President Donald Trump on Friday signed S.J.Res. 80, a Congressional Review Act resolution that nullifies a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) rule known as the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Integrated Activity Plan Record of Decision (IAP/ROD). The signing was announced by the White House on December 5, 2025.
The now-voided rule, finalized in April 2022, had established the federal management framework for future oil and gas activity across the 23-million-acre National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A). Under that plan, BLM designated which areas were open to leasing and where infrastructure such as roads, pads, and pipelines could be built.
According to the IAP/ROD, the rule had closed approximately 11 million acres — about 48% of the NPR-A — to new oil and gas leasing, including large portions of the Teshekpuk Lake region and other high-value wildlife areas. The plan also prohibited new infrastructure on roughly 8.3 million acres, limiting the ability to develop leases even in some areas where subsurface rights remained available.
The rule further included extensive setback requirements, seasonal restrictions, and wildlife-specific protections governing exploration and development activities. These measures regulated where operators could place permanent facilities, how pipelines could be routed, and when equipment could operate near caribou calving grounds, molting goose habitat, and coastal marine-mammal areas.
Congress advanced S.J.Res. 80 under the Congressional Review Act, which allows federal regulations to be overturned through a joint resolution. The White House announcement noted only that the measure “nullifies” the BLM rule. No additional comment accompanied the signing.
With the resolution now enacted, the 2022 IAP/ROD no longer has legal force, and management of the reserve reverts to prior federal policy pending any new rulemaking.