The Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) indicated in mid-November 2019 that the planned inaugural Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) Area 1002 Lease Sale is likely to be held in 2020. The lease sale has previously been slated by the end of December 2019. Derrick Henry, public affairs specialist at the BLM said: "We are working under the timeframe established in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which directs the Secretary of the Interior through the BLM to establish the lease sales. The Act requires a lease sale within 4 years of enactment, which is 2021." The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 also calls for at least two area-wide lease sales in the 1002 area by December 2024. The ANWR coastal plain is often referred to as 'Area 1002', after Section 1002 of the 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which carved out the potential for industry development in the otherwise off-limits northern 76,890 sq km (19 million acre) refuge. According to a 2000 report by the US Energy Information Administration, ANWR is "the largest unexplored, potentially productive geologic onshore basin in the United States."
The Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) indicated in mid-November 2019 that the planned inaugural Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) Area 1002 Lease Sale is likely to be held in 2020. The lease sale has previously been slated by the end of December 2019. 