WASHINGTON,
D.C. – U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today congratulated the House
of Representatives on passage of legislation to improve permitting of offshore
oil and natural gas activity in Alaska and elsewhere.
The
House passed H.R. 2021, The Jobs and Energy Permitting Act, introduced by Rep.
Cory Gardner, R-CO, by a vote of 253-166, with 23 Democrats supporting the
legislation.
“When we
have companies that have to wait years to get a permit from the EPA, it’s clear
that the current system is not working,” Murkowski said. “The changes approved
last night by the House will provide both the EPA and those companies applying
for permits a level of certainty about the agency’s ability to move forward.”
Murkowski
has introduced companion legislation in the Senate.
The
House and Senate versions of the legislation would do the following:
- Amend
current law to require air-emission impacts to be measured onshore – not
offshore – and clarify that any drilling vessel is regulated as a
stationary source of emissions once drilling starts; - Ensure
that the EPA’s internal appeals board no longer claims authority to
consider or invalidate permits for offshore exploration, allowing instead
for review in federal court; - Require
EPA to grant or deny a permit within six months of the filing of a
completed application.
The
Senate version of the bill has been referred to the Senate Environment and
Public Works Committee. Murkowski is also working with the Republican
leadership on finding the best path to bring the bill to the Senate floor.
The
bipartisan bill is cosponsored by Sens. James Inhofe, R-OK; John Barrasso,
R-WY; Rob Portman, R-OH; John Hoeven, R-ND; John Cornyn, R-TX; Roy Blunt, R-MO;
Dan Coats, R-IN; Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-TX; Bob Corker, R-TN; John Thune,
R-SD; Richard Lugar, R-IN; Mark Begich, D-AK; and Mary Landrieu, D-LA.
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