House subcommittee debates bills to overturn offshore withdrawals, require expanded resource mapping

Members of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held a hearing on legislation that would roll back recent presidential withdrawals of offshore acreage and require recurring, modernized resource assessments for the Outer Continental Shelf.

At the hearing, Representative Clay Higgins, sponsor of the Offshore Lands Authorities Act (H.R. 513), said the bill would reverse recent withdrawals and place limits on future withdrawals. Dr. Walter Cruickshank, acting director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, told the subcommittee that BOEM "strongly supports overturning the OCS administrative withdrawals that unnecessarily impede American energy development" and that the agency welcomes the bill's intent to create a more predictable framework for offshore resource management.

The CORE Act (Comprehensive Offshore Resource Evaluation Act, H.R. 2556), introduced by Representative Hunt, would require standardized, recurring offshore resource inventories and promote updated exploration methodologies, including modern seismic surveys and data review cycles. Representative Hunt said improved mapping and data would "take politics out of BOEM" and provide the information industry and policymakers need for long-term planning.

Opponents and witnesses raised operational and safety concerns. Doug Hilton, who until recently led NOAA's emergency response division, testified in opposition and warned that expanding drilling while cutting response capacity increases spill risk: "Expanding offshore drilling while also weakening our federal response capacity is a dangerous combination." Hilton and other witnesses said recent staff reductions at NOAA and other federal agencies have reduced national capacity to respond to major spills, a central risk the committee discussed.

Witnesses and members also debated seismic testing. Several members described seismic surveys and improved subsurface data as necessary for accurate assessments; others and some public-safety witnesses cautioned that large-scale seismic testing can harm marine life and that Department of Defense (DOD) mission-compatibility concerns must be addressed before leases move forward. In response to questions about military readiness, Dr. Cruickshank said BOEM will consult with DOD during program development.

Committee members pressed BOEM on the timing and data behind its five-year OCS assessments; Cruickshank described the agency's 2021 assessment and said preparations for the 2026 assessment were underway. He stressed that development of a new national leasing schedule is still in the public-input phase and that no final decisions on lease sales have been made.

The hearing did not produce votes. Members said the record would remain open for follow-up questions and materials. The subcommittee took testimony from BOEM, former NOAA staff, industry representatives and other witnesses and will consider the legislation in subsequent committee proceedings.