Today, the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources questioned witnesses from the three major federal agencies on the President’s 2017 budget and the Administration’s overly-prescriptive federal regulations.

The panel included representatives from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). These agencies are charged with overseeing production of domestic resources on federal land, both onshore and offshore.

“According to recent data, leased onshore and offshore acreage have hit record lows on your watch,” Subcommittee Chairman Doug Lamborn (R-CO) stated. “It seems that not a Friday afternoon has gone by without receiving a new notice of proposed rulemaking from one of the agencies,” Lamborn added in reference to the onslaught of recent regulations promulgated by the three agencies.

Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA) questioned BSEE’s Director Brian Salerno on a highly controversial well control rule, recently sent to the Office of Management and Budget for final review.  

“This actually threatens safety, it doesn’t improve it,” Graves stated. “I’m very concerned about the expertise within your agency to write this rule. We’re hearing over and over again from industry [about] the lack of dialogue. Those are the folks [who] are the experts here. […] This rule needs to go back out for public comment.”

“If we cripple oil and gas production, I’m afraid that we may look more like Venezuela in the future, than say, the Jetsons,” Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) stated, in reference to Obama Administration’s onerous energy regulations.  

Click here to view the full witness testimony.