Alliance President Testifies Rep. Hageman Bill Corrects Costly IRA Flaw

DENVER – Western Energy Alliance’s president, Kathleen Sgamma, will testify at a legislative hearing before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources in support of Rep. Harriet Hageman’s bill H.R. 6481 to require the Interior Secretary to reimburse expression of interest (EOI) fees on federal onshore oil and natural gas parcels if they become inactive. The bill addresses confusion on how the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) implements the fee, which was created in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, December 12th, at 10:30 a.m. ET, and will be available on the committee’s website.
 
“Rep. Hageman’s bill would correct one of the various flaws of the EOI provisions in IRA. First to identify the flaws. The EOI language in IRA, if unchanged, requires companies to pay a $5 per-acre fee for the acreage they nominate, regardless of whether the acreage is ever offered for sale,” said Sgamma. “Based on the large proportion of nominated acreage that BLM historically sits on for years and never brings to sale, the government is in the inappropriate position of charging for nothing. The government takes the money whether or not the service is rendered, something that certainly would not work in the private sector.”

Sgamma’s full testimony is available on the Alliance’s website.
                                                                                                               
What:   House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources
               Legislative hearing on Rep. Hageman’s bill H.R.6481 regarding expressions of interest
 
Who:     Kathleen Sgamma, president of Western Energy Alliance 
 
When:  Tuesday, December 12th, 10:30 a.m. ET
 
Where: Livestream on the committee webpage.

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