Groups urge Interior to finish the job on leasing and bonding reforms

Thursday, November 17, 2022

Pronghorn graze near oil infrastructure in southwestern Wyoming, BLM Wyoming

On Wednesday a group of 27 organizations sent a letter to the Department of the Interior (DOI) urging the agency to initiate a rulemaking to implement leasing reforms passed as part of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The IRA included several important reforms to the federal onshore oil and gas program, but DOI must develop and issue regulations to implement the changes. The letter argues that DOI should not move forward with new leasing until it has completed this rulemaking.

Separately, a different set of organizations submitted to DOI and the Bureau of Land Management a petition for rulemaking to modernize the onshore oil and gas program's requirements for financial assurance, also referred to as bonding. The Inflation Reduction Act brought long overdue reforms to the majority of the federal oil and gas leasing program. But bonding was dropped at the last minute, after the Senate parliamentarian determined that it was not tied closely enough to the federal budget—a requirement for bills passed through the reconciliation process as the IRA was. A 2019 report by the Government Accountability Office found that only between 1 and 16 percent of federal bonds are sufficient to cover the cleanup of their wells, depending on the cost estimates used. Failure to update these rates leaves taxpayers holding the bag when oil and gas companies go bankrupt and can’t afford to clean up their operations.

Congress could increase bonding rates by passing standalone legislation or by attaching similar language to a larger legislative package, a potential priority during the lame duck session. If legislation during the lame duck is unsuccessful, the Interior Department can use its existing authority to raise bonding rates administratively through a rulemaking process. A formal rulemaking would be a long-term fix that brings bonding rates up to date, but the department would need to begin that process immediately if it hopes to finalize a rule by the end of President Biden’s first term.

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The climate is changing before our eyes. We need to take action to reduce the worst impacts of a changing climate and there is only one way to do that—break forever our dependence on fossil fuels.”

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@usinterior

Did someone say road trip?

When heading south from Hanksville, Utah, highway travelers bisect the remote Henry Mountains — a place so remote it was the last mountain range in the contiguous United States to be mapped. The 11,000-foot forested peaks of the main mountain range rise to the west, while two distinctive summits, Mount Ellsworth and Mount Holmes, jut skyward from the rolling red sandstone mesas to the east.

Known as the “Little Rockies,” these peaks are designated as a National Natural Landmark for their geological significance. The peaks also provide habitat for desert bighorn sheep and numerous birds of prey.

Photo by Bob Wick / @mypubliclands