Congressman Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, praised the Subcommittee on Energy and Power for its passage of bipartisan legislation to allow for expanded energy exploration in the Alaskan Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). More specifically, the Jobs and Energy Permitting Act would streamline the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) permitting process and eliminate needless regulatory delays that have prevented energy development in these waters. The draft legislation passed out of the subcommittee by voice vote yesterday.
“With Memorial Day right around the corner, Michigan families are eager for relief at the gas pump,” said Upton. “Even as our nation’s energy needs continue to grow, domestic production remains on the decline. The people in southwest Michigan get it – they understand the basic tenets of supply and demand. This sensible, bipartisan legislation goes a long way to address the supply side of the equation by streamlining the permitting process for vital energy exploration. Future exploration has been stalled – in some instances for years – on account of bureaucratic uncertainty and confusion under current federal law. This bill takes energy exploration out of regulatory limbo, allowing us to focus our efforts on creating jobs and lowering prices through American-made energy.”
The Jobs and Energy Permitting Act aims to eliminate uncertainty and confusion under the Clean Air Act that has delayed oil exploration in the Alaskan OCS – a region which the U.S. Geological Survey estimates to contain 27.9 billion barrels of oil and 122 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Some delays have lasted for years at a cost of billions of dollars to the private sector. While the EPA’s regional office has granted air permits to allow offshore drilling, the process has repeatedly been stalled when the Administrator’s Environmental Appeals Board further delays the permit already granted. The proposed legislation would make three technical clarifications to the Clean Air Act to eliminate such needless delays as well as require EPA action – either granting or denying a permit – within six months.
Upton supports an “all of the above” energy strategy, a commonsense approach to meeting our nation’s growing energy needs through the development of domestic energy resources, a renewed commitment to safe nuclear power, and the utilization of renewable and alternative energy technologies.
