TO: The Honorable Dan Ashe FROM: Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop Dear Director Ashe: On August 5, 2015, an Environmental Protection Agency-led crew ("EPA") discharged 3 million gallons of contaminated water from the Gold King Mine, located in San Juan County, Colorado into the Animas and the San Juan River systems.  Read the entire letter HERE.  Read more »

Today, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry held a markup to consider H.R. 2647, the Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2015 (Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-AR). On Friday, Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS), released emergency wildfire legislation as an amendment in the nature of a substitute for H.R. 2647, which… Read more »

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed Rep. Amata Radewagen’s (R-American Samoa, At-large) H.R. 4576, Ensuring Access to Pacific Fisheries Act, by voice vote. The bill implements U.S. participation in two international fishery treaties that the U.S. helped negotiate, the Convention on the Conservation and Management of High Seas Fisheries Resources in the North Pacific Ocean and… Read more »

By: “Ayyaiyak” Stefanie Armstrong As a proud Alaska Native and an aspiring engineer at the University of Alaska Anchorage, I’m enthused about Alaska’s future, and my role in it.  I’m also convinced that Alaska’s economic sustainability and America’s energy security are inextricably bound to the continuation of safe, responsible oil and natural gas development.  That’s why it is… Read more »

TO: The Honorable Gina A. McCarthy FROM: Chairman Rob Bishop and Chairman Fred Upton Dear Administrator McCarthy: Under  section   I 08(b)  of  the  Comprehensive  Environmental   Response,   Compensation, and  Liability  Act  (CERCLA)  the  Environmental  Protection  Agency   (EPA  or  the… Read more »

Today, the House Committee on Natural Resources held a markup on four bills including H.R. 5259 (Rep. Ryan Zinke), the Certainty for States and Tribes Act.  The bill will reestablish the Department of the Interior’s Royalty Policy Committee. H.R. 5259 passed by a vote of 22-13.  “With the Obama Administration’s moratorium on all new federal coal leases, it is important… Read more »

Today, House and Senate conferees met for opening statements on S. 2012, the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2016. Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) released the following statement: “We need more Americans to share in the low prices afforded by American energy abundance. That includes improving the permitting process to allow rights-of-way across federal lands and getting affordable… Read more »

Washington, D.C. – Today, the House Committee on Natural Resources held a markup on four bills including H.R. 3764 (Rep. Rob Bishop), the Tribal Recognition Act of 2015. The bill restores the constitutional framework to tribal recognition authorities vested with Congress under Article I. Following the passage of H.R. 3764, Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) issued the following… Read more »

Today, the House Committee on Natural Resources held a markup on four bills including H.R. 5032 (Rep. Dave Brat, R-VA). The bill removes a federal land-use restriction on a piece of land in the town of Louisa, Virginia so that it may be repurposed to provide residents with a safe supply of drinking water.   Louisa has spent millions of dollars studying ways to comply with… Read more »

Today, H.R. 4245 sponsored by Rep. Bruce Poliquin (R-ME) and Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) passed on suspension by voice vote. H.R. 4245 exempts sea urchins, sea cucumbers and other seafood exports from duplicative federal requirements imposed on buyers and sellers of related products by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). “This is a big win for Maine jobs,” Rep. Poliquin said. “Our… Read more »