Articles

The U.S. Department of Interior today announced that they will extend the public comment period for the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) proposed changes to the commercial oil shale regulations by an additional 30 days. Congressman Rob Bishop (UT-01), Chairman of the House Natural Resources Public Lands and Environmental Regulation Subcommittee, submitted a letter to the Department of Interior on May 22, 2013 requesting that they extend the comment period to 120 days versus the 60 that the Department of Interior initially offered.

The letter, led by Congressman Rob Bishop, noted that “Proper analysis and thoughtful input from interested stakeholders are absolutely critical in establishing a proper rate of structure and determining whether these regulations reduce the economic benefit of oil shale production.”

“I am pleased that the Department of Interior has reopened the comment period giving the public additional time to respond to the proposed new regulations.  Extending it to the full 120 days would have been preferable, but this is certainly better than nothing,” said Bishop.  A diverse energy portfolio is important to our country’s energy future.  The western Unites States has more oil shale than any other country in the world and our nation must prioritize development in the same way they do in other countries.”