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Interior Secretary Outlines Energy Agenda For Public Lands

The Department of the Interior will finalize new rules for fracking on federal lands in coming days, Secretary Sally Jewell said Tuesday during a speech outlining her energy agenda for the next two years. She quipped that the rules governing oil and gas haven’t changed much since she was a petroleum engineer 30 years ago and that it’s time for an update.

“The [fracking] rule will include measures to protect our nation’s groundwater, requiring operators to construct sound wells, to disclose the chemicals they use and to safely recover and handle fluids used in the process,” Jewell said.

Many in industry argued against the rule as it was proposed in 2013, saying it is burdensome and unnecessary, but Jewell said baseline testing is simply common sense.

A number of states, including Wyoming, have adopted baseline testing and chemical disclosure rules recent years.

Jewell also called for reforms to the federal coal program during the speech. Most of the coal mined in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin is on federal land. Jewell said coal is going to continue to be an important part of the nation’s energy mix, but that the system for how coal is leased needs to be updated in order to make sure taxpayers and local communities are getting a fair return.

“How can we make the program more transparent and more competitive? How do we manage the program in a way that’s consistent with our climate change objectives?" she asked. "These are hard questions, but it’s time for an honest and open conversation about modernizing the federal coal program, and we welcome that.”

The Department of the Interior released proposed changes late last year to how royalties on federal coal are calculated. Coal companies were not happy with the proposal, saying it would result in less coal being mined, and therefore less royalty payments overall.

Jewell's speech also touched on climate change, renewable energy and regulating methane emissions from oil and gas. 

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