North Dakota Senate Bill SB2302

North Dakota 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/20/25
• Refer: 1/20/25
• Report Pass: 2/10/25
• Engrossed: 2/13/25
• Refer: 2/18/25
• Report Pass: 3/21/25
• Enrolled: 3/27/25
• Passed: 3/31/25

Caption

AN ACT to amend and reenact sections 15-01-02 and 15-05-09 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to the powers of the board of university and school lands and leases on state lands.

Summary

SB 2302 amends North Dakota law governing the Board of University and School Lands. The bill restates and expands the board’s authority over public lands, permanent funds, and related property, including lands held for the support of common schools and other state institutions, escheated property, and proceeds from those assets. It also expressly authorizes the board to make refunds when errors occur in transactions involving lands, minerals, funds, or other property under its control, and to adopt policies and rules needed to carry out its duties. The bill also specifically authorizes the board to award and distribute energy infrastructure and impact grants from the oil and gas impact grant fund, with a cap that annual grants may not exceed 60 percent of the biennial appropriation for those grants. The board may also create an advisory committee to help evaluate grant awards. In addition, the bill updates the board’s leasing authority to make clear that state lands may be leased for a broad range of resources, including oil, gas, coal, sand and gravel, building stone, chemical substances, metallic ores, critical minerals, rare earth elements, clays, and other naturally occurring elements and compounds, and it allows the board to cancel leases if a lessee is found to be trying to hinder or block resource development.

Impact

SB 2302 amends sections 15-01-02 and 15-05-09 of the North Dakota Century Code, strengthening and clarifying the statutory powers of the Board of University and School Lands. It affects the management of state trust lands, permanent school funds, mineral and resource leasing, and the administration of energy infrastructure and impact grants. The bill also broadens the statutory language around leasable resources, which may affect future leasing decisions and development of state-owned mineral and surface assets.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have been broadly supported. It passed the Senate 45-2 and the House 83-9, indicating strong bipartisan approval with only limited opposition. The available record contains no committee transcript, so there is no detailed discussion of concerns or amendments, but the vote totals suggest the measure was viewed favorably overall.

Contention

The main areas that could draw concern are the expanded leasing authority over state lands and the explicit power to cancel leases when a lessee is perceived to be obstructing development, since those provisions may affect lessees’ expectations and resource-development disputes. Another possible point of interest is the grant-making authority tied to oil and gas impact funds, including the 60 percent annual cap and the use of an advisory committee, though the recorded votes suggest these provisions were not highly controversial. No specific objections are documented in the provided materials.