“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.”

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, today introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) joint resolution of disapproval to reverse the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) rule that targets oil and gas production on the outer continental shelf.

On Sept. 3, 2024, the Biden administration published its rule requiring all new oil and gas leaseholders on the outer continental shelf to submit an archeological report to the BOEM before production can begin. The rule burdens lessees with conducting costly surveys for marine archaeological resources, such as shipwrecks or “cultural resources.”

Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) joined the resolution.

“The Biden administration was in hyperdrive to finalize regulatory strangleholds on U.S. oil and gas production, one of which is this BOEM cultural survey requirement. With the new Congress, I truly hope we can effectively use the Congressional Review Act to overturn this Biden rule and return some commonsense to our nation’s energy policies,” said Hyde-Smith.

Previously, the BOEM regional director only required leaseholders to issue an archeological report if a project had the potential to impact archeological resources. The Biden administration’s rule, which went into effect on Oct. 3, 2024, now requires all new oil and gas leaseholders to conduct reports. Existing leaseholders on the outer continental shelf have 11 months to comply with the regulation.

Kennedy’s resolution to reverse the Biden administration’s rule would help make sure that BOEM does not handicap oil and gas producers’ ability to provide affordable energy to Americans.

Text of the resolution is available here.