A group of 14 Democratic senators Friday offered Interior Secretary Sally Jewell their two cents on a programmatic review of the federal coal leasing program. Led by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), the group laid out three priorities for the review. “As the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) works to implement your order, consider new leasing and royalty models, gather extensive public input, and ensure that taxpayers get a fair return, we believe it should be guided by three imperatives,” the May 27 letter says.
First, the senators wrote, the review should take into account the greenhouse gas emissions that could result from continued mining on federal lands. Second, the government’s role in the market should be considered. “The fact that 90 percent of federal lease sales since 1990 had single bidders suggests that western coal markets are structurally noncompetitive,” the letter says. Finally, the review should consider the other possible uses of the land being mined. “The Federal Land Policy and Management Act requires the BLM to balance extractive uses against other uses of public lands,” the letter explains.
The Interior Department announced in mid-January it would issue no new coal leases on federal lands while completing a programmatic EIS of the U.S. coal leasing program. The review is intended to determine if the program is properly structured to provide a fair return to taxpayers, reflects its impacts on the environment, and will continue to help meet the nation’s energy needs.
The agency last conducted a PEIS for the federal coal program in 1983-1984. That review process also included a pause on coal leasing, as did the previous four. Currently, approximately 41 percent of the nation’s annual coal production comes from federal land.
The letter was signed by Sen. Cantwell (D-Wash.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkeley (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
