USA - House Passage of DOI Appropriations Act Dubbed Resounding Win
The bill was introduced on July 24 this year and passed the House of Representatives on November 3. Administration threatens veto.
The President of the Energy Workforce and Technology Council (EWTC), Tim Tarpley, has described the House passage of H.R. 4821 - the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2024 - as a “resounding win for landowner rights and American energy security”.
In a statement sent to Rigzone, the EWTC noted that the legislation includes provisions advanced by the group, “including limiting the abuse of the Endangered Species Act”.
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Read also
STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY - H.R. 4821 — Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, Appropriations Act, 2024, Executive Office of The President, Office of Management and Budget
House sends Interior-EPA bill off to uncertain future, E&E News, November 3, 2023
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“Provisions specific to endangered species include the prohibition of listing both the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard and Lesser Prairie-Chicken,” the EWTC highlighted in the statement. The bill also requires the Secretary of the Interior to conduct quarterly onshore oil and gas lease sales, the EWTC statement pointed out.
“As energy demand continues to grow, we must fight for policies that are friendly to American oil and gas, allowing increased production to match global demand,” Tarpley said in the statement.
“We have serious concerns that a listing of the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard and the Lesser Prairie Chicken may be used as a tool to curtail U.S. energy production. We cannot allow governance by red tape to imperil prosperity in the Permian Basin,” he added.
“Oil and gas produced in the Gulf is some of the cleanest energy produced anywhere in the world … The recently released offshore five-year leasing plan is insufficient to meet U.S. energy needs,” Tarpley continued.
“Under this new appropriation package, at least 20 lease sales would be required, granting oil and gas companies the ability to continue offshore production, providing American energy security and saving the jobs of thousands of workers,” the EWTC President went on to state.
The Congress.gov website shows that the bill was introduced on July 24 this year and passed the House of Representatives on November 3 with 213 Yeas to 203 Nays. The bill still needs to pass the senate and go to U.S. President Joe Biden to become law, the site outlines.
Rigzone asked the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for comment on H.R. 4821 and the EWTC’s statement. While the DOI declined to comment, the EPA has not yet responded to Rigzone’s request at the time of writing.
A statement of administration policy posted on the White House website by the Office of Management and Budget noted that the administration opposes House passage of H.R. 4821. The statement revealed that if President Biden were presented with H.R. 4821, “he would veto it”.
In a statement posted on its site on September 29, the DOI announced that, “consistent with the requirements of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) concerning offshore conventional and renewable energy leasing”, it had released the proposed final program and final programmatic environmental impact statement (EIS) for the 2024 – 2029 national outer continental shelf oil and gas leasing program.
The DOI revealed in the statement that the proposed final program includes a maximum of three potential oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico Program Area scheduled in 2025, 2027 and 2029.
To see oil and gas group reaction to the DOI’s proposed final 2024-2029 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, click here.
The EWTC describes itself as the national trade association for the global energy technology and services sector. It represents more than 645,000 U.S. jobs in the technology-driven energy value chain, its website notes.
The DOI protects and manages the nation’s natural resources and cultural heritage, provides scientific and other information about those resources, and honors its trust responsibilities or special commitments to American Indians, Alaska Natives, and affiliated Island Communities, the organization’s site states. The mission of the EPA is to protect human health and the environment, the organization notes on its site.
