Strategic Production Response Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mrs. LEE of Nevada. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of my amendment to H.R. 21.

This amendment would ensure that the Federal Government is not forced into leasing public lands with low- or no-potential for oil and gas development to the fossil fuel industry as a result of this bill.

The reckless leasing of low- to no-potential lands, also known as speculative leasing, has allowed millions of acres of our Nation's invaluable public lands to be put in harm's way for no real economic benefit in return.

The problem is pervasive, affecting all Western States. However, it is particularly severe in my home State of Nevada where there are very few productive oil and gas formations but plenty of Federal land.

Speculative leasing is a serious problem that costs taxpayers serious money. These leases are cheap. They are easy to acquire, usually selling at near the minimum bid of $2 per acre.

Because they are so cheap, companies with purely speculative interests target these lands with little intent or likelihood of putting them into production.

Thus, the government is then forced to use taxpayer dollars to administer and monitor them, but the leases almost never generate royalties or other benefits for the American taxpayer.

In fact, according to the GAO, 99 percent of these noncompetitive leases, which are frequently issued with little or no-potential lands, never went into production or generated royalties for taxpayers.

In addition to burdening taxpayers, these leases also come with environmental risks. In many instances, low-potential lands receive fewer protections than areas with high potential because Federal land managers forecast low likelihood of development activity. This leaves land, water, and wildlife all incredibly vulnerable.

The current policy creates an opportunity cost. Once leased, low- potential lands are not prioritized for other uses like conservation and recreation, regardless of their development status.

My amendment will prevent speculative leasing from becoming an even bigger problem. It will exclude Federal lands with no or low potential for oil and gas development from the scope of this bill.

My amendment will save taxpayer dollars instead of strong-arming Federal agencies into spending those tax dollars on issuing and administering speculative leases that generate little or no revenue.

This means the Federal oil and gas program can more efficiently focus on managing leases that actually generate royalties and revenues for taxpayers.

My amendment will mitigate environmental risk. Nearly 50 percent of all leases in the West--spanning 9.9 million acres--are currently idle, with iconic landscapes they encompass frequently left neglected, and the unique cultural and natural resources of these storied places, likewise, are left largely unprotected.

This amendment will prevent additional acreage from being put in environmental jeopardy to satisfy leases that half the time are simply left to gather dust.

On balance, this amendment reins in the practice that has numerous costs and provides little or no return on investment for us, the American taxpayers.

So I implore all of you, Democrats and Republicans, to vote ``yes'' on my amendment, a clear example of commonsense land management and fiscal responsibility. I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mrs. LEE of Nevada. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source