American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2019 - 40

BLM Moving Headquarters To Colorado
WASHINGTON-The U.S. Bureau of
Land Management is moving west.
Senator Cory Gardner, R-Co., announced July 15 that BLM was transferring
most of its Washington positions to Western states, including establishing a new
headquarters in Grand Junction, Co.
Calling the announcement "an historic
day for our nation's public lands," Gardner
says, "Ninety-nine percent of the land
BLM manages is west of the Mississippi
River, and so should be the BLM headquarters. This is a victory for local communities, advocates for public lands, and
proponents for a more responsible and
accountable federal government."
Gardner, who refers to himself as
the chief architect of the plan to move
BLM's headquarters west, says he first
raised the idea at a Senate Energy and
Natural Resources Committee hearing
in June 2016. In May 2017, Gardner introduced SB 1007, the BLM Headquarters Relocation Act, which authorized
moving the agency's headquarters to a
Western state.
In April 2018, then Interior Deputy
Secretary David Bernhardt publicly stated
BLM would move, continues Gardner,
who notes that he has "publicly and privately advocated for Grand Junction as
the agency's final home."
Now Secretary of the Interior Bernhardt
says, "A meaningful realignment of our
operations is not simply about where
functions are performed; rather, it is
rooted in how changes will better respond

to the needs of the American people.
Shifting critical leadership positions and
supporting staff to Western states-where
an overwhelming majority of federal
lands are located-is not only a better
management system, it is beneficial to
the interest of the American public."
Details Of The Move
In a letter to Senate Energy and Natural
Resources Chairman Lisa Murkowski,
R-Ak., DOI Assistant Secretary for Land
and Minerals Management Joseph Balash
says the move west:
· Delegates more responsibility to
the field;
· Maximizes services to the American
people; and
· Increases BLM's presence closer
to the resources it manages.
According to Balash, BLM evaluated
550 agency positions and determined 166
already were assigned to locations in the
field. Another 74 will be allocated to
BLM state offices under the reorganization.
"Under BLM's implementation plan,
the deputy director of policy and programs
will remain in Washington, along with 60
staff," Balash writes. "Two hundred and
twenty-two positions currently performing
in Washington will continue to accomplish
these functions based in locations throughout BLM's Western regions."
His letter indicates positions now
housed in Washington will be spread to
14 states.

The move will begin by taking 27 positions, consisting of the BLM director,
deputy director of operations, assistant
directors and selected staff, to the new
headquarters in Grand Junction, Balash
says. The remaining positions will be relocated over the next 15 months.
Considering such factors as locality
adjustment (pay) rates, and lower rent
and travel expenses, Balash estimates
BLM's payback from the reorganization
will exceed $50 million.
Scott Prestidge, director of communications and public affairs for the Colorado
Oil & Gas Association, says, "It only
makes sense to bring more of the decision
makers and employees closer to the land
they manage and closer to the westerners
whose lives and livelihoods are impacted
by their decisions."
Adds Western Energy Alliance President Kathleen Sgamma, "It is important
that BLM hear more from county commissioners, workers, ranchers and other
local citizens whose livelihoods are affected by BLM decisions. It's easy to
make decisions in Washington that curtail
economic opportunity if you don't have
to stare the displaced person in the eyes."
On the other side, House Natural Resources Chairman Paul Grijalva, D-Az.,
complains, "Putting BLM headquarters
down the road from Secretary Bernhardt's
hometown just makes it easier for special
interests to walk in the door demanding
favors without congressional oversight
or accountability."
❒

8-Inch Gathering Target For Regulation
WASHINGTON-An advisory group
has recommended the U.S. Department
of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration regulate
all gathering lines 8.625 inches in diameter
and greater, thus subjecting more rural
gathering to federal safety requirements
than PHMSA originally proposed, the
Independent Petroleum Association of
America reports.
Members of PHMSA's Gas Pipeline
Advisory Committee made the recommendation at their June 25-26 meeting, IPAA
reveals, pointing out that PHMSA initially
had proposed to regulate gathering lines
down to 12.75 inches while IPAA's Pipeline
Safety Task Force had pushed for regulating
only pipes 16.0 inches or greater.
"Members from GPAC's public sector
representing the Pipeline Safety Trust
and the Environmental Defense Fund
40 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

steered the discussion, picking up support
from state regulators on the government
sector, and even from members of the industry sector representing gas utilities
and interstate pipelines," IPAA details.
According to PHMSA's website, industry sector representatives on GPAC
are Ronald A. Bradley with PECO Energy
Company in Philadelphia, Mary Palkovich
with Consumers Energy in Jackson, Mi.,
J. Andrew Drake with Enbridge Gas
Transmission and Midstream in Houston,
Richard H. Worsinger with the city of
Rocky Mount, N.C., and Chad J. Zamarin
with The Williams Companies in Tulsa.
IPAA says GPAC voted 11-1 to recommend PHMSA consider setting "a
minimum set of requirements" for
pipelines 8.625 inches in diameter and
greater. Among those requirements, IPAA
says, are such things as damage prevention;

line markers; public awareness; leak surveys and repairs; design, installation, construction, and initial inspection and testing
for new lines; and emergency plans.
GPAC also recommended PHMSA
"ensure that composite pipe is adequately
addressed to minimize the impact of its
continued use," IPAA says.
The association points out that former
IPAA member Jonathon Airey, who serves
on GPAC's public sector, cast the lone
dissenting vote. Airey is retired from attorneys Vorys, Sater, Seymore and Pease
LP in Columbus, Oh., and was a longtime chairman of the Ohio Oil & Gas
Association's Legal Committee.
IPAA says GPAC's recommendation
goes well beyond PHMSA's proposed
scope. "PHMSA does not have to accept
SEE REGULATION PAGE 141
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