House bill would revamp federal energy and mineral leasing

The U.S. House is holding hearings on the “CLEAR” act (Consolidated Land, Energy, and Resources – HR3534) this week which would dramatically change the way federal land agencies lease energy and mineral resources. Among the provisions, BLM and MMS would be stripped of their leasing authority. [right, federal lands and Indian reservations. Credit, nationalatlas.gov]

Our government affairs contacts in DC say this bill seems unlikely to have much traction. They speculate the House is maintain a presence on the topic in response to the bipartisan Bingamen – Murkowski energy bill in the Senate. The Senate bill has a strong component on subsurface geosciences, particularly in the area of oil and gas.