H.R. 1121

Protecting American Energy Production Act

 

Statement for the Record 
Bureau of Land Management 
U.S. Department of the Interior

House Committee on Natural Resources
Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources
H.R. 1121, Protecting American Energy Production Act  

September 28, 2023

Thank you for the opportunity to provide this Statement for the Record on H.R. 1121, Protecting American Energy Production Act.  

H.R. 1121 states it is the “sense of Congress that States should maintain primacy for the regulation of hydraulic fracturing for oil and natural gas production on State and private lands.” The bill also prohibits the President from issuing a moratorium on the use of hydraulic fracturing unless Congress authorizes the moratorium.  

The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to the highest standards of safety and responsible oil and gas development on public lands. As President Biden has repeatedly stated, oil and gas operations will continue into the future while we transition to a clean energy economy. Neither the President, the Secretary of the Interior, nor the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) have proposed a moratorium on the practice of hydraulically fracturing oil and gas wells. The BLM also notes that States already have discretion over the use of hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas development on State and private lands. Hydraulic fracturing is a common practice for stimulating the flow of oil or gas from a wellbore, and the BLM estimates that the majority of oil and gas wells in production have been hydraulically fractured.   

The Department of the Interior is concerned that H.R. 1121 would unduly limit the President’s discretion in managing the safe and environmentally protective development of Federal resources from Federal lands. As such, the Department does not support the bill. 

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