The US Department of the Interior’s Office of Natural Resources Revenue distributed $8.93 billion in revenue and royalties from energy produced on federal managed public and Indian tribal land to states, tribes and three special funds, 26% more than the $7.11 billon it distributed in fiscal 2017, Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke said.
“President Trump’s energy dominance strategy is paying off and local communities across America are the beneficiaries,” Zinke said. “This critical source of funding will be used for educational and infrastructure improvements and land and water conservation projects, and to create good-paying American jobs.”
Often the second-highest generator of federal income following taxes, energy revenue disbursements are a critical funding source for to states and American Indian tribes to which they otherwise would not be available because they aren’t able to collect local taxes from operations on federally managed land or offshore acreage along the US Outer Continental Shelf.
The disbursements also provide important contributions to the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), Reclamation Fund, and Historic Preservation Fund.
Of the 35 states receiving federal energy revenue disbursements during the 12 months ended Sept. 30, New Mexico received $634.9 million, followed by Wyoming ($563.9 million), Colorado ($112.5 million), Louisiana ($91 million), and Utah ($76 million).
More than $1 billion was disbursed to tribes and individual Indian mineral owners; $1.22 billion to the Reclamation Fund; $893 million to the LWCF; more than $76 million from 2007 Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act revenue to the LWCF; $150 million to the Historic Preservation Fund; and the remaining $3.5 billion to the US Treasury, ONRR said.
Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].