Department of the Interior (DOI)

 

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

 

Bills In Congress Seek To Nix Conservation In BLM Public Lands Rule — “Bills in Congress would throw out comments for a proposed rule that would prioritize conservation and restoration on U.S. Bureau of Land Management public lands. House Resolution 3977 and Senate Bill 1435 would call for the BLM to stop gathering and discard public input on its draft Public Lands Rule, tossing out more than 216,000 public comments. Jamie Dawson with the Oregon chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers said these BLM lands are valuable for many different reasons. ‘This conservation rule will just help ensure that the agency does take the steps necessary to protect fish and wildlife habitat, protect migration corridors, clean water,’ said Dawson, ‘all of these other values that are really important.’ The proposed rule elevates conservation and restoration in the BLM’s multiple-use mandate for public lands. It’s received pushback from the oil and gas industry, which says it violates BLM’s mandate to prioritize the nation’s need for domestic minerals, including oil and gas.” [Public News Service, 10/9/23 (=)]

 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)

 

Listen: Fed Up With New US Offshore Drilling Plan, Will Oil Sector Say Bye, Bye, Bye To Gulf Of Mexico? — “In about two months, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is expected to formally approve a new National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, putting a five-year offshore leasing plan back on the books after the country’s previous program expired over a year ago. As one could imagine, the oil industry was not pleased to hear that only three lease sales for acres in the Gulf of Mexico would be conducted over the next five years. American Petroleum Institute President and CEO Mike Sommers joined the podcast to share the industry’s perspective on the new offshore leasing plan, its impact on broader supply and demand dynamics and next steps.” [S&P Global, 10/8/23 (=)]

 

Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE)

 

A Coming Oil Crash? Offshore Permits Hit 19-Year Low Under Biden. — “The Biden administration has green-lighted a record low number of new offshore oil wells, a data point that could inflame the already fierce debate over President Joe Biden’s throttling of the aging offshore oil sector in the Gulf of Mexico. An E&E News analysis of available data since the George W. Bush administration shows a steady decline in permitted offshore wells, reaching the lowest points during Biden’s tenure. The data comes as the president is facing pressure from Republicans about his domestic oil policies given the uncertain trajectory of global prices in the wake of Hamas’ attack on Israel this past weekend. The price of global benchmark Brent crude jumped 4.2 percent Monday to $88.15 a barrel. It eased slightly early Tuesday, falling 13 cents a barrel. Permitting has been tight since Biden took office during a period of low oil prices and sluggish drilling due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Even as demand picked up and industry began to revive, the Interior Department during the president’s first two years approved 30 percent fewer oil and gas wells off the nation’s coasts compared with the same period during the Trump administration. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement permitted 105 wells in Biden’s first two years. That’s compared to approving 148 during Trump’s first two years in office and 275 when Barack Obama took office in 2009 and 2010.” [E&E News, 10/10/23 (=)]

 

 

Courts & Legal

 

Fossil Fuel Companies Are Taking Private Land—And Landowners Are Fighting Back — “In the contemporary climate movement, new oil and gas pipelines constitute nothing less than an existential threat. The scholar Andreas Malm argues, for example, that humans have a moral obligation to destroy and sabotage fossil fuel infrastructure; he titled his 2021 book, appropriately, How to Blow Up a Pipeline. Most environmental groups have opted instead to take pipeline companies to court, filing impassioned briefs about how additional fossil fuel infrastructure could devastate people and the planet. Just last week, international environmental groups currently seeking criminal liability of a French energy company for its proposed pipeline in Uganda described their legal action to reporters as a ‘huge step toward climate justice.’ But some recent legal challenges to pipelines have derived from an arguably less lofty — or at least more dispassionate — provenance: The hallowed American value of private property. Three families scattered across northwestern Virginia have an ongoing lawsuit against the Mountain Valley Pipeline that originates not from an ideological standpoint, not out of concern for the climate threat that it poses nor its potential for environmental degradation, but due to the constitutional violation of their property rights that they believe it poses.” [The New Republic, 10/9/23 (=)]

 

 

Energy Industry

 

API Bashes Rice’s Whale Rule — “A new report commissioned by the oil and gas industry finds that vessel restrictions to protect the endangered Rice’s whale would cut fossil fuel production in the Gulf of Mexico by nearly 25 percent through 2040 and reduce employment by 44,000, compared to a base case without restrictions. The research by Energy & Industrial Advisory Partners was commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute and submitted to the National Marine Fisheries Service as part of comments on the proposed protections, Reg. 0648-BL86. There are less than 100 individuals remaining of the Rice’s whale, which was only classified as a new species in 2021, according to NOAA. The Interior Department in August removed six million acres from a planned lease sale to protect the whale; the sale is now scheduled to take place on Nov. 8 after the agency postponed it following a federal judge’s order to include the acres.” [Politico, 10/10/23 (=)]

 

 

States & Local

 

Alaska

 

Alaskans Get A $1,312 Oil Dividend Check This Year. The Political Cost Of The Benefit Is High — “Nearly every Alaskan will receive a $1,312 check starting this week, their annual share from the earnings of the state’s nest-egg oil fund. Some use the money for extras like tropical vacations but others — particularly in high-cost rural Alaska where jobs and housing are limited — rely on it for home heating fuel or snow machines that are critical for transportation. But the unique-to-Alaska benefit has become a blessing and a curse in a state that for decades has ridden the boom-bust cycle of oil, and it now competes for funding with services like public education, health care programs and public safety as lawmakers tap into the earnings to help fund the state budget. Squabbling over the oil checks’ size has resulted in legislative paralysis, and a Senate proposal aimed at resolving the dividend debate this year fizzled with no agreement.” [Associated Press, 10/5/23 (=)]

 

California

 

Newsom Signs Bills To Address Unplugged Oil Wells, Disclose Corporate Greenhouse Gas Emissions — “Despite objections from some in his administration, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation requiring oil and gas companies to allocate more funding to plug wells nearing the end of production. Under the new law, any company that acquires a gas or oilfield in California must now secure a bond — a financial guarantee similar to insurance — that covers the full cost of sealing idle or low-producing wells. As oil production in California continues to decline, the measure was designed to ensure unproductive wells are properly sealed, preventing the release of dangerous chemicals and planet-warming gases. The new financial obligations were intended to act as a safety net for taxpayers in the event oil and gas companies become insolvent and cannot pay to plug wells. But the bill, authored by Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo, met unexpected opposition from Newsom’s Department of Finance, which argued the new bonding requirements were too cumbersome and might cause more energy companies to fail.” [Los Angeles Times, 10/10/23 (+)]

 

Electric School Buses, Pesticides And Oil Wells: New Environmental Laws Coming To California — “Gov. Gavin Newsom gained widespread attention Saturday for signing a first-in-the-nation law to require corporations doing business in California to add up how many tons of greenhouse gases they emit each year, and make the information public. … The main new environmental laws coming to California: … 5) Oil wells: (AB 1167, Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo, D-Los Angeles). People or companies who acquire oil wells in California will now be required to put up a bond with the State Oil and Gas Supervisor in an amount sufficient to cover the costs of plugging the well and cleaning up the site, usually at least $25,000. There are an estimated 5,300 ‘orphan’ oil wells in California, which can cause pollution when owners go bankrupt or disappear. The bill was supported by environmental groups, and opposed by the Western States Petroleum Association, which said it ‘sets an impediment to purchases’ and could make some well owners unable to sell. Newsom also signed several other noteworthy environmental bills into law, including a measure to require public school science classes to include lessons about the causes and solutions to climate change (AB 285); a measure requiring all coastal counties and Bay Area counties to prepare a sea level rise plan by 2034 (SB 272); and a measure that requires Caltrans to study the feasibility of using state-owned land along highways for solar arrays and electric transmission lines (SB49).” [The Mercury News, 10/9/23 (+)]

 

Governor Signs Oil Well Bonding Bill, Adds Caveat — “Despite reservations, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Saturday a bill designed to make sure that adequate sums of money are set aside to properly retire oil and gas wells before they can be sold. Assembly Bill 1167 requires well owners to post bonds in an amount the state deems sufficient to cover the cost of plugging and abandoning wells, as well as restoring the surrounding property. Environmental groups welcomed AB 1167 as a necessary assurance that taxpayers won’t have to pick up the costs of taking care of abandoned wells at risk of polluting air and groundwater quality. But in an unexpected statement from a governor who has often worked against the Kern-centric industry, Newsom added a note acknowledging petroleum producers’ concerns that the bill could have the unintended consequence of increasing California’s number of orphan wells if existing owners simply walk away instead of trying to sell idle or minimally productive facilities. ‘I look forward to working with the Legislature to enact legislation to make any necessary revisions to address this risk,’ the governor wrote in the note accompanying his signature.” [The Bakersfield Californian, 10/9/23 (=)]

 

Newsom Signs Orphan Well Prevention Act, AB 1167, Vetoes SB 842, Bill Weakening Price Gouging Law — “Climate, environmental, consumer and labor groups celebrated a victory today after Governor Newsom signed AB 1167, the Orphan Well Prevention Act authored by Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo. The act will require oil companies to take out full bonding to cover the clean up cost of idle and marginally-producing wells when they are transferred in ownership, helping to solve the growing orphan well crisis in California. according to a statement from a coalition of organizations. The bill’s signing took place as oil production in California has declined in recent years as the once huge crude oil reserves are being depleted. The state has declined from being the number three producer of crude oil in the nation to the seventh largest. ‘I am signing Assembly Bill 1167, which creates a process requiring the State Oil and Gas Supervisor to approve transfers of marginal oil and gas wells only once the full cost of well plugging and abandonment and site restoration is covered by a bond or other financial assurance mechanisms,’ said Governor Newsom in his signing statement.” [CleanTechnica, 10/7/23 (+)]

 

Minnesota

 

Op-Ed: Stop The Risk Of Damage To The Boundary Waters Watershed With A Permanent Ban On Sulfide-Ore Mining — According to Becky Rom, “The state of Minnesota is considering approval of mining activities in the watershed of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, the most accessible and heavily-used Wilderness in the United States, just months after the federal government determined that sulfide-ore copper mining in this watershed posed a threat of grave permanent damage to the Wilderness. In January 2023, U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland — exercising her authority under federal law — issued an order prohibiting mining activity for 20 years on all federal lands in the watershed of the Boundary Waters. The lands covered by this mining ban lie outside the Wilderness, but directly upstream from it. Under current law, 20 years is the maximum period allowed for such a mining ban. Haaland’s order was foreshadowed by the continuing refusal of the U.S. Forest Service since 2016 to consent to the renewal of federal sulfide-ore copper mining leases in the Boundary Waters watershed because of the dire threat that pollution and other impacts of such upstream mines would pose to the Wilderness. Events subsequent to the issuance of Haaland’s order underscore the necessity to now pass federal and state legislation permanently banning sulfide-ore copper mining on federal and state lands in the watershed of the Boundary Waters.” [Minnesota Reformer, 10/10/23 (+)]

 

Utah

 

Over 160 Barrels Of Oil And Thousands Of Barrels Of Contaminated Water Spill Into Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument — “On a clear September day, a hiker exploring Alvey Wash in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument came across a troubling discovery — pools of what appeared to be crude oil. The hiker was looking at some of the roughly 163 barrels of oil and over 6,200 barrels of produced water that spilled from a well operated on U.S. Forest Service land nearly 17 miles upstream. For context, 163 barrels of oil would fill about seven dump trucks. It’s not the first spill reported by the operator, Citation Oil & Gas Corporation, which over the last 35 years has had over 20 spills on its facilities in the Upper Valley near the border of Grand Staircase-Escalante alone. Just last year, nearly 400 barrels of crude oil spilled from one of Citation’s pipelines. And in 2014, the U.S. Forest Service reported two spills from the same company.” [Deseret News, 10/6/23 (=)]

 

Wyoming

 

Wyoming Sides With Industry, Oks ‘Path Of The Pronghorn’ Lease As-Is — “The fluid mineral industry’s immense influence in Wyoming was on full display Thursday as the state’s top five elected officials finalized a controversial gas lease in the pinch point of a world-famous pronghorn migration path without the wildlife protections requested by two state agencies. At issue was ‘Parcel 194,’ a 640-acre tract of state school trust land that the Office of State Lands and Investments auctioned to Kirkwood Oil and Gas for $19/acre an acre in July. Conservation groups and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department had stalled the lease’s completion after the July auction, citing concerns that the lease spanned a bottleneck in the famed ‘Path of the Pronghorn’ where thousands of animals cross the New Fork River each year during their fall and spring migrations. On Thursday, the State Board of Land Commissioners, grappling with what to do with the lease, heard requests to tack on a new stipulation, which would prohibit drilling activity during flexible migration periods in the spring and fall.” [WyoFile, 10/6/23 (=)]

 

Washington

 

Republicans Urge Biden Not To Release Deadly Apex Predator Near Rural Community — “‘The Five’ co-hosts discuss how paper straws are reportedly worse for the environment than the plastic versions. A group of Republicans are calling for the Biden administration to allow the public additional time to voice concerns with a proposal to release grizzly bear populations in a federally managed forest area in northern Washington. Led by Congressional Western Caucus Chairman Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., the six GOP lawmakers asked Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Director Martha Williams and National Park Service (NPS) Director Charles Sams in a letter Friday to extend the public comment period on the proposal to 180 days. They also requested the agencies host additional in-person meetings with community members that would be impacted by the proposal. ‘Time and again, northern Washingtonians have expressed their deep concerns about the introduction of grizzlies into the North Cascades, as they are a danger to the safety of their communities,’ Newhouse said in a statement.” [Fox News, 10/9/23 (-)]

 

Western Water

 

A Warming Colorado River Grapples With Invasive Species — “As climate change bakes the U.S. West and dries up key Colorado River reservoirs, a slew of invasive species is flourishing in warmer waters at the expense of the artery’s native inhabitants. Among the most disruptive of this wide range of invaders is the smallmouth bass, which scientists fear could pose a possible danger to the native ecology of the Grand Canyon region should the fish continue making their way downstream. Of particular concern is the fate of the humpback chub — a federally threatened species that has long inhabited the area. Federal officials and scientific researchers are seeking ways to stop the invaders and stave off the harm they could bring. But the potential solutions come with their own concerns — and are provoking controversy throughout the region.” [The Hill, 10/9/23 (+)]

 

 

 

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