House Approves Natural Resources Provisions as Part of NDAA

Press Release

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today praised the passage of the Carl Levin & Howard P. "Buck" McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015, which included a bipartisan agreement (Title 30) on provisions under the jurisdiction of the House Natural Resources Committee and the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee.

"This agreement represents a balanced approach to public lands management. It will create thousands of new jobs, support energy and mineral production, transfer land out of federal ownership, and protect treasured lands through the establishment of several locally-supported parks and wilderness areas," said Chairman Hastings. "All of the bills included in this agreement have undergone public review in the House or Senate, and it includes nearly three dozen House-passed suspension bills that have languished in the Senate. This agreement is good for jobs and the economy."

Key Highlights:

-Boosts new oil and natural gas production on federal lands by reducing permit delays, providing regulatory certainty to American job creators, preventing the Obama Administration from increasing costs, and extending a successful pilot program that helps the BLM deal with a backlog of drilling permit applications.

-Allows for opening up the third largest undeveloped copper resource in the world -- supporting nearly 3,700 American jobs and producing enough copper to meet 25 percent of current U.S. demand.

-Reduces grazing permit backlogs and adds needed certainty to America's ranching community.

-Updates fee structure to provide predictable, fair rates so families are not forced to tear down cabins they own in national forests. Supported by the National Forest Homeowners.

-Provides for over 110,000 acres of land to be conveyed out of federal ownership to be utilized for economic development (including mineral production, timber production, infrastructure projects) and community development (ie, local cemetery, shooting range).

-Releases 26,000 acres of current wilderness study areas, which unlocks lands to be used for multiple beneficial purposes, including economic development and recreation.

-Designates approximately 245,000 acres of wilderness in specific areas with strong local and Congressional support. Nearly half of those acres are already managed as if it were wilderness due to its current status as a roadless or wilderness study area.

-Supports America's National Parks by providing new means of enhancing private funding (through donor recognition and the issuance of a commemorative coin to recognize the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service in 2016).

-Ensures that no private property can be condemned in land designations.

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