After Zinke Closed Door Meeting with NJ Republicans on Offshore Drilling, Pallone asks for Meeting with Democrats

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 26, 2018


Washington, DC - Today, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) called on Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to meet with New Jersey Democratic Members of Congress about the Trump administration’s sweeping offshore drilling plan that has received bipartisan criticism across the state. The request comes after Secretary Zinke met with Republican members of the New Jersey Congressional delegation without extending an invitation to Democrats. Pallone also asked Zinke to respond to to his letter asking the Interior Secretary to come to New Jersey and meet with citizens who would be affected by offshore drilling.

“While it appears that Secretary Zinke made certain promises to NJ Republicans, we need greater transparency and clarity when it comes to the Trump administration’s plans for offshore drilling,” said Pallone. “The administration’s environmental record has been a disaster and vague statements made behind closed doors will do little to ease the fears of New Jerseyans over offshore drilling.”

The text of the letter can be found below and the letter is also attached.

March 26, 2018

The Honorable Ryan Zinke
Secretary
United States Department of the Interior
1849 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20240


Dear Secretary Zinke:

I write to request that you meet with the New Jersey’s Congressional Democrats to outline the Administration’s plans for implementing the 2019-2024 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Draft Proposed Program.

According to multiple media reports, you met with Republican members of the New Jersey Congressional delegation on February 27th to discuss the Administration’s offshore leasing plans. The New Jersey Congressional Delegation is unified in its opposition to the Administration’s proposed OCS leasing program and all members would benefit from greater insight into your thinking. A frank and direct conversation on this important matter will promote transparency and help ensure the voices of those we represent are heard by the Administration, and I urge you to work expeditiously to schedule a meeting to discuss this issue with the Democratic members of the delegation.

On a related note, I would like to follow up with you regarding a January 11, 2018 invitation to personally visit New Jersey to meet with the Governor, lawmakers, and constituents who would be impacted by the 2019-2024 OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Draft Proposed Program. I have not received a response from your office on this matter. As you know, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management held a public meeting in New Jersey on February 14, 2018. While constituents from across the state came to voice their opposition to the OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2019-2024, there was no opportunity to submit verbal testimony. In light of the large scope of the proposed program and the tremendous local risks associated with the program, I again ask that you schedule a Secretarial visit and afford the people of New Jersey the opportunity to share their views at your earliest convenience.

Thank you for your consideration of these requests. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,




FRANK PALLONE, JR.
Member of Congress

Pallone & Grijalva: Trump’s Offshore Drilling May Have Disastrous Consequences

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 2, 2017



Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06), the Ranking Member on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-03), the Ranking Member on the Natural Resources Committee, sent a letter to Department of Interior (DOI) Secretary Ryan Zinke today expressing concerns over President Trump’s executive order instructing DOI to consider new oil and gas leasing for offshore drilling in federal waters in the Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic Ocean. Trump’s executive order, which he signed on Friday, could open areas of the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans where offshore drilling is currently banned.

“This executive order is the latest in a series of ill-advised actions by the Trump Administration that favor corporate interests over the safety of the environment and our communities,” Pallone and Grijalva wrote to Secretary Zinke. “We believe the review of the leasing program lays the groundwork to eventually weaken key safety regulations that help prevent oil spill disasters, while simultaneously introducing drilling to ocean areas currently off-limits. In doing so, this action greatly increases the threat of a devastating oil spill to these critical and irreplaceable marine ecosystems and puts at risk billions of dollars in states’ tourism revenue.”

The two Committee Ranking Members stressed that the executive order overlooks the irrevocable and widespread harm that oil and gas disasters have had on our nation’s rich and productive marine ecosystems. They pointed to the fact that areas currently closed for Atlantic and Arctic drilling serve as habitat to endangered species and major biodiversity hotspots critical to fisheries, tourism and communities that depend on them.

Pallone and Grijalva wrote that before considering opening new areas for develop, DOI should require oil and gas companies to use existing leases and opportunities in areas open to drilling. For example, oil and gas companies hold leases on approximately 16 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico, but have developed only about 26 percent of that acreage.

In their letter to Secretary Zinke the Democrats ask for information, documents, and answers to several questions relating to DOI’s review of the offshore leasing plan, including:

· Please provide all risk assessments and analysis undertaken to determine how lifting the ban on drilling in these areas would not adversely affect fragile ecosystems or damage fishing, restaurant, or tourism interests.
· What additional actions or plans does the Department intend to take to protect coastal communities from the possibility of another catastrophic oil spill?
· How would President Trump’s proposed DOI budget cuts affect the ability of the Department to draft a new 5-year plan, while administering an even greater number of oil and gas leases?

A copy of the letter is available here.

Leg Up for New Jersey Workers

From the E-Newsletter of Congressman Rush Holt: 

Many of the federal government’s most useful tools to address the needs of people who have lost their jobs come from the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), the primary federal program that supports job training. Last week I invited our nation’s top WIA official, Assistant Secretary of Labor Jane Oates, to meet with more than a dozen officials from New Jersey’s county job training boards to find ways to put more people back to work.

Congressman Rush Holt

Enacted in 1998, WIA created a single, universal employment and job training system – the one-stop career system – to serve the needs of all job seekers and employers. Today there are roughly 3,000 one-stop centers operating nationwide, serving millions of U.S. workers every year. Unfortunately, although WIA’s initial passage was bipartisan, its much-needed reauthorization has come under partisan attack in Washington.

The WIA bill put forth by the Tea Party majority, which could be debated in the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce as early as next week, slashes workforce investment under the guise of improving it. The bill would effectively eliminate many programs, and it would freeze WIA funding at a time when unemployment remains far too high. The result would be reduced services to the lowest-skilled adults, English language learners, people with disabilities, youth, women, and other individuals with barriers to employment.

We should be modernizing and WIA for the 21st century. I am a cosponsor of an alternative bill that would streamline and improve workforce investment system programs, strengthen workforce investment system accountability, and promote innovation and best practices within the workforce investment system. The bill also includes provisions I wrote to support online job training and to recognize and enhance the job training services that libraries provide.

Even now, 12.5 million Americans are striving to find work but proving unable to do so – often for no fault of their own. Our economy’s future depends upon us doing everything we can to help.

Extended Opportunity to Comment on Seismic Surveys near New Jersey’s Coast

The Interior Department announced this week that, because of concerns that I and others raised at a recent Congressional hearing, it has extended the comment period for its proposal to conduct seismic surveys in the mid- and south Atlantic.

Seismic surveys, which are the first step toward offshore drilling, involve using airguns to blast the ocean with extremely loud sound waves – potentially loud enough to damage wildlife and disrupt the local fishing and tourism economies.

The original, brief comment period seemed to be a form of box-checking, a way to say that public opinion had been sought without providing stakeholders enough time to comment intelligently. This extension demonstrates that the Interior Department is being more responsive to the concerns of the public. I will continue to oppose drilling off of our coast.

Free Annual Pass to National Parks for Military Personnel

One of many ways that the U.S. recognizes the service of our soldiers is by offering free admission to many of our nation’s most extraordinary parks and wilderness areas.

Active-duty U.S. military personnel and their dependents are eligible for a free annual pass that covers entrance and standard amenity fees to lands managed by the National Park Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Bureau of Reclamation.

You can acquire your pass by presenting your U.S. military ID or Dependent ID Form at most federal lands that charge an entrance fee. A list of these sites is available online, as is further information on the free military annual pass program.

Sincerely,

Rush Holt
Member of Congress

Congressman Pallone Praises Interior Department Decision to allow more Public Input on Seismic Testing in the Atlantic Ocean

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, May 31, 2012

Opposes seismic testing as it potentially opens the Atlantic coast to offshore drilling

WASHINGTON, DC –Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) applauded the announcement yesterday by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to extend the opportunity for the public to comment and have input on upcoming seismic testing for oil exploration off the Atlantic Coast. Congressman Pallone requested that the Interior Department extend the public comment period during his questioning of BOEM Director Tommy Beaudreau at a Natural Resources Committee hearing on May 9.


The Department of Interior announced its decision to begin seismic testing off the coast of the Mid and South Atlantic in March, potentially opening up the Atlantic Ocean to offshore drilling. New Jersey is strongly dependent on a healthy coastline for its economic vitality. New Jersey’s beach and ocean environment generates $38 billion per year in economic activity and supports nearly 500,000 jobs.


“An environmentally sound coast-line is critical to New Jersey’s economy, and seismic testing in the Atlantic is a first step toward oil drilling off the coast,” said Pallone. “I remain absolutely opposed to oil drilling off the Atlantic Coast and believe that the public should have ample opportunity to have a say in the process. I’m, pleased with the decision of the Bureau of Ocean Management to extend the public comment period, giving New Jersey residents more time to have their voices heard.”


At an April 27th Department of Interior public listening session in Atlantic City, NJ on the process leading to seismic testing, Congressman Pallone submitted a statement voicing his opposition to oil drilling off the Atlantic Coast and urged the Department to focus on U.S. energy independence through renewable sources such as wind and solar power.


“I am confident that this extended comment period will yield further information to the Department of Interior, demonstrating why it is so important that seismic testing off the Atlantic Coast not proceed,” said Pallone. “I call on the Department to increase its public outreach to potentially impacted communities and to look toward other solutions to ensure American energy independence.”

Pallone Urges Interior Department to Halt Plans to Move Forward with Offshore Oil Drilling Testing Plan

For Immediate Release:
May 9th, 2012

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, Wednesday, May 09, 2012, at a hearing of the House Committee on Natural Resources, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) questioned the Department of Interior’s Director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Tommy Beaudreau about the Administration’s decision to allow new seismic testing for oil exploration off the Atlantic coast.

Congressman Pallone voiced his opposition to the Administration’s decision to begin seismic testing, a first step toward a plan to drill off the coast of the Atlantic Ocean for oil. The Department of Interior announced in March that it would begin the process.

“I am totally opposed to offshore drilling off the Atlantic Coast. My opposition includes any preparatory steps including seismic testing in our waters off the Atlantic Coast,” Congressman Pallone said in his opening statement. “The time and resources that the Department of Interior is allocating to seismic testing could be better used on higher priorities that will allow us to move away from dirty fuels and faster achieve U.S. energy independence through renewable sources such as wind and solar power.”

Citing the importance and environmental sensitivity of New Jersey’s coastline, which generates $38 billion per year in economic activity and supports nearly 500,000 jobs, Pallone urged the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to consider renewable alternatives and to head the lessons leaned from Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Additionally, Pallone asked Beaudreau for more information about the cost of seismic testing and urged the Bureau to allow more time for a public review comment period to let New Jersey residents have their opinions considered as the process moves forward.

“The Department of Interior must halt this process and reconsider its priorities in ensuring American energy independence,” said Pallone. “Recently, the Department of Interior held a public listening session in Atlantic City, NJ on the process leading to seismic testing. Local environmental organizations, fishermen, divers and people from all backgrounds were there to oppose this decision; I call on the Department to earnestly listen to their concerns and opposition.”

Congressman Pallone Statement to Interior Department Opposing Testing for Atlantic Offshore Drilling

For Immediate Release:

April 27, 2012

Atlantic City, NJ – Congressman Frank Pallone submitted the following statement for the Department of Interior Public Hearing in Atlantic City, NJ on Programmatic Environmental Impact Study on Seismic Testing in the Atlantic Ocean:

Thank you for having this having this public hearing.  I am in Washington, DC voting today and therefore could not appear personally.  I am glad that the public has this opportunity to inform and shape how the Department of Interior proceeds on the important issue of offshore drilling. 

I am totally opposed to offshore drilling off the Atlantic Coast.  My opposition includes any preparatory steps including seismic testing in our waters off the AtlanticCoast.  The time and resources that the Department of Interior is allocating to seismic testing could be better used on higher priorities that will allow us to move away from dirty fuels and faster achieve U.S. energy independence through renewables such as wind and solar power. 

We all know how important New Jersey's beaches are, not only to residents of our state, but also for countless visitors.  Our beaches are a tremendous resource for those who come here to enjoy them, and they are a huge economic engine for our state.  They're the primary driver of a tourism economy that supports nearly 500,000 jobs and generates $38 billion in economic activities for the state each year.

Seismic testing is the first step in the direction of opening up the Atlantic coast to oil drilling.  Most drilling off the Atlantic coast would be deepwater drilling just like Deepwater Horizon.  Yet in the two years since the BP spill none of the proposals recommended by the National Commission on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling have been put in place.  There have been no improvements in worker safety regulations that will help ensure that another blow out will not cost 11 human lives.  We need increased environmental review and planning that will ensure valuable fishing grounds and other ecological assets are not destroyed in the event of an oil leak. 

The Department of Interior must halt this process and reconsider its priorities in ensuring American energy independence.  The process you are embarking on will have severe consequences on our ocean environment, beaches, marine resources, and coastal economies in the short term and long term.  Thank you for listening to my comments and I encourage you to fully consider the public’s input here today.