The Biden administration on Thursday took a first step toward reforming and modernizing the federal oil and gas leasing program.

The Interior Departments proposed rule , which is now open to public comment, would significantly increase how much energy companies must pay to lease and drill on federal lands. It would also give the Bureau of Land Management greater authority to keep fossil fuel development away from sensitive ecosystems and cultural sites.

The new rule provides a fair return to taxpayers, adequately accounts for environmental harms and discourages speculation by oil and gas companies, Laura Daniel-Davis, principal deputy assistant Interior secretary for land and minerals management, said in a statement.

The Department is committed to creating a more transparent, inclusive and just approach to leasing and permitting that serves the public interest while protecting natural and cultural resources on our public lands, Daniel-Davis said.

The proposal would codify several provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act, President Joe Biden s signature climate law that Democrats passed last year. That law hiked the royalties that companies pay to the U.S. government for oil and gas extracted from public lands, raising it from a stagnant 12.5% to 16.67%. It also upped the minimum bid for leasing federal parcels from $2 to $10 per acre.

The new proposal would also increase minimum lease bonds to $150,000 a 15-fold increase over the current $10,000 minimum, which has been in place since 1960. The Interior Department said in a release that current bonding requirements no longer provide an adequate incentive for companies to meet their reclamation obligations, and that they increase the risk that taxpayers will end up covering the cost of reclaiming wells in the event the operator refuses to do so or declares bankruptcy.