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 The measures were among three energy bills the House is considering
this week as Republicans who control the chamber push to expand an
oil and gas boom that's lowered prices and led the U.S. to produce
more oil last month than it imported from abroad.
One of the bills approved Wednesday would set strict deadlines for
federal approval of oil and gas permits and expand areas open to
production. Another would restrict the Interior Department from
enforcing proposed rules to regulate hydraulic fracturing, or
fracking, on public lands.
A third bill, set for approval Thursday, would streamline permitting
for natural gas pipelines.
Supporters say the bills are needed to ensure that a drilling boom
taking place on state and private lands extends to millions of
acres, mostly in the West, under federal control.
President Barack Obama has promised to veto the bills, saying they
are unnecessary and run counter to protections put in place for oil
and gas drilling.
Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., who sponsored the bill to speed up
permitting, said the current energy boom has mainly occurred on
state and private lands, including the Bakken formation in North
Dakota and Montana and the Marcellus Shale region centered in
Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. Drilling also is booming in
traditional production states such as Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana.
"The only reason we haven't seen that same dynamic growth on federal
lands is because of excess regulations," Lamborn said.
Lamborn's bill would deem a drilling application approved if no
decision is made within 60 days, set a minimum threshold for lands
leased by the Bureau of Land Management and charge a $5,000 fee to
groups that protest lease permits. It also would open up Alaska's
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration.
The House approved the measure, 228-192.
The House also approved a separate bill that would block the
Interior Department from enforcing a proposed rule on hydraulic
fracturing on federal lands in states where drilling regulations are
already in place. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Bill Flores, R-Texas,
was approved 235-187.
Hydraulic fracturing, also called fracking, involves pumping huge
volumes of water, sand and chemicals underground to split open rocks
to allow oil and gas to flow. Improved technology has allowed energy
companies to gain access to huge stores of natural gas underneath
states from Wyoming to New York but has raised widespread concerns
that it might lead to groundwater contamination and even
earthquakes.
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A draft rule issued this spring would require companies that drill
for oil and natural gas on federal lands to publicly disclose the
chemicals used in fracking operations. A final rule is expected next
year.
Lamborn said his permitting bill would reduce federal "red tape" and
cut down on "frivolous lawsuits that act as stumbling blocks to job
creation and energy development."
Democrats and environmental groups called the bill a handout to the
big oil companies and said it would gut important environmental
protections and stifle efforts by the public to intervene in
drilling decisions.
Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 Democrat in the House,
called the energy bills a waste of time, since they were unlikely to
be taken up in the Democratic-controlled Senate and faced veto
threats from Obama.
Hoyer called the energy bills "the fiddle on which we are playing
while Rome is burning," adding that the bills "distract and delay
this body's critical attention to the issues of critical concern to
all Americans," including adoption of a federal budget and passage
of a farm bill and immigration overhaul.
Flores called the fracking bill an important step to reaffirm
states' rights to determine energy production, as well as a way to
create jobs.
Because of fracking and other techniques, the U.S. could be "energy
secure" by 2020, Flores said. "This is a goal we should pursue, just
as we did in the 1960s to put a man on the moon."
Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., said state rules on fracking vary widely.
"That's why it's important that the Interior Department put in place
a regulatory floor of safety measures to assure that there are at
least minimal protections in place on all public lands in all
states," he said.
[Associated
Press; MATTHEW DALY]
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