Under Section 1835 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Congress directed the Secretary of the Interior to review current policies and practices with respect to management of federal subsurface oil and gas development activities and their effects on the privately owned surface, referred to as split-estate. The Split-Estate Report to Congress submitted in December 2006 documents the findings resulting from consultation on the split-estate issue with affected private surface owners, the oil and gas industry, and other interested parties. Instruction Memorandum (IM) No. 2007-165 addresses implementation of recommendations for Issues 1, 3, 4, and 5 contained in the Split-Estate Report to Congress.

The IM addresses the issues listed below with specific recommendations and subsequent actions to implement these recommendations. Implementing actions include more comprehensive and expansive outreach programs that include better notification practices that make use of various media resources and types, websites that provide lease sales information, and scoping meetings where the public can voice any of their concerns and provide comments about potential projects. The issues addressed in the IM include:

Issue 1 -- There is a need to further inform surface owners and operators of their rights and responsibilities regarding federal leasing and oil and gas operations on split-estate lands.

Issue 3 -- Surface owners would like to be notified about oil and gas leasing and development at the beginning of the land use planning stage.

Issue 4 -- Surface owners would like to be contacted when the BLM is leasing federal mineral estate underlying their property.

Issue 5 -- Affected surface owners would like to be notified after leases are issued, including who has purchased the lease, and what stipulations are attached.