[Senate Hearing 117-524]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]





                              


                                                        S. Hrg. 117-524
 
                    THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR'S
                   IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INFRASTRUC-
                      TURE INVESTMENT AND JOBS ACT

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                              COMMITTEE ON
                      ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES
                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             SECOND SESSION

                               __________

                           DECEMBER 13, 2022

                               __________
                               
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	             U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 
 49-940                     WASHINGTON : 2024
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
               COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES

                JOE MANCHIN III, West Virginia, Chairman
RON WYDEN, Oregon                    JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming
MARIA CANTWELL, Washington           JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho
BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont             MIKE LEE, Utah
MARTIN HEINRICH, New Mexico          STEVE DAINES, Montana
MAZIE K. HIRONO, Hawaii              LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska
ANGUS S. KING, JR., Maine            JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota
CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada       JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma
MARK KELLY, Arizona                  BILL CASSIDY, Louisiana
JOHN W. HICKENLOOPER, Colorado       CINDY HYDE-SMITH, Mississippi
                                     ROGER MARSHALL, Kansas

                      Renae Black, Staff Director
                      Sam E. Fowler, Chief Counsel
                Peter Stahley, Professional Staff Member
             Richard M. Russell, Republican Staff Director
              Matthew H. Leggett, Republican Chief Counsel
        John Tanner, Republican Deputy Staff Director for Lands
                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              

                           OPENING STATEMENTS

                                                                   Page
Manchin III, Hon. Joe, Chairman and a U.S. Senator from West 
  Virginia.......................................................     2
Barrasso, Hon. John, Ranking Member and a U.S. Senator from 
  Wyoming........................................................     3

                                WITNESS

Beaudreau, Hon. Tommy P., Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of 
  the Interior...................................................     5

          ALPHABETICAL LISTING AND APPENDIX MATERIAL SUBMITTED

Barrasso, Hon. John:
    Opening Statement............................................     3
    Poster with quotations of the President related to production 
      on federal lands...........................................    20
    Letter from Senator Barrasso and 17 other Senators addressed 
      to the Secretaries of Interior, Agriculture, and Commerce, 
      dated December 1, 2022.....................................    84
Beaudreau, Hon. Tommy P.:
    Opening Statement............................................     5
    Written Testimony............................................     7
    Responses to Questions for the Record........................    43
Lankford, Hon. James:
    Letter from the Department of the Interior addressed to 
      Senator Lankford, dated December 12, 2022..................    26
Manchin III, Hon. Joe:
    Opening Statement............................................     2


                    THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR'S



                   IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INFRASTRUC-



                      TURE INVESTMENT AND JOBS ACT

                              ----------                              


                       TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2022

                                       U.S. Senate,
                 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:07 a.m. in 
Room SD-366, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Joe Manchin 
III, Chairman of the Committee, presiding.
    The Chairman. The Committee will come to order.
    Before we begin, I want to recognize the retirement of our 
longtime dear friend, Chief Clerk Darla Ripchensky. Darla has a 
combined 21+ years of service in the Senate, and for the last 
almost ten years, Darla has worked tirelessly behind the scenes 
of this Committee, running all of our operations. Her hard 
work, day in and day out, is the backbone of what allows the 
Committee to do our work, and we have done a lot of it. I know 
I speak for all the members and each staff member here, past 
and present, over the last decade, when I say thank you from 
the bottom of all of our hearts for everything that you have 
done for us and for your service to the nation. Darla, to say 
you are going to be missed is an understatement. To say that we 
can't replace you is accurate. But thank you, and I know we are 
going to work hard to do that.
    So now I turn to Senator Barrasso.
    [Applause.]
    Senator Barrasso. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I also 
would like to add to your remarks and thank you, Darla, for 
your remarkable time here, not just in this Committee, but on 
Capitol Hill in service to the country, just shy of ten years 
at the Committee, over two decades in the Senate, leaving very 
big shoes to fill. Your Capitol Hill career actually started in 
1997 when you were the Office Manager and Chief Clerk at the 
Committee of Governmental Affairs, then became Chief Clerk and 
Security Manager for that Committee, later worked as the 
Administrative Director for the Senate Majority Leader's Office 
at the time under the leadership of former Senate Majority 
Leader, Bill Frist, worked with the Senate Small Business 
Committee from 2011 to 2013, and joined this Committee in 
January 2013. You have been here ever since. You know, if you 
take a look, Mr. Chairman, she is committed to ensuring 
everything here runs smoothly, and it really has. Your 
dedication to keeping the Committee on schedule is incredible. 
I am thankful for your expertise in managing the day-to-day 
operation of our Committee, and for serving as a liaison 
between the Executive Branch and each Senator on this 
Committee. You are going to be greatly missed, and I will miss 
you in your retirement and wish you the very, very best.
    The Chairman. Darla, now, as a token of our appreciation, 
we have something to commemorate your time with us and the 
Senate at-large and all your contributions to our great nation.
    [Applause.]
    Senator Barrasso. Did you know that the people who stood 
were staff members? They were terrific.
    The Chairman. They know who runs the place.
    Senator Barrasso. Yes, they do.

          OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOE MANCHIN III, 
                U.S. SENATOR FROM WEST VIRGINIA

    The Chairman. Now, we are going to turn to our hearing 
today, and this morning we will be discussing the Department of 
the Interior's implementation of the Bipartisan Infrastructure 
Law, which is known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs 
Act. I would like to welcome and thank Tommy Beaudreau, Deputy 
Secretary of the Department of the Interior, for appearing 
before the Committee today. Last year, Congress worked in a 
bipartisan way to enact the largest federal investments in our 
nation's infrastructure in decades, including approximately 
$100 billion in authorization and funding for the Department of 
the Interior and the Department of Energy. This, combined with 
the investments provided in the Inflation Reduction Act, will 
be game-changing for us to produce more energy, lead the world 
in innovation, onshore supply chains, clean up legacy 
pollution, address drought, plan for wildland fires, and more. 
Last July, we held a very thorough business meeting about these 
provisions in our jurisdiction, in which we considered 74 
amendments and agreed to 48 before reporting our position of 
the bill with bipartisan support. And as I understand, we might 
have been the only committee that worked the entire bill 
through this process.
    Now that the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill has been law 
for just shy of 13 months, we are here today to discuss how the 
Department of the Interior has been implementing the 
authorization and the $28.1 billion that we provided to you. I 
am especially proud that $16 billion of that funding was 
specifically to help to address an issue very important to my 
home state of West Virginia, the reclamation of abandoned coal 
mine lands and the plugging of orphan wells. Over $1.2 billion 
has already gone out the door to carry out that work. Working 
together with Interior, states are investing in projects that 
document and plug orphan wells, they close dangerous mine 
shafts, reclaim unstable slopes, restore water supplies, and 
clean streams by treating acid mine drainage, all while 
providing local jobs in those communities. Coal communities in 
West Virginia and across the country are proud to have powered 
our nation for decades and enabled this country to become the 
superpower of the world. Last year's funding investments 
recognize those contributions and the scars these communities 
bear as a result and provide the funding needed to reinvest in 
the future of these communities that gave us so much. In fact, 
with the Department's help, the Infrastructure bill's abandoned 
mine land funding, coupled with the AML fee extension, could 
result in approximately $4.3 billion in economic output for the 
state and 1,730 jobs that will continue for 13 to 15 years in 
my state of West Virginia. Substantial investments were also 
made to put men and women to work in our nation's forests to 
make them healthier and less prone to wildfires, and at the 
Bureau of Reclamation, we made historic investments to address 
the ongoing drought crisis in the West, a key focus for many of 
our members on this Committee.
    The law also recognized the importance of onshoring our 
nation's critical mineral supply chain and reducing our 
reliance on bad actors abroad to provide our energy needs--
something that we doubled down on in the Inflation Reduction 
Act this summer. In addition to historic supply chain 
investments we provided the Department of Energy in the 
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we also came together to 
accelerate mineral mapping and fund crucial facilities and 
research at the U.S. Geological Survey--work that will help us 
find new mineral deposits and develop the sustainable mines of 
the future. Due to the severity of our energy and mineral 
security challenge, we included aggressive deadlines for action 
in our legislation. Unfortunately, not all of these deadlines 
have been met, including at the Department of the Interior.
    Senator Murkowski and I sent letters to Secretary Haaland, 
along with the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Energy, 
and the Director of National Intelligence back in May, after 
several deadlines related to the critical minerals were missed. 
While many of those issues were eventually resolved, last 
month, the Department of the Interior failed to meet another 
key deadline related to critical minerals--a first step 
required to improve permitting for new mines. And there are 
more statutory deadlines coming soon for reports that are 
needed to inform efforts to secure our supply chains and 
increase our energy security. In addition, the one-year 
deadline to get regulations in place for new authority to 
permit carbon sequestration on the Outer Continental Shelf also 
came and went on November 15. I look forward to hearing more 
about how we can work with Interior to move forward on these 
issues and at the same time, ensure that future obligations 
will be met, of which there are many, many left. The subsequent 
Inflation Reduction Act mandated that specific oil and gas 
lease sales take place over the next year, created a new 
requirement that oil and gas leasing take place before the 
renewable leasing and rights-of-way are issued, and numerous 
projects of all kinds are awaiting permits.
    With all of these deadlines looming and actions to be taken 
from these two historic laws, it is crucial that we have some 
assurances that the Department of the Interior will get back on 
track, meet its statutory deadlines, and move with the urgency 
that the situation requires and the American people deserve.
    Now, I am going to turn to my colleague and friend, Senator 
Barrasso, for his opening statement.

           OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN BARRASSO, 
                   U.S. SENATOR FROM WYOMING

    Senator Barrasso. Thanks so much, Mr. Chairman. Thanks for 
holding today's hearing.
    In November 2021, Congress passed a $415 billion spending 
bill. It has been called an infrastructure bill, but in 
reality, the legislation also lavished billions of taxpayer 
dollars on programs that have absolutely nothing to do with 
infrastructure. The Congressional Budget Office has said that 
this legislation will increase our nation's deficits by $256 
billion over the next ten years. And we now know that this 
legislation, along with a much larger partisan Democrat 
spending bill, contributed to the highest inflation in our 
nation in the last 40 years. Under this legislation, Congress 
appropriated over $28 billion to the Department of the 
Interior. That is nearly twice the amount of, and in addition 
to, the Department's annual budget of $14.5 billion. So I am 
glad we have an opportunity to hear from the Deputy Secretary 
today.
    I am interested in learning what, if any, controls and 
protocols the Department has put in place to ensure it does not 
waste taxpayer dollars. I would also like to know whether the 
Department has taken any steps to reduce the inflationary 
impact that this massive spending bill has on communities 
across the country. Annual inflation is still above seven 
percent. Energy inflation is still above 13 percent. Americans 
are continuing to suffer from higher energy prices and higher 
food prices, and President Biden continues to sit on his hands. 
He has been in office for nearly two years. Under the Mineral 
Leasing Act, the Secretary of Interior is required--required--
to hold lease sales in each state with oil and gas resources. 
In other words, the Secretary was required to hold at least a 
total of eight lease sales in each of these states over the 
last two years--quarterly lease sales, two years, eight sales. 
But the Secretary has held only a single lease sale in these 
states during that time, ignoring the law.
    To make matters worse, the Department has indicated that it 
will hold only one lease sale next year. Now, under the Outer 
Continental Shelf Lands Act, the Secretary was required to hold 
three offshore oil and gas lease sales this year. Instead, the 
Secretary canceled those lease sales in May, again, in 
violation of the law. The Secretary was also required to issue 
a final five-year leasing plan at the end of June. The 
Secretary not only missed the deadline, she has issued a draft 
plan that considers ending offshore oil and gas leasing 
altogether. That is not what the law says.
    So, Mr. Deputy Secretary, Last year you publicly stated 
that your objective is to, ``fundamentally change these 
programs to get us on a path to decarbonizing public lands.'' I 
am deeply troubled by that belief that you can fundamentally 
change the oil and natural gas leasing programs that are in 
law, which Congress has established as a Federal law. And I am 
equally troubled that you would think that decarbonizing public 
lands is a goal of these programs, because it is not. Since 
taking office, President Biden has gone hat-in-hand to some of 
the world's worst dictators, begging them to produce more oil, 
and that includes going specifically to Vladimir Putin in 
Russia before the invasion of Ukraine, specifically going in 
person to Saudi Arabia, going to Iran, going to Venezuela, and 
each of these dictators have rejected his request. Meanwhile, 
U.S. crude oil production is still a million barrels a day 
below pre-pandemic levels, each and every day, a million 
barrels a day production less, and the Department is ignoring 
Federal law as it tries to end oil and gas leasing on federal 
lands and waters.
    American families are hurting. Gasoline is still a heck of 
a lot higher than the day Joe Biden came into office, in spite 
of releasing a million barrels a day from the Strategic 
Petroleum Reserve, of our emergency reserve, a million barrels 
a day for the last six months, 180 million barrels. Diesel is 
still 76 percent higher than when Joe Biden took office. Just 
last week it was $2 a gallon more in Wyoming than regular 
gasoline. In addition, America's electricity and natural gas 
bills are rapidly increasing. The Department needs to stop 
blocking access to America's oil and gas resources. It needs to 
follow the law and put the interest of the American people 
first.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    The Chairman. Thank you, Senator.
    And now, Mr. Beaudreau, we will have your comments.

             STATEMENT OF HON. TOMMY P. BEAUDREAU, 
       DEPUTY SECRETARY, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

    Mr. Beaudreau. Thank you very much, Chairman Manchin, 
Ranking Member Barrasso, and all of the members of the 
Committee. I appreciate the opportunity to provide this update 
to the Committee on the Department of the Interior's 
implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. 
This bipartisan law is a key part of the President's plan to 
rebuild our country. It is a once-in-a-generation investment 
that is helping tackle the climate crisis, create jobs, advance 
environmental justice, and boost local economies. Under 
Secretary Haaland's leadership, we have been working hard to 
implement these important investments in an effective, 
efficient way while also taking care of our responsibility as 
stewards of these very substantial taxpayer funds. We are 
charged with protecting America's great outdoors, powering our 
nation's future, protecting and managing America's natural 
resources and cultural heritage, and providing scientific 
information about all of these resources. We also have the 
honor of our trust responsibilities and special commitments to 
American Indians, Alaska Natives, and affiliated island 
communities.
    This historic law has enabled us to grow our capabilities 
and better advance all of these critical missions. The 
Department's leadership is mindful of the scope of this task 
and we take our responsibility to use these resources entrusted 
to us in the law wisely. As was pointed out, this is more than 
$30 billion--almost double the Department's annual budget. Our 
bureaus and offices administer financial assistance programs 
and carry out activities in eight key program areas under this 
law, including, as the Chairman mentioned, our abandoned mine 
land reclamation and orphan well programs, water 
infrastructure, Indian rights settlements, wildland fire 
preparedness, fuels management and post fire rehabilitation, 
ecosystem restoration and resilience, scientific innovation and 
mapping, and tribal infrastructure projects and climate 
resiliency initiatives.
    Let me provide just a few highlights of our implementation 
thus far. A year ago, we welcomed Winnie Stachelberg, who is 
accompanying us at this hearing today, to join the Department 
as our Senior Advisor and Infrastructure Coordinator. Winnie 
has been instrumental in standing up our organizational 
infrastructure to do infrastructure. This includes establishing 
cross-functional teams and project management offices across 
the range of programmatic and administrative functions to 
implement and coordinate these significant investments. We have 
hired staff across the Department to work in existing and newly 
created program offices, and have established important 
stakeholder partnerships to help us implement the law. We have 
hosted dozens of stakeholder meetings and formally consulted 
with tribes, and we have put in place a public-facing website 
to ensure that all of our information is easily available to 
the public. In Fiscal Year 2022, we announced $6.4 billion in 
infrastructure projects and we have funded nearly 1,000 of 
those projects, putting billions of dollars to work in support 
of our mission to serve communities and to meet our obligations 
under the law.
    Part of the reason why I am very happy to be with you this 
morning is that I take every opportunity I can to thank 
Congress for the investments made possible through both the 
IIJA and the Inflation Reduction Act. Along with the Secretary 
and the Interior Department leadership, I travel across the 
country, and I have spoken with governors, mayors, and people 
on the landscape about the dramatic impacts that these pieces 
of historic legislation are having to improve the lives of 
Americans and to protect and restore our critical 
infrastructure and natural ecosystems. I look forward to 
sharing those conversations with you. And again, thank you for 
these investments. Together, we are proving to the American 
people that government can be made to work for them, and that 
we are accomplishing a great deal through these partnerships.
    Chairman Manchin, Ranking Member Barrasso, and Committee 
members, thank you again for the opportunity to appear before 
you today. I look forward to answering your questions.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Beaudreau follows:]
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    The Chairman. Thank you, sir.
    I want to start with our questions now, and I have a few, 
and I will get started and then we will go right through our 
list today, but there are quite a few. The Bipartisan 
Infrastructure bill did quite a few things and directed it, and 
one of them is the ability to produce cleaner energy anywhere 
else than they do in the world. That is our main goal. To get 
that done, we need to stop wasteful natural gas flaring and 
venting and all the different things that we do with methane. 
The infrastructure law provided DOI with the authority to 
accelerate permitting for gathering pipelines. I understand 
that the reason we were not taking that methane off is because 
we need the pipeline to take it from the well-head back to 
market. And so, they were flaring it, and it was damned if you 
do and damned if you don't, and couldn't get it to the market.
    So, what have you all been able to do, because when you 
implement the gathering line permitting authority from this 
bill, the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill, that should have 
happened. Have those permits started so you can remove that 
methane from being vented or flared into the air?
    Mr. Beaudreau. Thank you very much, Senator Manchin. I 
agree completely that part of the solution to prevent the waste 
of natural gas resources--which again, when we are talking 
about public lands, belong to the American taxpayer--is an 
infrastructure question, and establishing gathering lines to 
collect that gas and bring it to central facilities and 
ultimately to market, is part of the solution. And so, I 
appreciate very much the new authority under the infrastructure 
law to facilitate the permitting of gathering lines. Part of, 
and this is, you know, part of the broader story with respect 
to bill implementation, is making adjustments, both in our 
process and as well as with operators. And so, we have----
    The Chairman. Has there been any permits for any?
    Mr. Beaudreau. Yes, we have had some examples, including 
Colorado----
    The Chairman. North Dakota is a big--Senator Hoeven can 
speak probably more to this than I can, but I am understanding 
they have had a lot, they have got a lot of flaring up there 
and they have a lot of vetting going on--venting, if you will. 
Have they started getting some permits to move the methane off?
    Mr. Beaudreau. So, part of it is working with operators to 
adjust to the new opportunity, but we have seen examples of 
using this categorical exclusion to permit gathering lines.
    The Chairman. Let me say this with my time left. First of 
all, the bills that we have done, and I know that especially 
the IRA, the Inflation Reduction Act, has been touted as an 
environment bill, basically, an enviro bill, and I think for 
people to know what that bill really did, it was an all-in 
energy policy, basically that you cannot do one without the 
other. So, the Mineral Leasing Act already required quarterly 
oil and gas sales for onshore. The Inflation Reduction Act 
mandated certain offshore lease sales over the next year. The 
President makes a comment and says basically that there will be 
no more drilling. If there is no more drilling, there is no 
more wind, there is no more solar, there is no more anything. 
And that is why the two are tied together, but no one really 
knows that because no one has touted that this is an all-in 
energy policy.
    And so, I don't know how you all comply with that when, if 
you are hearing from the Administration that there will be no 
more drilling, but on the other hand, it is unable to do wind 
and solar leasing or rights-of-way without first doing oil and 
gas leasing--that is in the bill. That was in the bill. So I 
have been happy to see that you all have reinstated the Gulf 
sale from last year and will be going forward with mandated 
lease sales this coming year. So I don't know how you all are 
navigating that and where your direction has been, or is that 
just a misstatement?
    Mr. Beaudreau. So we very much view, as laid out in the 
IRA, our renewable energy programs, both onshore and offshore 
as well as our oil and gas leasing programs, as connected. You 
know----
    The Chairman. You all understand how the bills--how it is 
connected, that basically it is an all-in energy policy. We are 
going to do the fossil in the cleanest fashion possible to 
provide the energy we need today while we are investing in the 
energy that we will need for the future.
    Mr. Beaudreau. That is exactly how we view it.
    The Chairman. Okay.
    The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law took large steps to 
address the critical minerals and our vulnerability in the 
supply chains to do the smart investments requiring Interior to 
improve the mine permitting process. Can you commit to 
addressing these overdue items in a timely fashion to get back 
on track? Because I am understanding we still have critical 
mineral projects, lithium mines, that are still on hold 
forever. Have they been moving in a positive way? Have you 
basically had any of them that have been through the permitting 
process or are going to be starting production any time soon in 
the United States?
    Mr. Beaudreau. With respect to the reports called for under 
the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, those are in progress. I 
chair the Interagency Working Group, along with the Energy 
Department, very focused on these issues.
    The Chairman. It is a very short timeline that we are 
trying to get back in production so that we can meet the needs 
of the market, and right now, we are depending on China.
    Mr. Beaudreau. Yes, and with respect to lithium projects on 
public lands, there are a couple significant projects in front 
of us, both in Nevada, that are moving forward, and you are 
going to see announcements on those in the coming weeks.
    The Chairman. Thank you.
    Senator Barrasso.
    Senator Barrasso. Well, thank you, Mr. Chair.
    Mr. Beaudreau, in June of this year, President Biden said, 
``Republicans falsely claim that I am blocking production on 
federal lands.'' He says, ``But again, that's nonsense.'' Well, 
I am a Republican, and I do claim that he is blocking 
production on federal lands. Last month, President Biden said 
something different. He said, ``No more drilling. There is no 
more drilling.'' Joe Biden. When was he lying? Which was the 
lie? Because clearly the President is lying. Which one?
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follows:]

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    Mr. Beaudreau. Senator, I think, as you know, production on 
public lands, both onshore and offshore, has not stopped. In 
fact, in this Administration, production levels--and this is 
just EIA information--have increased on public lands to over a 
billion barrels a year. And so, there has been no attempt by 
the Administration to block or stop or impede production on 
public lands.
    Senator Barrasso. So then the President is lying when he 
says ``No more drilling, there is no more drilling.'' That is a 
direct lie into the camera to the American people by the 
President of the United States.
    Mr. Beaudreau. So you know, I can't comment on a quote, 
sort of, out of context, but clearly there is ongoing drilling 
on public lands as well as production.
    Senator Barrasso. So under the Mineral Leasing Act, the 
Secretary is required to hold quarterly lease sales in each 
state with federal oil and gas resources. By the fall of 2023, 
two and a half years into the Administration, the Secretary 
will have held two of the ten required sales in these states. 
So when will the Department resume quarterly lease sales in the 
states where federal and oil and gas resources are currently?
    Mr. Beaudreau. So part of what I appreciate about the 
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and now the IRA is that it does 
lay out a clear path, as we discussed with Senator Manchin, for 
our oil and gas leasing programs that requires a period of 
adjustment to comply with the law, but we are moving forward 
with onshore leasing through the BLM in association with our 
renewable energy programs on public lands as well.
    Senator Barrasso. So I would remind you that a federal 
court has directed the Secretary to comply with the Mineral 
Leasing Act, and I am beginning to question whether the 
Administration believes that it is in the rule of law, because 
it is not behaving that way.
    Another question. The Department recently released a draft 
analysis of greenhouse gas emissions associated with 3,600 oil 
and gas leases issued from 2015 to 2020. Until the Department 
finalizes this analysis, thousands of leases and permits remain 
in limbo. When will the Department issue a final environmental 
assessment of this matter?
    Mr. Beaudreau. So this is one of the highest priorities in 
the Department--to complete that work. As I know you are aware, 
we get buffeted around by various pieces of litigation and 
judicial rulings. And so, part of what we have to do while we 
complete that analysis is take into account the latest judicial 
rulings that impact that analysis. And so, in order to, again, 
provide defensibility for leases that the Department issues, we 
have to ensure that that work complies with the latest court 
rulings.
    Senator Barrasso. So you are saying, basically, a lot of 
lawsuits slow down the process, muck up the problem--in 
addition to the red tape, the lawsuits make it worse.
    Mr. Beaudreau. That is----
    Senator Barrasso. So does the Department have a plan? Yes, 
go ahead.
    Mr. Beaudreau. No, that is true.
    Senator Barrasso. Okay. Does the Department have a plan to 
apply the final assessment to the 3,600 leases so it can issue 
drilling permits in a timely manner?
    Mr. Beaudreau. Yes.
    Senator Barrasso. Okay. Thank you.
    Finally, in July, the Secretary released a proposed 
offshore oil and gas leasing plan for 2023 to 2028. One option 
the Secretary is considering is to offer no leases during the 
entire five-year time period. I remind you that federal oil 
production accounts for 27 percent of all U.S. oil production. 
We are a million barrels a day behind where we should be at 
this point. How can the Department justify ending offshore oil 
and gas lease sales when President Biden continues to beg 
overseas dictators for more oil?
    Mr. Beaudreau. Again, as we discussed with the Chairman, 
under the IRA, our oil and gas leasing programs are connected 
with our offshore wind programs. What you saw in step two of a 
three-step process in development of a new five-year leasing 
program is simply a statement of the range of possibilities, 
from no lease sales under the Secretary's authority to 
essentially, the same number of lease sales that was included 
in the previous five-year plan completed at the end of the 
Obama administration.
    Senator Barrasso. So, to follow up on the issue of the 
Infrastructure Act--under the Infrastructure Act, Congress 
appropriated over $28 billion to the Department of the 
Interior. This is nearly twice the amount of, and in addition 
to, the annual budget of about $14.5 billion. The Democrats' 
partisan inflation act appropriated another $6.6 billion to the 
Department--a staggering amount of money. What new controls and 
protocols has the Department put in place to prevent waste, 
fraud, and abuse of this spending?
    Mr. Beaudreau. Absolutely, and as I think you have heard, 
you know, the Administration, including the President himself, 
has placed an extremely high priority on ensuring controls and 
prevention of waste, fraud, and abuse in the implementation of 
both of these bills. We take that extremely seriously. I meet 
with our inspector general every other week to talk about a 
host of issues, including their programs, and they have new 
funding under the legislation as well, to work with us to 
ensure that there are appropriate safeguards. And we are also 
being mindful about economies of scale as we make these 
investments, to ensure that the taxpayer gets full value from, 
again, these transformative investments under both of these 
pieces of legislation.
    The Chairman. Thank you.
    Senator Heinrich.
    Senator Heinrich. Thank you, Chairman.
    Obviously, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act included a 
relatively robust amount of spending that Republicans, many 
Republicans, supported on the floor, but I want to back up to a 
previous piece of legislation that passed under the previous 
Administration and previous Congress, which is the Great 
American Outdoors Act that was passed in 2020. And Mr. 
Beaudreau, I want you to walk us through that bill's 
implementation in Fiscal Years 2021 and 2022. Specifically, 
there were two parts to that bill. There was the funding for 
the Land and Water Conservation Fund at what is considered, you 
know, full funding levels, as well as the National Parks and 
Public Lands Legacy Restoration Fund, which was an attempt to 
catch up on infrastructure that had been ignored for decades by 
the Congress.
    So walk us through implementation in Fiscal Year 2021 and 
2022 for both of those programs and what percentage of the 
funding that was approved by Congress made it onto the ground 
in both of those categories in each of those fiscal years.
    Mr. Beaudreau. I am very happy to provide, as I think we 
have publicly, you know, specific detail on the implementation 
in both of those years. To describe our overall process, we go 
through a rigorous, bottom-up process to identify areas of 
investments in order to address the backlog can happen.
    Senator Heinrich. Yes, I am not questioning the process. I 
just want to understand what percentage of the funding 
allocated made it onto the ground in each of those categories 
in each of those fiscal years. So, if $900 million--okay.
    Mr. Beaudreau. I will provide that detail. I am very happy 
to do that.
    Senator Heinrich. So what you are telling me is you do not 
have it at your fingertips, but you will get it to us.
    Mr. Beaudreau. Yes.
    Senator Heinrich. Okay.
    Let's talk about water. There has been an enormous amount 
of concern about the Colorado River Basin. That is fully 
appropriate. We are effectively using more water every single 
year than we have produced in that Basin at this point. What 
has gotten less national attention is the Rio Grande Basin, but 
more than 40 percent of the Rio Grande Basin experienced 
Exceptional Drought in 2022, following decades of permanent, in 
my view, aridification, and at a time of rising demand for 
water resources throughout that Basin. So walk me through how 
the Department of the Interior plans to allocate funds from the 
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, as well as from the 
Inflation Reduction Act, to address the urgent need for 
sustainable water resources in the Rio Grande Basin.
    Mr. Beaudreau. Yes, thank you, Senator. And you are quite 
right, there is a lot of focus, justifiably so, on the Colorado 
River Basin. That said, the Rio Grande is one of our highest 
priorities as well. And so, we bring to bear the entire suite 
of tools that we have within the Bureau of Reclamation, 
including investments to address drought and water 
infrastructure under both of these laws, but also our existing 
programs, including WaterSMART. I traveled to Mexico in 
October, had conversations, along with former Secretary 
Salazar, about these issues, and we are carrying forward those 
conversations with Mexico because they are key partners on the 
Rio Grande, as well as with the State Department, which helps 
administer dams on the Rio Grande.
    Senator Heinrich. Can you walk us through what are the most 
effective tools that you have to be able to, you know, reduce 
pressure on the system, what you found to work, in order of 
priority, whether that is WaterSMART, whether that is, you 
know, leasing--all of the different things you are using to try 
and balance supply and demand in this current situation?
    Mr. Beaudreau. Yes. One of the most effective tools we 
have--and both of these pieces of legislation provide resources 
for it--is to increase water efficiency within the system. And 
so, making investments at the irrigation district, the water 
conservation district level, on straightforward issues, like 
lining canals and working with irrigators to wring additional 
wet water out of the system, is one of our highest priorities 
to get long-term benefits out of these bills.
    Senator Heinrich. Thank you.
    And I just want to bring us back to the fact that it is 
directly because of our dependence on fossil fuel and the 
amount of carbon that is in the atmosphere that we have this 
devastating--and I mean devastating--economically devastating 
situation across the West. So, while there has been an attempt 
by some to lead and by some not to lead on that issue, we are 
dealing with the reality of climate change each and every day--
our farmers, our tribes, our cities. And so, thank you to the 
Department of the Interior for at least recognizing how great a 
threat that is to our way of life across the West.
    Mr. Beaudreau. Thank you, Senator.
    The Chairman. Senator Lankford.
    Senator Lankford. Mr. Chairman, thank you.
    Mr. Beaudreau, good to see you again. Thanks for your 
service to the nation in the task that you take on. I do need 
to run through several different issues with you.
    The infrastructure bill itself required the Department of 
the Interior and the Forest Service to work on improving the 
efficiency of permitting. This has been discussed already, that 
there were some required reports that were to come out to say 
what are we going to do to improve permitting, especially for 
critical minerals and mining and other things on that as well. 
That report was due by November 15 of this year. Has that 
report been released yet?
    Mr. Beaudreau. The report has not been released yet.
    Senator Lankford. When is that coming?
    Mr. Beaudreau. It will be out early next year.
    Senator Lankford. So define early for me.
    Mr. Beaudreau. In the first quarter of next year, it will 
be complete.
    Senator Lankford. Great. We will be watching for that. 
Obviously, that is a major piece to be able to work on the 
permitting activities and what can be done. There was also a 
request for some recommendations in that report as well to say 
here are some things that we need to be able to improve the 
permitting process on this as well.
    I and several other Senators had also sent a letter to the 
Department of the Interior to be able to ask on some of the 
issues on flaring. That has already come up. Miraculously, that 
letter has not been answered in months, and then it came in 
last night. So, it is always helpful to be able to have a 
hearing and to be able to go through and to actually get some 
of the mail that came in. So, when that letter came in last 
night, there were a couple things on this, because one is, 
there is--the infrastructure bill, itself, also gives the 
Department of the Interior the right to be able to use 
categorical exclusions, to be able to go through some of the 
process on permitting. The letter itself, let me just read you 
this section because you may not have read the letter from last 
night. It said, ``The Bureau of Land Management is implementing 
Section 11318 of the infrastructure bill through review of 
rights-of-way and sundry notices submitted by operators for 
gathering lines and associated fuel compression of pumping 
units, and may apply the categorical exclusion, if applicable, 
when processing the authorization.'' Help me understand when 
that categorical exclusion may be used.
    [The letter referred to follows]:
    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] 

    
    Mr. Beaudreau. Yes, and as I touched on in the discussion 
with Chairman Manchin, part of the process to increase usage of 
this new authority is working with operators so that they are 
aware of it. Currently, we evaluate gathering lines and 
connection with an existing APD process, and so, it gets 
subsumed within that. Part of our outreach is to say, with 
respect to specific gathering lines, we do have this new 
authority under the law to apply a categorical exclusion. And 
so, we have seen some operators start to take that up. There 
are a few examples, but again, part of it is to advertise that 
we have the authority so that folks can take advantage of that.
    Senator Lankford. So, has that authority been used at all 
yet by anyone who have been given it?
    Mr. Beaudreau. Yes.
    Senator Lankford. You are saying some operators are aware 
of it. They have made the request. Has it actually been given?
    Mr. Beaudreau. Yes. On at least one occasion in Colorado, 
it has been used.
    Senator Lankford. Okay. Are there clear guidelines of when 
it will be used so that when operators request it they will 
know here are the guidelines to use this categorical exclusion?
    Mr. Beaudreau. Yes. And I will confirm with the BLM that 
instructions have been provided to the field offices along 
those lines. But BLM is aware of this authority under the IRA.
    Senator Lankford. Right. Well, obviously, we are aware of 
it. You are aware of it. I want to make sure operators are not 
only aware of it, but know how to be able to actually get 
access to it. This issue of flaring is exceptionally important 
to us. We would rather be able to sell that resource worldwide, 
as much of Europe is clamoring for that resource, rather than 
have it burned off. The way to be able to get access to it are 
these gathering lines. And so, the more that we can literally 
gather, the more we can bring the price down here for Americans 
and also provide that resource internationally as well.
    Mr. Beaudreau. Agree completely.
    Senator Lankford. Let me ask you a little bit about the 
Earth Mapping Resources Initiative. There has been literally 
millions of dollars put out on that. Give us an update of where 
that mapping is going for what minerals that we actually have 
here in the United States.
    Mr. Beaudreau. Again, that process is ongoing through the 
U.S. Geological Survey, but it is one of the most valuable 
investments being made under these pieces of legislation to 
support state operators as well as provide our agencies with 
the ability to identify resources and engage in deconfliction 
and accelerate the production.
    Senator Lankford. When do you think that will be complete?
    Mr. Beaudreau. Next year.
    Senator Lankford. So, by December next year? Do you think 
it is a certain quarter? When do you think it may be complete?
    Mr. Beaudreau. Again, it is a high priority. It is also an 
enormous undertaking, as I think you appreciate.
    Senator Lankford. Right. Well, it is and it is one of the 
things that we have talked about a lot of how to actually do 
mineral production here in the United States, identifying them, 
prioritizing them when you do the mining here and the 
processing here. I know that the Biden Administration has 
allocated some resources through their minerals partnership to 
literally giving millions of dollars to other countries to be 
able to identify critical minerals and mining, but we have that 
here. In Nevada there is a wide spread of lithium that is 
there, that we know is there, and we are just looking for more 
priority on how do we actually get to that processing and 
mining here rather than actually doing it overseas. We are 
going to need both, but we want to make sure that it is 
actually getting done here as well.
    Mr. Beaudreau, thank you.
    Mr. Beaudreau. Understood.
    The Chairman. Thank you, Senator.
    And now we have Senator King.
    Senator King. Thank you, Senator. I think before we go into 
this discussion, we should acknowledge, given the mandate of 
our Committee, the incredible potential breakthrough at 
Lawrence Livermore National Labs this weekend where there was a 
net production of energy from nuclear fusion. Two things about 
that. Number one, this could be literally world-changing in the 
most profound way. Number two, it came about at one of our 
national labs, funded through the U.S. Government and the 
activities of this Committee. I think that is something we 
should recognize and celebrate.
    The Chairman. If I could add one more thing to that so I do 
not take away from your time at all--I had a chance to go to 
ITER in Southern France, and it is unbelievable. Thirty-seven 
nations are all involved in this, and we are part of it. This 
could unleash the ability that people who are disagreeing will 
have to find other reasons to fight a war other than energy. 
And it is just unbelievable what it is going to unleash, and we 
have seen the major--it is a 500-megawatt fusion system--you 
are seeing the concept. They have full production. It will be a 
production as far as on a grand scale, not just as far as in 
theory, smaller scales. So we are moving in the right 
direction.
    Senator King. Thank you.
    Mr. Beaudreau, under the infrastructure bill there was 
funding for transportation support for national parks and some 
of the backlog of maintenance. That is good. I appreciate that. 
What bothered me is the Administration's budget for maintenance 
in the National Parks was inadequate. The general rule of thumb 
is two to four percent of capital value for maintenance every 
year. I think the budget this year is about one percent. That 
is not an indictment of this Administration. That has been the 
pattern for the past 25 or 30 years. That is how we got into 
this hole. This Committee and the Congress worked very hard on 
the Great American Outdoors Act to tackle the maintenance 
backlog, but it is pretty frustrating to see that we are still 
digging the hole. So, I hope you will take back to the 
Department the point that we cannot expect Congress to come to 
the rescue of the maintenance backlog every four or five years, 
if indeed the budget is inadequate and makes the hole deeper 
every four or five years. You take my point?
    Mr. Beaudreau. No, thank you, and thank you for your 
leadership and partnership on these issues. I will definitely 
take that back, including to OMB.
    Senator King. Another provision of the bill which has been 
discussed, the Chairman discussed, is capping wells. How are 
you prioritizing where we cap? For example, methane is the low-
hanging fruit of climate change. To what extent are we 
prioritizing capping wells where there are methane leaks?
    Mr. Beaudreau. Thank you. Again, this is one of the most 
exciting programs that we have under the Bipartisan 
Infrastructure Law, and so, we have prioritized getting initial 
funding grants out to all of the states in order to address 
high-priority wells. And we have also put forward guidance and 
are implementing additional state-level grants in order to 
provide those investments around high-priority wells. And one 
of the aspects of the guidelines is addressing legacy 
emissions, including methane emissions and other forms of 
pollution from these wells.
    Senator King. So there is an effort being made to 
prioritize?
    Mr. Beaudreau. Absolutely. And states like New Mexico, 
believe me, they know the problem wells.
    Senator King. Now, another area of increased funding has 
been in the Inflation Reduction Act for staffing at the 
National Parks. And I wanted to inquire if the Department is 
moving toward implementation. Senator Daines and I have called 
for 23,000 FTEs at the National Parks because we are having a 
huge increase in visitation and, in fact, we have lower 
staffing than we had 15 years ago--10 or 15 years ago. Do you 
have a hiring plan, and will you be able to get to the 23,000 
figure in the reasonably foreseeable future?
    Mr. Beaudreau. Yes, and thank you. And thank you again for 
these investments. And the Park Service has developed internal 
guidance and a hiring plan directed toward this summer. As you 
know, Senator, you know, the largest demand period and largest 
stress on our National Parks is during the summer season.
    Senator King. Last summer we had four million people at 
Acadia National in Maine.
    Mr. Beaudreau. Yes, absolutely. And so, part of our 
strategy to take advantage of these resources is focused on 
seasonal hiring in the coming year, and the Park Service has 
developed guidance disseminated to the parks for exactly that 
purpose.
    Senator King. Final question, and this came up in one of 
our earlier hearings. There is some money allocated in the 
Inflation Reduction Act for developing solar projects over 
canals, over waterways, which has a double benefit because a 
lot of the problem in the West is caused by evaporation. And if 
you have solar panels resting on top of the water surface you 
can generate electricity and avoid excessive evaporation. Any 
update on the utilization of those funds----
    Mr. Beaudreau. Yes, and again, this is part of what is 
exciting about the legislation is that type of innovation. So, 
there is about $25 million----
    Senator King. Right.
    Mr. Beaudreau [continuing]. Devoted to exactly this and we 
are working through design, study, and implementation for pilot 
projects to demonstrate precisely the benefits that you 
described. And so, yes, we are taking advantage of that funding 
and identifying the pilot projects.
    Senator King. Thank you.
    Finally, Mr. Chairman, I am going to share a couple of 
charts with my friend, the Senator from Wyoming, on inflation, 
that indicate that yes, indeed, federal spending contributes 
about one tenth of one percent to the inflation according to 
Moody's Analytics, and also a comparison of our inflation rate 
to those of other OECD countries, which shows virtually 
identical, which indicates that--it is hard to argue that 
spending in our Congress has caused inflation that is happening 
in France, Japan, and South Korea.
    Thank you. I will submit those----
    The Chairman. I think ours is down to----
    Senator King. I will pass those on to Senator Barrasso for 
his edification.
    Senator Barrasso. Well, the Chairman is correct in terms of 
what the numbers are out today and it is still a 40-year high 
for American families, who are suffering, and it is not just 
the cost at Christmas time of crude, of energy, it is also 
Christmas lights, decorations, trees are up 15 percent, wreaths 
are up 15 percent.
    Senator King. I could not agree more. It is a serious 
problem. The question is what is causing it, and all the data 
indicates that federal spending is not the cause. It is supply 
chain. It is energy costs. It is a whole lot of other factors, 
not to mention excessive profits by most of our larger 
corporations.
    Senator Barrasso. And I would agree with the Chairman, with 
my distinguished colleague from Maine, that energy cost as a 
result of this Administration's ongoing attacks at affordable 
American energy continue to contribute to the massive inflation 
that Americans are suffering under today.
    Senator King. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    The Chairman. We do not want to spend any more energy on 
this energy concern.
    [Laughter.]
    The Chairman. And with that, we will go to Senator Cassidy.
    Senator Cassidy. Thank you. Mr. Beaudreau, nice to see you.
    On the orphan well program, to follow up a little bit on 
what Senator King asked about, I know the initial grants have 
been sent out but the formula funding has not yet been 
received. My Louisiana Department of Natural Resources is 
saying the delay in not being received could decrease the 
economy of scale of doing a big contract at once, as opposed to 
multiple small contracts. When will that formula one grant 
funding actually go out for the orphan well program?
    Mr. Beaudreau. So, among other things, we are extremely 
focused on getting that funding out and getting the formulas 
out. So that will happen early next year.
    Senator Cassidy. First quarter?
    Mr. Beaudreau. Hopefully first quarter, yes. We are quite 
focused.
    Senator Cassidy. I hope to have a Merry Christmas, but I am 
looking at the probability. What is the probability it will be 
out first quarter?
    Mr. Beaudreau. I think it is a good probability it will be 
out first quarter.
    Senator Cassidy. Still kind of wiggle words. I don't mean 
to be offensive, but that is just----
    Mr. Beaudreau. And again, not to make excuses, sir, like 
part of what we are doing is, especially on this program, we 
are standing up a major program from scratch, and I do take the 
responsibilities that Ranking Member Barrasso described on 
making sure there is not leakage from the system or waste or 
fraud and that we have the controls in place. And so, over the 
past year, we have been focused on standing up a brand-new 
program, but ensuring that the right controls are in place 
around it.
    Senator Cassidy. Sounds good. I thank you for the 
elaboration.
    Let me switch a little bit to a different coastline, then I 
will come back to mine. Alaska--the Administration recently 
spoke about, it had published a decision memo which included a 
royalty rate surcharge of 2.5 percent to account for the social 
cost of upstream greenhouse gas emissions from the production 
in the Cook Inlet. I am told this decision memo said, ``As 
lessees internalize the cost associated with carbon emissions, 
OCS activity and corresponding production could move toward a 
lower, but more socially optimal level.'' On the left and the 
right, we just agree that high energy costs are contributing to 
inflation. Clearly domestic production can address that, but 
here the internal memo is speaking about moving to a lower 
level of production. Now, I sent a letter to Secretary Haaland 
in September and still have not received a reply. I wish I had 
received it last night. But I have not. What does the 
Administration consider to be a socially optimal level of 
production, and where is that defined in the law?
    Mr. Beaudreau. So I don't think the interpretation of that 
statement is that the Administration has in mind a socially 
optimal level of production, but rather, presentation on the 
social cost is an important piece of information for the public 
to understand the full costs of fossil fuel development and----
    Senator Cassidy. Let me stop you. That begs the question, 
then--I have limited time, I'm sorry. It begs the question, 
does the Administration or the Department believe that it is 
more socially optimal for Venezuela or OPEC nations to produce 
more oil for U.S. consumption? Because that is really the 
tradeoff here. So, do you have a socially optimal analysis of 
Venezuela or other OPEC nations versus domestic production?
    Mr. Beaudreau. I am not familiar with any statements from 
the Administration along those lines, Senator.
    Senator Cassidy. Can you share a copy with the Committee of 
the decision memo where the Department describes the rationale 
for the royalty increase? I am told this is FOIA-able, but I 
would rather not FOIA it. I would rather receive it.
    Mr. Beaudreau. I am happy to follow up on that request.
    Senator Cassidy. Now, because the deepwater gulf leases 
already pay 18 and three quarters percent royalty, will the 
Department be including the social cost of greenhouse gas 
emissions in the bid requirements, rentals, or other fees for 
gulf operators, and if so, when and where?
    Mr. Beaudreau. So, under, again through implementation of 
the IRA, we have not included a social cost of carbon factor in 
any of those rental royalties or fees.
    Senator Cassidy. And do not anticipate doing so?
    Mr. Beaudreau. No, we the social cost of carbon as a tool, 
again, as a disclosure tool, but we have not used----
    Senator Cassidy. Okay, I got you. Thank you.
    And lastly, just to put a nail in this coffin, previously, 
the Department had said that there was a no-lease option. We 
have talked about how the IRA requires lease sales in order to 
get wind. But at times the Administration says one thing and 
frankly does another. So, are you saying that indeed there will 
be a lease sale, that the no-lease option will not be 
exercised?
    Mr. Beaudreau. So, again, we are implementing the IRA 
mandates in addition to releasing the leases for 257, two lease 
sales in the Gulf of Mexico, and we are implementing that.
    Senator Cassidy. So there will not be a no-lease sale 
option exercised, correct?
    Mr. Beaudreau. We are implementing the law, which requires 
those lease sales, and we are in the process of finalizing the 
next five-year plan. And part of the consideration is the 
requirements of the law that there essentially be Gulf of 
Mexico lease sales in order to also implement our offshore wind 
programs.
    Senator Cassidy. Thank you. I yield.
    The Chairman. Thank you, Senator.
    Senator Cortez Masto.
    Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Deputy Secretary Beaudreau, it is good to see you. Thanks 
for joining us, and let me just say thank you for always being 
responsive to my calls, particularly for helping us with the 
expansion of the Naval Air Station Range. I really appreciate 
your work.
    Mr. Beaudreau. Absolutely, and truly, thank you for all of 
your work, including with the tribes to--fingers crossed--I 
think we have been very responsive. So, thank you.
    Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you.
    Let me jump to water issues and the drought. In 2019, I 
sponsored the legislation in the Senate to enact the Colorado 
River Drought Conservation Plan, and in the infrastructure 
package, we included $300 million to implement that plan. Also 
included within the infrastructure package was a piece of 
legislation that Congresswoman Susie Lee and I worked together 
on, which dedicated about $450 million for the competitive 
grant program, managed by the Bureau of Reclamation, to create 
a large-scale water recycling project that, as you well know, 
would have a benefit to serve more than 500,000 households in 
Southern California and Nevada. Secretary Beaudreau, can you 
provide me with an update on how the Bureau of Reclamation is 
implementing these measures?
    Mr. Beaudreau. Yes, absolutely. And again, one of the more 
exciting provisions under the law, for all the reasons you said 
around the benefits with water recycling, so the Bureau of 
Reclamation, on November 3, published the guidelines for 
qualification under this program. That is the key step in terms 
of getting projects through the door to accomplish the goals of 
this provision. So, on November 3, again, published the 
guidelines for implementation.
    Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you.
    And then, similarly, in the Inflation Reduction Act, there 
was an inclusion of $4 billion for the Bureau of Reclamation to 
be used for western drought assistance. I had sent a letter to 
the Department asking them to detail how they plan to utilize 
those funds as well, and particularly had asked the 
Administration to deliver the detailed plan within 90 days of 
sending that letter. Can you speak to the status of those 
funds?
    Mr. Beaudreau. Yes. This is one of the key tools that we 
have in order to address the severe crisis on the Colorado 
River. The Bureau of Reclamation has put out an RFP seeking 
proposals to access those funds. We have a number of goals 
around that, including the long-term water efficiency 
improvements that Senator Heinrich mentioned. I will be at 
CRWUA later this week to talk specifically about these funding 
opportunities and some of our goals coming out of it. And so, 
we have not dictated particular levels. We want states and 
water districts to come forward with proposals to wring as much 
opportunity----
    Senator Cortez Masto. So, not a set of strict guidelines 
like previously we, with the funding under the Bipartisan 
Infrastructure package, this funding is more of a combination 
of some guidelines, but you are looking for states to come 
forward as well?
    Mr. Beaudreau. Correct.
    Senator Cortez Masto. Okay.
    Mr. Beaudreau. We are trying to use it as an incentive for 
states to come forward and reward conservation in that way.
    Senator Cortez Masto. Okay, thank you.
    And then, I want to go back to staffing, not just in our 
National Parks. As you well know, Nevada relies on BLM 
partnership just because over 80 percent of the land is owned 
by the Federal Government, most of that managed by BLM. In 
recent discussions with stakeholders from my home State of 
Nevada, I continue to hear that BLM does not have enough staff 
to just even address the pre-existing work that is out there. 
Can you touch on that? Is it an issue of not enough resources 
to hire staff or the challenge of actually finding the bodies 
that are interested in the work?
    Mr. Beaudreau. Yes, so I could not agree more, Senator. 
This is one of the major challenges that we have across the 
Department, including the Bureau of Land Management. And I 
spend a good deal of time talking with State Director Raby 
about exactly this issue. Part of it is cost of living and the 
challenges associated with living in Reno these days, for 
example. And so, we are trying to come up with innovative 
solutions to streamline onboarding. I am encouraged that OPM 
has committed to being a good partner in trying to provide us 
with streamlined ability to onboard folks, but it is a tight 
labor market, including in Nevada, and it is one of the 
challenges we face.
    Senator Cortez Masto. So when you talk about cost-of-living 
issues in Reno, that is going to happen across the country. So, 
are you looking at a wage increase as well, or the ability to 
do so, or is that a combination of things that you are--and do 
you have the ability to implement that, if need be?
    Mr. Beaudreau. We are trying to be as competitive as 
possible, including for particular types of positions, trying 
to work with OPM on direct hire authority to onboard people as 
rapidly as possible and compete with labor markets. We are also 
trying to take advantage of expertise from across the Bureau of 
Land Management in order to meet priorities, including, for 
example, in Nevada with renewable energy permitting.
    Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you. And I know my time is up, 
but let me just say, for just the existing work that needs to 
be done--I think we need to streamline the permitting process. 
I think that is so important--but just the existing work that 
needs to be done is a challenge because of the lack of 
resources when it comes to just bodies for the BLM workers 
there as well. So, whatever you need, whatever challenges you 
are facing, if there is a way that Congress can help, please, I 
would hope that you would reach out.
    Mr. Beaudreau. I appreciate that very much.
    Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you.
    The Chairman. Senator Hyde-Smith.
    Senator Hyde-Smith. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and thank you, 
Mr. Beaudreau, for being here today and discussing this with us 
because this bill's implementation is really critical to the 
State of Mississippi. As I understand it, the Infrastructure 
Investment and Jobs Act set a one-year time frame for the 
Department of the Interior to create regulations on granting 
leases, easements, or right-of-way of the Outer Continental 
Shelf for long-term sequestration of carbon dioxide, and that 
BOEM and BSEE are working to draft the regulations for public 
comment. Would you please provide us a status update on where 
the Department is with those regulations, and when can we 
expect to see the guidance on that?
    Mr. Beaudreau. Yes, thank you, Senator, and this is a 
really crucial provision in the law that again, I think can 
provide enormous benefits and take advantage of the robust 
industry that we have in the Gulf of Mexico to accomplish 
carbon sequestration. The BSEE and BOEM are focused on 
developing these regulations. The timeline under the 
infrastructure law was very aggressive, and as you pointed out, 
we are behind that timeline, but this is from a regulatory 
perspective, one of our highest priorities, and we will have 
the draft regulations out this coming year with the idea of 
finalizing those regulations as quickly as possible.
    Senator Hyde-Smith. This coming year? As in 2023?
    Mr. Beaudreau. Yes.
    Senator Hyde-Smith. Okay.
    And going back off of the conversation with Senator 
Cassidy, would you please explain the socially optimal 
standard?
    Mr. Beaudreau. Again, not being completely familiar with, 
you know, the quote he pulled out on that point, I will restate 
that the Administration does not have a preconceived socially 
optimal standard for oil and gas production, and so the social 
cost of carbon is used as a disclosure tool to provide the 
public with information about the full potential impacts of oil 
and gas activity, but there is not a preconceived socially 
optimal level that we work toward.
    Senator Hyde-Smith. Okay, well, can you tell me where the 
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act directs the Interior 
Department to try to create socially optimal levels of oil 
production? And where is socially optimal defined in the law or 
in regulations? Where can we find that so we can decide what 
this is?
    Mr. Beaudreau. Yes, there is not such a provision under 
OCSLA that I am aware of.
    Senator Hyde-Smith. At all?
    Mr. Beaudreau. No, not as you describe, no.
    Senator Hyde-Smith. Okay.
    The proposed program includes these two lease sales in 
2024. As part of any final record of decision or programmatic 
EIS, the Department also publishes a multi-state EIS for the 
individual lease sales. And I am told the Department has not 
even issued the notice of intent for the multi-sales EIS, which 
makes it difficult to know if you will even have lease sales in 
2024. What is the status of the multi-sale EIS for the 2023 
through 2028 offshore program?
    Mr. Beaudreau. Yes, so, as I discussed earlier, we are 
implementing the IRA, which means we will implement two Gulf of 
Mexico lease sales in 2023, as required by the law. We are also 
in the process within BOEM, looking at the analyses necessary, 
both to finalize the five-year program, but not predetermining 
what's in that program. And so, you know, we have not publicly 
moved forward with what used to be called the multi-sale EIS 
for the program that has yet to be finalized.
    Senator Hyde-Smith. Okay, thank you. I yield, Mr. Chairman.
    The Chairman. Thank you, Senator.
    Senator Hoeven.
    Senator Hoeven. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, 
Deputy Secretary Beaudreau, for being here today, also for 
visiting our state. We appreciate having you come up there.
    The first thing I want to ask you about though, is the 
permitting for the Center Mine, which supplies coal to the 
Milton R. Young Power Plant. That is a 700-megawatt plant. Now, 
this plant is undertaking what is called Project Tundra, which 
will be one of the largest carbon capture projects in the 
world. The intent is to store four million metric tons of 
CO2. So it is a very large carbon capture project. 
And right now, there is a new federal mine plan in front of 
Laura Daniel-Davis at the Department of the Interior and it has 
been under environmental review for 17 months. And the Center 
Mine and Milton R. Young Power Station need to get a resolution 
of that and they really need it by the end of the year, 
otherwise, they have to move, you know, one of these huge drag 
lines and that will cost them, you know, I think, well over $30 
million just to go to a different place to mine. And of course, 
then it also penalizes other coal in the area that is not 
federal coal, it is owned by private individuals.
    And so, what can you do to make sure that this gets 
advanced after already 17 months of review, holding up and 
costing a lot of money to a power plant that is actually 
undertaking one of these huge carbon capture projects. So they 
are making the investment to do this and, you know, you are 
impairing their ability to do it by not getting this done in a 
reasonable time.
    Mr. Beaudreau. Yes, thanks very much for the question, 
Senator. I am aware of this project, as well as Project Tundra, 
and the opportunity with the Energy Department on a really, 
sort of, innovative and exciting CCS program with respect to 
this project, specifically. Part of the challenge, and again, I 
don't want to sound like I am making excuses, but part of the 
challenge is making sure that our analyses can withstand 
judicial scrutiny, and we have had a number of approvals from 
the BLM, as well as OSM, attacked and vacated in courts around, 
sort of, coal expansions. And so, part of the process we have 
been going through, and unfortunately, it has taken time, is 
working with our solicitor's office to ensure that we have 
appropriate NEPA coverage on the mine expansion. But it is an 
issue that I am focused on. I know, as you mentioned, Laura is 
focused on as well as OSM.
    Senator Hoeven. Will you commit to expedite or helping 
expedite getting it done?
    Mr. Beaudreau. Yes, I am focused on it, yes.
    Senator Hoeven. Thank you, Secretary.
    And the next is, a lot of the flaring that we see occurring 
in North Dakota, and I think the Chairman referred to it 
earlier, and he is not wrong about it, is on the reservation, 
and the key there is what can you do to help them get expedited 
permits so they can capture that methane? They want to do it, 
but they have to have the gathering systems to do it, and in 
the state, we can't permit those. That has to be federally 
permitted. That is why they have higher flaring.
    Mr. Beaudreau. Yes, no, fair enough, and I agree that part 
of our challenge in ensuring that methane is captured and 
brought to market is an infrastructure issue with these 
gathering lines.
    Senator Hoeven. But, and again, that goes to this new rule 
that was put forward where you have, you know, split ownership 
of the land, and it contemplates delaying flaring where you 
have federal minerals alongside private minerals. So you are 
also disenfranchising, again, private ownership. So look, this 
is one where you can actually help individuals who have, you 
know, private ownership along with the federal ownership--a 
split estate in that respect--but also, reduce flaring. I mean, 
these companies want to do the flaring and get more natural gas 
at a time when we need more natural gas to help bring down 
energy costs which is a key component of inflation.
    Mr. Beaudreau. I agree, and also acknowledge that split 
estate is a particularly acute issue in North Dakota.
    Senator Hoeven. Yes, we have a checkerboard setup. I know 
you have been out there to see it. We appreciate it, but we 
need your efforts here now to help us get these things done.
    Mr. Beaudreau. Understand.
    Senator Hoeven. The last piece is that the Administration 
has only leased a little over 126,000 acres. That is the fewest 
for an Administration since the 1940's. So they are holding 
this up. What can you do or what are you willing to do to help 
us get more of these leases in place? And remember, it is one 
thing to have a lease. It is another to get the permit to 
actually drill it.
    Mr. Beaudreau. Yes.
    Senator Hoeven. So we have got to get those permits.
    Mr. Beaudreau. Yes. Thank you. And you know, as I mentioned 
previously, you know, under the IRA, there is a new framework 
for us to work under--Tracy Stone-Manning and the BLM are very 
focused on implementation within that framework. Of course, you 
know, there is a period of adjustment, but we are moving 
forward.
    Senator Hoeven. Yes, again, we need your efforts and thank 
you for being here.
    Mr. Beaudreau. Thank you, Senator.
    The Chairman. Senator Kelly.
    Senator Kelly. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Deputy Secretary Beaudreau, thank you for testifying today. 
We have spoken before about the megadrought that is affecting 
the Colorado River. We are facing the worst hydrological 
conditions in perhaps over a thousand years. And the Department 
and the seven Basin States have some tough choices ahead, as 
you know. And all parties need to work together on this to 
figure out the conservation and the augmentation of water on 
the river. The Infrastructure Law provides unprecedented 
resources for this--$8.3 billion for western water 
infrastructure and aquatic ecosystem restoration. The 
Department should be forward-leaning in using this funding for 
drought resiliency in the Colorado River Basin. The 
Infrastructure bill was signed into law about one year ago. So 
does the Department have enough staffing so that funding for 
things like the WaterSMART grants, for aging infrastructure 
projects, for water recycling and desal are quickly deployable 
in the Colorado River Basin?
    Mr. Beaudreau. As with BLM, with the Bureau of Reclamation, 
staffing is an issue. In order to implement these funding 
opportunities through the Bureau of Reclamation, we are focused 
on bringing onboard about 400 new staff into Reclamation. To 
date, we have brought on about a quarter of that. And so, not 
where we want to be, but for all the reasons you described, you 
know, one of our priorities is having the staff available to 
implement.
    Senator Kelly. What is a timeline for the additional 300 
staff members?
    Mr. Beaudreau. So, it is taking us, you know, the past year 
to bring on about a quarter of it. We think we have the 
positions described and the structure for it that I am hopeful 
we can substantially close the gap in the coming year.
    Senator Kelly. Any particular area that is more hard to 
find individuals?
    Mr. Beaudreau. As you know, given the technical challenges 
around this and the specialties of the Bureau of Reclamation, 
finding qualified engineers and folks who understand the 
hydrology is a challenge.
    Senator Kelly. Yes, all right
    Another question, about Glen Canyon Dam, actually Grand 
Canyon and Glen Canyon Dam. So, Grand Canyon National Park, as 
you know, is not isolated from the effects of this drought and 
I understand the Department of the Interior operates a 
collaborative science-based program to protect native fish 
species and natural beaches in the Grand Canyon. It involves 
releasing water from Lake Powell using the bypass tubes of Glen 
Canyon Dam. And that program is a challenging balancing act 
because the water is needed for storage and hydropower 
generation. But that water is also needed to protect the 
ecosystem of the Grand Canyon. We secured funding for aquatic 
ecosystem mitigation, including $50 million specifically for 
this Grand Canyon program. So is the Department planning to 
implement high-flow experiments this year? And is the 
Infrastructure Law funding available for protecting the Grand 
Canyon and mitigating the impacts of those releases?
    Mr. Beaudreau. So we have, as you said at the very outset, 
we have, you know, very difficult decisions in front of us in 
the coming year that are going to be largely dictated by the 
hydrology. And so, Bureau of Reclamation and the Department 
have not predetermined any use at this point, including, you 
know, high-flow experiments. That said, for all the reasons you 
described, the ecosystem within the Grand Canyon is an 
important priority for the Department. And so, part of the 
conversation that we are going to be taking into CRWUA later 
this week is how to have a sustainable system that generates 
power, provides water necessary for a host of services, 
including agriculture, but also can sustain ecosystems, 
including in the Grand Canyon.
    Senator Kelly. Well, thank you, Mr. Secretary, and thank 
you, Mr. Chairman.
    The Chairman. Senator Barrasso.
    Senator Barrasso. Thanks, Mr. Chairman.
    Mr. Beaudreau, Title IX of the Infrastructure Act contains 
funding for water projects. The key parts of the new funding 
for public safety have been slow to roll out. This is a concern 
for me because, I think, other, less immediate priorities have 
moved forward. And the area I am focusing on is the Bureau of 
Land Management's Fiscal Year 2023 spending plan, which 
references the LaPrele Dam in my home State of Wyoming--
Converse County. The state has said the dam, which was built 
under the Carey Act, is a serious threat to the public and it 
needs to be replaced. Of the $100 million for the repair or 
replacement of Carey Act dams, only $5 million is in the 
Bureau's spending plan, but the money is there. Do you believe 
it is urgent for the Department to distribute funds for dams 
that are a serious threat to public safety?
    Mr. Beaudreau. Absolutely. Dam safety is one of our highest 
priorities.
    Senator Barrasso. Do you know if there is some 
justification for not distributing the funds for the dam repair 
and replacement in a quicker manner?
    Mr. Beaudreau. I can look into a particular project and we 
will follow up on that.
    Senator Barrasso. I would very much appreciate hearing back 
from you. Thank you.
    And then, during Thanksgiving week, the Bureau of Land 
Management released seven new policies on oil and gas leasing 
and permitting. Taken together, these policies give Bureau 
officials even more opportunities to block oil and gas leasing 
and permitting. For example, they now have the discretion not 
to lease acreage because it is not near existing oil and gas 
production. These officials will also be able to add new lease 
requirements at will. Is it fair to say that these policies are 
intended, as you put it, to fundamentally change the oil and 
gas leasing program?
    Mr. Beaudreau. So the purpose of those policies is to 
facilitate implementation of the leasing programs, including 
consistent with the IRA. For a host of reasons, you know, 
giving land managers direction to focus on the highest 
potential areas is a priority. I think that is where the most 
interest is. It is a way to encourage production, but it is not 
meant to be a blanket exclusion either.
    Senator Barrasso. I want to follow up with something 
Senator Lankford started on, and he was talking about critical 
minerals. Our adversaries, specifically China, control the 
world's supply in terms of the supply chains of critical 
minerals. With mineral demand expected to grow dramatically, 
specifically to electric vehicles, the critical minerals there, 
our dependence on China is going to also increase. I think it 
is not too late to reduce this vulnerability, but we need to 
look at our resources here at home and Senator Lankford made 
reference to it. It is estimated that over half of the federal 
lands are already off limits to mineral production. The Biden 
Administration has made the situation worse. It has withdrawn 
over two million acres from mineral production. Given our 
dependence on China, how does the Administration continue to 
justify withdrawing federal lands from mineral production?
    Mr. Beaudreau. Critical mineral development is a priority 
of the Administration. You have seen that through the President 
announcing various initiatives, including domestic sourcing of 
critical minerals for battery production. You know, one of the 
challenges we have, which I know you are familiar with, is the 
1872 Mining Law. And so, I would be very--and this will be 
included in the report called for under the bill--we will be 
very interested in working with this Committee and with 
Congress on how to equip us better to lease for critical 
minerals.
    Senator Barrasso. It just seems that we have seen over the 
last number of years, technology evolving in ways that make 
previously unrecoverable resources now accessible. We have done 
amazing things protecting the environment, getting to 
resources. So, you know, I just worry how we account for the 
possibility that these lands, which have now been withdrawn, 
you know, withdrawn permanently and could impact our ability to 
get things later that we are clearly going to need as a nation.
    Mr. Beaudreau. Yes, thank you, Senator. And again, I think 
having approved authorities with the Department to avoid 
conflicts would be extremely useful in critical mineral 
development.
    The Chairman. Thank you. Thank you, Senator.
    I will just follow up real quick. The five-year leasing 
plan, I am really concerned about the five-year, you know, it 
is supposed to go through '24 to '29. It is supposed to be 
done, I think, by next year. We should have it by this time 
next year. Do you know where we are on that, if it is going to 
get done in time?
    Mr. Beaudreau. Yes, so I work on a regular basis with the 
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on this issue because the 
Inflation Reduction Act includes lease sales through 
September----
    The Chairman. Well, you have done--Cook Inlet has been 
done, right?
    Mr. Beaudreau. Yes, Cook Inlet is going to happen in a 
couple weeks, before the end of the year. We will have a March 
lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico and then a September lease 
sale. And we are working towards finalizing the plan----
    The Chairman. For the five-year?
    Mr. Beaudreau [continuing]. Based on that schedule.
    The Chairman. They all know the urgency of that and how 
important it is, basically, for us to have continuing 
production that we are truly dependent upon.
    You used guidelines, references called preference criteria 
of how you decide acreage will be offered for onshore leasing, 
I think is what you all put out? It is important and helpful 
for both oil and gas developers and probably, you know, the BLM 
has a clear and consistent criteria for deciding. However, what 
we are understanding is that, basically, any acreage, even 
though it has high potential, gets designated as low priority 
if it is not close to an existing oil or gas field. Is that 
accurate?
    Mr. Beaudreau. No, I think, you know, part of what the 
guidance has meant to accomplish, again, is focusing on areas 
that can be brought into production as quickly as possible. And 
so, part of those criteria are, you know, the geology 
potential, but also proximity to infrastructure. It is a 
relevant consideration.
    The Chairman. Well, it says here, Thomas, in particular it 
states that all acreage will be assigned a low priority for 
leasing if it is not located near existing oil and gas 
production. That is your new guidance.
    Mr. Beaudreau. Yes, and again, you know, setting priority 
around resource potential as well as proximity to 
infrastructure is meant to encourage focus on prospective 
areas.
    The Chairman. But I am saying, if we are still developing, 
we are still depending on so much energy coming from our 
federally owned lands, if you will, and if there is not--if we 
don't have any more production or any more high reservoirs in 
areas that have already been produced and we have got to move 
from there, I guess the infrastructure being built and whatever 
it takes to get that to market is going to factor into that, 
but to leave it stranded is not going to be an answer either.
    Mr. Beaudreau. I understand. It is a matter of priority.
    The Chairman. Yes. Again, you know, I think that people 
need to realize that the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill and the 
IRA are all, in succession, a combination of one, trying to get 
energy security in our nation to be able to be independent and 
be secured. National security is based upon energy security and 
for us, being the superpower of the world, we are trying to use 
all of the above. Every Administration has a different priority 
of how they look at energy and how we are going to be 
developing it, but if we are doing the best that we possibly 
can in the cleanest way possible, I think that that is going to 
be the success that we are going to have over countries. I am 
concerned about when I see what happened in Europe right now, 
especially with Germany. They went down that path of thinking 
that well, we will just eliminate our way to a cleaner 
environment. And now, they are almost throwing caution to the 
wind on any environmental oversight because they need any form 
of energy they can to keep their citizens from freezing or 
starving or whatever. It is just awful. And we can't afford to 
go down there, but it says we directed the BOEM to issue the 
rules needed to implement programs by last month, but not even 
a proposed rule has been issued yet, and that is on the 
Offshore Environmental Office of--CO2, the capturing 
of the CO2 in that, we think it has a great promise. 
And I don't know if it's just something that we are not going 
to go down, we don't think it is worthwhile, or if it is too 
much of a challenge.
    Mr. Beaudreau. No, absolutely not. I think that is one of 
the more exciting provisions in the law. BOEM and BSEE are 
committed to that rulemaking. I think it has enormous 
potential, including for the Gulf of Mexico. It is a complex 
undertaking to reorient our programs for putting stuff in 
rather than taking it out, so we do intend to complete that 
rulemaking.
    The Chairman. With that, we are going to wrap this up, and 
I just want to say that all the members will have until 
tomorrow to offer any other questions they would like to have 
in the record.
    And we just want to thank you for coming and being, I 
think, very informative and very direct, and I think there are 
still some concerns you might have to follow up on with some of 
the Senators that had questions with you today that have not 
gotten adequate answers or timely answers. If you could do 
that, it would be greatly appreciated.
    With that, the Committee is adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 11:33 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.]

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