American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2019 - 69

that claim, saying she and her team had
met with hundreds of companies in the
nine months since taking office. "I think
the folks who have met with us will say
our operations are cooperative and transparent. When you make more money, we
make more money," she averred.
"Since day one, we have worked
with industry to make more money for
our state by expediting our internal
processes, by expanding our field staff
and nearly doubling our enforcement
in southeastern New Mexico to hold
bad actors accountable for illegal dumping," Richard listed.
"We created the first water bureau at
the State Land Office to show we are
committed to keeping freshwater in the
ground and to addressing our produced
water crisis," she went on. "And we continue to increase the number of rights of
way and easements necessary to address
the infrastructure shortage in our state.
"We have done all those things because
we want your industry and others to know
the Land Office is open for business,"
Richard concluded.'
Energy Dominance
Interior Secretary Bernhardt recalled
how President Trump demonstrated his
commitment to energy independence and
security early in his term by issuing executive orders implementing an America-first offshore energy strategy and promoting energy independence.
"Our team at Interior has spent every
day working to implement these priorities,"
he posited.
"President Trump and I know-as do

The Department of Interior ranked second
among all federal agencies in fiscal 2017
and third in FY 2018 in reducing regulatory burdens on the U.S. economy, Secretary David Bernhardt boasts to the
New Mexico Oil & Gas Association in a
Oct. 8 address in Santa Fe.

you-that economic growth, job creation,
conservation and energy independence
can go hand in hand," Bernhardt told
NMOGA. "They can be pursued with
equal effort. By enacting common-sense
regulatory reforms and improving our
government services, we have worked to
accelerate economic growth at a pace
economists didn't think would be possible
coming out of a recession."
He boasted that DOI's deregulatory
efforts ranked second in FY 2017 and
third in FY 2018 among all U.S. government agencies. As an example, he cited
lowering from 199 days to 32 the time
the Bureau of Land Management took in
each of three phases to process and publish
National Environmental Policy Act assessments after they reached headquarters
from state offices.
Yet, Bernhardt observed, until the
mid-1990s, state directors sent NEPA
documents directly to the Federal Register.
But at that time, he said, the DOI chief
of staff decided he should read them
first, and as other headquarters personnel
felt compelled to "stay in the loop," it
eventually reached the point that each
document was read 25 times once it arrived in Washington.
"Now we have a briefing so people
can know what is coming," Bernhardt revealed. "It didn't change the NEPA process
or a single regulatory standard. But it
significantly shortened the timeline.
"I tell you that story because I think
DOI is rife with opportunities such as
that," the secretary outlined. "I believe
we have lots of opportunities to do that
more, from the state directors down to
the district offices."
He said DOI was committed to delegating more responsibility and putting
more resources at the state level.
"One other thing I would say is that I
fundamentally believe in-and the president
believes in-cooperative federalism," Bernhard insisted. "We believe in working
closely with state and local governments
and elected officials to advance our conservation priorities."
Commenting on the threats posed to
U.S. energy production and the economy
by Green New Deal-type policies, Bernhardt declared, "We will defend the environment, but we also will defend the
American economy, American prosperity
and American jobs. We will continue
(to pursue) President Trump's dynamic
agenda for secure and reliable energy.
And we will continue our efforts to
strengthen the American government,
and demonstrate that economic growth,
job creation, conservation and energy
independence can be achieved while
protecting the environment."
❒

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American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2019

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