After a four-year hiatus, the Bureau of Land Management intends to resume leasing blocks of federal land in south-central California for oil and gas drilling.

In a June 23 news release, the signaled it would open up drilling on public lands in portions of Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare and Ventura counties.

The bureau said a recent release of a supplemental environmental impact statement that stemmed from a legal settlement in 2022. The settlement “halted new leasing pending a review of the effects of the well-completion technique known as fracking,” according to the Bakersfield Californian.