WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has introduced legislation to improve permitting
of offshore oil and natural gas activity in Alaska and beyond. The Offshore Energy and
Jobs Permitting Act would stop the Environmental Protection Agency’s internal
appeals process from being used to kill projects through delay.
“We need to end the practice
of outside groups using the appeals board to veto offshore energy development
in Alaska and
elsewhere,” Murkowski said. “The EPA plays an important role in protecting the
environment. It must be allowed to fulfill that role without having its
decisions second guessed through a flawed appeals process.”
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.
While the Department of
Interior is responsible for permitting in the Gulf of Mexico – and has a track
record of approving or denying applications in a timely manner – on Alaska’s outer
continental shelf permitting is handled by the EPA.
Under the current system,
companies that have paid billions of dollars for offshore oil and gas leases
are subject to an endless regulatory loop where the EPA has been unable to
issue a permit capable of withstanding its own appeals process. The appeals
board is made up of environmental attorneys acting as judges though they are
neither confirmed nor authorized by Congress.
“We have companies that have
spent more than five years and billions of dollars attempting to conduct
offshore exploration and production in Alaska,
but have been unable to secure the necessary permits from EPA,” Murkowski said.
“It’s clear that this process is not just overly costly and time-consuming, but
simply does not work.”
Murkowski told members of a
House subcommittee in April that if the EPA’s handling of the permitting
process continued to breakdown at the appeals board level, she would have no
recourse but to seek to transfer authority back to Interior.
“If the EPA cannot
demonstrate some competency, especially as congressional urging and intent
becomes more clear, then EPA should not expect to keep its authority for long,”
Murkowski said in April.
The Offshore Energy and Jobs
and Permitting Act would:
- Amend
current law to require air-emission impacts be measured onshore – not
offshore – and clarify that any drilling vessel will be regulated as a
stationary source once drilling starts; - Ensure
that the 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.
This legislation is a
companion measure to H.R. 2021, The Jobs and Energy Permitting Act, introduced
by Rep. Cory Gardner and voted out of the House Energy and Commerce
Committee.
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