HOME PAGE SUBSCRIPTIONS, Print Editions, Newsletter PRODUCTS READ THE PETROLEUM NEWS ARCHIVE! ADVERTISING INFORMATION EVENTS PETROLEUM NEWS BAKKEN MINING NEWS

Providing coverage of Alaska and northern Canada's oil and gas industry
June 2013

Vol. 18, No. 25 Week of June 23, 2013

Native American Energy Act advances

Alaska Congressman Don Young says bill would expedite energy project permitting in Indian Country, deter ‘frivolous lawsuits’

Wesley Loy

For Petroleum News

Legislation pending in Congress would streamline energy development on Indian lands, including land owned by Alaska Native corporations, the sponsor says.

U.S. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, offered H.R. 1548, the Native American Energy Act.

On June 12, the bill passed the House Natural Resources Committee on a bipartisan vote of 25-15, a committee press release said.

Young chairs the Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs.

A press release from Young’s office said the bill “promotes energy development by Indian tribes and Alaska Native corporations by expediting and streamlining the permitting process, deters frivolous lawsuits, lowers the cost of federal permitting on tribal trust lands, and increases the opportunity for tribes to govern more aspects of energy development on their lands.”

To the House floor

“This bill comes in direct response from tribes across the United States who want to responsibly develop their natural resources on tribal lands, but time and time again run into burdensome rules and regulations put in place by the federal government,” Young said. “The Native American Energy Act will encourage much needed energy development in Indian Country, and be yet another step toward self-determination and business development benefitting Indian tribes and Alaska Native corporations.”

The bill now heads to the floor for consideration by the full House, Young’s office said.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce sent committee leaders a letter of support for the bill.

“H.R. 1548 would be an important step in furthering efforts by Congress to encourage economic development throughout Indian Country,” the chamber said. “It would do so by fostering tribal sovereignty and eliminating cumbersome federal bureaucratic processes.”

The bill would, among other things, amend the law to say that for any major federal action on Indian lands requiring preparation of an environmental impact statement, the statement “shall only be available for review and comment by the members of the Indian tribe and by any other individual residing within the affected area.”

The bill would bar the Bureau of Land Management, an Interior Department agency, from collecting any fee for an application for a permit to drill on Indian land.

Also, the bill says a plaintiff who obtains an injunction against an energy project, but doesn’t ultimately prevail, “shall be liable for damages.”

Further, the bill says “a court may not issue a preliminary injunction and an agency may not grant an administrative stay in an energy related action until the plaintiff posts with the court or the agency a surety bond or cash equivalent.”

The last section of the 15-page bill pertains to hydraulic fracturing, saying: “No rule promulgated by the Department of the Interior regarding hydraulic fracturing used in the development or production of oil or gas resources shall have any effect on any land held in trust or restricted status for the benefit of Indians except with the express consent of the beneficiary on whose behalf such land is held in trust or restricted status.”






Petroleum News - Phone: 1-907 522-9469 - Fax: 1-907 522-9583
[email protected] --- http://www.petroleumnews.com ---
S U B S C R I B E

Copyright Petroleum Newspapers of Alaska, LLC (Petroleum News)(PNA)©2013 All rights reserved. The content of this article and web site may not be copied, replaced, distributed, published, displayed or transferred in any form or by any means except with the prior written permission of Petroleum Newspapers of Alaska, LLC (Petroleum News)(PNA). Copyright infringement is a violation of federal law subject to criminal and civil penalties.