The American Energy Alliance (AEA) recently spoke out against permanent reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which is being considered as Senate and House leaders work to reconcile their two energy bills.
A joint House and Senate committee currently is working toward a conference agreement that hammers out differences between H.R. 8
and S. 2012.
While the bills cover energy issues ranging from infrastructure and permitting reform to security and efficiency, the AEA expects LWCF reauthorization to be a sticking point in negotiations. The LWCF diverts funding from offshore drilling royalties to federal land-acquisition projects. It was reauthorized for three years during the fiscal 2016 Omnibus negotiations, and the Senate energy bill would permanently reauthorize it.
The AEA supports the House bill, which does not reauthorize the LWCF, as the alliance believes that the fund’s management is inefficient. The AEA cites returns on state trust lands for Montana, Idaho, New Mexico and Arizona, averaging $14.51 per dollar spent, as evidence that the federal lands, losing an average of 27 cents per dollar spent, are mismanaged.
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