Today, Congressional Western Caucus Chairman Doug LaMalfa (CA-01) applauded passage of S.J. Res. 11 to overturn the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) rule on “Protection of Marine Archaeological Resources.” The resolution passed by a bipartisan vote of 221-202-1.
“The Biden Administration spared no creativity in their war against offshore oil and gas exploration, with no better example than the burdensome ‘Protection of Marine Archaeological Resources’ rule,” said Chairman LaMalfa. “This shipwreck of a rule mandates costly and time-consuming archaeological reports for offshore exploration plans in the Outer Continental Shelf, which accounts for nearly 15% of American oil production. This will unnecessarily deter investment and future production of our abundant offshore resources. The Congressional Western Caucus supports encouraging American energy production and I am glad to support this resolution to expand resource exploration.”
The rule replaced a flexible, risk-based approach to archaeological reporting in high-probability zones with a universal mandate applying even in areas with no known archaeological risk.
