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 Congressman Steve Daines today joined the House of Representatives in passing legislation to protect states’ regulatory rights and stop the Obama administration’s continued war on American energy development.  

HR. 2728, the Protecting States’ Rights to Promote American Energy Security Act, prohibits the Department of Interior (DOI) from enforcing federal hydraulic fracturing regulations in any state that already has its own regulations and recognizes states’ authority to regulate this type of activity. The bill also prohibits the DOI from enforcing any federal regulation governing hydraulic fracturing on lands held in trust or restricted status for the benefit of Tribes without express consent.

Video of Daines floor speech available here

While speaking on the House floor earlier today, Daines noted that the passage of this bill would protect American jobs and energy production by limiting the Obama administration’s efforts to impose duplicative federal regulations on hydraulic fracturing. 

“Like most Montanans I love to hike, I love to hunt, I love to fish. We are the safeguards of the environment in Montana,” Daines stated on the House floor. “We do not need bureaucrats back in Washington telling us how protect our lands in Montana, yet the Obama administration has put more senseless barriers in place by stiffening the federal restraints and red tape on this process.”

“Hydraulic fracturing has been critical to the production of our rich Montana-Bakken oil. It is a key not only to our state’s economy, but also to unlocking a valuable source of revenue for the federal government and our state,” Daines continued. “The people of Montana and our country need a responsible energy plan that protects our environment and creates a better future for our kids, and that means jobs and that means lower energy prices.”

In May, the Obama administration proposed new federal regulations for hydraulic fracturing on public lands. These burdensome and duplicative regulations threaten to impose new costs on American energy producers, threatening jobs, increasing energy prices, and harming economic growth in areas like Montana’s Bakken Field. According to a recent study, the proposed regulation would cost at least $345 million annually.

Today, the House also voted on H.R. 1965, the Federal Lands Jobs and Energy Security Act. This legislation would help expand energy development by putting in place common sense reforms to the permitting process—in turn helping to create good paying jobs and increase development on federal lands, which has dramatically decreased over the last decade. Between 2000 and 2008, there were on average 101 wells per year started on federal lands in Montana. In 2012, only 29 Federal permits were issued— compared to the 329 permits issued on private lands. 

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