EXPLAINER: The suspension of Arctic refuge drilling leases

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Decades-long political and legal battles over drilling in America’s largest wildlife refuge took another turn when the Biden administration suspended oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

The move Tuesday was a blow to oil and gas proponents, who came as close as they ever have to starting a drilling program after the refuge was expanded 40 years ago to include the oil-rich coastal plain. The refuge was nearly opened to drilling in 1995 until President Clinton vetoed a bill sent to him by Congress. Here is a look at the administration's decision and how it got there.

DIDN’T BIDEN DO THIS ALREADY?

Sort of. President Joe Biden issued a temporary moratorium on drilling in the refuge on his first day in office. The executive order suggested a new environmental review was necessary to examine possible legal flaws in the program approved by Trump administration.

The review, conducted by the Department of Interior, found “defects in the underlying record of decision supporting the leases,” prompting Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to suspend them.

DID THE MOVE STOP DRILLING IN THE REFUGE?

No. Drilling had yet to start in the pristine environment that's home to polar bears, a huge caribou herd, millions of migratory birds and other wildlife.

HOW MANY LEASES WERE SOLD?

Major oil companies sat out the lease sale, which only produced leases on nine of the 22 tracts offered.

The Trump administration had approved the drilling program in a 2017 tax cut law enacted by congressional Republicans. Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski played a key role in making sure the drilling provision was included.

The Bureau of Land Management, an Interior agency, conducted the lease sale on Jan. 6, after Trump lost his reelection bid but had not yet left...