05.16.13

Hoeven Statement in Response to the Interior Department's New Draft Rule on Energy Development on Federal and Tribal Lands

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven today issued the following statement in response to the new draft federal rule on hydraulic fracturing published by the U.S. Department of the Interior:

“America needs a practical, forward-looking, all-of-the-above energy plan that will help us to develop more energy with better environmental stewardship and lead us to the long-elusive goal of North American energy security. The way to achieve that goal, however, is not to add a new layer of regulation and bureaucracy on top of the thorough regulatory regimen that states already administer.

“The new federal rules proposed by the Interior Department will exacerbate permitting delays, duplicate state regulatory activities and impede energy development by adding additional costs. For example, under the current federal regimen it takes between 180 and 290 days to permit a well. On private land in North Dakota, the same permit takes just weeks.

“The right approach is to authorize states to regulate oil and gas development within its borders, as our Empower States Act proposes. The measure recognizes that every state’s geology is different and that nobody knows better than local experts and authorities how best to protect their own environment. The legislation recognizes that states, like North Dakota, have a long record of effectively regulating oil and gas development, including hydraulic fracturing, with good environmental stewardship.

“Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the Empower States Act makes clear that America is safer and more secure when it has affordable energy supplies from domestic resources and that domestically produced oil and gas provides good jobs and economic opportunity for our people. I will continue to work toward a comprehensive energy policy and legislation like the Empower States Act, which will help our nation to realize its full energy potential and produce the energy we need now and will need into the future.”