American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2017 - 27

prospectivity regions because presidents
have modified Section 12(a) withdrawals
in the past."
Indeed, on May 3, lawyers for Earthjustice and the Natural Resources Defense
Council filed a lawsuit on behalf of 10
environmental organizations in the U.S.
District Court for the District of Alaska.
League of Conservation Voters et al v.
Donald J. Trump, Ryan Zinke and (Commerce Secretary) Wilbur Ross contends
Trump's executive order exceeds his legal
authority because the OCSLA does not
allow him to undo a previous withdrawal,
NOIA explains.

Reconsidering Offshore Rules
Finally, Implementing an America-First
Offshore Energy Strategy directs DOI to
review and reconsider four BOEM and
Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement offshore regulations, and orders
the Commerce Department to review a
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration guidance on underwater sounds.
BOEM and BSEE are directed to:
* Reconsider BOEM's September
2016 Notice to Lessees 2016-N01 on financial assurance;
* Reconsider BSEE's April 2016
final well control rule stemming from
the 2010 Deepwater Horizon blowout;
* Reconsider BOEM's April 2016
proposed updates to its air quality regulations; and
* Review the two agencies' July 2016
Arctic drilling regulations.
In addition, the EO directs the Commerce
Department to review NOAA's July 2016
technical guidance on the effects of anthropogenic sound on marine mammals.
Karen Harbert, president and chief executive officer of the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce's Institute for 21st Century Energy, points out that 20 percent of Trump's
executive orders and federal legislation to
repeal Obama administration regulations
have focused on energy. "We applaud the
Trump administration's actions to take
steps that will lead to greater development
of energy resources," she comments.
NOIA President Randall Luthi declares,
"It is a new day and a new attitude for
American energy."
Contending that "our nation's energy
policy has been a cobbled-together raft,
drifting with the prevailing political winds
and currents of the 'favored' energy
source of the day," Luthi adds, "The
rescission of the previous administration's
withdrawal of vast offshore energy areas
favors continued public discussion over
unilateral decree."
And American Petroleum Institute
President and CEO Jack Gerard urges,
"We must particularly look to and embrace

developing domestic sources of oil and
natural gas in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico.
Exploration in this area is critical to our
national security."

National Monuments EO
President Trump's April 26 EO on national monuments directs DOI to "review
all presidential designations or expansions
under the Antiquities Act made since Jan.
1, 1996, where the designation covers more
than 100,000 acres . . . or where the secretary
determines that the designation was made
without adequate public outreach and coordination with relevant stakeholders."
Consistent with the original objectives
of the Antiquities Act, the EO directs
DOI to consider:
* Whether reservations of land exceed
"the smallest area compatible with the
proper care and management of the objects
to be protected;"
* Whether designated lands are appropriately classified as "historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures,
(or) other objects of historical or scientific
interest;"
* The effects of a designation on the
multiple-use policy of the Federal Land
Policy and Management Act; and
* The concerns of state, tribal and

local governments affected by the designation.
A May 11 Federal Register notice seeking public comments on the affected monuments lists 22 onshore national monuments
comprising 11.337 million acres and five
marine national monuments comprising
217.869 million acres (see Table 1).
"The fact that any president could,
with the stroke of a pen, lock up vast
areas of America, either on land through
national monument designations or offshore with moratoria and marine sanctuary
designations, is appalling," remarks H.
Sterling Burnett, research fellow for environment and energy policy at The Heartland Institute.
Praising President Trump for "keeping
his promise to 'put America first,'" Burnett
adds, "It is time for Congress to get in the
ballgame. Congress alone, as the body
most representative of the people, was
given the authority in the Constitution to
make such designations. It is time to end
the Antiquities Act and the president's
ability to declare moratoria on uses of
public lands for all but the briefest of
times-60 days at most-while Congress as
a whole determines whether to make such
actions permanent or temporary, or to rescind or reshape them altogether."
r

TABLE 1
National Monuments under Review
Monument

Location

Year(s)

Acreage

Basin and Range
Bears Ears
Berryessa Snow Mountain
Canyons of the Ancients
Carrizo Plain
Cascade Siskiyou
Craters of the Moon
Giant Sequoia
Gold Butte
Grand Canyon-Parashant
Grand Staircase-Escalante
Hanford Reach
Ironwood Forest
Mojave Trails
Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks
Rio Grande del Norte
Sand to Snow
San Gabriel Mountains
Sonoran Desert
Upper Missouri River Breaks
Vermilion Cliffs
Katahadin Woods and Waters

Nevada
Utah
California
Colorado
California
Oregon
Idaho
California
Nevada
Arizona
Utah
Washington
Arizona
California
New Mexico
New Mexico
California
California
Arizona
Montana
Arizona
Maine

2015
2016
2015
2000
2001
2000/2017
1924/2000
2000
2016
2000
1996
2000
2000
2016
2014
2013
2016
2014
2001
2001
2000
2016

703,585
1,353,000
330,780
175,160
204,107
100,000
737,525
327,760
296,937
1,014,000
1,700,000
194,451
128,917
1,600,000
496,330
242,555
154,000
346,177
486,149
377,346
279,568
87,563

Marianas Trench
Northeast Canyons and Seamounts
Paciﬁc Remote Islands
Papahanaumokuakea
Rose Atoll

CNMI/Paciﬁc Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
Paciﬁc Ocean
Hawaii
American Samoa

2009
2016
2009
2006/2016
2009

60,938,240
3,114,320
55,608,320
89,600,000
8,609,045

JUNE 2017 27
American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2017
