Representative Jodey Arrington (TX-19) and Western Caucus Chairman Dan Newhouse (WA-04) introduced the Abundant American Resources Act of 2024. This legislation will require Federal land management agencies to conduct a study on the economic valuation of resources in areas that have been withdrawn or protected from exploration and production.
“Since day one, the Biden-Harris administration has orchestrated a whole-of-government assault on American energy independence, enacting burdensome taxes and regulations against the oil and gas sector at a time when energy demand is skyrocketing,” said Rep. Arrington. “The administration has also weaponized the Antiquities Act to federalize over 4.7 million acres of land, effectively preventing the federal government from extracting oil, gas, and minerals from these areas. I’m proud to introduce the Abundant American Resources Act of 2024 with Western Caucus Chairman Dan Newhouse to expose just how much mineral value is being surrendered by the Biden-Harris administration.”
“The United States is blessed with abundant mineral resources and could achieve significant domestic production if policymakers had the political will to do so,” said Chairman Newhouse. “Instead of taking advantage of these resources, the Biden-Harris administration has decided to remove millions of acres of mineral-rich lands from development, increasing our reliance on adversarial sources, including the Chinese Communist Party, to meet our country’s energy needs. I’m proud to introduce this legislation alongside Rep. Arrington to help policymakers understand the value of America’s mineral wealth and to prove just how severe the Biden-Harris Administration’s lockups have been in hampering American dominance.”
Additional original co-sponsors of the legislation are Western Caucus Vice Chair Doug Lamborn (CO-05), and Reps. Byron Donalds (FL-19), Don Bacon (NE-02), Dusty Johnson (SD-AL), and Blake Moore (UT-01).
The legislation is supported by the American Exploration & Production Council (AXPC), American Petroleum Institute, National Oceans Industries Association (NOIA), Energy and Workforce Technology Council, and U.S. Oil and Gas Association.
“Energy Workforce & Technology Council strongly supports the Abundant American Resources Act of 2024 introduced by Chairman Newhouse and Chairman Arrington. The American people hold tremendous resources on federal lands and waters, however the data regarding the availability of these resources is often outdated and unreliable. America should have a full understanding of these resources, and the Abundant American Resources Act requires the Bureau of Land Management, the United States Forest Service and the Director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to conduct a comprehensive study to accurately assess these resources, ensuring a clear and actionable understanding of our nation's energy capacity." – Tim Tarpley, President, Energy Workforce & Technology Council
“Chairman Arrington and Newhouse’s Abundant American Resources Act of 2024 will promote accurate accounting of the nation’s vast natural resources, which is essential to the responsible exploration of federal lands and waters. Consistent and growing exploration is required to sustain production of key resources like oil, natural gas, rare earth minerals, and renewables. Recognizing the value these resources can provide to the United States will yield significant benefits in terms of good governance and public accountability, as well as help better inform policymakers’ decisions on how best to manage domestic energy and mineral resources. NOIA appreciates Chairman Arrington and Chairman Newhouse’s continued work to ensure America’s natural resources are managed and accounted for responsibly and accurately.” – Erik Milito, President, National Ocean Industries Association
“The Abundant American Resources Act is an important step towards American energy security because it would strengthen responsible federal land and resource management. I commend Budget Committee Chairman Arrington and Western Caucus Chairman Newhouse for introducing this legislation, as it would direct the federal government to conduct an updated study of onshore and offshore mineral values tied to federal leases. This legislation would benefit American taxpayers, as revenues from energy development and production opportunities informed by the study would provide revenue for the federal treasury and state coffers. AXPC supports this legislation and its goal of bolstering our economy and energy security.” – Anne Bradbury, CEO, American Exploration & Production Council
“The US Oil & Gas Association strongly supports Chairman Arrington and Newhouse’s legislation to restudy the actual value of the federal mineral estate. Given the significant technological advances over the years, we have no doubt that federal agencies will be pleasantly surprised with both the value and the volume of what is underneath our feet. It should not be so easy to unilaterally lock up millions of acres of resources with the stroke of a pen without justification. The Abundant American Resources Act will provide much needed transparency to the American public about the true mineral value of these lands.” – Tim Stewart, President, U.S. Oil and Gas Association
“Energy development on federal lands is critical to strengthening America’s energy security, powering our economy, and supporting state and local conservation efforts. We welcome the efforts of Reps. Arrington and Newhouse to ensure a balanced approach to federal land management and support this legislation to better understand the value of our nation’s abundant natural resources.” – Holly Hopkins, Vice President, Upstream Policy, American Petroleum Institute
Full text can be found here.
Background
The Biden-Harris Administration has withdrawn over 41 million acres since taking office in 2021, including:
- Illegally cancelled oil and gas leases on 1.6 million acres in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that were authorized under the Tax Cut and Jobs Act;
- Restricted future leasing on 13 million acres in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska;
- Reinstated a 20-year mining moratorium on 225,000 acres of the Superior National Forest in Northern Minnesota;
- Withdrew nearly 222,000 acres from resource extraction from the Thompson Divide in Western Colorado;
- Designated eight National Monuments totaling 4.7 million acres using the Antiquities Act;
- Issued a five-year offshore leasing plan that only includes three lease sales over the course of the program.
The Abundant American Resources Act would require a study of the economic value of these withdrawals, as well as the millions of acres of proposed or designated areas of critical environmental concern. This legislation does not require studies on National Parks, wilderness areas, National Monuments designated before the year 2000, or roadless areas.
