Today, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans held an oversight hearing titled, “Proposed Federal Water Grabs and Their Potential Impacts on States, Water and Power Users, and Landowners.”  Witnesses testified on a range of Administration policies and regulatory actions, including the Environmental Protection Agency’s “Waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS) and the… Read more »

TO: The Honorable Louie Gohmert FROM: Kim Thorsen, Deputy Assistant Secretary  Thank you for your letter of March 27, 2015 requesting information about Department of Homeland Security (DHS) access to Department of the Interior (DOI) lands in the four southwestern states bordering Mexico.  The Secretary has asked that I provide this response to you on her behalf.  Read… Read more »

Today, House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Louie Gohmert (R-TX) sent a letter to Director of the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation, and Enforcement (OSM) Joseph Pizarchik, requesting documents and information regarding the development of the environmental review documents for the new Stream… Read more »

TO: The Honorable Joseph Pizarchik  FROM: Rob Bishop, Chairman Dear Director Pizarchik:  On February 23, 2015, eleven state agencies that had previously entered into a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") with the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement ("OSM") concerning the development of an environmental impact statement ("EIS") for the new Stream Protection… Read more »

TO: The Honorable Dan Ashe FROM: Rob Bishop, Chairman Dear Director Ashe:  At the joint hearing before the Subcommittees on Water, Power, and Oceans and Federal Lands held on March 19,2015, you confirmed that the Fish and Wildlife Service ("FWS") has not consulted with the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") on whether two major forthcoming EPA Clean Air Act… Read more »

House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (UT-01) today issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) announcement of its decision to list the northern long-eared bat (NLEB) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  The population loss of the bat is primarily caused by a disease called white nose syndrome (WNS)… Read more »

TO: The Honorable Dan Ashe FROM: Rob Bishop, Chairman Dear Director Ashe:  On March 4. 2015, I sent you a letter requesting certain information regarding the proposed listing of the Northern Long-Eared Bat ("NLEB"). Specifically, the letter requested that you provide, among other things, "data, population models, or any other analytical tools used which demonstrate (1)… Read more »

House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (UT-01) issued the following statement this evening on the Obama Administration’s release of its first Report on the Implementation of the National Ocean Policy:  “The Administration's ocean policy is similar to its approach to federal lands, particularly in the West, in that it champions new layers of federal bureaucracy… Read more »

TO: The Honorable Jeh Johnson FROM: Rob Bishop, Chairman Dear Secretary Johnson, The Department of the Interior ("DOI") manages millions of acres on our Southern border under a variety of restrictive law and regulations.  The Committee on Natural Resources ("Committee") has continually expressed concerns that the resulting impediments to access available to the Department of… Read more »

TO: The Honorable Sally Jewell FROM: Rob Bishop, Chairman Dear Secretary Jewell, The Department of the Interior ("DOI") manages millions of acres on our Southern border under a variety of restrictive laws and regulations.  The Committee on Natural Resources ("Committee") has continually expressed concerns that the resulting impediments to access available to the Department of… Read more »