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Americans for Tax Reform this week released a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell urging Congressional lawmakers to use the authority granted under the Congressional Review Act to repeal the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Waste Production, Production Subject to Royalties, and Resource Conservation Rule – commonly referred to as the BLM Methane Rule. 

The letter expresses the concern that BLM not only lacks the statutory authority to enact the Methane Rule, but that the rule is also duplicative and wholly unnecessary. 

The letter can be viewed below or here:

January 30, 2017

The Honorable Paul Ryan
Speaker
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Majority Leader
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510

 

Dear Speaker Ryan and Majority Leader McConnell:

On behalf of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) I write to express ATR’s strong support for using the Congressional Review Act to repeal the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Waste Production, Production Subject to Royalties, and Resource Conservation Rule – commonly referred to as the BLM Methane Rule.

The BLM Methane Rule is a product of federal regulatory overreach, released in the eleventh hour by the Obama Administration, serving only to preserve the former President’s legacy at the expense of responsible U.S. energy production.

BLM not only lacks the statutory authority to enact the Methane Rule, but the rule is also duplicative and wholly unnecessary.      

Under the Clean Air Act the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in conjunction with the states, is vested with the sole authority to regulate air quality. By releasing the Methane Rule, BLM is attempting to regulate air quality and has thus exceeded its statutorily granted authority.

It is also the case that EPA last year finalized rules to regulate methane emissions on top of existing state regulations. Thus the BLM’s rule is wholly duplicative and adds to an already substantial regulatory burden on American energy production.      

Furthermore, the Methane Rule is a regulation in search of a problem. Since 1990 natural gas production has increased by almost 50 percent, while methane emissions from oil and gas development have declined by over 20 percent thanks to advances in technology.

I urge you and your colleagues in Congress to use the authority granted under the Congressional Review Act to repeal the BLM’s Methane Rule.

Sincerely,                               

Grover G. Norquist                                                     

President                                                                     
Americans for Tax Reform

 

Photo credit: Roman Boed