Nick Snow
OGJ Washington Editor
WASHINGTON, DC, Mar. 30 -- Three more congressional Democrats wrote US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar reminding him of Alaska’s importance in current and future Outer Continental Shelf resource management plans. Their letters came after US Minerals Management Service Director S. Elizabeth Birnbaum told a US House subcommittee on Mar. 25 that efforts to address shortcomings in the Alaskan portion of the present 5-year OCS schedule have created delays.
“I know you and your staff have worked very hard over the past year to obtain the best science and broad public comment on the two 5-year plans,” US Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alas.) said in his Mar. 29 letter to Salazar. “As you consider this information, I strongly urge you to ensure the balance you strike in Alaska continues a strong leasing program in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas.”
He encouraged the secretary “to move forward on this plan in the very near future, creating a positive environment as shippers consider their commitments during the upcoming open season for the Alaska natural gas pipeline.”
US House Natural Resources Committee members Jim Costa (D-Calif.) and Dan Boren (D-Okla.) also encouraged Salazar in a Mar. 26 letter to “move forward expeditiously with the 2007-12 [OCS] program” as it relates to oil and gas development offshore Alaska.
“While we support necessary actions to ensure that a sufficient scientific and environmental analysis is fully conducted before scheduling oil and gas lease sales off our coasts, we are concerned by the considerable amount of time DOI has taken to complete what appears to be a clear technical analysis of the scientific issues associated with the oil and gas lease areas off Alaska’s coast and publish the secretarial decision,” they said.
10-month delay
“In particular, 10 months have passed since the program was vacated, which is surprising considering several public statements from administration officials have been made acknowledging that the new environmental analysis would be completed expeditiously and issued in 2009,” Costa and Boren continued.
Costa chairs the Natural Resources Committee’s Energy and Minerals Subcommittee, which heard testimony on Mar. 25 from Birnbaum and four other federal natural resources management agency’s directors about proposed fiscal 2011 budgets. Federal offshore oil and gas lease sales outside the Gulf of Mexico in the 2007-12 OCS program could be affected as Salazar and other DOI officials “rebalance” the plan to address environmental assessment shortcomings in its Alaska portion, the MMS director said.
The federal appeals court for the District of Columbia cited the deficiencies in an Apr. 17, 2009, decision which vacated the program in response to a petition by the Center for Biological Diversity. Salazar subsequently sought and received clarification from the court, which allowed MMS to hold gulf OCS sales in the current 5-year program. The outlook for one which is scheduled off Virginia’s coast in 2011 is less certain because of delays resulting from the plan’s reexamination, Birnbaum told the subcommittee on Mar. 25.
“It’s clear they’re trying to make sure all environmental questions are answered before they move ahead,” Costa told OGJ following the hearing. “I’ve seen what can happen if you don’t dot all your i’s and cross all your t’s. They could need more time.”
But he and Boren said in their Mar. 26 letter that it is important to bring Alaska’s oil and gas reserves back online because first-time unemployment benefit claims nearly reached 500,000 last month and the US economy is struggling to regain its global competitive edge.
Benefits across US
They cited a study by the University of Alaska’s Social and Economic Research which said that new offshore energy production in the state would produce an average 35,000 jobs/year and more than $72 billion of total payroll over the next 50 years. “New offshore oil and gas development in Alaska would also generate thousands of new, high-paying jobs throughout the 50 states, including steel and pipe manufacturers in the Midwest, shipping on the coasts, advanced computer technology in California and Seattle, and union labor for pipeline construction and maintenance,” Costa and Boren said.
In his letter, Begich reminded Salazar that land beneath Chukchi and Beaufort seas holds more than 22 billion bbl of oil and 100 tcf of gas. OCS Lease Sale No. 193 in 2008 marked a record $2.8 billion in bonus bids, the senator said. Recent decision by MMS and the US Environmental Protection Agency “make future development in these areas much more likely,” he added.
The 2007-12 OCS program, as it relates to Alaska, needs to move forward, Costa and Boren maintained. “The dangers of inaction are too great, as considerable doubt would be raised among hard-working Americans whose livelihoods are tied to current and future lease sales,” the two House members warned. “The costs of not developing additional US reserves would put a huge burden on an already struggling American economy.”
“Certainly, no would would fault [DOI] for taking its time to gather all the facts before setting in motion a plan to leverage our nation’s abundant offshore energy resources into new and much needed economic opportunity for Americans. But eventually, there comes a time to act,” Consumer Energy Alliance David Hold said on Mar. 29.
“This letter from Chairman Costa and [Rep.] Boren will hopefully serve as a reminder to the department that critical work remains to be done on behalf of the American people in this area, and further, that senior House members from both parties on the committee of jurisdiction are watching closely,” he said.
Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].