[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 17034]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1030
          COOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT OF MINERAL RIGHTS ACT OF 2015

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, since first being elected 
to serve the citizens of Pennsylvania's Fifth Congressional District, I 
have had the honor to represent both the Allegheny National Forest and 
Pennsylvania's historic Oil Region, where the commercial oil industry 
began in 1859. This region of north central Pennsylvania was built on 
our natural resources, and this legacy remains a deep part of our 
heritage.
  The Oil Region designation came about because of the city of 
Titusville, which has been aptly nicknamed ``the valley that changed 
the world.'' It was there in 1859 that Colonel Edwin Drake drilled the 
world's first commercial oil well, which set the wheels in motion for 
the worldwide commercial use of petroleum. Some 60 years following 
Colonel Drake's historic well, the Allegheny National Forest was 
created in nearby Warren, Elk, Forest, and McKean Counties.
  Like so many areas of the West, this national forest is intrinsically 
connected to the prosperity of our communities. A mixed use of oil and 
gas production, timbering, hardwood research, recreation, and tourism 
make the Allegheny National Forest unique to the East Coast and truly a 
treasure for the mid-Atlantic region.
  In the Allegheny, more than 90 percent of the mineral rights are 
owned by the private sector. With the long history in oil and gas 
development in the region, private landowners had the foresight to 
reserve their mineral rights when the Federal Government acquired these 
surface lands.
  You see, Mr. Speaker, there is not a national government-run oil 
company. There has long been an understanding in our great country 
that, when it comes to resources, and specifically energy development, 
the private sector does it better. For generations, this arrangement 
successfully operated with oil and gas development taking place in the 
Allegheny National Forest.
  Unfortunately, over the past decade, some opponents of production 
made attempts to mandate new regulations or limit access to the private 
mineral rights through numerous lawsuits. After years of litigation, a 
Federal court rightfully ruled in favor of the private landowners 
maintaining reasonable access to their property.
  Federal courts have consistently ruled that the United States Forest 
Service lacks regulatory authority over these private mineral rights. 
Similar rulings and new regulations that would seek to limit production 
have also been issued.
  Today, I am introducing the Cooperative Management of Mineral Rights 
Act of 2015, and I ask my colleagues who believe in the importance of 
private property and private property rights to join me as cosponsors. 
We need to provide clarity and continue to respect the longstanding 
importance of private property rights in our country. This legislation 
will set the tone for addressing other cases dealing with these rights.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in protecting private property and 
private property rights by cosponsoring the Cooperative Management of 
Mineral Rights Act of 2015.

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