House Republicans early Wednesday morning advanced a portion of their budget reconciliation bill that seeks to bolster fossil fuel production and mining on public lands while undercutting environmental reviews.
The legislation passed through a House Natural Resources Committee markup in a mostly party-line vote of 26-17, with Rep. Adam Gray (D-Calif.) joining Republicans in favor.
During the markup, which stretched to around 1 a.m., a contentious amendment was also added to the bill that would sell off certain public lands in Nevada and Utah.
The measure represents the committee’s contribution to a larger GOP-led bill that seeks to use the budget reconciliation process to allow it to bypass the Senate’s 60-vote threshold.
Republicans say this portion of the bill would create $18.5 billion in savings and new revenue for the federal government, which the party is expected to use to help pay for tax cuts.
The newly advanced bill requires the Interior Department to offer up 30 chances for companies to bid on opportunities to drill in the Gulf of Mexico over the next 15 years and requires six similar auctions to be held for drilling inside Alaska’s Cook Inlet.
It also requires the reinstatement of leases to drill in the controversial Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and four new drilling auctions there. It also requires additional Arctic drilling opportunities in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
“While there were several items I disagreed with, this bill included $2 billion in funding for California water storage projects,” Gray said in a statement. “The Central Valley is in desperate need of increased water access. It was my belief last night that something is better than nothing — even though the $2 billion something isn’t close to adequate to address the Valley’s water needs. I also warned my colleagues on the other side of the aisle that while I’m absolutely in favor of water storage funding, if the Natural Resources Committee’s proposal is tied to Medicaid cuts or nutrition assistance cuts on the House Floor, I will not support the final package.”
Meanwhile, the legislation also takes steps to restrict environmental reviews of energy projects — and exempts some project approvals of them from court challenges.
Currently, the federal government assesses a project and determines whether it should move forward and if it needs to take any additional steps to mitigate its environmental impacts.
Under the legislation, companies can pay a fee for an expedited review, conducted either by the federal government or the company itself. These reviews would also be exempted from court challenge.
In addition, the proposal would allow for more opportunities to mine for coal on federal lands and block “any action limiting the Federal coal leasing program.”
It also seeks to bring down fees that oil, gas and coal companies pay to drill or mine on public lands or in public waters. It reduces royalty rates for oil and gas from 16.67 to 12.5 percent and reduces rates for coal from 12.5 percent to 7 percent.
In remarks during Tuesday’s markup, Natural Resources Committee Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) praised the bill as a boon for Americans and creating opportunities to produce energy domestically.
“No one innovates or harnesses natural resources better than we do here in the United States. We’re working to bring production back to America, where we do it more safely, cleanly and efficiently than anywhere else in the world,” Westerman said.
But Democrats raised concerns about the bill’s environmental and climate impacts.
“It’s breathtakingly reckless, gutting bedrock environmental protections, condemning vulnerable communities to long term pollution impacts, turning public lands and waters into industrial sacrifice zones, just to finance a tiny portion of your giveaway to billionaires,” said top committee Democrat Jared Huffman (Calif.).
The bill also includes other measures sure to rankle Democrats, including the reinstatement of two mining projects that were axed under the Biden administration.
It also puts in place fees for those who object to oil and gas lease sales.
—Updated at 12:57 p.m. EDT
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