Guidance on Reviewing the Federal Exclusion Records and Verifying Eligibility

Before issuing a lease, approving an agreement, accepting a surety bond, approving a lease reinstatement, or approving an assignment or transfer of interest in a lease or an agreement, the BLM must first verify whether the Federal Government has excluded or disqualified the entity or individual by recording them in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov). This verification process applies to surety companies before accepting a surety bond. The BLM staff should conduct a comprehensive review of SAM.gov by searching through both the Exclusions records and the Responsibility/Qualification records under Entity Information.

To search SAM.gov, the BLM staff should set up an account in SAM.gov through registration on the website. The SAM.gov has a list of frequently asked questions to assist with registration and searching the exclusions and the responsibility/qualification records. If the Federal Government has suspended, debarred, voluntarily excluded, or disqualified an entity, individual, and/or its principal/representative with an exclusions record, then the BLM must deny or refuse to accept applications for the issuance, assignment, or transfer of a lease, agreement, surety bond, or other nonprocurement award, to that entity or individual. If the responsibility/qualification record indicates (1) a conviction within the last two years or (2) a fully adjudicated tax liability is still outstanding and not settled, contact the DOI Office of Inspector General’s Administrative Remedies Division (ARD) at OIG_Debarment@doioig.gov 

The ARD will conduct a review and coordinate with the Suspending and Debarring Official. The BLM also should consult with the applicable Office of the Solicitor (SOL) regarding the appropriate action to take before accepting or approving the issuance, assignment, or transfer of a lease, agreement, surety bond, or other nonprocurement award. The Mineral & Land Records System (MLRS) allows tracking and documenting verification of eligibility. The Verification of Eligibility Checklist (Attachment 1) is a template checklist that each office needs to complete for the entity receiving an interest in a covered nonprocurement transaction (2) and upload the checklist into MLRS. 3 Nonprocurement transactions (and the entities that the BLM should verify are eligible) include:

• Issuance of a fluid mineral lease (lessee, record title owner, and operating rights owner);

• Approval of a fluid mineral agreement (operator, co-operator, and suboperator);

• Issuance of a solid mineral lease (lessee);

• Acceptance of a surety bond, including surety bonds for right-of-way actions (surety company);

• Approval of reinstatement or renewal of any of the above cases; and,

• A transfer of interest or ownership in any of the above cases (e.g., new lessee, record title owner, operating rights owner, operator, surety company, etc.).

Oversight: 

The BLM headquarters will complete an annual oversight review of BLM’s verification of eligibility process for the identified nonprocurement transactions in March of each year and report these findings to senior leadership and state office leadership.

Federally Excluded Entity with a Federal Lease or Agreement

Whenever a BLM office identifies a Federal lease or agreement with an entity, which the Federal Government suspended, debarred, voluntarily excluded, or disqualified, the office will notify the Headquarters’ Senior Mineral Leasing Specialist in the Division of Fluid Minerals. The Senior Mineral Leasing Specialist will work with the DOI’s Suspending and Debarring Official, SOL, and the BLM office to take appropriate action with respect to the entity’s interest in a Federal lease or agreement.

Coordination for Potential Suspension or Debarment Actions

In situations where the BLM identifies potential parties for suspension or debarment consideration, the BLM should make a referral to the Office of Inspector General (OIG) Administrative Remedies Division (ARD) at oig_debarment@doioig.gov and provide evidence of the entity’s offense or serious poor performance. Even in the absence of an indictment or conviction, ARD may consider and refer cases to the Suspending and Debarring Official for a suspension, when there is adequate evidence and immediate action is necessary to protect the Government’s interest, or a debarment with a preponderance of evidence.

Additional Disqualifications

In addition to the Federal exclusion records, the BLM also maintains a list of entities that are in noncompliance with the reclamation requirements of Section 17(g) of the Mineral Leasing Act for oil and gas leases (see 30 U.S. Code § 226(g) and 43 C.F.R. § 3102.5 1(e)).  Appendix 4 in the H-3120-1, Competitive Leases (P) handbook, provides guidance related to the list of entities in noncompliance with the reclamation requirements of Section 17(g) of the Mineral Leasing Act.

(2) Nonprocurement transactions covered by this policy include, but are not limited to: Federal acquisition of a leasehold interest or any other interest in real property; concession contracts, dispositions of Federal real and personal property and natural resources; and any other nonprocurement transaction between the Department and a person under 2 C.F.R. § 1400.970; and, grants, cooperative agreements, scholarships, fellowships, contracts of assistance, loans, loan guarantees, subsidies, insurances, payments for specified uses and donation agreements under 2 C.F.R. § 180.970.

Transactions that are not covered are listed at 2 C.F.R. §§ 1400.215 and 180.215 and include, but are not limited to: transactions entered into pursuant to Pub. L. No. 93-638; under natural resource management programs, permits, licenses, exchanges, and other acquisitions of real property, rights-of-way and easements; transactions concerning mineral patent claims entered into pursuant to 30 U.S.C. §§ 22 et seq.; water service contracts and repayment entered into pursuant to 43 U.S.C. § 485; a benefit to an individual as a personal entitlement without regard to the individual’s present responsibility (but benefits received in an individual’s business capacity are not excepted); a permit, license, certificate or similar instrument issued as a means to regulate public health, safety or the environment, unless a Federal agency specifically designates it to be a covered transaction; and, a direct award to a foreign government, a public international organization, or an entity owned in whole or in part or controlled by a foreign government.

(3) Currently, solid mineral leases and right-of-way bonds are still in LR2000. Until these leases move to MLRS, these case types do not need to complete the steps associated with MLRS.