Tribal Advocates Speak Out on Fracking and Energy Issues

Native American Legislative Update - May 2012

Tribal Advocates Speak Out on Fracking and Energy Issues

April 19 was a big day for Indian energy hearings. In the morning, the House Natural Resources Committee's Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs held an oversight hearing on "fracking" - "Bureau of Land Management's Hydraulic Fracturing Rule's Impacts on Indian Tribal Energy Development." Invited witnesses, representing tribes with significant involvement in oil and gas industries, expressed frustration about the lack of consultation with tribes in the Bureau of Land Management's rule making process regulating fracking. A summary of the hearing is available here.

In the afternoon, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs considered Vice Chairman John Barrasso's bill (S. 1684) called the "Indian Tribal Energy Development and Self-Determination Act Amendments of 2011." The bill, introduced last October, would streamline the federal government processes for energy leasing and for approval of tribal energy resource agreements. These processes attempt to balance the long-term uses and effects of using Indian lands for energy development with tribal needs for economic development and self-determination.

Invited witnesses supported the legislation, with some commenting that it would be stronger and more useful if it included additional provisions, such as those included in Senator Dorgan's bill in the last Congress. Witness testimony is available on the committee's web site.