The legislation passed through a House Natural Resources Committee markup in a mostly party-line vote of 26-17, with Rep. Adam Gray (D-Calif.) joining Republicans in favor.
During the markup, which stretched to around 1 a.m., a contentious amendment was also added to the bill that would sell off certain public lands in Nevada and Utah.
The measure represents the committee’s contribution to a larger GOP-led bill that seeks to use the budget reconciliation process to allow it to bypass the Senate’s 60-vote threshold.
Republicans say this portion of the bill would create $18.5 billion in savings and new revenue for the federal government, which the party is expected to use to help pay for tax cuts.
The newly advanced bill requires the Interior Department to offer up 30 chances for companies to bid on opportunities to drill in the Gulf of Mexico over the next 15 years and requires six similar auctions to be held for drilling inside Alaska’s Cook Inlet.
It also requires the reinstatement of leases to drill in the controversial Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, as well as four new drilling auctions there. It also requires additional Arctic drilling opportunities in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
Meanwhile, the legislation also takes steps to restrict environmental reviews of energy projects — and exempts some project approvals of them from court challenges.
Currently, the federal government assesses a project and determines whether it should move forward and if it needs to take any additional steps to mitigate its environmental impacts.
Under the legislation, companies can pay a fee for an expedited review, conducted either by the federal government or the company itself. These reviews would also be exempted from court challenge.
In addition, the proposal would allow for more opportunities to mine for coal on federal lands and block “any action limiting the Federal coal leasing program.”
Read more at TheHill.com.
