Cramer: Trump Administration Fixes Obama BLM Regulation Aimed at North Dakota

Press Release

Congressman Kevin Cramer issued the following statement upon the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) finalizing a revised Waste Prevention, Production Subject to Royalties, and Resource Conservation (Waste Prevention) rule issued by the Obama Administration in 2016.

"I'm pleased President Trump and Secretary Zinke took action to fix this overreaching and duplicative rule from the previous Administration. North Dakotans called on Washington to stop this rule and Senator Hoeven and I responded to that call. Despite successfully passing a resolution of disapproval in the House, it fell short in the Senate by a single vote. Representing the second ranking oil and gas producing state in the country, I take seriously protecting jobs and investment in North Dakota, as well as the energy security of the nation. Only those who care about wasting taxpayer dollars, enriching lawyers, and furthering regulatory burden would have voted against decisively striking down this rule. Instead, it was left for the Administration to fix what, President Trump had promised to do."

On September 12, Cramer wrote Secretary Zinke urging him not to substantially deviate from the February 2018 proposed revisions to the Obama Administration rule, calling the revisions a correction to significant legal and practical issues.

Cramer has been a continuous advocate for North Dakota in working to prevent this regulation. On November 18, 2016, the Obama Administration finalized the Waste Prevention rule intended to reduce waste of natural gas from venting, flaring, and leaks during oil and natural gas production activities on onshore Federal and Indian leases. On February 3, 2017, the House of Representatives passed a joint resolution co-sponsored by Cramer disapproving of the rule under the Congressional Review Act. Cramer urged the Senate to bring the resolution to a vote and prevent a future administration from reversing Trump Administration revisions. On March 27, 2017, Cramer attended President Trump's signing of an Energy Independence and Economic Growth Executive Order to review and rescind a number of Obama Administration regulations aimed at fossil fuel industries, including the Waste Prevention rule. On May 10, 2017, the Senate voted down the resolution of disapproval. Following a number of administrative actions, with continued litigation, the BLM proposed a revised rule on February 22.

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