Two orders were signed Wednesday by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, one of which overturns the Obama administration moratorium on all new coal leases on federal land.
In a teleconference, Zinke said his agency has not yet decided whether to raise royalty rates, but a federal advisory committee will be re-established to study whether or not Americans get a fair return on natural resources from public land, and will include state, tribal, and other advocacy group members.
Zinke said his secretarial orders follow President Donald Trump’s executive order to take all steps necessary and appropriate to end the moratorium that has been in place since January 2016, and he is “proudly enthusiastic of the actions” taken by the president.
The second order signed by Zinke calls a review of mitigation and climate change policies across the agency.