WASHINGTON, D.C. – The House Committee on Natural Resources held a hearing Thursday to examine deficiencies in transparency in the Department of the Interior.
Led by chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., the hearing focused on key environmental issues that the committee says lack transparency in their regulatory processes, including fracking and other natural gas production.
“When reviewing the seemingly infinite mass of regulations that the Department of the Interior has put forward over the past several years, we have seen a failure to adhere to these sound principles of transparency,” Lamborn said in his opening statement.
The committee heard testimony from five expert witnesses from the private sector. A witness from the department was not present.
The discussion included how difficult it is to receive accurate and timely data on issues in the department’s jurisdiction, including the Aug. 5, 2015, Gold King Mine spill.
“In trying to understand how the EPA perpetuated one of the worst spills on federal lands, the documents sent to our committee by the department were redacted as if they contained nuclear missile codes,” Lamborn said. “Getting accurate data on permitting timelines has taken months and still are not accurate.”
One of the witnesses, Kathleen Sgamma, vice president of government and public affairs for the Western Energy Alliance, testified about multiple problems with department-reported data related to oil and gas, including inconsistently reported data and officials focusing more on covering political mistakes than on putting out good information.
“The data is key to the public to understanding oil and gas operations on federal lands,” Sgamma said.
The subcommittee will hold a second oversight hearing of the Department of the Interior next week, focusing on corruption in the department.
Kate Magill is a student at American University in Washington, D.C., and an intern with The Durango Herald.