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BLM’s Planning 2.0 Rule Crowds Out Local, State Voices in Favor of Special Interests

| Posted in Press Release

Today, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held an oversight hearing to hear from state and local representatives on the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) draft Planning 2.0 Rule. This draft rule would dramatically shift resource management planning away from local communities to bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. Kathleen Clarke, Director of the Utah Public Lands Policy…

Arctic Rule Freezes Future Offshore Development

| Posted in Press Release

Today, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) released the finalized safety regulations for Arctic offshore drilling for both the Bureau of Ocean Management (BOEM) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE). Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) released the following statement: “This President continually gives Putin the upper hand. While other nations develop their offshore…

Rep. Graves’ Offshore Bill Modernizes Federal Oil and Gas Leasing Process

| Posted in Press Release

Today, the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held a legislative hearing on H.R. 5577, introduced by Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA), the “Innovation in Offshore Leasing Act.” H.R. 5577, a bipartisan bill co-sponsored by Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-CA), modernizes the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) offshore leasing process through the use of internet-based oil and natural gas…

House Passes Bill to Address Conflicting Federal Statutes that Exacerbate California Drought

| Posted in Press Release

Today, the House passed H.R. 4582 (Rep. Jeff Denham, R-CA), the “Save Our Salmon Act,” by voice vote. The legislation will exclude striped bass from the fish doubling requirement and other provisions of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act, eliminating the ongoing federal conflict between protecting striped bass and endangered salmon in California. Contradicting federal statutes…

House Passes Bipartisan Bill to Advance Funding for Mine Cleanup Efforts

| Posted in Press Release

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3844 (Rep. Jody Hice, R-GA), the “Bureau of Land Management Foundation Act,” by voice vote. H.R. 3844 is part of a three-bill package developed by the Committee on Natural Resources to comprehensively address the existing funding, technical and legal impediments to reclaim abandoned mine lands (AML). H.R. 3844 establishes a new…

Chairman Letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Interior Secretary Sally Jewell

| Posted in Letters

TO: Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Interior Secretary Sally Jewell  FROM: Rob Bishop, Chairman House Committee on Natural Resources Dear Ms. Attorney General and Madame Secretary:  In a February 26, 2015 correspondence (Letter) to Secretary Sally Jewell and former Attorney General Eric Holder, I outlined a number of items that needed to be sent to Congress prior to…

New Royalty Valuation Methods Attack Responsible Energy Production on Federal and Tribal Lands

| Posted in Press Release

Today, the U.S. Department of the Interior Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) released a final regulation on valuating royalties from oil, natural gas and coal produced on federal and tribal lands. Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) issued the following statement: “Don't be fooled. This rule is not about 'protecting taxpayers'. It’s a costly attack on energy development. It trades market…

Chairman Letter to The Honorable Neil Kornze

| Posted in Letters

TO: The Honorable Neil Kornze FROM: Rob Bishop, Chairman House Committee on Natural Resources Dear Director Konze: I write to strongly encourage the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to revise, and re-open comments on, the "Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Previously Issued Oil and Gas Leases in White River National Forest, Colorado" (WRNF DEIS). Since the WRNF DEIS comment…

Bishop Statement on Senate Passage of PROMESA

| Posted in Press Release

Today, the U.S. Senate passed S. 2328, the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA), with a bipartisan vote of 68-30. Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) issued the following statement: “With a decade-long recession, worsening humanitarian conditions, a mass exodus of its residents and a looming financial collapse, Puerto Rico is in dire straits. Inaction by Congress…

Antiquities Act Abuse Heads East

| Posted in Op-Eds and Speeches

OP-ED: Antiquities Act Abuse Heads East By Rep. Rob Bishop Some say cultural trends start on the West Coast and make their way East, but one trend moving eastward is bad news for New Englanders. In my home state of Utah, the federal government owns 65 percent of the land. That is a problem. In the waning days of his administration, President Clinton compounded the problem by…