American Geological Institute Home PageNeil Abercrombie (D-HI) stated that the bill was in response to a move by the Administration to eliminate MMS, and now that that proposal had been negated, there was no need to create a new federal agency.
Cynthia Quarterman, Director of MMS testified as to the accomplishments of MMS over the past three years citing new procedures, quicker collections, simplified reporting, and the plan to place all environmental studies performed by MMS on the Internet by the end of the year. She further described the close cooperation with the coastal States in supplying sand and gravel for beach restoration projects. In response to questions from subcommittee members, Director Quarterman expressed no position as to the need for Congress to formally establish MMS, or in relation to H.R. 1975 (Royalty Simplification and Fairness Act). She could not confirm whether or not the Department of the Interior was preparing an executive order duplicating H.R. 1975.
Congressman Abercrombie objected to the questions being posed by the Chairman about H.R. 1975, when the hearing subject was H.R. 1813.
Subcommittee members Helen Chenoweth (R-ID) and Barbara Cubin (R-WY) questioned the Director about the two very different perceptions about the MMS offshore regulatory program and the onshore royalty management program. Quarterman responded that the issue of money was always contentious.
Robert Sleet representing Global Marine Inc. testified in support of formalizing MMS and praised the MMS offshore regulatory operation. He argued that single projects with costs over a billion dollars should involve Congress and not be solely subject to Department of the Interior decision-making.
Robert Stewart of the National Ocean Industries Association supported the passage of H.R. 1813 and the offshore operations of MMS, stating that the agency was too important to the oil and gas industry to be potentially subject to eradication by the stroke of the Secretary of the Interior's pen.
Diemer True of the True Companies opposed passage of H.R. 1813, and suggested Congress investigate the royalty management operations of MMS. He contended that the agency was doing a poor job in royalty matters, and that those responsibilities should be transferred to the States.
Bob Jordan, Delaware State Geologist, representing the Association of American State Geologists, AGI, and the Department of the Interior's OCS Policy Committee testified as to the desirability of having Congress institute MMS to provide a stable keel for an important agency. He further expressed the chaotic condition that existed prior to 1982 when MMS responsibilities were divided among several organizations. In response to questions from the subcommittee, Jordan related that his experience was confined to the OCS operations of MMS and not to royalty collections on federal lands, since Delaware has no federal lands.
(Submitted by John Dragonetti, AGI Government Affairs)
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