House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today sent a letter to Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar regarding the Department’s refusal to comply with a subpoena issued for documents related to the Obama Administration’s decision to impose a drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico, the circumstances surrounding the imposition of the 6-month Gulf of… Read more »

Dear Mr. Secretary: One year ago today, the Department of the Interior ("Department") was first asked to provide documents and information relating to the Obama Administration's decision imposing a drilling moratorium and its drafting of a May 2010 report entitled, "Increased Safety Measures for Energy Development on the Outer Continental Shelf" ("Drilling Moratorium Report"). For 366… Read more »

Dear Mr. Chairmen: This is in response to your April 6, 2012 request for additional documents and information relating to the report from my office entitled, "Federal Moratorium on Deepwater Drilling." Read the entire letter HERE. Read more »

Dear Mr. Chairman: On April 11, 2012, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) received a subpoena from the House Committee on Natural Resources (Committee) commanding production of: Unredacted and complete copies of: All documents identified on the enclosure (Bates number 00032227 SOL-WDC-B01-00001-00000I) to the Department of the Interior's October 13, 2011 letter to the Committee… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement after the Department of the Interior failed to provide the documents requested in the April 4, 2012 subpoena related to the Committee’s more than year-long investigation into the Obama Administration’s rewrite of a coal production regulation, the 2008 Stream Buffer Zone Rule: “The Obama… Read more »

Dear Mr. Chairman: Over the last year, the Department of the Interior has undertaken continual, significant and good-faith efforts to respond to the Committee on Natural Resources' requests for information related to the Department's ongoing Stream Protection Rule rulemaking process to the extent possible. The Department has done this even though the Committee's requests directly… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today issued a subpoena to the Department of the Interior’s (DOI’s) Office of the Inspector General (IG) for 13 documents that DOI has intervened and blocked the IG from releasing to the Committee. The subpoena comes after DOI yesterday failed to provide the same 13 documents in responding to the deadline for the Committee’s… 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 Secretary Chu: We write with deep concern regarding your March 16, 2012 Memorandum to the Power Market Administrators. While many of the Memorandum's goals may have merit, these directives - and the manner in which your Department has relayed them - have created considerable consternation and confusion in the Pacific Northwest and amongst some of our constituents. Since the… Read more »

While the subpoena deadline for producing documents was set at Noon on April 10, 2012, the Interior Department communicated its intent to respond to the Committee by close of business. Due to the lateness in receiving the Department’s response to the subpoena, a more specific response from Chairman Hastings will follow after he has had the opportunity to fully consider the Department’s… Read more »