Bill to speed leasing expected on floor today; fracking debate set for tomorrow

By Nick Juliano, E&E News
November 19, 2013

The House today is expected to pass a Republican bill aimed at speeding the development of oil and gas on federal lands after considering a half-dozen Democratic amendments.

The "Federal Lands Jobs and Energy Security Act," H.R. 1965, would set strict deadlines for the Bureau of Land Management to make leasing and permitting decisions for oil and gas development on federal lands and set minimum thresholds for the amount of land leased every year, among other measures.

It is one of two energy bills the Rules Committee yesterday sent to the House floor, along with H.R. 2728, which would restrict BLM's ability to regulate hydraulic fracturing in states that already have rules addressing the practice.

H.R. 1965 is nearly identical to a similar measure that passed the GOP-controlled House last year before swiftly dying in the Senate, but H.R. 2728 is a new effort from Republicans hostile to federal regulation of the energy industry. Both stand almost no chance of progressing through the upper chamber this year.

"I see we're going to flog these old dead horses one more time," Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.), the ranking member of the House Rules Committee, quipped at the start of that panel's hearing on the bills last night.

And flog they did. The hearing stretched nearly two hours as lawmakers engaged in a debate that could have been assembled out of sound bites and talking points from any number of energy-policy debates that have taken place on Capitol Hill over the past several years.

Republicans complained of delays in developing oil and gas resources on federal lands -- and the jobs they bring -- even as production on private property is booming. Meanwhile, Democrats raised the specter of air and water pollution that could accompany such activities absent proper regulations and complained that inadequate rules in some states necessitated a stronger role from the federal government.

At the end, the committee on a party-line vote agreed to allow debate on eight amendments to the leasing bill, six from Democrats and two from Republicans, and five amendments to the fracking bill, three of which were offered by Democrats.

The House is scheduled to vote today on the BLM leasing bill and tomorrow on the fracking bill.

Hastings amendment would halve money for solar, wind program

A manager's amendment from Natural Resources Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) would halve new authorized funding for wind and solar leasing programs in H.R. 1965. It cuts $5 million from the $10 million that would have been authorized each year for the renewable programs "to ensure [the] bill has a positive (deficit reducing) score," according to a summary distributed by the Rules Committee last night.

Hastings' amendment more than closes a $4 million deficit in the leasing bill identified in the Congressional Budget Office score that determined H.R. 1965 would increase authorized spending by $329 million over a decade but offset $325 million worth of authorizations over the same period.

Among other funds authorized by the bill was $50 million over the next four years for oil and gas resource assessments. Cutting 10 percent of that pool apparently would have filled the same budget gap.

"The money came from the renewable side because oil and gas is what brings revenues to the bill and because the renewable side only has costs to the bill," committee spokesman Michael Taedo said in an email, adding that the bill would still authorize some new renewable spending to demonstrate Republicans' commitment to an "all-of-the-above" energy strategy.

The other Republican amendment being debated today comes from Rep. Tom Marino, whose northeastern Pennsylvania district sits atop the gas-rich Marcellus Shale play. His amendment would require the Interior secretary to include federal lands in plans to address demand for new oil and gas pipelines.

Dems seek to restore environmental reviews, remove lawsuit barriers

In addition to speeding leasing decisions, H.R. 1965 also seeks to make it harder for environmentalists, community groups and others to block energy projects with lawsuits, in part by prohibiting plaintiffs suing to block energy projects from being eligible to have their attorneys' fees paid by the government. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) offered amendments to undo that provision and reiterate a citizen's right to petition the government accorded by the First Amendment to the Constitution.

Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.) offered an amendment authorizing continued review of projects that qualify for categorical exemption under the National Environmental Policy Act for possible extraordinary circumstances.

Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D-Hawaii) offered an amendment to require Interior and other agencies to consider renewable energy resources in her home state as part of a quadrennial review of energy resources on public lands.

Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) will receive a vote on his amendment to require a National Academy of Sciences study on potential flooding impacts to oil and gas development and resulting leaks from tanks, wells or pipelines. His state suffered severe floods earlier this year.

And Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), ranking member of the Resources Committee, won consideration of his amendment to authorize $10 million for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to use its authority to limit speculation in energy markets.

Fracking amendments

Five amendments will be considered tomorrow on the fracking bill -- one bipartisan, one Republican and three from Democrats.

Rep. Bill Flores' (R-Texas) amendment would require states to submit their fracking regulations to BLM for public disclosure.

Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.), whose state currently has a fracking moratorium in place, and Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.), whose state recently proposed fracking rules, offered an amendment directing the Government Accountability Office to study the economic benefits of fracking.

Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.) and others submitted an amendment to allow Interior to regulate methane emissions from fracking on federal lands.

DeFazio submitted an amendment to prohibit the export of gas extracted from federal lands.

And Jackson Lee's amendment requires the Interior secretary to conduct annual reviews on state fracking activity and report back to Congress.