House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) along with 17 Members of Congress sent a letter to the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Dan Ashe, urging the Service to extend the comment period for the proposed critical habitat designation of the western yellow-billed cuckoo. This proposed listing, driven by a 2011 court mega-settlement and not by sound… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement today after the Department of Energy announced that it would restore the Bonneville Power Administration’s (BPA) Human Resources authorities: “Today’s announcement by the U.S. Department of Energy is a positive step towards fully restoring the BPA’s long-held regional autonomy. The actions… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement regarding President Obama’s unilateral expansion of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument under the Antiquities Act:  “President Obama has repeatedly taken unilateral action to lock-up federal lands, and now he's doing the same thing to our oceans. There has been… Read more »

In a recent interview, the Chief of the Obama Administration’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) discussed how increased American oil production is helping to prevent price spikes in the world oil market.  As reported by Reuters: “Crude oil would cost at least $150 a barrel due to supply disruptions in the Middle East and North Africa were it not for rising production in North… Read more »

Today, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement following passage of H.R. 4, the Jobs for America Act, by a bipartisan vote of 253-163. This legislation included H.R. 1526, the Restoring Heathy Forests for Healthy Communities Act, sponsored by Chairman Doc Hastings and H.R. 761, the National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production… Read more »

Today, the House of Representatives approved H.R. 2, the American Energy Solutions for Lower Costs and More American Jobs Act, with a bipartisan vote of 226-191. This package of legislation would expand U.S. energy production and reduce bureaucratic red-tape in order to lower energy prices, create and protect over a million good-paying American jobs, strengthen our economy, and improve… Read more »

Today, the House Natural Resources Committee passed H.R. 5476, the Cabin Fee Act of 2014, by unanimous consent. This bill, sponsored by Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04), modifies the current cabin fee formula to make it more predictable and fair for families who own cabins in our National Forests. Many cabins in our National Forests have been passed down within a family for several… Read more »

Today, the House Natural Resources Committee approved with bipartisan support three bills to address the nation’s critical need for new and expanded surface water storage projects.  H.R. 3980, the Water Supply Permit Coordinating Act, H.R. 3981, the Accelerated Revenue, Repayment, and Surface Water Storage Enhancement Act, and H.R. 5412, the Bureau of Reclamation Surface Water… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) delivered the following statement on the House floor today in support of H.R. 2, the American Energy Solutions for Lower Costs and More American Jobs Act.   “Mr. Speaker – I stand here on the House Floor, only a few hundred yards away from the Senate, and it feels like we are worlds apart.  In the… Read more »

Today, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held a legislative hearing on H.R. 5066, the Data Preservation Act of 2014, authored by Natural Resources Committee Member Rep. Dan Benishek, M.D. (MI-01). This legislation would help create jobs and improve the safety of construction projects and natural resources production by ensuring that these projects… Read more »