Several of the provisions in the rule were set out in law by the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act. Such provisions:
Increase the government’s share of the profit of the oil that’s sold after being drilled on federal lands – raising the minimum royalty rate from 12.5 percent to 16.67 percent
Raise the rents charged to oil companies for drilling on that land
Increase the minimum bid companies can place to get leases on public lands.
The rule takes the additional step of increasing the amount companies must pay upfront as a bond to ensure that they clean up their oil and gas wells once the drilling process ends.
The administration described the changes as the first “comprehensive update” to the rules around drilling on federal lands since 1988.
West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin (D) indicated Friday he was not fully closing the door on voting for President Biden this year, but said he has gone “too far left.”
The House is slated to vote on six bills aiming to block energy efficiency rules for household appliances
Monday
The House is slated to take up bills aimed at researching abandoned oil wells and carbon sequestration, as well as oversight forclean energy demonstration projects receiving federal funds
Tuesday
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm is slated to appear before the
Forest Service Chief Randy Moore will testify before the House Appropriations Committee in a hearing on the agency’s budget
The House Natural Resources Committee will mark up a series of bills including the America’s Wildlife Habitat Conservation Act
Wednesday
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a hearing on the renomination of Christopher Hanson to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is slated to testify before the House Appropriations Committee for a budget hearing
Biden officials with theBureau of Reclamation and Army Corps of Engineers will testify before the House Appropriations Committee during a budget hearing
The House Natural Resources Committee will hold a legislative hearing on a forest management bill
Thursday
The House Oversight Committee will hold a hearing on the Biden administration’s pause on new LNG export terminals. The head of the Energy Department’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management is slated to appear.
The House Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing titled Assessing Solutions to Secure America’s Offshore EnergyFuture.
What We’re Reading
News we’ve flagged from other outlets touching on energy issues, the environment and other topics:
Maine Is a Warning for America’s PFAS Future (The Atlantic)
Climate target organisation faces staff revolt over carbon-offsetting plan (The Guardian)
Hard-line conservatives are turning up the heat on their GOP colleagues who voted Friday to kill a proposed warrant requirement for domestic communications caught up in foreign surveillance operations. Read more
Editor’s note: This report has been updated to clarify the Saudi sovereign’s advisory panel position on giving funds to Jared Kushner’s firm. Read more
