02/05/2023 at 09:30AM
The purpose of this hearing is to examine the President’s budget request for the U.S. Department of the Interior for Fiscal Year 2024.
Witnesses:
- Deb Haaland, Secretary, Department of the Interior
- Tommy Beaudreau, Deputy Secretary, Department of the Interior
- Denise Flanagan, Budget Director, Department of the Interior
The Department’s 2024 budget totals $18.9 billion in current authority ($18.3 billion in net discretionary authority)—an increase of $2.0 billion, or 12 percent, from the 2023 enacted budget.
The budget for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management provides $72.3 million for conventional energy programs to support OCS planning, leasing, and oversight.
The 2024 budget for the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement includes $217.1 million for conventional energy programs to support OCS permit application reviews, regulation and standard development for offshore activities, verification and enforcement of operator compliance with all applicable environmental laws and regulations, technical reviews of planned operations and emerging technologies to properly identify and mitigate risks, a robust inspection program employing an annual inspection strategy that includes risk-based inspections, and incident investigations. BSEE’s budget also includes $30.0 million to fund the decommissioning of orphaned offshore oil and gas infrastructure.
The 2024 budget includes $123.5 million for the Bureau of Land Management’s Oil and Gas Management program, an increase of $10.6 million from the 2023 enacted amount. The BLM budget also includes $51.0 million for Oil and Gas Inspection Activities and proposes to offset the cost of this program through the establishment of onshore inspection fees.
The 2024 BOEM budget includes $6.6 million in Conventional Energy and $2.3 million in Environmental Programs to establish a dedicated team, train existing staff, hire additional specialized experts, and fund environmental studies, scientific research, data collection, and other activities critical to the establishment and implementation of the new program. The 2024 BSEE budget includes $1.5 million to prepare for regulating and overseeing safe and effective offshore carbon sequestration activities. The budget includes $3.4 million to start an onshore carbon sequestration program in BLM.