barrassowyo, YouTube
Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) welcomed Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Director Todd Parfitt before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Senator Barrasso invited Parfitt to testify on the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) proposed rule on venting and flaring for natural gas from oil wells located on federal and Indian land. Parfitt testified alongside Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management at the Department of the Interior Amanda Leiter, and three others.
Barrasso kicked off the hearing by calling into question the BLM’s legal authority to regulate air quality.
“Air quality is the responsibility of the EPA, the states, and some tribes, like the Southern Ute— not the BLM,” said Barrasso. “I suspect that’s why Secretary Jewell sent Ms. Leiter—an accomplished law professor on leave at the Department—to testify here today. The administration knows it will need to employ legal gymnastics to defend this rule.”
Parfitt testified about how the state of Wyoming is already leading the way with effective air quality regulations and the BLM’s proposed rule is unnecessary and duplicative.
“Wyoming and EPA already regulate what BLM is attempting to regulate. This is evident by the fact that much of BLM’s proposal is based on Wyoming’s air quality environmental regulations. In fact, the BLM references Wyoming’s air quality regulations over 40 times in the proposed rules,” said Parfitt. “This duplication of environmental control measures raises many concerns. For example, the BLM’s proposal usurps authority currently vested with the states by attempting to exert control over state and private lands that are intermingled within a federal lease is an example of federal government overreach. It is also unnecessary. Wyoming’s air quality rules and Oil and Gas Conservation Commission regulations apply across the entire state – to private, state, and federal mineral development.”
Parfitt called on the BLM to recognize the state’s authority over air quality regulations.
“In the NEPA process, the BLM has historically recognized the state’s air quality primacy and deferred to the state on air quality issues. The BLM’s proposed rule would be an unwarranted deviation from this practice,” said Parfitt. “BLM’s proposed rule will lead to needless inconsistency and uncertainty resulting in administrative inefficiencies and delays. In closing, we respectfully request that the BLM continue to recognize the state’s air quality primacy and defer to the state on air quality issues.”
You can listen to Parfitt’s entire committee statement in the video below:
You can listen to Senator Barrasso’s opening statement in the video below:
You can listen to questions in the video below: