finite resources, reduce public or mineral-owner revenue and shift pollution and health costs onto surrounding communities. BLM should retain the requirement that operators take reasonable precautions to prevent waste. It should also retain meaningful waste-minimization planning, leak-detection-and-repair requirements, timely repair obligations and accurate event-level records for venting, flaring and other losses. Without adequate monitoring and records, neither BLM nor mineral owners can determine how much gas was lost, whether the loss was avoidable or whether royalties were properly paid. Eliminating these safeguards would reward poor operational practices and make enforcement more difficult. BLM should not expand royalty-free allowances for gas that could reasonably have been captured, marketed or conserved. Royalties should be due on avoidable losses. Exceptions should remain narrow, clearly defined, documented and subject to agency verification rather than operator assertion alone. The analysis must account for more than immediate compliance costs to industry. It should consider lost federal and Tribal revenue, methane and other air pollution, public-health effects, climate impacts, artificial light and noise from flaring, wildlife disturbance and the cumulative effects of development on rural and Tribal communities. Because the rule applies to Indian leases, BLM must conduct meaningful government-to-government consultation with each affected Tribal Nation. It must also protect the financial interests of individual Indian mineral owners. Tribes have different energy policies and economic circumstances, and consultation must respect their sovereignty rather than assuming a single Tribal viewpoint. BLM should publicly report lost volumes, royalty determinations, exemptions and enforcement outcomes in a form that allows mineral owners and the public to evaluate compliance while protecting confidential information where legally required. Reducing an operator’s administrative burden is not sufficient justification for transferring waste, pollution and lost revenue to the public, Tribes or individual Indian mineral owners. BLM should retain and enforce strong waste-prevention, measurement, recordkeeping and royalty requirements.