House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today sent a letter to Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to follow up on a more than two and a half year investigation into the Obama Administration’s decision to throw out the 2008 Stream Buffer Zone coal regulation, and write a new regulation that could destroy up to 7,000 coal mining jobs and cause economic… Read more »

In a major victory for American agriculture, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a landmark ruling Thursday in the case Dow AgroSciences LLC v. National Marine Fisheries Service reaffirming that government decision-making must be based on science and not the misguided agenda of activist groups. House Natural Resources Chairman Doc Hastings, House Agriculture Chairman Frank Lucas, and… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today received the “Water Warrior” award from the Family Farm Alliance at their annual conference. The Family Farm Alliance is an advocate for family farmers, ranchers, irrigation districts, and allied industries in seventeen Western states. The award is given to individuals who have provided long-term support for western… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today released the following statement after the Department of the Interior finalized plans to lock up the majority of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) from energy production.  “As gasoline prices continue to increase for the 34th day in a row, the Obama Administration has responded by locking up a majority… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today wrote to President Obama requesting that he nominate a permanent Inspector General for the Department of the Interior. Since the Department’s previous Inspector General Earl Devaney was appointed to a new position nearly four years ago, the Department’s Office of Inspector General (IG) has been run by Deputy Inspector… Read more »

The House Natural Resources Committee today held a Full Committee hearing entitled, The Past, Present and Future of the Federal Helium Program, which focused on H.R. 527, the “Responsible Helium Administration and Stewardship Act,” bipartisan legislation that applies free-market principals to prevent a global helium shortage and provide American taxpayers with a fair return for the… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) tonight released the following statement in response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address: “During tonight’s State of the Union address, the President once again spoke about job creation and economic growth, but continued to ignore the economic opportunities that exist through energy production on federal… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04), joined House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (OK-03), Rep. Randy Neubebauer (TX-19), and six other members of Congress in sending a letter to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS) Director Dan Ashe calling on him to promptly approve state and local plans to protect the Lesser Prairie Chicken and requesting… Read more »

House Natural Resources Public Lands and Environmental Regulation Subcommittee Chairman Rob Bishop (UT-01), along with Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04), Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (MI-06), Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard “Buck” McKeon (CA-25), and Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (PA-09), today sent… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-WA), along with Ranking Member Ed Markey (D-MA), Rep. Bill Flores (R-TX) and Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ), today introduced H.R. 527, The Responsible Helium Administration and Stewardship Act. This bipartisan legislation would prevent the closure of the Federal Helium Reserve, which by law is scheduled to close later this year resulting… Read more »