House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today issued a second subpoena to the Department of the Interior (DOI) for additional information relating to the investigation into the Obama Administration’s rewrite of the Stream Buffer Zone Rule (Rule) that began over a year ago. The second subpoena follows after DOI has failed to comply with the April 5th subpoena for… Read more »
TO: Members, Committee on Natural Resources
FROM: Doc Hastings, Chairman
RE: Subpoena issued
I hereby give notice that I have issued a subpoena duces tecum (for documents) to the… Read more »
Dear Mr. Secretary:
On April 5, 2012, a subpoena was issued and served on you, as Secretary of the Interior, for a complete and unredacted copy of specific documents, communications, and information related to the rewrite of the 2008 Stream Buffer Zone Rule by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, (“Subpoena”).
The Department’s April 12 and April 27, 2012 responses… Read more »
House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today sent a letter to Department of the Interior’s Acting Inspector General Mary Kendall expressing deep concern with the thoroughness of the Office of Inspector General’s (IG) investigation into whether an Obama Administration report that recommended a six-month drilling moratorium was intentionally edited to incorrectly… Read more »
Dear Ms. Kendall:
Thank you for meeting with me recently to discuss your response to the April 12, 2012 subpoena for documents related to the Office of Inspector General's ("IG") investigation into the May 27, 2010 Department of the Interior ("Department") report entitled, "Increased Safety Measures for Energy Development on the Outer Continental Shelf' ("Drilling Moratorium… Read more »
Today, the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held a joint legislative and oversight field hearing in Colorado Springs, Colorado on, “Federal Geospatial Spending, Duplication and Land Inventory Management” and H.R 4233 and H.R. 1620. The hearing focused on the importance of reducing federal bureaucracies and streamlining government inefficiencies in federal lands management and… Read more »
Today, the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held an oversight field hearing on the draft Bureau of Land Management (BLM) hydraulic fracturing regulations that could have significant consequences for natural gas and oil development on federal lands, job creation, and local economic growth. The latest draft of federal hydraulic fracturing regulations is part of an endless effort… Read more »
Today, the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands held a joint legislative and oversight hearing on H.R. 4094, the “Preserving Access to Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreational Area Act,” and, “Access Denied: Turning Away Visitors to National Parks.”
“Although today we focused on two examples, Biscayne National Park in Florida and Cape Hatteras in North Carolina,… Read more »
Dear Mr. Chairman:
This supplements our previous responses to your subpoena of April 12, 2012, and prior letters requesting documents related to the Department's ongoing Stream Protection rulemaking process.
Read the entire letter HERE. Read more »
Today, the House Natural Resources Committee heard at an oversight hearing that Energy Secretary Steven Chu’s Memorandum to the Power Marketing Administrations (PMAs) could increase energy costs dramatically. This hearing follows up on a bipartisan Pacific Northwest Congressional delegation letter that raised serious questions about Secretary Chu’s Memo.
“The core mission of the… Read more »