ISSUE BRIEF: National Energy Policy: Common Sense Regulatory Reform
The West needs rational regulatory policies that allow access to public lands for economic purposes.
The Issue:
The federal government has a long history of forcing States, counties, local communities and the private sector to abide with a host of complex regulations. Many times those regulations don't make sense. In nearly all cases, they add costs, slow economic growth, kill jobs and keep incomes from rising.
Real-life examples of such burdensome federal regulations are those aimed at slowing down greater production of energy on federal lands. Largely pushed by lawyers and environmental extremists, these regulations force energy producers to jump through a multitude of hoops in order to gain the permits necessary to develop the domestic energy resources that our nation so desperately needs to improve our national security.
Impacts on the West:
The West is America's energy breadbasket, with abundant reserves of nearly all forms of energy. Restricting America’s ability to produce more energy from domestic resources: (1) increases our nation’s dependence on precarious and sometimes dangerous foreign sources of energy; (2) continues to drive up energy prices for all consumers; (3) forces price increases in virtually all goods and services, further dampening economic growth and prosperity; and (4) destroys good-paying jobs.
Status of the Issue:
Energy Policy -- Congress passed The Energy Policy Act of 2005, which contains a number of reforms to: reign in out-of-control federal land managers; streamline and expedite the environmental review and permit processes involved in approving energy exploration and production; and expedite the siting of energy infrastructure on federal lands. Now some in the new 110th Congress are arguing that the law needs to be revisited to roll back these reforms.
Endangered Species Act – During the last few Congress’, a great deal of effort was put into Endangered Species Act reform. With the Democrats now in power, it appears much less likely that such reforms will see the light of day. The Bush Administration does appear poised to release a set of regulatory reforms of the Act.
NEPA – During the last Congress, an effort was begun by the House Natural Resources Committee to review NEPA, the first top-down review in the law’s 30+ year history. Unfortunately, with the changing of the guard in Congress this year, NEPA reform appears to be on the shelf. The Bush Administration is still proceeding to review various streamlining initiatives that it can do on its own.
The Clean Water Act – Now, some Members of Congress -- led by House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman James Oberstar (D-MN) – are seeking to solve the issue with legislation that would greatly expand the jurisdictional sweep of CWA, by changing the waters to be regulated from ‘navigable waters’ to ‘waters of the United States. The Clean Water Authority Restoration Act is troubling on a number of fronts:
It would expand the regulatory reach of EPA and the Corps to include essentially all arguably wet areas within a state.
EPA/the Corps would have a virtual veto over land-use policies in the West.
It would expand the legal basis for the legislation, making federal authority to regulate under the CWA virtually unlimited.
Existing regulatory limitations that allow common sense uses such as prior converted cropland and waste treatment systems would be eliminated.
The expanded definition would burden state and local governments – administratively and financially.
It would cause water providers, landowners’ and water use entities’ liability risk to grow.
Solutions:
- Tell the Bush Administration to fully implement the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Further, federal agencies should review and reform administrative and regulatory proposals that would negatively affect energy development.
- Tell Congress to bring Endangered Species Act reform back as a priority.
- Tell Congress to oppose the Clean Water Authority Restoration Act
- Tell Congress to revamp the NEPA law.