License to Drill Act

SI-generated grade · five published checks · not individually reviewed by a person · methodology

Extension of an existing cost-recovery fee for voluntary oil and gas permit applications on federal lands is a proper exercise of the Article IV Property Clause, infringes no rights, and consolidates no new power.

• ✓ Passes · Enumerated powers
  Congress has explicit authority over federal property under Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2, the Property Clause, which grants Congress power to dispose of and make all needful rules respecting territory and other property belonging to the United States. Regulating oil and gas permits on Bureau of Land Management lands and setting related processing fees is a direct exercise of that power, support…
• ✓ Passes · Bill of Rights
  No speech, religion, press, assembly, arms, search, trial, or other Bill of Rights interest is restricted. The bill only continues an existing permit processing fee for oil and gas applications on federal lands. It creates no prohibition on expression under the First Amendment, no search or seizure under the Fourth Amendment, and no taking under the Fifth Amendment.
• ✓ Passes · Individual sovereignty
  No person is compelled to seek a federal oil and gas drilling permit. The fee applies only when an applicant voluntarily seeks use of federal lands. It does not restrict belief, speech, labor, or private property use, and the modest cost-recovery condition is justified by the need to process applications on public lands.
• ✓ Passes · Decentralization
  Management of federally owned lands is inherently a federal function. An individual, county, or state cannot administer permits for federal property owned by the United States. The bill does not move new authority upward; it merely extends existing Bureau of Land Management fee collection through FY2037 for processing permits, the minimum level capable of managing federal lands.
• ✓ Passes · Due process and takings
  No deprivation of life, liberty, or property without process under the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause. The fee is tied to a voluntary application for a new permit and funds permit processing, with notice through statute. It is a user fee for a government service, not a seizure or a physical or regulatory taking requiring just compensation under the Fifth Amendment Takings Clause.

Sources: Congress.gov: HR 7831 summary