The Honorable Deb Haaland, Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior — July 11, 2024 (The House Committee on Small Business)

Summary

A July 11, 2024 letter from the House Committee on Small Business to Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, signed by Chairman Roger Williams, Vice Chairman Blaine Luetkemeyer and Members Pete Stauber, Dan Meuser and Aaron Bean. The Committee writes about the rulemaking prohibiting new oil and gas leasing in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A), the halt to new coal mining leases in the Powder River Basin, and the decision to block the Ambler Road project, arguing these actions harm small businesses and local communities. It requests answers by July 26, 2024 to six numbered questions, including how the Administration assessed the loss of projected jobs and why the BLM did not complete a Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis for its NPR-A rule under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). Ranking Member Nydia M. Velázquez is copied.

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                                                 July 11, 2024

The Honorable Deb Haaland
Secretary
U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20240

Dear Secretary Haaland:

         The House Committee on Small Business (the Committee) writes to investigate the Biden
Administration’s rulemaking prohibiting new oil and gas leasing in the National Petroleum
Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A), prohibit new coal mining leases in the Powder River Basin, as well
as its decision to block the Ambler Road project.1 These actions, especially when taken together,
are another assault in President Biden’s war on American energy and resource independence.
The Committee is incredibly concerned about the disparate impact these decisions will have on
small businesses, not only in the energy and resource sectors, but also in the surrounding local
communities.

        Since 2021, President Biden has attempted to remove 11 million acres of land in the Gulf
of Mexico from lease sale 261, blocked the licensure of liquified natural gas projects, and now
prohibited oil extraction on 13 million acres in Alaska.2 Prohibiting just one major future oil and
gas project will increase the price of oil and gas for all American consumers. Prohibiting
multiple oil and gas projects will have a substantial impact on the cost of energy. Additionally,
coal leasing bans will further increase energy prices. In total, the Biden Administration has
functionally prohibited oil extraction on over 41 million acres of land.3

         Despite intentionally taking actions to harm the oil and gas industry, the Biden
Administration claims that oil and gas companies are “price gouging” American consumers.4 In
reality, the heightened prices Americans are forced to pay for energy, gas, or oil come directly as
a result of the President’s actions. Small businesses are a cornerstone of the oil and gas industry,

1
  Becky Bohrer & Matthew Daly, Biden Administration Restricts Oil and Gas Leasing in 13 million acres of
Alaska’s Petroleum Reserve, ASSOC. PRESS (Apr. 19 2024); Adam Federman, Biden set to Block Ambler Mining
Road in Alaska Wilderness, POLITICO (Apr. 16, 2024); Maxine Joselow, The U.S. just took its biggest step yet to end
coal mining, THE WASH. POST (May 16, 2024).
2
  Ella Nilsen, Biden Administration Bans Drilling in Nearly Half of Alaska Petroleum Reserve in Sweeping Win for
Climate Advocates, CNN (Apr. 19, 2024).
3
  News Release, Dept. of the Interior, Biden-Harris Administration Takes Critical Action to Protect Alaska Native
Subsistence, Lands and Wildlife (Apr. 19, 2024).
4
  Jeff Stein, Biden Turns up Pressure on Corporate Price Gouging as 2024 Nears, THE WASH. POST (Dec. 1, 2023).
The Honorable Deb Haaland
July 11, 2024
Page 2 of 4

as well as the industries which support it. This Committee has repeatedly warned the Biden
Administration that its rules and decisions were harming American industry, small businesses,
and consumers, yet they continue to bombard the oil and gas industry with copious rules and
restrictions.

         In addition to the prohibition on leasing in Alaska, the Biden Administration prohibited
the construction of Ambler Road through a similar region of Alaska, which would shut down
efforts towards a strategic mineral mining operation, the Ambler Mining District.5
Notwithstanding concerns that the Administration is intentionally killing potential business
opportunities for the energy sector, with this action the Biden Administration also ended
numerous opportunities to develop local small businesses around oil and gas operations, and the
potential extraction of copper and zinc deposits.

        What’s more, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) indicated it would no longer issue
coal mining leases in the Powder River Basin.6 For decades small communities and businesses
have grown to support the existing mining operations—this move paves the way for the death of
these towns, businesses and communities, as current leases eventually expire and the path for
future growth is halted.7 The way of life in these communities will be upended in a similar
manner to what we have seen across the Rust Belt and Appalachia when manufacturing and
mining jobs left those regions.

        As with nearly every other action the Biden Administration has taken related to fossil
fuels and mining, these actions will cost American consumers and businesses money without
achieving any real environmental benefit. Cars still need oil, batteries still need mineral
resources, and power plants still need natural gas and coal. Removing American oil, gas, coal,
and mineral resources from the supply chain has no impact other than exporting greenhouse gas
emissions abroad—where environmental protections are likely weaker—taking money out of the
hands of American small businesses and putting it in the pocket of an OPEC nation, Russian
oligarch, or Chinese state-owned business.

       At a time when small businesses are suffering, President Biden must properly consider
the needs of American small businesses before taking such dramatic actions which would cause
immense harm. America’s small businesses deserve to have their voices heard and considered.
We therefore request the following information as soon as possible but no later than July 26,
2024:

    1. What weight did the Biden Administration give to the consideration of the harm humans
       would suffer if there were to be an energy shortage?



5
  Lisa Friedman, Interior Said to Reject Industrial Road Through Alaskan Wilderness, THE N.Y. TIMES (Apr. 16,
2024).
6
  Maxine Joselow, The U.S. just took its biggest step yet to end coal mining, THE WASH. POST (May 16, 2024).
7
  Brian Entin, Energy Capital of the Nation reacts to New Climate Orders; Mayor Says She’s Ready to Talk to
Biden, ABC NEWS 27 (Jan. 29, 2021)
The Honorable Deb Haaland
July 11, 2024
Page 3 of 4

   2. What evidence does the Biden Administration have the oil and gas companies are “price
      gouging” with their current prices?

   3. While blessed with considerable natural resources, America lacks control of the supply
      chains for the strategically important minerals, critical minerals and rare earth elements
      necessary for a 21st century economy. How does the Biden Administration explain its
      decision to end a project which would mitigate projected global mineral supply
      shortages?

   4. The Ambler Road and potential efforts to develop a mining district in the region were
      projected to create over 3,900 jobs paying approximately $300 million in salaries, and oil
      and gas projects on the North Slope could create thousands more. How did the Biden
      Administration assess the loss of opportunity for these projects?

   5. What factors does the BLM consider when determining the present and future cost
      impacts of prohibiting future leases?

   6. The BLM failed to do a Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis for its NPR-A rule. The
      BLM asserts that the final rule would not have a significant economic effect on a
      substantial number of small entities despite the fact that half of the active lessees in NPR-
      A meet the Small Business Administration’s criteria of a small business. Additionally, the
      final rulemaking will impact the four communities within the Reserve that are likely
      considered small government jurisdictions: Wainwright, Utqiagvik, Atqasuk, and Nuiqsut
      through diminished receipts on oil and gas production.
           a. How will the BLM ensure that this rulemaking will not disenfranchise
              communities within the NPR-A?
           b. How will the BLM ensure that this rulemaking will not negatively impact small
              businesses operations within the NPR-A?
           c. Did the BLM meet with each of these communities and small businesses before
              promulgating this rulemaking?
           d. Why did the BLM ignore its responsibilities under the Regulatory Flexibility Act
              (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.)?

        To schedule the delivery of responsive documents or ask any related follow-up questions,
please contact the Committee on Small Business Majority Staff at (202) 225-5821. The
Committee on Small Business has broad authority to investigate “problems of all types of small
business” under House Rule X. Thank you in advance for your cooperation with this inquiry.
The Honorable Deb Haaland
July 11, 2024
Page 4 of 4

                                  In God We Trust,



_________________________                    _________________________
Roger Williams                               Blaine Luetkemeyer
Chairman                                     Vice Chairman
Committee on Small Business                  Committee on Small Business



_________________________                    _________________________
Pete Stauber                                 Dan Meuser
Member of Congress                           Member of Congress
Committee on Small Business                  Committee on Small Business



_________________________
Aaron Bean
Member of Congress
Committee on Small Business



cc:   The Honorable Nydia M. Velázquez, Ranking Member
      Committee on Small Business


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