Heinrich blocks Sullivan's bid to pass Arctic Refuge leasing bill without debate

Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico on Sept. 30 blocked Sen. Dan Sullivan's request to pass his Arctic Refuge leasing bill by unanimous consent, without debate.

The bill, which Sullivan calls Alaska's Right to Produce Act 2.0, would have Congress ratify every federal approval in the Bureau of Land Management's October 2025 Coastal Plain leasing decision and declare that those approvals satisfy laws including the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act.

The bill would also void any order pausing leasing, bar canceling a lease once bids open unless the leaseholder breaks its terms and fails to fix it, and authorize geological and geophysical exploration. Courts would lose jurisdiction over the approvals, including pending cases.

The Interior secretary could waive or reduce rents and royalties after consulting the state and the North Slope Borough.

Sullivan called the bill the third prong of a strategy, after last year's tax law mandated lease sales and Congress overturned Biden-era rules. "It protects Alaska's existing oil and gas development opportunities from being shut down by a future administration," he said.

Heinrich said the Energy and Natural Resources Committee "has not held a single hearing on this legislation despite being chaired by the Republicans." He said the bill waives revenue requirements and environmental laws, deems environmental studies complete, bars future litigation and would keep western Arctic subsistence rights and conservation from being evaluated again. He said refuge lease sales have brought in $9 million, against the $1 billion Republicans once promised. The most recent sale, June 5, drew about $3.7 million in winning bids on five tracts totaling 72,049 acres of the 1.56-million-acre Coastal Plain.

Sullivan replied that people who live there support the bill and that a federal judge found earlier lease cancellations unlawful.

Sullivan's office said the bill "was blocked by Senate Democrats." The Congressional Record shows one objection, Heinrich's.

Sullivan introduced the bill on Sept. 17, as Alaska News previously reported. The first Right to Produce Act passed the U.S. House 214-199 in May 2024, with then-Rep. Mary Peltola voting present, and stalled in the Senate energy committee.