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Tag: Energy / Natural Resources

Montana’s Senators Work to Improve Access to Montana’s Outdoors

June 5, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In honor of the upcoming National Trails Day, Montana Senators Steve Daines and Jon Tester are working to improve maintenance of Montana’s National Forest trails. Daines and Tester have signed onto S.1110, the National Forest System Trails Stewardship Act of 2015, which would ensure existing Forest Service resources are better used to maintain National Forest trails. It would also significantly increase the role of volunteers and local partners in maintaining the usability and sustainability of the National Forest trail system. “Montana has a rich outdoor heritage that is critical to our state’s economy and our way of

Daines Statement on EPA Study Confirming Safety of Hydraulic Fracturing

June 4, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Steve Daines today released the following statement in response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) draft assessment concluding that hydraulic fracturing has not led to “widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources.” “The EPA assessment reflects what Montanans have long known: hydraulic fracturing is a safe and effective way to access Montana’s vast energy resources. The federal government needs to step back and allow states to take the lead in regulating hydraulic fracturing.” ###

Daines Statement on BLM and USFS’s Greater Sage-Grouse Plan

May 28, 2015

“Obama Administration’s Land Use Plans Are One-Size-Fits-None” WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Steve Daines today expressed his deep concerns about the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service’s (USFS) newly released federal plan to manage the greater sage-grouse habitat. “We can’t protect the greater sage-grouse in a checkerboard-like fashion — after all, the bird can’t tell the difference between federal, state and private lands. I have serious concerns that the Obama administration’s land-use plans will have a detrimental impact on Montana’s economy, our land users and Montanans’ way of life. It’s the people of Montana, not federal bureaucrats

Daines Slams EPA Waters of the U.S. Power Grab

May 27, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Steve Daines today slammed the newly released Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) “Waters of the United States” rule as a direct threat to Montana’s agriculture and natural resources industries, jobs and water rights: “Once again, the Obama administration is pushing forward its extreme agenda with little regard for its devastating impacts on Montanans. By expanding the EPA’s powers to regulate virtually any spot across the country that is occasionally wet, this new rule has the potential to cripple Montana’s agriculture and natural resources industries, hurt Montana jobs and threaten Montanans’ property rights. Montanans who live and work

Helena Independent Record: Capital High seniors build custom fly rods for charity

May 27, 2015

Glancing back over his shoulder at 15 gleaming fly rods, Capital High senior Kreston Stevens told the crowd assembled in the machining shop Tuesday evening that he and the five other rod builders had learned more than just job skills. “We’ve been part of some really great, amazing projects, but by far this project has outdone anything we’ve ever done both in complexity and meaning,” he said. The fly rods built by the Capital High machining program will go to Big Hearts Under the Big Sky, a charity dedicated to taking veterans, children with life threatening illnesses and women recovering

Daines’ Bills to Expand Montana Hydropower Receive First Committee Hearing

May 19, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Steve Daines bills to ensure the completion of two hydroelectric facilities in Montana received their first Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing today. Daines’ bills provide for the reinstatement and three-year extension of a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) license for Clark Canyon Dam Hydro Project in Dillon, Montana and a six-year extension of the FERC license for the Gibson Dam Hydro Project near Augusta, Montana. “Hydropower is an important aspect of an all-of-the-above energy mix,” Daines stated. “These two pieces of legislation will allow construction of two important Montana hydro projects.” Daines is a

KMMS: Daines Introduces Bill to Roll Back EPA Regs Read More: Daines Introduces Bill to Roll Back EPA Regs

May 19, 2015

Senator Steve Daines recently joined a bipartisan group of senators to introduce legislation that ensures Montanans have access to affordable energy and protects good-paying coal jobs. “The Obama administration’s war on American energy is a war on American families and a war on American jobs,” Daines stated. “This commonsense, bipartisan legislation will protect good-paying union jobs, our tribes’ ability to develop their energy resources and Montana families’ access to affordable and reliable energy from the EPA’s misguided, one-size-fits-none regulations.” The Affordable Reliable Energy Now Act (ARENA): Prevents mandates for unproven technology: Before EPA can set a technology-based standard for new

Montana Senators Introduce Bill to Make Indian Coal Production Tax Credit Permanent

May 18, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Montana Senators Steve Daines and Jon Tester today introduced legislation to permanently extend the Indian Coal Production Tax Credit (ICPTC). The ICPTC provides a crucial tax incentive to level the playing field for future development of the tribal coal resources that are currently subject to more regulatory requirements than comparable development on private, state or federal lands. The credit protects the economic viability of existing tribal coal mining projects, which support much-needed tribal jobs and provide a major source of non-Federal revenue for coal-producing tribes. “The Indian Coal Production Tax Credit is an essential tool in Montana

Daines Introduces Bill to Roll Back EPA Regs

May 13, 2015

“A War on Coal is a War on the Crow People” WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Steve Daines today joined a bipartisan group of Senators to introduce legislation that ensures Montanans have access to affordable energy and protects good-paying coal jobs. Daines is an original cosponsor of The Affordable Reliable Energy Now Act (ARENA), which holds the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) accountable and protects states’ rights by requiring the EPA to demonstrate how their proposed regulations could impact each state. This legislation preempts the EPA’s proposed Clean Power Plan, set to be released this summer, which could shutter Montana’s coal-fired power

Daines Statement on BBER Study on Timber Sale Litigation

May 7, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Steve Daines today released the following statement on the University of Montana’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research’s (BBER) study examining the costs and impacts associated with litigation of U.S. Forest Service timber sales in the Northern Region. “This eye-opening study confirms what we long suspected: Litigation against commonsense timber projects is having far-reaching, damaging impacts on Montana jobs, access to recreation and our environment,” Daines stated. “It is unacceptable that mills in Montana have to go far outside of our state to get logs, largely because 40 to 50 percent of the timber sale volume