The Biden administration wants to limit the ability of Donald Trump to expand drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

The Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017, which Congress passed and Trump signed, mandated that at least two leases sales be conducted in the 1.6 million-acre coastal plateau refuge by 2024. The first was auctioned off by the Interior Department just two weeks before Trump left office. The Biden administration, however, cancelled that sale claiming Interior Department did not do a sufficient analysis of the region’s environmental impact.

The Washington Post published a report on Wednesday that detailed a final environmental assessment released by the Bureau of Land Management. This document outlines a preferred option, which calls for the offering of 400,000 acres – the minimum requirement of the 2017 law – in the northwest section of the coastal flat.

Date of lease sale is yet to be decided. Alaska Public Media reports that it would be the final step of the administrative process after the “record decision” is issued. The BLM says that this will not happen before 30 days from the date the Federal Register publishes the notice of a supplemental environmental impact report. This will be on Friday.

Supporters of oil exploration in the region have criticized the Biden administration for its new restrictions on leasing refuges.

Alaska Public Media reported that Voice of the Arctic Inupiat – a regional group which has advocated oil development on the North Slope – said in a press release that local leaders were united in their opposition to the plan.

The group highlighted the impact on Kaktovik village, which is the easternmost Alaska North Slope Community with about 270 residents and located close to the Porcupine Caribou-calving Area that the BLM Plan has designated as a protected area.

North Slope Borough mayor Josiah Patkotak stated in the statement that “it seems that once more the people of the North Slope have been told that their voices and lived experiences are not enough, and that federal law passed by Congress means little to the Biden administration Department of the Interior.” The federal government’s recent actions are shameful, and they will have serious consequences on Kaktovik as well as the North Slope. This latest development shows that [the Interior Department] has rejected the chance to work with us to achieve a balance between development and preservation of our region.

Rex Rock Sr. also criticised the new restrictions.

In a statement for Voice of the Arctic Inupiat, he stated that “there is a consensus among elected leaders across the North Slope including Kaktovik that responsible resource management is essential to maintain our economic security and lifestyle.” “We are united in our opposition to any attacks on self-determination.”