Pearce introduces bills to facilitate federal onshore permitting

US Rep. Steve Pearce introduced a pair of bills on June 14 that aim to reduce delays and other obstacles in the federal onshore oil and gas leasing process. HR 6016 would authorize additional categorical exclusions to streamline permitting decisions. HR 6107 would order that the US Bureau of Land Management not require permits on nonfederal land to reach subsurface deposits that are less than 50% federally owned.

Nick Snow

June 18, 2018

US Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM) introduced a pair of bills on June 14 that aim to reduce delays and other obstacles in the federal onshore oil and gas leasing process. HR 6016 would authorize additional categorical exclusions to streamline permitting decisions. HR 6107 would order that the US Bureau of Land Management not require permits on nonfederal land to reach subsurface deposits that are less than 50% federally owned.

“These two bills will ensure New Mexico can continue to play a leading role in America’s energy revolution,” Pearce said. “When it takes BLM 250 days to process a permit, the state loses out on needed revenues that support over 30% of [its] budget, funding schools, police departments, road redevelopment, and community hospitals.”

The House Natural Resources Committee’s Energy and Minerals Subcommittee examined the proposals and two others as discussion drafts in a hearing a week earlier (OGJ Online, June 8, 2018). The other two proposals were introduced as bills a day before Pearce introduced his (OGJ Online, June 15, 2018).

Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].

About the Author

Nick Snow

NICK SNOW covered oil and gas in Washington for more than 30 years. He worked in several capacities for The Oil Daily and was founding editor of Petroleum Finance Week before joining OGJ as its Washington correspondent in September 2005 and becoming its full-time Washington editor in October 2007. He retired from OGJ in January 2020.