According to BLM officials, BLM state offices  generally delegate responsibility for monitoring lease suspensions to their  field offices. In prior work, we found weaknesses in how Interior tracks  and uses some information in its data systems. BLM generally concurred with  these recommendations. Other  affected parties (i.e. A Small Portion of BLM’s Oil and Gas Leases Were Recorded as Suspended, but Reasons for Suspensions Were Difficult to Determine

A small portion of BLM’s oil and gas leases were suspended as of the  end of fiscal year 2016, according to the agency’s LR2000 data, but the  reasons for the suspensions were difficult to determine. These suspensions had been in effect for  approximately 4 years to 25 years. According to Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government,  management should use quality information to achieve the entity’s  objectives; quality information may be defined as appropriate, current,  complete, accurate, accessible, and provided on a timely basis. To obtain this information, BLM officials  would have to review the official lease files, as we did, and most of the  files were available only in hard copy in BLM state offices. Field officials we  interviewed from one field office said that additional information on  reasons for suspension in the database would be helpful in monitoring  lease suspensions and in communicating with others, such as  management or the public, about suspensions. By including  a data field in the update or replacement for LR2000 to record the  reasons for suspensions, BLM could better ensure that federal lands are  not being inappropriately kept from development—potentially foregoing  revenue—or from valuable uses of public lands. BLM Relies on an Informal Monitoring Approach That May Not Provide for Consistent and Effective Oversight of Lease Suspensions

BLM uses an informal approach to monitor lease suspensions and does  not have procedures in place for monitoring suspensions, which may not  ensure consistent and effective oversight. By including a data  field in the update or replacement for LR2000 to record the reasons for  suspensions, BLM could better ensure that federal lands are not being  inappropriately kept from development—potentially foregoing revenue— or from other valuable uses of public lands. To date, BLM has not  developed procedures for monitoring lease suspensions. By developing  procedures for monitoring lease suspensions, including when to conduct  monitoring efforts, BLM could promote more consistent monitoring to  better ensure that lease suspensions in effect are warranted. GAO staff who made key contributions to this  report are listed in appendix V.

Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

This report examines (1) the process the Bureau of Land Management  (BLM) uses to determine whether to suspend oil and gas leases; (2) the  extent of oil and gas lease suspensions and the reasons for the  suspensions of selected leases; and (3) the approach that BLM uses to  monitor the status of lease suspensions and the extent to which this  approach allows for oversight of such lease suspensions. We also reviewed the official lease files, maintained by BLM state offices,  for a nongeneralizable sample of leases recorded as suspended as of  September 30, 2016, in Montana and Wyoming to assess their status and  the reasons behind the suspensions.
Why GAO Did This Study

Oil and gas leases on federal lands generate billions of dollars in rents and royalty payments for the federal government each year, but these revenues can be reduced if leases are suspended (i.e., placed on hold). Questions have been raised about whether some suspensions, particularly those in effect for more than 10 years, may hinder oil and gas production or adversely affect the use of federal lands for other purposes, such as recreation.
GAO was asked to review oil and gas lease suspensions on federal lands managed by BLM. This report examines, among other things, (1) the extent of and reasons for such suspensions and (2) the approach BLM uses to monitor the status of lease suspensions. GAO analyzed all data on suspensions in a BLM database and the official lease files for a nongeneralizable sample of 48 leases recorded as suspended in, Montana and Wyoming, which GAO selected based in part on the large number of suspensions these states had. GAO also reviewed BLM documents and interviewed BLM officials.

What GAO Found

According to data at the end of fiscal year 2016 from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), a small portion of oil and gas leases were suspended for various lengths of time (as shown below), but the reasons for the suspensions were difficult to determine. During a suspension, the government generally does not collect revenues from the lease. Determining the reasons for suspensions is difficult, in part because BLM does not require the inclusion of this information in its database. To obtain this information, BLM officials would have to review the official lease files, of which many are in hard copy. Under Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government , management should use quality information to achieve the entity's objectives. BLM field officials GAO interviewed said that additional, more detailed information in the database on reasons for suspensions would be helpful in tracking lease suspensions. By including a data field in the database to record the reasons for suspensions, BLM could better ensure that federal lands are not being inappropriately kept from development—potentially foregoing revenue—or from other valuable uses of public lands.
The approach BLM uses to monitor lease suspensions does not ensure consistent and effective oversight because BLM does not have procedures in place for monitoring. BLM state offices generally delegate responsibility for monitoring lease suspensions to their field offices. Officials from 12 selected field offices in two states with relatively large numbers of lease suspensions reported various frequencies in their monitoring of suspensions, ranging from every few months to rarely or not at all. In the absence of BLM monitoring procedures, field officials have discretion in how and when to monitor. By developing procedures for monitoring lease suspensions, including when to conduct monitoring efforts, BLM could better ensure that lease suspensions in effect are warranted.

What GAO Recommends

To better ensure that federal lands are not being inappropriately kept from development, GAO is making four recommendations, including that BLM record the reasons for lease suspensions in its database and develop procedures for monitoring suspensions. Interior concurred with GAO's recommendations.