H.R. 526, titled the “Declaration of Energy Independence Act,” seeks to amend the Mineral Leasing Act by adjusting the royalty rates for oil and gas extraction on federal lands. The bill proposes reducing the onshore oil and gas royalty rates from 16⅔ percent to 12½ percent and changing...
Simple Explanation
The Declaration of Energy Independence Act wants to change how much money the government gets when companies take oil and gas from public land. It suggests the government gets a smaller share of the profits and tries to make it cheaper for companies to start drilling, which might mean the government earns less money from these lands.