How Trump May Be Able to Stop Biden’s Ban on New Offshore Drilling

President-elect Donald Trump said that when he takes office he will “immediately” reverse President Joe Biden’s recent executive action making more than 625 million acres of U.S. coastal waters off limits for new offshore drilling. But Trump’s intent to quickly “unban” any future oil and gas drilling in those areas may not be as simple as he suggests.

That’s because Biden issued his ban using authority granted to presidents by the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, a 1953 law that allows presidents to protect unleased lands of the outer continental shelf from oil and gas development. In 2019, a federal judge ruled that any such prohibition could be overturned by Congress — but not a future president.

However, after Biden announced the new ban on Jan. 6, the incoming president pledged to undo it.