Washington, DC (September 18, 2018) Congressman Steve Pearce issued a statement following the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) release of a revised Venting and Flaring rule issued by the previous Administration.

“The Obama Administration’s venting and flaring rule was legally questionable and was a direct attack on New Mexico. The original rule would have crushed small businesses in New Mexico, costing thousands of jobs and greatly reducing production. This would have resulted in millions of dollars in lost revenues that pay for schools, hospitals, and other critical services. During my time in Congress, I urged the BLM through numerous letters and votes on the House Floor to overturn the original rule for these reasons. Instead of blindly regulating jobs out of our state, we should be working together to develop the necessary infrastructure that would allow adequate capture of methane in a way that doesn’t result in job or revenue loss. The revision release today is a win-win for New Mexico which will help our state’s economy, fund our schools, and strike a needed balance of environmental protection and economic generation.”

The BLM Venting and Flaring Rule was a last minute regulation passed by the Obama Administration in an attempt to limit the production of oil and gas on federal lands. The statutory authority to regulate air quality is solely vested with the Environmental Protection Agency. Congress would have to authorize the BLM to do the job of the EPA, creating unnecessary regulatory authority to enforce the venting and flaring regulation.

In June, Congressman Pearce introduced H.R. 6106, which would streamline the approval process for critical energy infrastructure on federal lands. Currently, the BLM Carlsbad office has a significant backlog of permits, which is greatly hindering infrastructure development in the Permian Basin. This bill would result in increased capture of methane and would result in job growth, not job loss.

Read the revised rule, here.