Maloney amendment to CLEAR Act to ensure accuracy in oil and gas revenue from Big Oil adopted
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WASHINGTON, DC – An amendment sponsored by Rep. Carolyn
Maloney (D-NY) to require a study to improve the measurement of oil and natural
gas extracted from leased federal and Tribal lands was attached to the
Consolidated Land, Energy, and Aquatic Resources (CLEAR) Act, H.R. 3534,
comprehensive legislation that will provide greater efficiency and
accountability to the management and regulation of energy resources to be
considered by the full House today.
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“The CLEAR Act, along with my amendment, will provide needed
oversight and transparency to the management of the oil and natural gas
industry,” said Rep. Maloney. “Right now, the American taxpayer does not
accurately know the amount of oil and natural gas extracted on leased federal
lands-- so we don’t know how much the oil companies should pay in royalties.
With the study required in my amendment, Congress, the Administration, and the
American people will better understand the changes that must be made to ensure
appropriate compensation for resources obtained from public lands.”
Maloney’s amendment is based on legislation she introduced
in March, 2009, H.R. 1462, which is based on technical and scientific testimony
given by Jack J. Grynberg before Congress.
“I believe this amendment will help oil and natural gas
producing states, and counties within those states, to increase their collection
of the severance and ‘ad valorem’ taxes so desperately needed to provide
necessary services to all their citizens,” said Mr. Grynberg.
Last week the House Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform held a hearing entitled, "Offshore Drilling: Will Interior's
Reforms Change Its History of Failed Oversight?" At that hearing Danielle Brian, Executive
Director of the Project on Government Oversight, testified on the need for drilling
reform, saying, "Royalty collections are one of the largest sources of
revenue for the government after taxes, and MMS has a fiduciary responsibility
to taxpayers to ensure their accurate measurement and collection.
Representative Maloney’s legislation asking for the National Academy of
Engineering to determine the need for improvements (H.R. 1462) would
significantly help MMS accomplish this."
On June 25, 2010, Rep. Maloney was one of two Congressional
recipients of the Good Government Award from the Project on Government
Oversight, an award for outstanding service in the pursuit of holding the
government accountable to its citizenry.
###
Background.
As a member of the Oversight and Government Reform
Committee, Rep. Maloney has fought to ensure proper oversight of the management
of the oil industry and that taxpayers are paid their fair share of
royalties. Her efforts to force Big Oil companies to pay fair market
value resulted in the federal government collecting billions more in oil and natural
gas revenues. To better understand what actions the federal government
should take to have the most accurate measurement methods in the collection of
oil and gas royalties, she introduced H.R. 1462. She has been a long-time
critic of Royalty-in-Kind, a mismanaged program first piloted in 2001 that is
eliminated entirely under the CLEAR Act.
Find out more about her history
on this issue on her Oil
and Gas Royalties page.
Text
of Maloney amendment here. (PDF) Text
of original Maloney oil bill, HR 1462, here. (PDF)
