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The Senate on Tuesday voted to cancel a rule promulgated by the Biden administration requiring oil and gas lessees and operators to submit archaeological reports for exploration or development on the Outer Continental Shelf.
Senators voted 54-44 to overturn the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s Protection of Marine Archaeological Resources rule. Republicans argued that the rule blocks domestic energy production, weakens energy independence, and burdens lessees with costly surveys.
“By handcuffing Louisiana and America’s energy production, Pres. Biden hurt our national security and sent prices soaring. Congress must act quickly to reverse his lame-duck move to burden oil and gas producers with even more regulations,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), who sponsored the bill, said earlier this month.
The regulation was part of the list of rules implemented by the Biden administration that Republicans said they would target using a special legislative process.
Kennedy reversed the rule using the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to bypass the filibuster and take a simple majority vote in the House and Senate to overturn recently implemented rules. The process expedites votes and pushes all members to vote on the record. The agency cannot propose a similar rule once it is overturned by Congress.
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The Democrats who voted to repeal the rule were Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV).
House Republicans are expected to vote this week to reverse an Environmental Protection Agency rule that imposes a fee on oil and gas facilities that exceed specific methane emissions thresholds. The House lawmakers will also look to undo a Department of Energy rule requiring a minimum efficiency level for gas-powered tankless water heaters.