As Interior Secretary Sally Jewell was ruling out Atlantic Ocean oil drilling before 2017, a House Natural Resources subcommittee took testimony on a bill by Chairman Doc Hastings, R-Wash., to open Atlantic and Pacific areas to leasing, The Hill reports.
House Natural Resources Chairman Doc Hastings, R-Wash., called on the Interior Department to maintain records from a recently resigned counselor to former Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to assist ongoing investigations, The Hill reports.
House Natural Resources Chairman Doc Hastings and ranking Democratic Rep. Ed Markey called on the Interior Department to extend the public comment period for its proposed public lands hydraulic fracturing rule, FuelFix reports.
House Republicans are moving to show their support for natural gas exports and opposition to planned hydraulic fracturing regulations on federal lands.
The House Natural Resources Committee scheduled a hearing for May 8 that called the Interior Department's expected fracturing regulations a "recipe for government waste, duplication and delay." Separately, a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee is to hold a hearing on May 7 to stress the economic benefits of liquefied natural gas exports.
Memorial Day and the summer driving season may be weeks away, but lawmakers are already pressing for mostly-symbolic legislation that will let them show concern over gas prices.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee this week kick off a renewed push by Republicans to show their backing for the Keystone XL oil sands crude line from Canada. Action by both panels comes as the State Department holds its lone public hearing on the project's environmental review Thursday in Nebraska.
House Nuclear Cleanup Caucus, chaired by House Natural Resources Chairman Doc Hastings, holds briefing on Energy Department's 2013 Environmental Management Program. DOE Senior Advisor for Environmental Management Dave Huizenga to speak.
House Natural Resources Committee holds business meeting on H.R. 527, Responsible Helium Administration and Stewardship Act; H.R. 678, Bureau of Reclamation Small Conduit Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs Act; and H.R. 254, H.R. 291, H.R. 507, H.R. 588, H.R. 716, H.R. 1033, and H.R. 1159.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved a bill that would alter the sale of helium from the Federal Helium Reserve, Roll Call reports.
A number of environmental and health groups filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency to force a review of the agency's smog pollution standards, The Hill reports.
Amendments to the House version of a five-year farm bill up for debate would require farmers to follow conservation guidelines to qualify for crop insurance subsidies, E&E reports.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission proposed charging the Tennessee Valley Authority a $70,000 fine for quality violations at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, The Associated Press reports.
Ash Grove Cement Co., based in Kansas, agreed to pay a $2.5 million penalty and invest $30 million in air pollution controls to settle EPA air pollution allegations, The Associated Press reports.
Friends of the Earth aired a television advertisement criticizing Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., for supporting the Savannah River MOX facility in his state, The Associated Press reports.
Canadian investment bank Peters & Co. said the United States will need to import crude from Canadian oil sands as the current surge in shale oil will be too expensive to keep up, Bloomberg reports.
