The Biden Administration announced their cancellation of oil and gas drilling across 13 million acres of Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve on Wednesday, Sept. 6.

The administration previously announced its plan to review the leases, giving drilling rights to the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority in June 2021. These regulations will terminate seven out of nine leases sold by the Trump Administration in January 2021 and end possibilities of further drilling developments. These new mandates only prohibit leases in protected areas, meaning the controversial $8 billion Willow Project will continue.

Following Wednesday’s announcement, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland outlined what these mandates will accomplish. 

“With today’s action, no one will have rights to drill for oil in one of the most sensitive landscapes on Earth,” Haaland stated to reporters. “Public lands belong to all Americans, and there are some places where oil and gas drilling and industrial development simply do not belong.” 

The Interior Department purposefully created these mandates in a way that protects other administrations from reversing them.

“The new proposed rules makes special areas a one-way ratchet for conservation,” an official said. “Previously, one administration could reduce their size, another one could increase it. The regulation establishes that these 13 million acres are protected.”

Biden’s announcement on Sept. 6 was backed by Haaland. She stated that this is just one step in his agenda.

“President Biden is delivering on the most ambitious climate and conservation agenda in history,” Haaland said. “The steps we are taking today further that commitment, based on the best available science and in recognition of the Indigenous Knowledge of the original stewards of the area, to safeguard our public lands for future generations.”