Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017
Floor Speech
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Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.
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Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Chairman, at various hearings throughout the year, Chairman Calvert expressed concern that the administration was taking a page out of its ``war on coal'' playbook and applying it to oil production.
The Department of the Interior has been attempting to make it as costly as possible to operate offshore so that companies will make the decision not to apply for a permit. They took that a step further last week with its Arctic regulations. In this instance, the Department set onerous requirements under the Well Control Rule that mandated that all wells should have the same thickness regardless of where you are drilling. Now, any engineer will tell you that these are site-specific decisions that are based on many factors and that the thickness will vary, depending on where the well is drilled.
Instead, the White House wants to lock in that decision from Washington, D.C. and ignore recommendations from technical experts. The result is an Obama administration de facto moratorium on oil production as part of the White House's ``keep it in the ground'' strategy. I urge a ``no'' vote on this amendment.
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Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Chairman, I urge a ``no'' vote.
I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.
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Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Chairman, the administration has started the process to promulgate new air quality regulations for offshore operations with the intention of finalizing them by year's end; however, key studies are currently underway that will not be finished until sometime next year, in 2017. The administration wants to finalize these rules before these key studies are done.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has allocated nearly $4 million for the studies to determine if there are any impacts to a State's air quality from offshore operations. Section 127 of this bill instructs the Department to wait until these studies are finalized and to restart only if the findings indicate there is a need for rulemaking.
This is one of those cases in which we say let the science be the science, and let's find out what the studies say before we make final decisions on this. There is a regulatory process which should be followed, and there is a scientific process that should be followed. That is coming from a Republican. The administration cannot circumvent one for the expediency of the other; so I urge a ``no'' vote on this amendment.
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Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Chairman, I urge Members to vote ``no'' on this amendment and to let the process go through and the studies and to find out what the studies say. Let's follow the science. I urge my colleagues to follow that and to vote ``no'' on this amendment.
I yield back the balance of my time.
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