A federal committee overseeing public lands passed its section of a big budget package in the early hours Wednesday morning, which included a last-minute measure to sell some federal lands in Nevada and Utah for housing.
Reps. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) and Celeste Maloy (R-Utah) introduced the amendment to the House Natural Resources Committee’s budget reconciliation bill.
“Nevada population centers are all encumbered by federal land that can’t meet their housing and development needs without disposal of federal lands,” Amodei said.
The 33-page plan sparked fury from Democrats. It came at the eleventh hour of a 13-hour hearing, and leaders from one Nevada county listed for land sales opposed the amendment.
“This is unacceptable,” said Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N. Mex.) “This is not fake outrage. This is disgusting.”
The amendment includes over 10,000 acres in Utah and identifies nearly 450,000 acres in four Nevada counties for sale or exchange. In Pershing County, Nev., it authorizes the sale or exchange of up to 356,100 acres previously identified for disposal by the Bureau of Land Management. Four out of seven county commissioners in Clark County, Nev., home to Las Vegas, reportedly indicated they opposed the amendment, which highlights lands to be sold in their county.
However, Amodei said local officials had asked for its introduction.
"This amendment is the product of community-driven efforts by six western counties. The sales from these small parcels of land will generate significant federal revenue and have broad local support. It's a tailored, parochial budgetary measure,” said House Natural Resources Committee spokesperson John Seibels.
Rep. Jeff Hurd (R-Colorado) was the only Republican to vote against the amendment.
Committee Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) told E&E News that selling public lands could be part of the budget package to raise money for the government, but the original bill text he released last week didn’t include such sales.
America’s abundant resources
Republican leaders of the committee said slashing Biden climate policies, further cutting agency funds and expanding production opportunities for oil, gas, coal, mining and timber companies on public lands would generate or save more than $18 billion.
“More than any other committee, we have a tremendous opportunity to promote access to America’s abundant resources, steward them well and harness their vast potential to benefit the American people, and to impact the budget,” said Westerman.
But after his introduction to the budget talks Tuesday, GOP members were largely silent for the duration of the hearing, declining to respond or debate as Democrats introduced more than 100 failed amendments to the proposal. Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) called it “the most destructive environmental bill in American history.”
Most of the forecasted revenue generated by the bill would come from ordering mandatory, quarterly oil and gas lease sales in states including Wyoming, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Montana and Nevada. However, the bill simultaneously lowered royalty rates for oil and gas produced on federal lands to pre-Biden Administration levels. Industry groups applauded the changes.
“For our members, to have that regular, predictable approach to leasing, allows them to make investment decisions, allows them to get capital, allows them also to hire crews and figure out how they're going to move forward,” said Dan Naatz, chief operating officer of the Independent Petroleum Association of America.
Measures to limit legal challenges to energy projects were among the most concerning elements of the package to environmental advocates. For example, it allows companies to pay more money for a quicker environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act and for the assessment to be exempt from court review.
“It's just a pay-to-play to avoid any scrutiny of what you're going to do on public lands,” said Josh Axelrod, a public lands expert for the Natural Resources Defense Council. “That's just extraordinary. We truly have never seen anything like that.”
The committee advanced the bill in a 26-17 vote, with one Democrat voting in favor.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
