Senators on both sides of the aisle yesterday said they are generally pleased with the Obama administration's plans for acquiring new lands, calling the program crucial to the nation's conservation needs.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund is a key tool for strengthening national parks, promoting urban parks and refuges and ensuring access to public lands, a handful of senators on the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee told Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.

The panel vetted the administration's proposal to spend $450 million on LWCF next year, which is half of what was requested last year but still about 30 percent above current funding levels. The program is authorized at $900 million, a level that has rarely ever been met.

"I appreciate the administration's commitment to the Land and Water Conservation Fund," said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who called the 47-year-old program "one of the most important federal programs to assist in the preservation of recreational and environmental resources." Collins credited the program for acquiring key parcels in Acadia National Park and strategic forest legacy projects.

Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), who leads the subcommittee, said an active acquisition plan is crucial to urban parks and refuges, as well as the rest of the country.

The funding request is part of the Interior Department's $11.5 billion request for fiscal 2013 -- a significant cut from last year's request but a 1 percent increase over current spending.

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) -- who is one of 28 co-sponsors, including three Republicans, of a bill by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) (S. 1265) to ensure maximum funding for LWCF -- said the LWCF ensures access to public lands, which is a top issue for sportsmen in his state.

Tester is sponsoring a proposal that would require a portion of LWCF funds be devoted each year to opening access to existing public lands. When pressed by Tester on whether the administration would back the proposal, Salazar said he believes "the concept makes tremendous sense."

But the land acquisition plan is not without its critics.

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the panel's top Republican, said Interior is irresponsible to request an increase in land acquisitions while at the same time proposing a 19 percent reduction in construction funding to help reduce a multibillion-dollar maintenance backlog. In addition, she blasted plans to reduce funding that compensates states with large tracts of nontaxable federal lands and extend "payments in lieu of taxes" without proposing an offset.

"Before we commit additional funds to land acquisitions, we should make sure we've got a definitive way to honor our existing commitments to states and counties that already have a large federal [land] base," she said.

Murkowski pointed to communities like Ketchikan in southeast Alaska's Tongass National Forest, where taxes are collected on one-thirtieth of 1 percent of land. "There is no way to expand their tax base," she said. "They're sitting in the middle of the national forest."

The Interior plan also drew heated attacks from Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), who complained that while the land acquisitions are funded by revenues from offshore drilling, most of the projects would occur in the West. She took issue with Interior's proposal to cut $200 million from a coastal impact assistance program that aids coastal states affected by offshore drilling (E&ENews PM, Feb. 29).

Landrieu said she cannot support using offshore revenues for Western land acquisitions "while we are all literally drowning." She was referring to the coastal impacts of Hurricane Katrina.

Reed, Collins urge offshore wind

Reed also pressed Salazar to accelerate efforts to complete a wind energy lease off the Rhode Island shore. The state has conducted a significant amount of ocean planning and could create hundreds of new assembly and manufacturing jobs, Reed said.

"I'm concerned the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's environmental assessment and planning process for Rhode Island is falling behind schedule," Reed said, pointing to the recent completion of similar planning efforts off the coasts of Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey (Greenwire, Feb. 2).

Reed touted Rhode Island's work studying ocean conditions including tides, fishing practices and other resources, and yet "we seem to be in the back of the line."

Salazar said Interior is moving forward with an environmental assessment that will gauge impacts of leasing and hopes to publish the report this summer. Interior Deputy Secretary David Hayes added that Rhode Island's pre-existing studies would pay dividends by accelerating the planning process.

Interior last week said it was beginning an environmental assessment for a 165,000-acre "wind energy area" off Rhode Island and Massachusetts that could be included in a future lease. Such as lease would need to respect fishing rights and protect endangered species like the right whale, the agency said.

Collins also urged Salazar to take steps to catch up with European countries in the development of offshore wind. She said countries including the United Kingdom, Germany and Portugal have all established test sites for ocean energy and have funded permitting studies and electrical infrastructure, including undersea cables.

"This is part of the race that we cannot cede to the rest of the world," Salazar said. "It is an opportunity we ought not let pass."

Fracking, NOAA

Hayes also said Interior's proposed rule to more tightly regulate hydraulic fracturing would require operators to file new certification that they are using the proper cementing to ensure fluids in the well bore do not leak into surrounding aquifers.

Tester said the issue was a concern to constituents in northeast Montana, where oil companies have flocked to the Bakken formation underlying his state and North Dakota.

Hayes said the Bureau of Land Management is prioritizing inspections to deal with potential high-risk issues, including ensuring well construction is done with the appropriate integrity.

The agency will ensure safe operation with a mix of both self inspection and reporting and agency boots on the ground, he said.

Lastly, Salazar said the Obama administration has yet to take a detailed look at its proposal to merge the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration into Interior.

"There are synergies that could be developed if there was such a consolidation, but we are not at this point looking at it until we get the authority from Congress to move forward," he said.

The secretary said he has seen studies from outside groups suggesting a merger would be a good idea but that the scope of the reorganization could be a difficult task.

In a moment of humor, he referenced the difficulty carrying out his proposal to merge the Office of Surface Mining into BLM. The proposal was met with criticism from lawmakers, environmentalists and mining advocates, prompting Salazar this week to announce he is backtracking on the plan (Greenwire, Feb. 28).

"It takes time to do it right," he said. "You know, I tried to do a consolidation with OSM and BLM, and we know what happened with that."