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Title 43

Displaying title 43, up to date as of 10/15/2026. Title 43 was last amended 8/12/2026.
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Lease Terms and Conditions

§ 3101.11 Lease form.

A lease will be issued only on the standard form approved by the Director.

§ 3101.12 Surface use rights.

A lessee will have the right to use only so much of the leased lands as is necessary to explore for, drill for, mine, extract, remove and dispose of all the leased resource in a leasehold subject to applicable requirements, including stipulations attached to the lease, restrictions deriving from nondiscretionary statutes, and such reasonable measures as may be required and detailed by the authorized officer to mitigate adverse impacts to other resource values, land uses or users, federally recognized Tribes, and underserved communities. Such reasonable measures may include, but are not limited to, relocation or modification to siting or design of facilities, timing of operations, specification of interim and final reclamation measures, and specification of rates of development and production in the public interest. At a minimum, modifications that are consistent with lease rights include, but are not limited to, requiring relocation of proposed operations by up to 800 meters and prohibiting new surface disturbing operations for a period of up to 90 days in any lease year.

§ 3101.13 Stipulations and information notices.

(a) Leases issued by the BLM will include only those stipulations and mitigation measures included in the resource management plan covering that parcel of land that is being leased.

(b) The BLM may attach an information notice to the lease. An information notice has no legal consequences, except to give notice of existing requirements, and may be attached to a lease by the authorized officer at the time of lease issuance to convey certain operational, procedural or administrative requirements relative to lease management within the terms and conditions of the standard lease form. Information notices may not be a basis for denial of lease operations.

(c) Where the surface managing agency is the Fish and Wildlife Service, leases will be issued subject to stipulations prescribed by the Fish and Wildlife Service as to the time, place, nature and condition of such operations in order to minimize impacts to fish and wildlife populations and habitat and other refuge resources on the areas leased. The specific conduct of lease activities on any refuge lands will be subject to site-specific stipulations prescribed by the Fish and Wildlife Service.

[90 FR 36116, Aug. 1, 2025]

§ 3101.14 Modification, waiver, or exception.

(a) If the authorized officer determines that a change to a lease term or stipulation is substantial or a stipulation involves an issue of major concern to the public, except for changes to stipulations governing time of year restrictions (such as those related to protected species) supported by data showing that the restrictions are unnecessary, the changes will be subject to public review for at least 30 calendar days.

(b) Prior to lease issuance, if the BLM determines that an additional stipulation will be added to the lease or a modification to an existing stipulation is required, the potential lessee must be given an opportunity to accept the additional or modified stipulation. If the potential lessee does not accept the additional or modified stipulation, the BLM may reject the bid, and may include the lands in the next Notice of Competitive Lease Sale. If the change in stipulation(s) increases the value of the parcel, the BLM will reject the bid, and will include the lands in the next Notice of Competitive Lease Sale.

(c) After lease issuance, if a lessee does not accept an additional or modified stipulation, that additional or modified stipulation is not binding on the lessee and is without effect. When a stipulation is required by the relevant Resource Management Plan, or surface management agency land management plan, and was inadvertently omitted, a lessee's failure to sign and accept changes in the stipulations when requested by the authorized officer may subject the lease to cancellation.

(d) A stipulation included in an oil and gas lease will be subject to modification, waiver, or exception if the authorized officer determines, in conjunction with the applicable surface management agency, that the factors leading to its inclusion in the lease have changed sufficiently to make the specific protections provided by the stipulation no longer justified.