07.08.15

Democrats Highlight Thursday Markup’s Lack of Attention to Energy Policy, Expiring Conservation Programs, Designation Requests

Washington, D.C. – Natural Resources Committee Democrats today highlighted the narrow agenda for Thursday’s full committee markup, which features a list of primarily Republican bills that ignore the need for a comprehensive national energy policy, the need to reauthorize expiring conservation and recreation programs, and multiple Democratic requests for new wilderness designations, among other critical issues. The full expected list of bills under consideration is available at the end of this press release.

The markup, scheduled for Thursday at 10:00 a.m. in Longworth 1324, will not include any debate on the need to update federal energy laws, which were last written before the fracking boom and still favor oil and gas production over renewable energy. Nor will it include debate on the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) or Historic Preservation Fund, which lose their respective congressional authorizations at the end of this fiscal year (Sept. 30). Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) introduced a bipartisan bill on April 15 to reauthorize the LWCF and maintain its current purpose.

“Our energy laws need a major overhaul, our federal conservation programs are expiring and our land management efforts need significant congressional attention. If those aren’t important enough for my Republican colleagues on this Committee to work on, I don’t know what is,” Ranking Member Grijalva said. “This agenda tells me they have time for everything but the big issues, and I think that’s a serious problem going forward. Bipartisan solutions to big problems don’t create themselves. We need to work at them. Right now they’re not working at them, and that neglect will have serious consequences for the whole country.”

“We have a generational responsibility to protect our nation's remaining natural wilderness areas for our children and grandchildren,” Federal Lands Subcommittee Ranking Member Niki Tsongas (D-Mass.) said. “For over fifty years, the Land and Water Conservation Fund has been an instrumental tool in this effort, and it has been used in almost every single county in the United States. LWCF protects and expands access to recreational areas, and conserves our treasured natural and historic landscapes. It does not cost taxpayer money or contribute to the Federal deficit. In fact, according to a recent economic analysis, every dollar invested in conservation of public lands through the LWCF leads to four dollars in economic activity to local communities. But the LWCF is running short on time, set to expire in less than three months. Congress needs to act now and stop ignoring programs like the LWCF and others, which have proven to be some of our nation’s most successful conservation tools.”

Descriptions of the issues Committee Republicans refuse to address are available below.

Energy

Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), the chairwoman and ranking member respectively of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, have been working on a bipartisan comprehensive energy law update for several months. As Energy & Environment Daily noted on July 7, “Despite having some starkly divergent policy views, especially on offshore drilling, the pair continues to follow the long-standing Energy Committee tradition of bipartisan collaboration.”

Chairman Bishop has shown no more than token interest in energy legislation this term, and has not indicated any willingness to engage with the Senate on a bicameral energy overhaul.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund

The LWCF, funded entirely by oil and gas drilling royalties, helps federal agencies purchase lands and waters around the country – usually from private owners – for conservation purposes. Congress often fails to appropriate its full $900 million authorized funding level, which has created an estimated $30 billion backlog of unfunded conservation needs.

Bishop in March told the Washington Examiner that he would like to “plow money back into the industry that develops the funds in the first place” – referring to oil and gas – and that should the full $900 million be appropriated, “There’s no way in hell I am going to allow you just to spend that to buy [private land surrounded by federal land] they’re talking about or to expand the footprint of the federal government.”

Bishop has still not introduced a bill to reauthorize the Fund. There are only 24 legislative days left on the House calendar before the end of the fiscal year, not including today.

New Land and Historical Site Designations

Committee Republicans have refused to hold hearings or votes on a growing list of Democratic bills that would designate new wilderness (H.R.1685), new wild and scenic river areas (H.R.646), extend a national scenic trail (H.R.799), study a historic house in Ohio for potential inclusion in the National Park System (H.R.1033), reauthorize the National Women’s Rights History Project through fiscal year 2019 (H.R.1721), and create a Delaware River Basic restoration program (H.R.1772).

The majority has also refused to hold hearings or votes on Ranking Member Grijalva’s bills to create new National Conservation Areas and Special Management Areas and add approximately 222,000 acres to the National Wilderness Preservation System to protect the history and landscapes of the Sonoran Desert (H.R.2926); to designate approximately 3,325 square miles of the Santa Cruz Valley as a National Heritage Area (H.R.2925); and to withdraw Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service lands from mining claims in Arizona’s Santa Cruz and Pima counties (H.R.2924). You can learn more about Rep. Grijalva’s Arizona public lands conservation bills at http://1.usa.gov/1GCl0yL.

Bills to Be Considered at Thursday’s Markup

  • H.R. 487 (Rep. Markwayne Mullin), To allow the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma to lease or transfer certain lands.
  • H.R. 959 (Rep. Bennie Thompson), To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study of the Medgar Evers House, located in Jackson, Mississippi.
  • H.R. 1554 (Rep. Scott Tipton), To require a land conveyance involving the Elkhorn Ranch and the White River National Forest in the State of Colorado.
  • H.R. 1937 (Rep. Mark Amodei), To weaken environmental standards for various mining activities and redesignate gravel as a “critical mineral.”
  • H.R. 1949 (Rep. G.K. Butterfield), To provide for the consideration and submission of site and design proposals for the National Liberty Memorial approved for establishment in the District of Columbia.
  • H.R. 2223 (Rep. Doug Lamborn), To authorize, direct, expedite, and facilitate a land exchange in El Paso and Teller Counties, Colorado. 
  • H.R. 2791 (Rep. Peter DeFazio), To require that certain Federal lands be held in trust by the United States for the benefit of certain Indian tribes in Oregon.
  • H.R. 2898 (Rep. David Valadao), To override state environmental laws and blame endangered species for the ongoing California drought.
  • S. 501 (Sen. Tom Udall), To make technical corrections to the Navajo water rights settlement in the State of New Mexico.
  • H.R. 1138 (Rep. Michael Simpson), To establish certain wilderness areas in central Idaho and to authorize various land conveyances involving National Forest System land and Bureau of Land Management land in central Idaho.