H.R. 4103 – HOARD Act | Legislate.dev

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Updated April 15, 2026 at 6:41 PM UTC

The HOARD Act requires the Interior Secretary to give Congress a yearly report on oil and gas drilling permit applications (APDs) that the Bureau of Land Management has approved but not yet started. The report must include numbers, processing times, costs and break down the data by state, BLM field office, and whether the land is federal or Indian. The bill also adds rules that limit federal spending on speeding up these permits and bars companies with many un‑drilled approved permits from participating in future leasing bids.

Key Provisions

Each January 1, the Secretary must submit to Congress statistics on APDs approved but not drilled, average approval time, and average approval cost.
All statistics must be broken out by state, BLM field office, and whether the site is on federal or Indian land.
Federal funds cannot be used to speed up APD processing if the number of approved but undrilled permits exceeds twice the number of pending permits at year‑end.
Any applicant (or its affiliates) with more than 100 approved but undrilled APDs is barred from competitive and non‑competitive oil and gas leasing bids for five years.

Legislative Activity

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2 earlier actions

HouseCommittee Latest Action

Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.

Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee

October 25, 2017

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HouseIntro Referral

Introduced in House

October 24, 2017

HouseIntro Referral

Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.

Natural Resources Committee

October 24, 2017

HouseCommittee

Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.

Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee

October 25, 2017

Bill Text

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Introduced in HouseIssued October 24, 2017

I

115th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 4103

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

October 24, 2017

Mr. Lowenthal (for himself, Mr. Grijalva, and Ms. Barragán) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

A BILL

To require the Secretary of the Interior to submit an annual report to Congress on certain statistics related to applications for a permit to drill an oil or gas well, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Having Open Access to Relevant Data Act or the HOARD Act.

2.

Report required

(a)

Report on APDs

(1)

In general

Not later than January 1 of each year, the Secretary of the Interior shall submit to Congress a report on the following statistics:

(A)

The number of APDs approved by the BLM during the previous fiscal year for which the applicant has not begun drilling by the end of such year.

(B)

The number of APDs approved by the BLM during any fiscal year for which the applicant has not begun drilling by the end of the previous fiscal year.

(C)

With respect to APDs approved by the BLM during the previous fiscal year, the average number of days between receipt of an APD by the BLM and the approval of such APD, disaggregated by the average number of such days—

(i)

the APD was being processed by BLM; and

(ii)

the BLM was waiting on additional information from the applicant.

(D)

With respect to APDs approved by the BLM during the previous fiscal year, the average cost of approving an APD.

(2)

Disaggregation

The Secretary of the Interior shall disaggregate each statistic required under paragraph (1) by the location of the site for which the APD was requested, including by—

(A)

the State in which such site is located;

(B)

the BLM field office that administers the land upon which such site is located;

(C)

whether or not the site is located on Federal land; and

(D)

whether or not the site is located on Indian land.

(b)

Discouraging hoarding and speculation

(1)

Limitation on Federal funds used for streamlining processing of APDs

No Federal funds may be used to streamline BLM processing of APDs during a fiscal year if, on the last day of the previous fiscal year, the number of APDs approved by the BLM during any fiscal year, but for which the applicant has not begun drilling, is greater than twice the number of APDs received by the BLM during any fiscal year for which the BLM has neither approved nor requested more information from the applicant.

(2)

Limitation on number of outstanding APDs per applicant

If any applicant, including its affiliates, has received greater than 100 approved APDs from the BLM for which such applicant, including its affiliates, has not begun drilling, then such applicant, including its affiliates, shall not be eligible to participate in the competitive and noncompetitive bidding processes for oil and gas exploration and production under the Minerals Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) during the 5-year period beginning on the first day of the next fiscal year.

(c)

Definitions

In this Act:

(1)

Affiliate

With respect to an applicant, the term affiliate means any person that controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with the applicant.

(2)

APD

The term APD means an application received by the BLM for a permit to drill an oil or gas well.

(3)

BLM

The term BLM means the Bureau of Land Management.