[House Report 115-545]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


115th Congress }                                          { REPORT
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
  2d Session   }                                          { 115-545

======================================================================
 
 TO PROVIDE THAT AN ORDER BY THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR IMPOSING A 
MORATORIUM ON FEDERAL COAL LEASING SHALL NOT TAKE EFFECT UNLESS A JOINT 
       RESOLUTION OF APPROVAL IS ENACTED, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

                                _______
                                

February 5, 2018.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

Mr. Bishop of Utah, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted 
                             the following

                              R E P O R T

                             together with

                            DISSENTING VIEWS

                        [To accompany H.R. 1778]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 1778) to provide that an order by the Secretary 
of the Interior imposing a moratorium on Federal coal leasing 
shall not take effect unless a joint resolution of approval is 
enacted, and for other purposes, having considered the same, 
report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that 
the bill do pass.

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H.R. 1778 is to provide that an order by the 
Secretary of the Interior imposing a moratorium on Federal coal 
leasing shall not take effect unless a joint resolution of 
approval is enacted.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administers coal 
leasing on all federal lands.\1\ BLM currently administers 309 
federal coal leases on about 474,000 acres on federal public 
domain lands.\2\ All leasing is done competitively with the 
exception of cases in which a party holds a ``prospecting 
permit'' issued prior to the Federal Coal Leasing Amendments 
Act of 1976 or where contiguous acres are added to existing 
leases.\3\ This leasing process is governed by section 2 of the 
Mineral Leasing Act.\4\ Although coal mines are required to 
restore mine lands to preexisting condition, coal mines also 
pay a per ton fee to fund a reclamation fund for abandoned coal 
mines.
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    \1\30 U.S.C. 181; 43 U.S.C. 1731.
    \2\Michael Ratner, 21st Century U.S. Energy Sources: A Primer 21st 
Century U.S. Energy Sources: A Primer (2017), http://www.crs.gov/
Reports/R44854?source=search&guid=06715c 
756d3641d48ca9283a44421216&index=7#_Toc483393813.
    \3\Marc Humphries, U.S. and World Coal Production, Federal Taxes, 
and Incentives (2013), http://www.crs.gov/Reports/
R43011?source=search&guid=f392b2a0209d4720845e25fe7027 
cf7f&index=0#_Toc351629777.
    \4\30 U.S.C. 201.
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    On January 16, 2016, then Secretary of the Interior Sally 
Jewell announced a moratorium on federal coal leasing for the 
purpose of examining the federal coal leasing program and to 
determine whether it requires modernization.\5\ In the interim, 
the Secretary directed BLM to prepare a programmatic 
environmental impact statement (PEIS) of the leasing program as 
the basis for a review. Concerns raised throughout the review 
included whether the public was getting fair market value for 
the sale of leases, coal mining operators lease modification 
abilities, and environmental pollution caused by burning 
coal.\6\ Alternatively, opponents of the moratorium noted the 
major negative impacts the leasing moratorium would have on 
coal communities, coal and energy markets, and reclamation 
efforts.\7\
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    \5\Dep't of the Interior Secretarial Order No. 3338, 81 FR 17720 
(2016).
    \6\Marc Humphries, The Federal Coal Leasing Moratorium (2017), 
http://www.crs.gov/Reports/
IN10460?source=search&guid=f392b2a0209d4720845e25fe7027cf7f&index=1.
    \7\Id.
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    In the final days of the Obama Administration, the 
Department of the Interior finalized a report calling for major 
changes to the federal coal program.\8\ Despite making final 
recommendations for the program that included charging a higher 
royalty rate to companies and taking greater note of 
environmental concerns, the report recommended continuing the 
moratorium for further analysis to be conducted.\9\ The report 
failed to note any negative impact the moratorium itself had on 
the U.S. coal industry.\10\ This year, U.S. coal production is 
projected to be down by over 25% as compared to 2014.\11\ The 
negative impact is especially noteworthy for the state of 
Wyoming, which serves as the largest producer of coal in the 
United States.
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    \8\Bureau of Land Management, Federal Coal Program: Programmatic 
Environmental Impact Statement--Scoping Report, Volumes I and II 
(January 2017), https://eplanning.blm.gov/epl-front-office/projects/
nepa/65353/95059/114965/CoalPEIS_RptsScopingVol1_508.pdf.
    \9\Id.
    \10\Id.
    \11\U.S. Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Outlook 
2017 (2017), https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/aeo/.
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    On March 28, 2017, the Trump Administration issued an 
executive order lifting all moratoria on federal coal 
leasing.\12\ Ending the moratorium is expected to provide 
greater certainty to the coal industry and coal miners.\13\ 
Despite ending the moratorium, Secretary of the Interior Zinke 
has vowed to continue researching royalty rates in an effort to 
continue the modernization review.\14\ Since ending the 
moratorium, the Trump Administration has faced lawsuits from 
environmentalists and public lands supporters.\15\
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    \12\White House, ``Presidential Executive Order on Promoting Energy 
Independence and Economic Growth,'' https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-
press-office/2017/03/28/presidential-executive-order-promoting-energy-
independence-and-economi-1.
    \13\Devin Henry, Trump Administration Ends Obama's Coal Leasing 
Freeze, http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/326375-interior-
department-ends-obamas-coal-leasing-freeze.
    \14\Id.
    \15\Id.
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                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 1778 was introduced on March 29, 2017, by 
Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-WY). The bill was referred to the 
Committee on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the 
Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources. On July 27, 2017, 
the Subcommittee held a hearing on the legislation. On November 
29, 2017, the Committee met to consider the bill. The 
Subcommittee was discharged by unanimous consent. Congressman 
Raul M. Grijalva (D-AZ) offered an amendment designated 001; it 
fell on a point of order. No further amendments were offered, 
and the bill was ordered favorably reported to the House of 
Representatives by a roll call vote of 17 ayes to 12 noes on 
November 30, 2017, as follows:


            COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

    Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee on Natural Resources' oversight findings and 
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII

    1. Cost of Legislation and the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974. With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) and 
(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives 
and sections 308(a) and 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974, the Committee has received the enclosed cost estimate for 
the bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                 Washington, DC, December 11, 2017.
Hon. Rob Bishop,
Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1778, a bill to 
provide that an order by the Secretary of the Interior imposing 
a moratorium on Federal coal leasing shall not take effect 
unless a joint resolution of approval is enacted, and for other 
purposes.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Jeff LaFave.
            Sincerely,
                                                Keith Hall,
                                                          Director.
    Enclosure.

H.R. 1778--A bill to provide that an order by the Secretary of the 
        Interior imposing a moratorium on Federal coal leasing shall 
        not take effect unless a joint resolution of approval is 
        enacted, and for other purposes

    H.R. 1778 would require a joint resolution of the Congress 
to approve any proposal by the Secretary of the Interior to 
impose a moratorium on coal-leasing activities on federal 
lands. A moratorium on mineral leasing activities on federal 
land could delay or reduce receipts collected by the government 
from permitting those activities.
    On January 16, 2016, the Secretary of the Interior issued 
an order prohibiting the issuance of coal leases or lease 
modifications on federal lands until the Bureau of Land 
Management completed a programmatic environmental impact 
statement under the National Environment Policy Act. On March 
29, 2017, the Secretary of the Interior revoked that order.
    CBO's baseline estimate of receipts from mineral leasing 
activities has no expectation that either the current or a 
future Administration will propose a moratorium on federal 
coal-leasing activities. Therefore, CBO estimates that enacting 
H.R. 1778 would not affect the federal budget.
    Enacting H.R. 1778 would not affect direct spending or 
revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
    CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 1778 would not increase 
net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four 
consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.
    H.R. 1778 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeff LaFave. The 
estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.
    2. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or 
objective of this bill is to provide that an order by the 
Secretary of the Interior imposing a moratorium on Federal coal 
leasing shall not take effect unless a joint resolution of 
approval is enacted.

                           EARMARK STATEMENT

    This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks, 
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined 
under clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4

    This bill contains no unfunded mandates.

                       COMPLIANCE WITH H. RES. 5

    Directed Rule Making. This bill does not contain any 
directed rule makings.
    Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not 
establish or reauthorize a program of the federal government 
known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was 
not included in any report from the Government Accountability 
Office to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139 
or identified in the most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic 
Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program 
Information Act (Public Law 95-220, as amended by Public Law 
98-169) as relating to other programs.

                PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

    This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or 
tribal law.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing 
law.

                            DISSENTING VIEWS

    We oppose H.R. 1778 because it needlessly ties the hands of 
a federal agency from taking steps to pause and review the 
federal coal program. The fact that the federal coal program is 
currently a mess is hardly in dispute--reports in 2013 from the 
Interior Department's Office of Inspector General\1\ and the 
U.S. Government Accountability Office\2\ produced 21 
recommendations for improving the Bureau of Land Management's 
coal program, with most designed to ensure that American 
taxpayers are getting the proper value for the sale of 
publicly-owned coal.
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    \1\U.S. Department of the Interior Office of the Inspector General, 
Coal Management Program, U.S. Department of the Interior, Report No. 
CR-EV-BLM-0001-2012, June 2013.
    \2\U.S. Government Accountability Office, COAL LEASING: BLM Could 
Enhance Appraisal Process, More Explicitly Consider Coal Exports, and 
Provide More Public Information, GAO-14-140, December 2013.
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    In January 2016, Secretary of the Interior Jewell ordered a 
moratorium on coal leasing to allow the Department of the 
Interior to conduct a comprehensive and public review of the 
federal coal program, and noted that previous comprehensive 
coal program reviews in 1983 and 1973 had both been accompanied 
by halts in leasing. The Department also pointed out that coal 
companies had 20-years-worth of coal already under lease, and 
that the moratorium included a number of exceptions to ensure 
that coal mining operations on federal land weren't 
unnecessarily halted.
    In January 2017, the first phase of the review was 
completed, with recommendations to increase transparency, 
provide additional protection for surface owners, and capture 
methane leaking from coal mines. The next phase of the review 
was to focus on ensuring a fair return for taxpayers and making 
sure companies were held financially responsible for repairing 
environmental damage, but the study was prematurely halted, and 
the leasing moratorium lifted, by President Trump and Secretary 
Zinke in March 2017. We strongly disagree with these decisions, 
which will keep taxpayers and the environment at risk from a 
broken coal leasing system--a risk exacerbated by the 
Administration's goal of expanding coal development.
    Regardless of the decisions made by this Administration, 
there is no question that the Secretary of the Interior holds a 
discretionary right to choose whether or not to lease federal 
coal. When systemic problems are identified in the coal program 
that require a halt in leasing, as we believe is the situation 
today, the Secretary should be allowed to exercise that 
discretion until the problems are corrected. Since H.R. 1778 
takes away that discretion, it increases the chances that flaws 
in the federal coal program continue and millions of tons of 
coal are leased at rates far below market value, and for that 
reason we oppose the legislation.

                                     
                                   Raul M. Grijalva,
                                           Ranking Member, Committee on 
                                               Natural Resources.
                                   Grace F. Napolitano.
                                   Jared Huffman.
                                   Colleen Hanabusa.
                                   Darren Soto.
                                   Madeleine Z. Bordallo.
                                   Alan S. Lowenthal.
                                   Nanette Diaz Barragan.
                                   A. Donald McEachin.

                                  [all]