Now, i ask that there not be any type of instruction regarding the testimony given here today. It is important that we respect the rules and the decorum of the house and allow the public to hear our proceedings. Today the subcommittee will examine access to oil and Gas Development on oniio onshore fe lands. Onshore federal oil and gas accounts are roughly 20 of americas production and is integral to our nations independence and security. Not only has the new administration inherits a backlog of 3,000 drill permit applications but an incredibly burdensome regulatory scheme that discourages investment and development. It is critical that we evaluate these obstacles to success and ensure a fair return to the American People. There are many factors that influence an operators decision to lease and develop hydro carbons. While some may point to low Commodity Prices, Market Conditions are no excuse for poor policies or for the federal government failing to uphold statutory obligations. In fact, many operators avoid federal lands due to unquantifiable risk and uncertainty. The current permitting processes are fraught with uncertainty, duplication and delay. Designating lands for development can take years and parcels were often explicitly retracted from the auction. Furthermore, once an operator has successfully navigated the federal leasing scheme, the leasing must still proceed through the application for a permit to drill or a. P. D. Review process which could set drilling back over a year. The uncertainty, delay and risk presented throughout the process make operational and Financial Planning nearly impossible and is a detriment to the locality, state and the American People. Despite the complications and inefficiencies of leasing and permitting under the Previous Administration, we are confident the new administration will take the time to carefully examine and optimize the blms processes. In addition to increasing program funding, secretary zinky with that, i now recognize the Ranking Member for his statements. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman. First i want to compliment you and all the members on both sides of the aisle of this committee as weve been doing so well in our last few meetings. Theyve been bipartisan, cooperative and constructive. I think today is going to be a little more contentious. I dont oppose oil and Gas Development on public lands, but i do oppose letting oil and gas industry call all the shots on how to manage those lands that are owned by all americans. You know, in all of the above policy does not mean that we dont set priorities. And i am concerns about our priorities. Its only taken five months and nearly every move on energy that this administration has made could have come right out of the executive board rooms of the American Petroleum institute or the National Mining association. That may actually be the case given the number of oil, gas and coal lobbyists who now occupy high ranking positions at the interior department, energy department, the Environmental Protection agency and in the white house. Rules to protect public health, gone. Rules to protect our land, air and water and cut down on pollution, gone. Rules to protect fish and wildlife, gone. Rules to make sure that companies are paying their fair share, gone. The standard seems to be did the Obama Administration put it in place and did one oil and gas or coal company complain about it . If so, its gone. In no place is it more important to balance multiple uses Environmental Protections as well as Economic Development than on americas public lands. This idea of balance, this idea that some areas should be protected while others can be developed is at least in danger now and soon that would be gone too. To quote the statement of the acting assistant secretary, Americas Free markets will help determine where and when Energy Development on public lands is feasible. That means that the idea that these lands which belong to all americans should be managed in a way that will ensure that they are here for our children and our grandchildren. That idea is now gone. Instead the administration is operating under the idea that the department of the interior should become a service station for the oil and gas industry. Which lands would you like to lease . Where and how fast do you want to drill . What regulations do you want us to repeal . Are these National Monuments getting in your way . Just let us know. The department of interior is apparently here to keep you happy. Secretary zinky paid lip service to the idea of supporting all forms of energy to be in favor the all of the above policy. But if we look at his budget, it increases oil and gas and coal programs by 34 million while renewables suffer a 15. 3 million cut. In fact, the fossil fuel program increase seems to be the only one in the entire interior budget that has an increase. Weve seen this movie before. Weve seen an administration where Energy Policy was literally written by big oil. During the eight years of the Bush Administration, the only measure of success for the bureau of Land Management was how many drilling permits it could issue. What did we get . Interior Department Officials thrown in jail, regulators doing drugs and literally getting into bed with the people they were supposed to be regulating and a thirst for mineral revenues that put Safety Standards on the back burner and helped to contribute to the deep water horizon, according to the president ial oil spill commission. When it comes to giving the keys to our public lands to the oil and gas industry, President Trump has made the Bush Administration look bush league. Look, the fact is that oil and Gas Companies are doing just fine on our public lands and in our oceans. Despite the misleading statistics that theyre going to throw around today. Oil statistics really show that Oil Production on public lands is up 59 since 2008. Offshore production is at a record high. Companies have more than 7500 approved drilling permits that theyre not using and 26 million acres of public land under lease to be developed. Shows you from 2008 through right through 2015 the federal onshore Oil Production and how its increased every single year up to 2015. And 2016 was slightly below 2015 but above all the other years. So in closing, i just want to say our new quest for Energy Dominance, whatever that means, means that never nothing is enough. We must do more. Hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, boating, offroading, grazing and all the use of our public lands are now second to second class oil and gas is dominant. So, mr. Chairman, we have an opportunity on this subcommittee to ensure that energys policies reflect the multiple uses of our public lands for the benefit of all of our constituents, not just the special interests of a few billionaires. Mr. Chairman, i just want to say in closing, i understand your desire that the title of this hearing would be focusing on onshore. I will try to abide by that. However, the title of the hearing was really called examining access to oil and Gas Development on federal lands. As you know, our outer Continental Shelf is really defined as submerged lands lying seaward of the coastline. There may be some questions that come up. I thank the gentleman for that clarification. Im going to get now to introducing our witnesses. Miss catherine mcgregor. Now im going to yield time to the gentleman from new mexico to introduce the first witness. Id like to introduce ryan flynn whos executive director of the new mexico oil and gas association. As director of that, he has watched the permitting times on our wells increase from around 200 days to something over 400. He was formerly the secretary of new Mexico Environmental Department where he has a strong reputation of balancing Energy Development with responsible environmental stewardship. Appreciate you being here to testify today. I yield back. Our next witness is mr. Mark sclochie, dr. Laura nelson. Let me remind the witness that under our Committee Rules they must limit their oral statements to five minutes. But their entire statement will appear in the hearing record. Our microphones are not automatic so youll have to press that little button. The first four minutes its green, then it will turn yellow. Then when you see red, please summarize. Well recognize ms. Mcgregor for her testimony. Welcome back. Thank you. I have to say its very good to be back here today. I absolutely loved working here and with both majority and m minority staff. Im currently acting as secretary for land and Minerals Management at the department of the interior. Our responsibility is the management of four bureaus, office of surface mining, the bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the bureau of safety and Environmental Enforcement and the bureau of lands management. I appreciate the opportunity to testify in the oil and gas program which plays a Critical Role in our Nations Energy economy. The blm manages 200 million surface acres and 700 million sub surface acres. Accounting for 7 of our nations on shore oil, 10 of our natural gas and 41 of our coal produced domestically. Last year the blm oil and gas program generated over 1. 56 billion in royalties, rental payments and bonus bids, all of which were shared with states. States and counties in turn use these funds for roads, schools and other important municipal needs. Public lands are integral to the administrations America FirstEnergy Agenda and the priority to maintain u. S. Energy dominance by growi ining domest Energy Production and sustaining jobs throughout our country. Access to responsible Energy Development on these lands beginnings with the planning and leasing process. Ten years ago the blm had nearly 45 million acres under lease. Today we are at 27 million acres. This is nearly 10 of all blm managed lands in the unite. In 2016 the blm designated this is one example of designations that limit how public lands may be used. Responsible Energy Production and conservation need not be mutually exclusive. Thats why its vitally important to secretary to strike the appropriate balance in on shore leasing that allows for job creation in rural america. This is about restoring balance. The department and the blm have been proactive in prioritizing responsible Energy Production on public lands. Order 3349 aims to remove duplicative burdens on Energy Production. Order 3352 will jump start alaskan Energy Production. These efforts have already shown to be effective. Under the secretarys leadership the blm has had more lease stales, offered more acreage and generated more revenue in 2017 than this same time last year. Were only just getting started. The blm plans to hold 14 additional lease sale this is year. Im sure that all members of this committee are in close contact with their state and local leader who eers who do n hesitate to communicate their frustrations. It is the secretarys goal to restore trust. The u. S. Census bureau has found that rural new mexico has one of the highest poverty rates in the country yet rural new mexico is home to some of the most Promising Oil and natural gas deposits in the entire world. This is why the Administration Remains committed to promoting responsible oil and Gas Production that creates jobs, promote a robust economy and contribute to Americas Energy security. There are a multitude of factors that affect access to federal oil and Gas Resources and the department and the blm are reviewing all of these and taking action where possible to encourage development. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today and i will be happy to answer questions. I now recognize mr. Flynn for his five minutes. Thank you. Thank you. My name is ryan flynn. Im the executive director for the new mexico oil and gas association. Prior to taking over i was the secretary of environment and Natural Resource trustee in the state of new mexico and worked in State Government for approximately six years, almost six years prior to taking this role. I want to thank representative pierce for recognizing me. I want to recognize representative pierce as well who just had to step out of the room, but he has been a tremendous leader. His district is home to one of the most resilient and productive oil and gas plays in the world. I want to talk to you a little bit about new mexicos oil and gas industry and talk to you about some challenges to oil and Gas Development on federal lands in new mexico and suggest some opportunities for improving blms operations in new mexico. I want to be very clear that my goal here today is not in any way, shape or form to criticize blm individually. We have had a tremendous working relationship with blm staff and leadership and we look forward to continuing that working relationship moving forward. But like any large agency there are several opportunities for improvement. I believe the secretary has inherited a difficult situation but he is more than capable and up to the task for turning things around in a positive direction. New mexicos oil and gas industry is the most important economic industry to the state of new mexico. Last year in 2016, new mexicos oil and gas industry contributed 1. 6 fwol 1. 6 billion to the sta federal fund or budget. That equalled roughly 25. 8 of the budget last year. In the last ten years oil and gas typically contributes about a third directly to the states general fund. This money goes directly to roads, hospitals, schools, that infrastructure in the state would simply not be possible without the oil and gas industrys contributions. Our industry also employs over 100,000 people in the state of new mexico, a state with about 1. 8 million people. New mexico also has one of the highest poverty rates in the country with almost a quarter of our population living below the federal poverty line. Oil and gas jobs are extremely at trtractive in our state. Nationally new mexico is one of the top Energy Producing states in the country, ranking fifth in crude Oil Production and eighth in natural Gas Production. Even during a prolonged period of low prices, new mexicos oil and gas industry has remained resilient. In the last eight months were seen major acquisitions and purchases in new mexico totaling over 18 billion. The northern Delaware Basin has recently been the focal point for some of the most expensive acquisitions in the world. In calendar year 2016 new mexico was the largest producer of gas from federal lands, accounting for over 78 Million Barrels of oil and over 770,000 cubic feet of natural gas. New mexico, the biggest challenge to oil and Gas Development on federal lands in new mexico remains regulatory uncertainty at blm. I think the best illustration of this issue is to look at the basin and the development in west texas compared to the development in new mexico. As of june 16th, 2017, there were 59 riggs running in new mexico, versus 309 in texas. The main difference is the bureau of Land Management. Blms farmington fuel office takes approximately one year to process a drilling permit. Blms Carlsbad Field Office also takes approximately 250 days to process a drilling permit. Rightofways take approximately a year or more. Overall, blm suffers from a lack of staffing, a poorly designed and cumbersome new system and systematic irregularities in the processing protocol. Our estimates are that approximately 1. 4 million of federal royalty and 831,000 state severance tax is deferred each day based on the backlog in new mexico. The Financial Impact is huge in a state like new mexico where we face prolonged budgets issues in light of the low Market Pricing for oil and gas. I will conclude by just noting that there are many opportunities to improve blms operations in new mexico such as simple edits to the program, agreements with state regulatory authorities to transfer some of the work from processing work permits from blm to state offices like our Oil Conservation division. Thank you very much. Thank you, mr. Flynn. The chair now recognizes mr. Im a professor of