Press RoomPress ReleaseFor Immediate Release
March 17, 2006
For more information contact:
George Cooper, (202) 508-3421 BLM Drilling Permit Announcement Underlines Need for Change
TRCP Energy and Wildlife Working Group Looks Forward to Working with KempthorneIn a Federal Register announcement Monday, the Bureau of Land Management declared that the agency could not comply with a law requiring drilling permit requests to be processed within 30 days. The BLM is now proposing to change their timeline for processing Applications for Permits to Drill (APDs) from the 30 days mandated by a pre-existing rule to a timeline contained in the Energy Policy Act passed by Congress last year. The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership’s Energy and Wildlife Working Group is hopeful that this is a step toward addressing problems not only with the APD permitting process but the federal mineral rights leasing process as well. We agree that the 30 day processing timeframe for APDs is not appropriate especially given the minimum necessary steps to address fish and wildlife habitat impacts. As BLM considers adjusting its APD processing we urge that the following priorities and factors be considered: - BLM needs to retain firm management oversight and ultimate decision-making authority for permitting.
- BLM needs to work with industry to avoid unnecessary and unneeded permit processing.
- Better funding needs to be provided for natural resource management and for managing wildlife and fisheries habitats. Such funding has not kept pace with increases in funding for processing permits.
- The BLM needs to address potential fish and wildlife impacts from drilling at the leasing stage as well as making changes at the drilling permit stage.
As EWWG co-chair Rollie Sparrowe, whose Daniel, Wyoming home lies in the heart of an area that has seen a dramatic jump in development in the past few years, points out, “At the core of our concerns about how accelerated and expanded drilling on public land is affecting fish and wildlife is the unrealistic burden being put on BLM staff. We hope the announcement this week is a step toward making it possible for BLM staff to not only be able to efficiently process APD’s, but to also be able to adequately consider fish and wildlife impacts.” The EWWG is looking forward to the prospect of working on this issue with Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne, whom the administration announced Thursday as its pick to replace Interior Secretary Gale Norton. Jim Mosher, Executive Director of the North American Grouse Partnership and a co-chair of the TRCP’s EWWG, says, “Those of us interested in ensuring fish and wildlife-friendly energy development on our public land have worked with Secretary Norton and her staff on these issues over the past five years and we look forward to continuing the discussions with Governor Kempthorne.” The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) is facilitating an Energy and Wildlife Working Group (EWWG) that includes leading national hunting, fishing and conservation organizations interested in making sure oil and gas development on public land is conducted without long-term impacts on fish and wildlife. Much of EWWG’s focus is on working with the Department of the Interior, BLM, state officials and oil and gas companies to figure out how adequate personnel and resources can be put in place to keep up with expanded oil and gas development. *** The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership is a coalition of leading conservation organizations and individual grassroots partners, working together to conserve fish and wildlife and their habitat, increase funding for conservation and management, and expand access to places to hunt and fish. |