WASHINGTON — Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Monday that the government will tighten requirements for onshore oil and gas drilling. The new measures would not apply to oil rigs at sea.
Salazar portrayed the changes at the Bureau of Land Management as a response to the BP oil spill, even though they apply only to onshore drilling.
“The BP oil spill is a stark reminder of how we must continue to push ahead with the reforms we have been working on and which we know are needed,” Salazar said.
Salazar said the reforms will ensure that the land management bureau will seek public comments before pursuing oil and gas leases in new areas, and that federal officials visit a potential drilling site before any leases are approved.
The government also will tighten requirements for when an approval process known as a “categorical exclusion” is offered on federal lands, he said.
Those exclusions allow for expedited oil and gas drilling without detailed environmental reviews that normally are required. The Government Accountability Office has found that the BLM has frequently misinterpreted and violated a federal law allowing categorical exclusions.
Salazar, a former Democratic senator from Colorado, announced the onshore reforms in January but said Monday’s announcement would direct federal land managers how to carry out the reforms.
Suzanne O’Neill, executive director of the Colorado Wildlife Federation, praised the policy, called it “an important and long- needed step to balance key needs of Colorado’s wildlife” before federal officials offer lands for lease sales.
“Impacts have been an afterthought when it comes to energy development, reducing the important habitat areas our wildlife needs to survive,” O’Neill said.
Denver Post staff and wire services
