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House subcommittee considers bills to nullify coal leasing moratoriums and speed approvals
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Summary
Rep. Harriet Hageman and other Republicans pressed legislation to cancel past coal-lease moratoria and shorten permitting timelines for coal on federal lands; Democrats and some witnesses warned the bills would cut public input and risk litigation.
The House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources on 2024-09-08 heard bipartisan testimony on legislation that would remove federal barriers to coal leasing and accelerate coal permitting on public lands.
Supporters said the bills — principally H.R. 280, introduced by Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.) — are needed to restore market certainty and preserve jobs in coal-producing states. Hageman said the “coal act takes two critical steps for states involved with the federal coal program,” including nullifying a Department of the Interior secretarial order and expediting qualified lease applications.
The measures matter to states such as Wyoming, which lawmakers and witnesses said remains the country’s largest coal producer. Rep. Hageman told the committee that Wyoming produced 191,000,000 tons of coal in the prior year and shipped more than 171,000,000 tons to 26 states, and that the Powder River Basin produces about 85% of federal coal output. Travis Dede, executive director of the Wyoming Mining Association, told the panel that the industry employs roughly 4,300 workers in the state with an average coal wage of about $102,000 and that the sector contributes roughly $600,000,000 a year in taxes, royalties and fees; he said federal coal leasing has generated more than $2.6 billion in bonus bids over three decades.
Acting Assistant Secretary for Lands and Minerals Management Adam Seese testified that the Department of the Interior supports the bills under the administration’s energy and mineral agenda, saying the measures would “further strengthen our country and further support our communities.”
Democrats on the panel urged caution. Representative Ansari, the subcommittee’s ranking member, said reforms “cut the American people out of decisions in the name of ‘streamlining’” and warned that limiting public review would erode trust and increase opposition. She and other Democrats questioned whether increased coal production would reduce household energy bills and flagged public-health and climate trade-offs.
Witnesses and lawmakers debated process as well as policy. Supporters argued long permitting timelines and repeated moratoria have created uncertainty, pointing to multi-year leasing timelines and a steep drop in leasing activity over the past decade. Opponents said removing review steps is likely to drive community opposition into litigation, lengthening — not shortening — the path to production.
No formal votes were held at the hearing. The subcommittee will consider edits and continue hearings; lawmakers said legislative text could be revised in response to committee questions and witness comments.
