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The Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act of 2023 (H.R. 3062) seeks to permanently ban new oil, gas, and mineral leasing on federal lands within a 10-mile buffer zone surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico. The bill would also terminate existing non-producing leases in this area and allow the Department of the Interior to transfer or exchange certain federal lands with local Indian tribes to support resource management.
For citizens, this legislation would safeguard approximately 316,000 acres of ancestral Puebloan sites and sacred landscapes from future industrial development, while protecting the air and water quality of nearby communities. While the bill prevents new federal leasing, it does not affect existing valid leases, private land, or mineral rights held by Tribal members and allottees. This measure would codify and make permanent a temporary 20-year administrative ban currently in place, ensuring long-term preservation of the region's cultural and historical resources.
AI-generated summary
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Sep 19, 2025
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Sep 19, 2025
Congress
118th Congress
Introduced
May 2, 2023
No CBO cost estimate has been published for this bill.
