Mandatory Offshore Drilling Bill Exempts Oil Operations from Rice’s Whale Protections and Requires 26 Sales in 10 Years

The BRIDGE Production Act of 2025 (Bringing Reliable Investment into Domestic Gulf Energy Production Act) is a major legislative push to lock in aggressive offshore oil and gas production schedules, primarily in the Gulf of America and the Cook Inlet Planning Area. The core of this bill is simple: it mandates that the Secretary of the Interior conduct at least 26 specific offshore lease sales over the next ten years—20 in the Gulf and 6 in Cook Inlet—on a strict, non-negotiable timeline (SEC. 3). Furthermore, it sets up a system designed to bypass environmental reviews and regulatory hurdles that might slow down the process, effectively prioritizing speed over established oversight.

The Race to Drill: Mandatory Sales and Regulatory Shortcuts

If you’re running a small construction business or working in manufacturing, you know how frustrating it is when a project gets bogged down in red tape. This bill is designed to eliminate that for offshore energy companies. Section 3 not only sets a rigid schedule with specific deadlines for these 26 sales, but it also gives the Secretary of the Interior the power to waive any rule under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) if that rule would slow down final approval of a lease sale. That’s a huge amount of discretionary power, essentially giving the government the authority to ignore its own rules if they get in the way of meeting the mandated drilling schedule.

To sweeten the deal for operators, the bill adjusts the minimum royalty rate for new leases down to 12.5 percent from the current 16 2/3 percent minimum in certain cases (SEC. 3). Plus, there’s a pilot program offering a significant incentive: if a leaseholder starts producing oil or gas within three years, they can get a reduced royalty rate of 10 percent for the first seven years of production (limited to 25 leases). This aims to push companies to start drilling immediately rather than sitting on leases.

Environmental Review: Waived and Done

This is where the bill cuts through the most red tape, and it’s the part that will raise the most eyebrows for anyone concerned about coastal health or wildlife. For the mandatory sales and resulting activities in the Gulf of Mexico, the bill automatically deems compliance with several major environmental laws satisfied by existing documents (SEC. 4). The government is considered compliant with the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) simply by following a specific, pre-existing biological opinion.

But the most striking provision is the specific exemption for the critically endangered Rice’s whale (Balaenoptera ricei). The bill explicitly states that any requirements under the ESA or MMPA for the protection of this whale species will not apply to any oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico (SEC. 4). This means that even if scientists determine a specific drilling activity would harm the whale, the operator is legally exempt from having to implement mitigation measures for that species. For coastal communities and those who rely on a healthy Gulf ecosystem, this provision represents a direct and significant rollback of established environmental protections.

The Judicial Hammer: Forcing Sales on Schedule

What happens if the Secretary misses one of the 26 mandatory sale deadlines? The bill creates a unique enforcement mechanism (SEC. 5). Any potential responsible bidder can sue the Secretary if a sale is missed by 10 days. If a court agrees, it must order the sale to happen within 120 days. To ensure compliance, the court can appoint a “special master”—a court-appointed manager—to oversee the entire process, from advertising the sale to issuing the leases. If the Secretary still drags their feet, fines start kicking in. This is a highly unusual step that essentially outsources the administrative duty of holding a sale to the judicial branch, signaling that the mandate for these sales is absolute.

Crucially, this section also shields the leases themselves. A lawsuit challenging a sale cannot invalidate any leases already issued, nor can it stop the processing of drilling permits. If a court finds an error, it can only send the matter back to the Secretary to fix the paperwork; it cannot cancel the sale or stop the leasing process (SEC. 5).

Locking in the Future: The Perpetual Drilling Plan

Starting in 2035, the bill requires that any future five-year offshore leasing program must include at least 15 lease sales (SEC. 7). If the Secretary fails to approve a new five-year plan on time, or if a court rules that a plan doesn't meet the 15-sale minimum, a specific backup schedule automatically kicks in. This default schedule requires 10 Gulf sales and 5 Alaska sales over five years and, notably, holding these sales requires no new analysis under NEPA, ESA, or the Coastal Zone Management Act (SEC. 6, SEC. 7). This creates a mechanism where aggressive offshore leasing becomes the default, bypassing major environmental reviews regardless of future administration changes.