By Yereth Rosen

( Alaska Beacon ) — Despite the federal government shutdown, the Trump administration is proceeding with new oil leasing on Alaska’s North Slope.

The U.S. Bureau of Land management said Tuesday it will be accepting nominations for areas to auction in an upcoming oil and gas lease sale in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska . The call for nominations is the first step in the leasing process; comments on suggested leasing areas will be taken for 30 days, the BLM said.

The information is in a Federal Register notice scheduled to be published on Wednesday.

The pending lease sale is in accordance with the sweeping budget bill, signed by President Donald Trump on July 5, that he and his supporters call “The One Big Beautiful Bill.” The bill requires the BLM

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