S. 4765 — Let America Build Act of 2026

This section reforms onshore oil and gas leasing under the Mineral Leasing Act. (1) It requires the Secretary of the Interior to resolve protests to lease sales within 60 days and bars further NEPA review if a protest is denied. (2) It provides that litigation over environmental reviews does not invalidate issued leases or delay drilling permit timelines, requires remand rather than vacatur of sales, and allows leaseholders to pause lease terms during litigation. (3) It limits lease cancellation to lessee agreement or specific regulatory findings, excluding violations of environmental review laws. (4) It shortens the statute of limitations for contesting lease decisions to 60 days and specifies jurisdiction for such actions.

This section provides that an offshore oil and gas lease or permit remains valid and may not be canceled by the Secretary based on a court finding that the environmental review for the lease sale violated the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. It requires any reviewing court to remand the matter to the Secretary rather than vacate the leases, directs continued processing of applications for permits to drill, and allows leaseholders to request a pause in the lease term during pending litigation.

This section authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to delegate to states exclusive authority to issue permits to drill for oil and gas (APDs), approve drilling plans and sundry notices, approve suspensions of operations or production, and grant rights-of-way on available federal land. States must submit an application describing their proposed program; the Secretary must approve or disapprove it within 180 days and may delegate only if the state program is at least as effective as federal administration and complies with the Mineral Leasing Act.

This section exempts oil and gas drilling operations on non-Federal land from federal permit-to-drill requirements under the Mineral Leasing Act when the Federal Government owns less than 50 percent of the minerals in the drilling or spacing unit and does not own or lease the surface estate, or when the wellbore enters or traverses but does not fully produce from Federal minerals. It requires lessees to notify the Secretary of the Interior of state permit applications within 5 days and approvals within 45 days, and to provide access agreements for inspections before drilling begins. It does not apply to Indian lands and leaves Federal royalty amounts and other authorities unchanged. It also bars the Secretary from requiring bonds on non-Federal land, entering such land without landowner consent, imposing mitigation requirements, or approving surface reclamation in these units.

This section prohibits the Secretary of the Interior from enforcing any federal regulation, guidance, or permit requirement on hydraulic fracturing for oil, gas, or geothermal production in states that maintain their own regulations or on federal land. It requires each state to submit its hydraulic fracturing regulations, including chemical disclosure rules, to the Bureau of Land Management for public posting on the Secretary’s website. It also bars federal enforcement of such rules on land held in trust for a federally recognized Indian Tribe or its members without the beneficiary’s express consent.

This section requires the Secretary of Energy to issue a final decision on covered applications to export liquefied natural gas from facilities needing both Department of Energy and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or Maritime Administration approval within 45 days after conclusion of the required National Environmental Policy Act review or the date of enactment. Failure to meet the deadline results in automatic approval of the application and deems the environmental review sufficient to satisfy all NEPA requirements. It vests original and exclusive jurisdiction over related civil actions in the U.S. court of appeals for the circuit where the facility is or will be located, mandates expedited review, and transfers pending petitions to that court.

This section expands the expedited application and approval process for natural gas exports under the Natural Gas Act to include exports of not more than 51,750,000,000 cubic feet per year, in addition to imports covered by subsection (b) and exports to free trade agreement nations. It excludes any such exports to nations subject to U.S. sanctions.