Today, the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held a legislative hearing on the “Community Reclamation Partnerships Act” (Rep. Darin LaHood, R-IL), discussion draft legislation to authorize partnerships between states and non-governmental entities for the purpose of expanding abandoned mine reclamation projects.
“I’m honored to be the author of this proposed legislation… I’ve… Read more »
Today, the Subcommittee on Federal Lands held a legislative hearing on H.R. 2199 (Rep Cramer, R-ND), the “Federal Land Asset Inventory Reform Act of 2017” or the “FLAIR Act.”
The federal government owns an estimated 640 million acres of land, although, amazingly, the actual acreage number is not definitively known. The bipartisan FLAIR Act requires the Secretary of the Interior to… Read more »
Today, the Subcommittee on Federal Lands held a legislative hearing on two bills to promote economic development, improve conservation and address targeted federal land management challenges.
H.R. 2423, the “Washington County, Utah, Public Lands Management Implementation Act,” (Rep. Chris Stewart, R-UT) fulfills a promise made to Washington County, after years of negotiations and… Read more »
Today, the Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs held a hearing on the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Cobell Land Consolidation Program. The program authorizes DOI to purchase highly fractionated allotments and consolidate them in tribal ownership. After an expenditure of over $1 billion, it remains unclear that the program has greatly reduced Indian land… Read more »
Today, the Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans held a legislative hearing on two bills to increase federal transparency, safeguard private and state water rights, and provide certainty to water and power users.
The “Water Rights Protection Act” discussion draft (Rep. Scott Tipton, R-CO) protects state water law and private property rights from future federal… Read more »
Today, the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held a hearing on “Reviewing Recent State Successes with the Rigs to Reefs Program.” The panel focused on the environmental benefits of maintaining decommissioned oil and gas platforms as marine habitat and ways to optimize the program's use and benefits.
"Since the program’s formal inception in 1984, over 500 platforms of… Read more »
Today, the Subcommittee on Federal Lands held an oversight hearing on “Seeking Better Management of America’s Overgrown, Fire-Prone National Forests.” Members and witnesses called for a paradigm shift in the way we manage the nation’s increasingly overgrown, disease infested and fire-prone federal forests and grasslands.
“Our forests are dying […]Nationwide, the Forest Service reports it… Read more »
Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced an agreement to allow the Pebble Mine project in southwest Alaska to proceed to regular permitting under the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The proposed mineral development project was preemptively denied by the Obama administration outside of the traditional NEPA process.
Chairman Rob Bishop… Read more »
Today, the Senate failed to advance H.J. Res. 36 by a vote of 49-51. The joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) would repeal the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) rule on methane emissions from oil and gas operations on Federal and Indian land. Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) issued the following statement:
“The Senate was just one vote shy of disposing of a… Read more »
TO: The Honorable Ryan Zinke
FROM: Chairman Rob Bishop and Subcommittee Chairman Raúl Labrador
Dear Secretary Zinke,
We write to express our concerns regarding the administration of two climate change adaptation programs within the Department of the Interior (Interior). One of the programs, Climate Science Centers (CSCs), is led by the U.S. Geological Survey. The second program,… Read more »
