[PCA] Fw: CQ story on Resources Reconciliation Draft - Includes MMPA amendments
Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov
Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov
Mon Sep 26 12:05:41 CDT 2005
This article is from Congressional Quarterly (www.cq.com).
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CQ GREEN SHEETS
COASTS; FOSSIL FUELS; MINING AND MINERALS; PUBLIC LANDS
Sept. 23, 2005
Land Sales, Oil Drilling Among Elements of Resources Reconciliation Draft
By Adam Satariano and Leslie Ann Duncan, CQ Staff
Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and in protected coastal
waters as well as the sale of units from the national park system would be
authorized under budget reconciliation language being drafted by Rep.
Richard W. Pombo , R-Calif.
As chairman of the House Resources Committee, Pombo has been charged with
producing new revenue streams for the government ? proposals that would
eventually be rolled into the filibuster-proof budget reconciliation
package.
"This is a draft," said committee spokesman Brian Kennedy. "It's a
brainstorm of ways to save the federal government money."
The draft drew a sharp response from Rep. Nick J. Rahall II of West
Virginia, ranking Democrat on the Resources Committee.
"Congress must find ways to save money, but I am having a hard time
believing that selling our national parks to the highest bidder and
drilling along our coastlines would even be brought to the table," he said
in a written statement.
Leasing Revenue
The government would collect money on the leases sold to energy companies
that want to drill in the protected areas of the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge (ANWR) and the outer continental shelf.
Language authorizing drilling in ANWR has long been expected in the budget
reconciliation package. Drilling on the outer continental shelf, however,
is an idea that has gained momentum since Hurricane Katrina.
Supporters of offshore drilling have said recent hurricanes in the Gulf of
Mexico show that oil and gas production should not be consolidated in one
region of the country.
Environmentalists have opposed such efforts, arguing the move would put
areas at risk of oil spills and other ecological damage.
Offshore oil and gas leasing is currently banned by federal moratoriums
except for the western and central Gulf of Mexico and parts of the Alaskan
coast.
Land Sales
The draft also directs the National Park Service to remove the 15 least
visited units from the national park system, including seven parks and
preserves totaling 17.3 million acres in Alaska. The agency would have to
sell the land parcels, or make them available for energy or commercial
development.
The draft also would direct the Park Service to sell commercial
sponsorships of park visitor centers, museums, trails and auditoriums, and
sell advertising space on all public transport vehicles in the system.
And the draft would direct the agency to sell various parcels in
Washington, D.C., and sell Theodore Roosevelt Island, in the Potomac
River, for residential and commercial development.
Mining Provisions
On the mining front, the draft would repeal a longstanding moratorium on
patenting of mining claims, charge $1,000 per claim (until the moratorium,
enacted in successive Department of the Interior funding bills, the patent
fee was $5), and would not charge miners a royalty for minerals produced
on patented land.
The draft also would convey several large parcels to mining companies in
Nevada, Alaska and Idaho; and would recoup some of the revenue from sales
of Bureau of Land Management land in Nevada. Under PL 105-263 , that money
had been earmarked for state and local conservation and other uses, but
the revenue has vastly exceeded expectations.
The draft includes language to change the way Abandoned Mine Reclamation
Fund monies are distributed, using a formula favored by Reps. Barbara
Cubin , R-Wyo., and Rahall, who have introduced free-standing legislation
on the matter ( HR 1600 ). A Senate Energy and Natural Resources
subcommittee is holding a hearing on the abandoned mine reclamation issue
next week.
And the draft includes a package of amendments to the Marine Mammal
Protection Act ( PL 95-522 ).
Resources Committee Reconciliation Draft (pdf) :
http://www.cq.com/flatfiles/editorialFiles/greenSheets/reference/20050923hres_recondraft.pdf
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