 We compliment Rep. Charisse Millett (NGP Photo) for having the initiative to weigh in on a variety of national energy issues, including this one. If Alaska expects other states to rally to her aid when confronting examples of federal overreach, it should show itself to be a good friend to other states facing similar federal aggression. After all, when facing the current anti development Administration America now suffers, the states must vow to hang together lest they be hanged separately.
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Fairbanks News Miner/AP. ConocoPhillips Alaska says it will delay its 2014 plans for exploratory drilling in the Arctic Ocean off Alaska’s northwest coast. * * * Later today, Senator Lisa Murkowski said, “I’m disappointed that ConocoPhillips won’t be moving forward with its Arctic program next year – Alaska and the nation need the energy and the jobs that new oil production off Alaska’s coast would bring … Companies can’t be expected to invest billions of dollars without some assurance that federal regulators are not going to change the rules on them almost continuously. The administration has created an unacceptable level of uncertainty…." * * * Governor Sean Parnell followed with: “I am disappointed that the federal government’s unstable regulatory environment has led Conoco to make this business decision,” Governor Parnell said. “The federal government’s inability to provide regulatory certainty is once again reducing jobs and economic opportunities for Alaskans.” * * *
U.S. Sen. Mark Begich then said:
“I am disappointed. I’ve spent the last four years working with the administration and industry to promote responsible development of Alaska’s Chukchi and Beaufort seas. With today’s announcement, I will continue to encourage the Department of Interior and industry to work together, iron out their differences and get moving on exploring and developing these resources that are key to our economic and national security. While today’s decision is disappointing, I remain encouraged and optimistic about the progress the administration has made to allow more progress on oil and gas development off Alaska’s Arctic coast than it has seen in decades. ”
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Today, leaders of the Energy Producing States Coalition of legislators sent the following letter :
The Honorable Fred Upton, Chairman
The Honorable Henry Waxman, Ranking Member
Committee on Energy & Commerce
2125 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
RE: Department of Interior, Office of Natural Resources Revenue
April 10, 2013
Dear Chairman Upton and Ranking Member Waxman:
The Energy Producing States Coalition (EPSC) is a group of like-minded state legislators working together to develop positions and areas of common interest on policies and issues that affect domestic energy production and transmission. The group was founded in 2011 and currently includes legislators representing Alaska, Colorado, Mississippi, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming. These legislators work together to develop and advocate for sound public policy in areas of shared interests between energy producing states.
On behalf of the EPSC Executive Committee, we express our opposition with the Department of the Interior’s Office of Natural Resources Revenue’s (ONRR) recent notification to states that more than $109 million in mineral royalties would not be paid as a result of the ongoing sequestration. This purely political decision by the Obama Administration is akin to theft and clearly disregards the intent of the Budget Control Act (BCA). The Mineral Leasing Act is the negotiated process for guaranteed fair sharing of energy resources developed in the states on public lands. As you are aware, these royalties are used by States to fund such necessary items as public school systems, community colleges, emergency response activities and basic infrastructure projects.
According to a response sent to states from the Congressional Research Service, “Distribution of revenue received from lease sales, bonuses, and royalties under the Mineral Leasing Act is directed in 30 USC 191. Because the funding for these payments is not provided in an appropriations Act, such payments would appear to be correctly classified as non-defense, direct spending for purposes of the BCA. Additionally, section 225 of the BCA (2 USC 905) exempts a number of programs from sequestration, however the royalty payments under the MLA do not appear to be exempt.
[1]” This rationale is an incredibly narrow interpretation of the BCA and obviously ignores the intent of the law. Royalty payments are based upon actual development of mineral resources on public lands within the states. The “distribution of revenue” is the legally required portion due to the states where the development occurs. The states have as much of a right to these revenues as the federal government.
The Interior Department’s action is designed only to maximize the negative impact on the American public and thereby placing additional financial burdens on States to cover traditional federal spending. The federal government should get its own house in order and perform a thorough audit of its spending to eliminate duplicative programs across budget lines before it starts stealing from the states.
In closing, the EPSC believes that withholding mineral royalty payments to states as a result of sequestration contradicts the original intent of the Budget Control Act and requests that Congress encourage the ONRR to rescind their decision and fully provide states with their entitled mineral royalties. We encourage our State Attorney Generals to seek legal remedies, and encourage our membership to educate their State and Congressional leaders, counties and school districts and other constituents negatively affected by this sequestration decision.
Sincerely,
Rep. Roger Barrus, (Ut), Chairman, EPSC
Speaker Thomas Lubnau, (Wy.), Immediate Past Chairman, EPSC
Senator Cathy Giessel (Ak.), Chairman-Elect, EPSC
CC:
Representative Ralph Hall (TX) Representative John Dingell (MI)
Representative Joe Barton (TX) Representative Edward Markey (MA)
Representative Ed Whitfield (KY) Representative Frank Pallone (NJ)
Representative John Shimkus (IL) Representative Bobby Rush (IL)
Representative Joseph R. Pitts (PA) Representative Anna Eshoo (CA)
Representative Greg Walden (OR) Representative Eliot Engel (NY)
Representative Lee Terry (NE) Representative Gene Green (TX)
Representative Mike Rogers (MI) Representative Diana DeGette (CO)
Representative Tim Murphy (PA) Representative Lois Capps (CA)
Representative Michael Burgess (TX) Representative Michael Doyle (PA)
Representative Marsha Blackburn (TN) Representative Jan Schakowsky (IL)
Representative Phil Gingrey (GA) Representative Jim Matheson (UT)
Representative Steve Scalise (LA) Representative G.K. Butterfield (NC)
Representative Bob Latta (OH) Representative John Barrow (GA)
Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA) Representative Doris Matsui (CA)
Representative Greg Harper (MS) Representative Donna Christensen (VI)
Representative Leonard Lance (NJ) Representative Kathy Castor (FL)
Representative Bill Cassidy (LA) Representative John Sarbanes (MD)
Representative Brett Guthrie (KY) Representative Jerry McNerney (CA)
Representative Pete Olson (TX) Representative Bruce Braley (IA)
Representative David McKinley (WV) Representative Peter Welch (VT)
Representative Cory Gardner (CO) Representative Ben Ray Lujan (NM)
Representative Mike Pompeo (KS) Representative Paul Tonko (NY)
Representative Adam Kinzinger (IL)
Representative Morgan Griffith (VA)
Representative Gus Bilirakis (FL)
Representative Bill Johnson (OH)
Representative Billy Long (MO)
Representative Renee Elmers (NC)
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