Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976
The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. §1701 et seq.) - FLPMA, also called the BLM Organic Act, consolidated and articulated BLM management responsibilities and delegated many management responsibilities pertaining to federal land from the Secretary of the Interior to the Director of the BLM, including oversight of oil and gas leases. (For leases on Indian lands, the delegation to the BLM appears at 25 CFR parts 211, 212, 213, 225, and 227.) FLPMA provides an express congressional policy aimed at retaining federal control and possession over valuable lands and mineral resources. As a result, the FLMPA established additional land and resource management authorities; it also amended, or repealed provisions on federal land withdrawals, land acquisitions and exchanges, right-of-way, and the general organization and administration of BLM and the public lands. FLPMA established multiple use, sustained yield, and environmental protection as the guiding principles for public land management. Specifically, BLM must take any action necessary to prevent unneccesary or undue degradation of the lands.