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Time is running out for the Biden administration to ensure the oil and gas leasing reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) have a lasting impact. The Center for Western Priorities' recent progress report emphasized that implementing the IRA will require an extensive rulemaking process, and the administration will need to act quickly. Currently, the IRA is implemented via Instruction Memoranda (IMs) released in November 2022. However, IMs only provide guidance, and they can be altered or revoked at any point by a future administration. To protect against this, a full rulemaking under the Administrative Procedures Act is necessary. This would ensure the reforms can only be revoked or revised if a future administration goes through the same rulemaking process.
Given that rulemaking is an inherently lengthy process, realistically the Biden administration needs to publish draft rules by this March or April in order to cement the reforms promised by the IRA. However, no proposed rules have been released yet.
Yesterday, 32 environmental organizations signed a letter to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland urging the Department of the Interior to move forward with a rulemaking. The letter offers specific recommendations for the federal onshore oil and gas leasing program to improve stewardship of public lands, waters, and wildlife. The recommendations include measures such as preventing companies with past lease violations from participating in the leasing process and guaranteeing public participation and Tribal consultation.
By implementing these recommendations, President Biden could protect his legacy on America's public lands. However, time is of the essence, and the administration must act quickly.
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There’s a lot more that needs to be done in that area. Sanders is a small community, and everyone knows one another and they would talk about their neighbors, family, or themselves having cancer or talking about cancer survivors. It's a small community, to see that amount of cancer is surprising. They’re being ignored.”
