[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 80 (Tuesday, May 9, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2841-S2842]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                  Congressional Review Act Resolution

  Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, now is the time to get back to basics. The 
Federal Government doesn't exist for its own sake, it exists for the 
people, and if Federal regulation serves no useful function for the 
people, then it only serves to hold back our Nation's prosperity and 
growth.
  With so many Americans hungry for good-paying jobs, now is the time 
to unleash our Nation's economic potential by getting government out of 
the way. It is just plain common sense to eliminate regulations that 
are duplicative, costly, and unworkable. We need to get back to the 
basics by getting rid of those kinds of regulations, and one of those 
regulations is the BLM methane rule.
  Now, the BLM methane rule is one of those midnight regulations that 
the Obama administration put out as they were walking out the door. 
This new regulation from the Bureau of Land Management--or BLM--imposes 
new rules and royalty rates on methane emissions from oil and gas 
production on Federal and Indian lands.
  For those wondering why methane emissions aren't already regulated, 
there is a simple explanation: They are. Under the Clean Air Act, the 
Environmental Protection Agency, in partnership with individual States, 
is tasked with regulating air quality, which includes methane 
emissions. In fact, States like my State of North Dakota and the State 
of Texas, where the Presiding Officer resides, currently have 
regulatory systems in place to govern oil and gas emissions. 
Critically, the North Dakota Industrial Commission has put in place 
flaring requirements that have successfully reduced the flaring in our 
State from 35 percent down to 10 percent as a result of their work, and 
they have a goal to take it even further. This flaring reduction is a 
big deal because to reduce methane emissions you need to reduce 
flaring.
  Flaring sounds complicated, but it is very simple. When excess gas is 
produced along with oil and it can't be captured, then it gets burned 
off, or flared. Neither industry nor State officials like flaring 
because it wastes natural gas--it wastes a natural resource--of which 
methane obviously is the main component. As most Americans know, 
obviously, natural gas is a valuable commodity that is used to heat our 
homes and power our factories. That is why both industry and the States 
have worked hard to make big improvements. They want to capture that 
natural gas and that methane. That is not just in North Dakota. That is 
in other energy-producing States across the country.
  Nationally, methane emissions from the oil and gas industry have been 
on the decline for a number of years. So we are already actively 
working at the State level under a regulatory regime where States have 
primacy to spend, authorized by EPA, to reduce natural gas flaring.
  With methane emissions already being regulated and reduced by the 
States and industry, it is tough to figure out why this new BLM 
regulation has been passed and what it is accomplishing. This rule has 
been calculated to cost up to $279 million each year. So the cost of 
this rule is $279 million a year--a duplicative rule. That is in 
addition to the redtape. BLM estimates that the rule will impose an 
additional 82,000 hours of paperwork.
  These numbers just might sound like the cost of doing business, if 
you will, but America's job creators know it is really costing us 
business, it is costing us economic growth, and it is costing us jobs. 
These aren't really numbers. There are livelihoods at stake.
  What makes the BLM methane rule particularly burdensome is the fact 
that it is simply unworkable. The rule sets a maximum volume that each 
well can flare, which will lead to curtailment and shut-in wells, 
meaning actually having to shut down the wells. Of course, that 
decreases oil production and reduces royalty payments. So that means 
less energy, the owners get less revenue, and we have less jobs. 
Meanwhile, this rule treats all drilling spacing units the same, 
regardless of whether they have minimal Federal ownership. Remember, a 
lot of these wells they are trying to regulate are on minerals owned by 
the Federal Government, but they may also be on minerals owned by 
private individuals. So, once again, we have one of these Federal one-
size-fits-all regulations that just does not work in practice.

[[Page S2842]]

  That is why regulating the natural gas and methane emissions has been 
delegated to the States by EPA and why it should be up to the States.
  So the States are fighting back. Wyoming, Montana, and North Dakota 
filed a legal challenge to the rule in the U.S. district court in 
Wyoming.
  The good news is that the States and our economy will not have to 
wait until this lawsuit makes its way through the court system. We can 
provide regulatory relief right now, and we should do so through the 
Congressional Review Act--the CRA--which provides Congress with a tool 
to rid the Nation of burdensome, duplicative regulations like this one, 
and that is what our schedule is for tomorrow--to take up this CRA.
  I am a cosponsor of this CRA, and we need to pass it. I wish to thank 
the chairman of the EPW Committee, Senator Barrasso, for his work on 
this issue, and others. The House has already passed this CRA. This has 
already been passed by the House. The President has expressed his 
support for it. We need to pass it tomorrow. We need to get this done.
  Every week I meet with North Dakotans and others who are working so 
hard to produce energy for this country, to create jobs and a better 
future for their families. They need and deserve a Federal Government 
that will not stand in their way. This is a basic but fundamental 
objective and a good place to reduce that regulatory burden to get our 
economy going. The way to create more economic growth, more jobs, and 
higher income levels is by reducing the regulatory burden, and this is 
a great example.
  Again, it is just about common sense. It is about empowering the 
States to take a States-first approach, a State's primacy approach in 
terms of this kind of regulation. How we produce energy in Texas or 
North Dakota or Ohio or Pennsylvania or Washington State--it is 
different across the country. We can't have a Federal one-size-fits-all 
rule. That is why it needs to be left up to the States.
  We have a chance tomorrow to pass this measure, and it is exactly the 
kind of measure that will help reduce that regulatory burden, help us 
grow our economy, and help us create good jobs.
  I urge my colleagues to join with us and pass this CRA.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.