The
Western Organization of Resource Councils, a coalition that includes Native advocate groups, is suing the Trump administration over an advisory committee they say is stacked in favor of the energy industry.
Secretary Ryan Zinke
revived the
Royalty Policy Committee at the
Department of the Interior and appointed
four tribal representatives and four tribal alternates to the body. The lawsuit claims the group, which also includes representatives of state governments and the energy industry, has violated federal law by meeting in secret and by failing to include the public in discussions.
“Energy companies have a bad habit of cheating on their taxes and royalties when they can get away with it, but now the federal government wants to cut them a sweetheart deal and bring it out into the open through this committee,” Steve Charter, a rancher from Montana -- Secretary Zinke's home state -- who serves on the WORC board, said in a
press release on Tuesday.
The WORC board also includes Lisa DeVille, an activist from the
Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara
Nation who represents the Dakota Resource Council, as well as
two members of
Western Native Voice.
The
Royalty Policy Committee has met four times since 2017, with the most recent one taking place August 6 in New Mexico. According to
Interior documents, the group recommended Secretary Zinke provide additional guidance on
tribal energy resource agreements, or TERAs, in order to encourage more involvement in the "unsuccessful" program -- since Congress created the program in 2005, no tribe has sought to exercise greater control of their trust assets due to concerns about the federal trust responsibility.
Future meetings are being planned in Colorado and Arizona but the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Montana, seeks a halt to the committee's activities in order to become compliant with federal law.
The Royalty Policy Committee was previously known as the State and Tribal Royalty Audit
Committee and tribes viewed it as another way to offer input and engage in
oversight of decisions affecting their trust assets. In some cases, tribes were
able to address
underpayment
issues on their lands because they had access to federal reports and audits.
Read More on the Story:
Conservation Group Sues Over Fossil Fuel Royalties Committee
(Montana Public Radio August 7, 2018)
Ryan Zinke Sued Over ‘Stacked’ U.S. Panel on Oil, Gas, Coal Royalties
(Bloomberg August 7, 2018)
Group says US energy panel stacked with industry supporters
(The Associated Press August 8, 2018)
Lawsuit: Interior Department cheating Montana out of coal, oil & gas royalties
(Courthouse News August 8, 2018)
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