IPANM (April 19, 2021) –  IPANM submitted comments to the Department of the Interior calling for end of the current federal leasing moratorium that is already impacting drilling activity in New Mexico.

In the comment letter, IPANM Executive Director Jim Winchester writes that the initial 60-day halt of all permitting activity and the ongoing 1-year federal leasing moratorium is “the cause of economic distress that has slowed industry recovery while keeping workers unemployed in New Mexico’s oil & natural gas producing basins.”

IPANM’s letter provides significant evidence to the DOI that “moratoriums lead to significant state job losses, domestic insecurity, increased environmental damage, more bureaucratic delays, and undermine fundamental multiuse land principles.”

Please take a moment to review IPANM’s submitted comments by clicking on the link below.

April 15, 2021 IPANM Comments to DOI

IPANM will continue to push hard for relief from the Department of the Interior’s anti-Oil & Gas policies that have been enacted since under the new federal administration.

Associated Press (April 16, 2021) — Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on Friday revoked a series of Trump administration orders that promoted fossil fuel development on public lands and waters, and issued a separate directive that prioritizes climate change in agency decisions.

The moves are part of a government-wide effort by the Biden administration to address climate change ahead of a virtual global summit on climate change that President Joe Biden is hosting next week.

“From day one, President Biden was clear that we must take a whole-of-government approach to tackle the climate crisis, strengthen the economy and address environmental justice,” Haaland said in a statement. The new orders will “make our communities more resilient to climate change and … help lead the transition to a clean energy economy,″ she added.

For more information, see the Associated Press full article.

The list of Trump orders revoked include:

• SO 3348: “Concerning the Federal Coal Moratorium” (March 29, 2017)
• SO 3349: “American Energy Independence” (March 29, 2017)
• SO 3350: “America-First Offshore Energy Strategy” (May 1, 2017)
• SO 3351: “Strengthening the Department of the Interior’s Energy Portfolio” (May 1, 2017)
• SO 3352: “National Petroleum Reserve—Alaska” (May 31, 2017)
• SO 3354: “Supporting and Improving the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Program and Federal Solid Mineral Leasing Program” (July 6, 2017)
• SO 3355: Streamlining National Environmental Policy Reviews and Implementation of Executive Order 13807, “Establishing Discipline and Accountability in the Environmental Review and Permitting Process for Infrastructure Projects” (August 31, 2017)
• SO 3358: “Executive Committee for Expedited Permitting” (October 25, 2017)
• SO 3360: “Rescinding Authorities Inconsistent with Secretary’s Order 3349, ‘American Energy Independence’” (December 22, 2017)
• SO 3380: “Public Notice of the Costs Associated with Developing Department of the Interior Publications and Similar Documents” (March 10, 2020)
• SO 3385: “Enforcement Priorities” (September 14, 2020)
• SO 3389: “Coordinating and Clarifying National Historic Preservation Act Section 106 Reviews” (December 22, 2020)

IPANM & The Hill (Mar. 25, 2021) – The deck was stacked against the Oil & Gas industry as the Department of the Interior hosted a National Forum to consider input from entities to a new federal regulatory policy on oil & gas development in the United States.  IPANM reported on the forum as part of our March 24, 2021 Federal Update. As noted by IPANM, the list of participants included only two representatives from the oil & gas industry.  IPANM requested to be included on the panel. Our request went unanswered.

Republicans on the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee also raised objections to the Interior Department’s list of participants for a forum on federal oil and gas leases.

In a letter sent Monday, Republicans on the panel accused the department of deliberately excluding Republican governors of energy-producing states. The forum, set for March 25, will review the Biden administration’s moratorium on new oil and gas leases on federal lands.

“We believe that you have intentionally limited the right for the public to participate, including state-wide elected officials, namely the governors of our states,” says the letter.