National

Industry Sees Arctic Refuge Oil Leasing Start in Early 2020. “Producers expect the Trump administration to begin leasing the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge within the first quarter of 2020, kicking off a new oil boom in the region, the Alaska Oil and Gas Association’s president said Nov. 20. The association expects companies to find between 8 billion and 10 billion barrels of recoverable oil beneath the refuge’s coastal plain, leading to the production of 1 million barrels of oil per day after 2035, Kara Moriarty said at the Alaska Resources Conference in Anchorage.” [Bloomberg, 11/20/19 (=)]

AP | US Agency to Consider Expanded Drilling in Alaska Reserve. “The Trump administration will consider a new management plan and expanded oil drilling for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, an Indiana-size area that former Interior Secretary Ken Salazar characterized as an “iconic place on our Earth.” The Bureau of Land Management announced Thursday it will take public comment through Jan. 21 on four alternatives for the reserve in northern Alaska.” [New York Times, 11/21/19 (=)]

BLM employees who buck relocation out West must leave by early next year. “Bureau of Land Management (BLM) employees who choose severance over accompanying the agency as it moves out West will have to be out of their job by Jan. 31 of next year. In an email to BLM staff, acting Director William Pendley said eligible employees may begin applying for early retirement or voluntary separation incentive payments as early as next week.” [The Hill, 11/20/19 (=)]

The Problem with the BLM Moving to the West. “The most troubling part, according to Congressman Raul Grijalva of Arizona, chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, is that it’s happening through a back door. That notice to D.C. personnel about moving went out despite the fact that Congress hasn’t authorized funding for the move. Grijalva says the Department of Interior has refused to produce requested documentation about why the move is necessary and how it will affect employees. “They’ve provided us with no information, and they continue to push the agenda forward,” he told me.” [Outside Online, 11/21/19 (+)]

Interior to hamstring federal mine oversight. “The Trump administration is doubling down on efforts to reduce the federal government's role in regulating coal mining. The White House revealed yesterday the Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) will propose a rule this month on so-called 10-day notices, a key instrument of federal enforcement (Greenwire, Nov. 20).” [E&E News, 11/21/19 (=)]

Lawmakers eager to boost popular rural programs. “Senators hope to quickly extend rural county payment programs in the short term, they said during a legislative hearing yesterday, and expressed bipartisan support for a long-term fix that involves establishing a permanent fund.” [E&E News, 11/22/19 (=)]

State and Local

Newsom says California will sue Trump over Delta water, endangered fish. “Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration said Thursday it will sue the Trump administration over its efforts to push more water through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, saying the federal plan would harm the sprawling estuary and the fragile fish populations that live there. In a 610-page environmental report, Newsom’s administration sketched out its own plan for managing water flows through the Delta, while issuing a separate statement that blasted the Trump plan, which is designed to increase water supplies for San Joaquin Valley farmers, the president’s political allies.” [Sacramento Bee, 11/21/19 (=)]

Heinrich seeks to further protect Bandelier from oil, gas development. “For more than a century, visitors have enjoyed the trails, wildlife, waterways, cultural artifacts and history of Bandelier National Monument, a 33,000-acre park in the Jemez Mountains, about 12 miles south of Los Alamos, that gained fame for its ancient cliff dwellings. In an effort to increase protections for the area’s resources — and to prevent oil and gas developments there — U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich has introduced a bill that would change Bandelier’s status to a national park and preserve.” [Santa Fe New Mexican, 11/21/19 (=)]

Alaska governor pans congressional inquiry into grant use. “Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) dismissed as "costly, time consuming and ultimately pointless" a potential congressional inquiry into his state's use of a federal forest fire grant to fight federal logging restrictions in the Tongass National Forest.” [E&E News, 11/21/19 (=)]

Study: Park's bison mow, fertilize their own grass. “A study of grazing in Yellowstone National Park found that bison essentially mow and fertilize their own food, allowing them to graze in one area for two to three months during the spring and summer while other ungulates have to keep migrating to higher elevations to follow new plant growth.” [E&E News, 11/21/19 (=)]

Op-Ed, Editorial, and Analysis

Op-Ed: Quarry’s hydrologic drilling proposal just too risky. “Since freight trains are longer and heavier than passenger trains, they put more pressure on the geothermal system than passenger trains, therefore a greater rise in the well water level. The water level returned to a lower, baseline level when there were no trains passing through Glenwood Springs. Wright Water Engineers eventually abandoned the geothermal test well. The risks are too great.” [Glenwood Springs Post-Independent, 11/21/19 (+)]