The U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) issued a Request for Information (RFI) asking affected industries to identify existing Interior regulations that can be modified or repealed to support the Trump administration's "energy dominance" and deregulatory agenda.
Key Takeaways
- What Happened? To carry out President Trump's "Unleashing American Energy" Executive Order, DOI is requesting that affected industries provide recommendations on DOI regulations that can be streamlined, modified, or repealed.
- Who's Impacted? Anyone subject to DOI regulations. The potential scope of the RFI is extremely broad and could cover any of the 27 regulations Secretary Doug Burgum specifically identified, and potentially many others.
- Next Steps? The Department requests written comments and information by June 20, 2025.Comments will help establish the justification for DOI rulemaking proceedings aimed at revising or eliminating unnecessary or unduly burdensome DOI regulations.
Background
The RFI has its source in a flurry of Executive Orders aimed at reducing or eliminating regulations and increasing U.S. energy production, especially from public lands. Because DOI (including the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Bureau of Reclamation, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureaus of Indian Affairs, Ocean Energy Management, and Safety and Environmental Enforcement), administers key regulatory programs and millions of acres of public lands, including the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and large swaths of energy-rich Western states, DOI is one of the key agencies for turning the Trump agenda into a reality on the ground.
To carry out the direction established by the President's Executive Orders, on February 3, 2025, Secretary Burgum issued Secretary's Order No. 3418, not coincidentally also titled "Unleashing American Energy," which directs all agencies within DOI to suspend, revise, or rescind a list of 27 different regulations and policies. The policies identified in Order No. 3418 reach every corner of DOI's jurisdiction, covering, for example, mineral leases, conservation and landscape health, endangered species protection, oil and gas development (both land-based and on the OCS), mining claims, and climate regulations, among other topics.
The RFI builds on Order No. 3418, helping to lay the groundwork for the recission or revision of the 27 regulations and orders specifically identified in Order No. 3418. However, the potential reach of the RFI is much broader. It seeks stakeholder input on regulations that they consider "obsolete, unnecessary, unjustified, or simply no longer make sense," and thus should be altered or eliminated, whether or not specifically identified in Order No. 3418.
The RFI lists specific issues that commenters are asked to address, including whether regulations are inconsistent with particular executive orders, legal considerations of the type flagged in Executive Order No. 14219 ("Ensuring Lawful Governance"), discussion of the costs or complexity of regulations, and developments in technology, among other considerations. The RFI notes that DOI will use the answers to these questions in "prioritizing and properly tailoring" its review process, signaling that commenters should make the case for the importance of their comments by referring to particular Executive Orders and the other factors DOI identifies. DOI also states that it welcomes proposed revisions to regulatory text where appropriate.
In short, the RFI may be the first step in revoking or reforming almost any regulation, policy, or other administrative document within DOI's purview. Submissions do not necessarily need to relate to energy, although energy is one major goal of this initiative.
Conclusion
DOI's RFI is the first step in the DOI's effort to comply with President Trump's effort to reduce and refine the regulatory state to increase American energy production. It provides stakeholders the opportunity to identify regulations that are no longer effective, inconsistent with statutory authority, inefficient, unduly burdensome, or otherwise warranting reform. DOI stakeholders should take advantage of this unique opportunity to help streamline regulations governing their operations on federal lands or those that impose burdens on them.
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