WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today led the Senate in passing a Congressional Review Act (CRA) joint resolution of disapproval to reverse the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) rule that targeted oil and gas production in the outer continental shelf. Kennedy’s resolution passed with bipartisan support and now moves to the House of Representatives for consideration.

Kennedy explained in a speech on the Senate floor that the Biden administration’s rule places an immense burden on small oil and natural gas producers by forcing them to map the ocean floor in search of shipwrecks before they could begin production.

Key excerpts of the speech are below:

“We've surveyed the entire Gulf of America in the 87 years since we started drilling there. We have surveyed 311,652 square nautical miles—the surface area of Texas and California put together. That's how we found 4,000 shipwrecks, and it's cost hundreds of hundreds of millions of dollars. So, we know what's there.”

“Well, in Sept. 2024, the Department of Interior—in a midnight regulation in an effort to try to further hurt fossil fuels—passed a new rule, and they said, ‘Look, we know we’ve surveyed the entire Gulf . . . but every time you drill a new well, we want you to survey again.’ Why? I mean, what's the benefit?”

. . .

“So, I’m going to try to kill the regulation today under what—as you know, Mr. President—is called the Congressional Review Act. . . . I realize that common sense, as I’ve said before, is illegal in Washington. This is not a normal place, but I hope folks who still have common sense will vote to get rid of this foolish rule.”

Background:

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

• This rule replaces BOEM’s long-standing policy of requiring oil and gas operators to conduct archaeological surveys only when there was a “reason to believe” that an archaeological resource may be present. 

• The Biden administration admitted that this rule would harm small oil and gas producers most, writing, “100 percent of the increased Gulf of [America] compliance cost . . . would be borne by operators that are small entities.” Small and independent operators account for one-third of all oil production in the Gulf of America.

• On Feb. 4, 2025, Kennedy introduced his CRA joint resolution of disapproval to repeal the rule. This is one of more than 225 harmful regulations that the Biden administration levied against the oil and natural gas industry.

Watch Kennedy’s full speech here.