Congress

 

Republicans Push Permitting, Energy Overhaul Bill Through Committee — “House Republicans on the Natural Resource Committee advanced legislation Thursday designed to boost energy production on federal lands, streamline mining permitting and overhaul the National Environmental Policy Act process, sending a key piece of of the GOP’s broader energy package to the floor. No Democrats voted for the underlying bill, known as the TAPP American Resources Act, or H.R. 1335 (118), which advanced on a 24-19 vote. Democrats argued Republicans’ legislative offerings to ease federal permitting reviews amounted to ‘gutting’ the public input process set up under NEPA, the nation’s bedrock environmental law, and accused the GOP of favoring fossil fuels. ‘The simple truth is that this is neither a serious attempt at being part of the clean energy transformation nor working with Democrats,’ said Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, the committee’s top Democrat. ‘Just add this bill — this performative permitting reform — to the long list of those kind of politics we can expect from the GOP majority.’ The committee approved a handful of amendments to the legislation on a bipartisan basis. Those included measures to prohibit Chinese government-run companies from obtaining oil and gas leases, barring foreign mining companies who’ve committed human rights abuses from operating on U.S. federal lands and creating and setting in motion the creation of an online permitting portal of projects under federal review to increase transparency to the public.” [Politico, 3/9/23 (=)]

 

House Republicans Announce Major Energy Package As Top Priority Bill — “House Republicans on Thursday announced that a major energy package that has been in the works for weeks will be known as H.R.1, signifying that it’s the party’s top priority for the congressional session. The bill, called the Lower Energy Costs Act, is expected to include a large slate of energy policy proposals. It includes proposals aimed at speeding up the country’s approval process for energy and mining as well as limiting states’ ability to block projects like pipelines that run through their waters, according to press releases from the House Natural Resources and Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The bill is also expected to to include suggestions from the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which on Thursday took up legislation that would prohibit a ban on fracking, limit the president’s authority to block cross-border project permits — such as President Biden’s blocking of the Keystone XL pipeline — remove restrictions on natural gas imports and exports, as well as repeal portions of the Inflation Reduction Act that provided funding to address climate change and pollution. Majority Leader Steve Scalise issued a statement Thursday saying he’ll formally introduce the bill next week.” [The Hill, 3/9/23 (=)]

 

 

Federal Agencies

 

Department of the Interior (DOI)

 

Biden Budget Aims To Hike Interior Funding To $18.8B — “The White House is seeking $18.8 billion for the Interior Department for fiscal 2024, according to the budget proposal released Thursday, a more than 9 percent increase from the 2023 enacted level. Details: The proposal provides $181 million for accelerating clean energy development on public lands, an increase of $70 million from the 2023 enacted level, supporting the planning and permitting of solar, wind and geothermal projects and associated transmission lines. It says that level of funding would help meet the administration’s goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030 and 25 gigawatts of clean energy capacity on public lands by 2025. It aims to streamline reviews for offshore wind, a burgeoning but nascent industry in the U.S. crucial to the Biden administration’s climate goals, providing $60 million to expand permitting activities at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. … Other highlights include $311 million earmarked to remediate orphaned oil and gas wells and reclaim abandoned mine lands, which compliments $16 billion provided in the bipartisan infrastructure law for that task. The proposal invests $314 million to reduce risk and severity of wildfires, $5.7 billion for climate adaptation and resilience and $366 million for climate science research. Biden’s budget seeks $4.7 billion for tribal programs, $690 million above the 2023 enacted level. It also requests $3.8 billion for the National Park Service, $289 million over the previous year.” [Politico, 3/9/23 (=)]

 

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

 

BLM Budget Targets Wild Horses, Conservation Lands And Staffing — “President Joe Biden’s fiscal 2024 budget request asks Congress to provide millions of dollars in additional funding to pay to house and care for nearly 63,000 wild horses and burros that the Bureau of Land Management has rounded up and removed from overcrowded rangelands. Biden’s $1.7 billion request for BLM — about $140 million above the fiscal 2023-enacted level — also focuses on increased funding for the bureau’s 35-million-acre National Conservation Lands system that has been chronically underfunded over most of the past two decades. The proposal would provide $154.8 million for BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program that manages more than 80,000 wild horse and burros on 27 million acres of herd management areas in 10 Western states. That would represent a $6.9 million increase above the 2023-enacted level of $148 million, but in line with the $153 million Biden requested last year. Most of the requested increase is needed to ‘help offset the rising cost of caring for excess wild horses and burros in off-range corrals and pastures, as the overall cost of feed and associated services continues to increase,’ according to a budget summary the Interior Department released Thursday. BLM last year rounded up a record 22,000 wild horses and burros from overcrowded rangelands. It is currently holding nearly 63,000 animals in off-range corrals and holding pens, and private and public pasturelands, which is about 20,000 below total capacity, according to bureau statistics.” [E&E News, 3/9/23 (=)]

 

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE)

 

Budget Pitches Spending Boost For Coal Mine Oversight — “The White House on Thursday proposed a slight boost in funding for coal mining oversight. President Joe Biden’s fiscal 2024 budget includes about $127 million for the Interior Department’s Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. That’s a slight boost from $121 million in last year’s omnibus spending bill. The request proposes spending $90.6 million on environmental protection programs, a $1.7 million increase. State and tribal grants would be funded at $65 million. The plan would fund abandoned coal mine reclamation at $174.6 million, including money from the abandoned mined lands fund, according to a fact sheet. Lawmakers reauthorized that program during the last Congress. The budget includes $135 million in the form of grants for a separate effort, the Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization program. That money would help return legacy coal mining sites to productive use while creating jobs and boosting local economies, a release said.” [E&E News, 3/9/23 (=)]

 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)

 

Interior's Big Legal Headache: Missed ESA Deadlines — “A federal judge Wednesday kept alive most of a sweeping environmentalist lawsuit that challenges the Interior Department over missed Endangered Species Act deadlines for nearly 200 vulnerable plants and animals. In one of the most expansive lawsuits of its kind in more than a decade, Senior Judge Emmet Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled the Center for Biological Diversity can continue to press ahead with its legal challenge against the Fish and Wildlife Service on behalf of 192 species for which ESA decisions are overdue. On its face, Sullivan’s ruling is a technical one involving a statute of limitations for the filing of a lawsuit. He rejected the agency’s contention that the lawsuit came too late. ‘The ESA imposes a continuing duty on the FWS to make 12-month findings for petitioned species,’ wrote Sullivan, who was appointed during the Clinton administration. ‘Because the FWS is under a continuing obligation to act and has not yet acted, the Center ‘s claims have not accrued.’ Consequently, Sullivan ruled, ‘the Center’s claims regarding the 192 species awaiting a 12-month finding may proceed.’ The environmental organization cheered the ruling. ‘I’m glad the court saw through the Fish and Wildlife Service’s cynical excuses for failing to act on nearly 200 petitions seeking protections for imperiled plants and animals,’ said Ryan Shannon, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. ‘It’s time for this agency to get to work and stop kicking the can down the road. We’re in the middle of an extinction crisis and every one of these species desperately needs to be protected.’” [E&E News, 3/9/23 (=)]

 

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

 

Interior Budget Ramps Up Watchdogs, Science And ESA Work — “The White House on Thursday proposed hikes in funding for both the Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Geological Survey. The Biden administration’s fiscal 2024 budget request includes $2.1 billion in discretionary funding for the Fish and Wildlife Service and $1.8 billion for the U.S. Geological Survey’s various science ventures. The proposal amounts to a more than $300 million increase for the FWS over the fiscal 2023 level and an increase of $288 million for USGS. ‘The president’s budget proposal reflects USGS’ commitment to make forward-thinking investments that will deliver science to those who need it most and address emerging, landscape-scale issues faced by our nation,’ said USGS Director David Applegate. The agency’s budget proposal includes, for instance, what USGS identified as ‘targeted investments in high-performance computing capabilities.’ The Advanced Research Computing Environment would reportedly enhance capabilities to analyze data for use in evacuation response scenarios. ‘The recent volcanic eruption in Hawai’i offers an example of the benefits of boosting computing capabilities,’ the agency budget summary states. ‘The USGS provided lava-flow modeling with improved calculations and graphics showing where lava was likely to go and how quickly in thirty seconds, a dramatic improvement from the 27 hours it previously took.’” [E&E News, 3/9/23 (=)]

 

Department of Agriculture (USDA)

 

Biden Budget Calls For 14 Percent Increase For USDA In FY 2024 Budget — “President Joe Biden’s fiscal 2024 budget calls for $30.1 billion in discretionary budget authority for the Agriculture Department, a $3.8 billion increase from last year’s enacted level. The increases include hikes to child nutrition and climate programs. The budget also stakes out administration positions on the 2023 farm bill due in September. … Climate money: The budget asks for $1.2 billion in discretionary funds to the Natural Resources Conservation Service — which funds USDA’s conservation programs. It’s a $208 million increase over the 2023 enacted level. It also proposes to make USDA’s cover crop program permanent. … Forestry: The administration is asking for $323 million to support its 10-year Wildfire Crisis Strategy. The budget would also provide $316 million more than last year for the U.S. Forest Service, which the White House says would ensure no wildland firefighter is making less than $15 an hour.” [Politico, 3/9/23 (=)]

 

 

Oil & Gas Industry

 

Biden Budget Takes Aim At $31B In Oil Industry Tax Incentives — “President Joe Biden relaunched a fight against the oil and gas industry tax incentives on Thursday, proposing to cut tens of billions of dollars in federal subsidies as part of his fiscal 2024 budget request. The effort is almost certainly doomed on Capitol Hill, where Republican lawmakers and some Democrats oppose it. But the proposal ups the ante in Democrats’ months-long calls for the industry to pay more taxes amid their record profits, and it revives the effort that has long been sought by environmentalists and the progressive wing of the party — as well as the Obama administration — to eliminate the incentives. ‘Even as they benefit from billions of dollars in special tax breaks, oil companies have failed to invest in production,’ a fact sheet on the budget said. ‘In 2022, they realized record profits and cut their investment as a share of operating cash flows to the lowest levels in decade, while undertaking record stock buybacks that benefited executives and wealthy shareholders.’” [Politico, 3/9/23 (=)]

 

 

States & Local

 

Alaska

 

Federal Judge Rules In Favor Of ConocoPhillips To Keep Willow Drilling Data Secret — “A federal judge has blocked the public release of exploration data from five oil wells drilled in the National Petroleum Reserve as part of ConocoPhillips Alaska’s Willow project. Wednesday’s decision by U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason preempts a state law intended to encourage oil and gas development on the North Slope by requiring companies to make data publicly available after two years. Gleason determined that the state law was overridden by federal law because the five wells were drilled in the federal National Petroleum Reserve as a result of federal oil leases. She concluded that federal disclosure rules — which require the data be released after ConocoPhillips’ federal lease expires — should be followed instead. ConocoPhillips filed its lawsuit against the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission last year after unsuccessfully asking the Alaska Department of Natural Resources for an extension of the privacy period. A spokesperson for the Alaska Department of Law, which represented the state in the lawsuit, said attorneys there are evaluating Gleason’s decision, which could be appealed. The Willow project, which was the subject of the lawsuit, remains under environmental review by the Department of the Interior. A final decision is expected within days.” [Alaska Beacon, 3/9/23 (=)]

 

'Open For Business': Alaska Advances Exploration After Pebble Veto — “A month after the federal government’s veto of the Pebble mine in the Bristol Bay watershed, Alaska is moving forward with other mineral exploration in the area — triggering calls for Congress to enact broader, permanent protections of the region’s world-renowned salmon fisheries. EPA on Jan. 31 issued a rare veto blocking the Pebble mine after decades of legal and regulatory wrangling, saying the mine would damage the region’s fisheries. Now, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources is taking public comment through March 14 on what it says is a small-scale gold exploration project about 8 miles southwest of the Pebble deposit (Greenwire, Jan. 31). Following a multi-agency review, state regulators will decide whether to grant Washington state-based Stuy Mines LLC permits to explore in the watershed. ‘The state of Alaska remains open for business for resource development, including in this region,’ said Lorraine Henry, a spokesperson for the agency. ‘The DNR’s mission and our constitutional mandate is to maximize the use of Alaska’s resources for the public’s good.’ While small in scale, the exploration bid is galvanizing environmental groups, local tribes and anglers concerned about insufficient protections in the pristine Bristol Bay watershed from mining projects, even in the wake of the Pebble veto. The region is home to commercial and sport fisheries for Pacific salmon and other fish.” [E&E News, 3/9/23 (=)]

 

West Virginia

 

Firms To Make Acres Public To End W.Va. National Park Suit — “A group of developers has agreed to give 40 acres of land to a conservation group in order to settle a suit accusing them of cutting down 150 trees on the New River Gorge National Park, according to the deal in West Virginia federal court. Wild Rock West Virginia, Optima Properties WV LLC and William Frischkorn on Wednesday agreed to donate an undeveloped 40-acre parcel called the Kingfish/Sandstonia property to the West Virginia Land Trust as part of resolving the suit with the U.S. Department of Justice. In addition, the developers agreed to cover the government for the $152,000 in costs it incurred from the tree-cutting along the property line between the national park and the Wild Rock housing development. The developers will also grant permanent public access to the Wild Rock Public Access Trail, a one-mile trail on the property line between the housing complex and the park. The developers do not admit fault for the incident in the settlement. ‘[The National Park Service] has found that long-term conservation of the Kingfish/Sandstonia property, combined with public use of the Wild Rock Public Access Trail, will remedy the natural resource injuries,’ according to the Wednesday consent decree.” [Law360, 3/9/23 (=)]

 

Wyoming

 

3 Wyoming Suits Over Oil And Gas Leasing Pause Combined — “Three lawsuits in Wyoming federal court challenging the federal government’s pause on oil and gas leasing will move forward together after a federal judge consolidated the cases — a move that an oil industry group petitioner said was ‘fully expected’ given the suits’ similarity. U.S. District Judge Scott W. Skavdahl on Tuesday consolidated the petitions — one filed by the state of Wyoming and two by the Western Energy Alliance and Petroleum Association of Wyoming — which ask the court to declare the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s cancellations of quarterly oil lease sales in Wyoming unlawful. ‘The court finds the cases involve common questions of law and fact, and consolidation would encourage efficient administration of the issues while conserving resources,’ Judge Skavdahl said. WEA President Kathleen Sgamma told Law360 on Thursday that the organization anticipated the consolidation, as the alliance’s two filings were ‘exactly the same,’ aside from challenging different missed quarterly gas leasing sales. ‘The consolidation should have no major bearing on the outcome other than our case is strengthened by the fact that we’re challenging two missed quarters instead of just one,’ Sgamma wrote in an email.” [Law360, 3/9/23 (=)]

 

 

 

Responses to this email are not monitored.

 

Please contact Mitch Dunn (mitch@beehivedc.com) with clips related questions and comments  

 

Please contact Kimberly Gerbert (kgerbert@partnershipproject.org) with distribution related questions