The House Natural Resources Committee on Thursday unveiled its portion of the Republicans’ massive energy, tax and national security package ahead of a markup next week.
The legislation would mandate quarterly onshore oil and gas lease sales, new offshore lease sales in the western Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s Cook Inlet and four new sales in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The bill would also return oil and gas royalties to pre-Inflation Reduction Act rates. That law raised onshore and offshore royalty rates to 16.67 percent from 12.5 percent for 10 years. Offshore royalties were capped at 18.75 percent.
The proposal would introduce some narrow changes to the permitting process to accelerate timelines for energy projects. Those changes would limit environmental assessments and impact statements.
The legislation takes language from the “Public Land Renewable Energy Development Act.” The bill would streamline permitting for renewable energy projects on public land and create a revenue-sharing model.
Committee Republicans, led by Chair Bruce Westerman of Arkansas, would undo several contentious resource management plans from the Biden administration. The panel expects to generate $15 billion.
Correction: This story was updated to reflect the new bill mandating quarterly onshore —rather than offshore — lease sales.
