BILLINGS – American Indian leaders on Thursday asked Congress to streamline the development of energy projects on tribal lands by curbing some federal oversight and providing incentives for companies to strike deals with reservations.
Reservations from Oklahoma to Montana and Alaska sit atop large amounts of oil, natural gas and coal. Others in wind-swept regions of the Northern Plains and on the West Coast have huge renewable energy potential.
But existing government rules make it easier for energy companies to pursue projects on non-tribal land, some members of Congress and tribal leaders say. As a result, tribes often miss out on the chance to develop their natural resources.
“Tribes in some of the poorest counties in America have vast renewable energy resources that can help them overcome poverty,” said Joe Garcia, Chairman of the All Indian Pueblo Council of New Mexico.
Garcia and other tribal representatives want the Senate Indian Affairs Committee to intervene through legislation proposed by Sen. Byron Dorgan, the North Dakota Democrat who chairs the committee.
The tribes want to eliminate federal drilling fees, pare down the Interior Department’s bureaucracy, and shield tribes from state and local taxes on energy projects.
Dorgan’s bill has yet to be introduced.
The tribal leaders’ requests were welcomed Thursday by both Democrats and Republicans.
“Energy development means jobs,” said Sen. John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican. “It means income for families. It means paying the heating bill.”
Nationwide, energy royalties paid to tribes through the federal government totaled more than $334 million in 2008, the most recent year with figures available. That was down sharply from 2007, driven largely by a drop in oil and gas prices.
More than 2 million acres of tribal land have been developed for oil, gas and coal, according to the government. Estimates show 15 million acres more have the same potential, with additional land suited for wind, solar and other renewable energy projects.
In 2005, Congress tried to promote development by making it easier for tribes to enter agreements with private companies.
Witnesses at Thursday’s hearings said those changes weren’t enough. They also criticized changes instituted since 2005, such as a $4,000 fee for drilling on public lands — including reservations, which are held in federal trust.
Past efforts to roll back that fee nationwide met with strong opposition from environmental groups. Yet Alexis Bonogofsky, tribal lands coordinator for the National Wildlife Federation, said her group would give the issue wide berth if reservations were involved.
“We would rather tribes pursue renewable forms of energy,” Bonogofsky said. “In terms of the traditional fossil fuel industry, it’s up to each tribe to decide what they want to do. We put tribal sovereignty over everything we do.”