Mick Thomas

Division Administrator, Oil & Gas

Secretary to the Oil & Gas Conservation Commission

This update was sent to the Commission on Saturday, January 11.

Current Items:
Trip to D.C.
2020 Legislative Session
News Article(s) of Interest

Trip to D.C.
This past week I was in Washington D.C. on behalf of the Groundwater Protection Council. During this trip I met with Idaho Senators Jim Risch and Mike Crapo as well as Representative Russ Fulcher and the office of Representative Mike Simpson.
We also met with senators and representatives from North Dakota, Oklahoma and Alabama along with numerous staffers and committees.
These Q&A sessions focused on the current status of the mineral and oil & gas industries in Idaho, as well as what steps Idaho has taken to ensure the transparency of ground water data associated with oil & gas.
Senator Crapo and Representative Fulcher were particularly interested in the future of the field. Idaho continues to be among the most transparent states regarding oil & gas operations.

2020 Legislative Session
The 2020 Legislative Session is underway. Deputy Director David Groeschl will present the Idaho Department of Lands Omnibus Rulemaking which includes the IDAPA 20.07.02 Oil and Gas Rules.
These rules can be viewed on the administrative rules page at https://adminrules.idaho.gov/bulletin/index.html.
I will keep the Commission updated as new information is available.

News Article(s) of Interest
Whitehouse announces intent to overhaul 40 year old environmental review process:
https://www.deseret.com/utah/2020/1/9/21058809/trump-white-house-sweeping-overhaul-of-environmental-reviews

Trump takes steps to update NEPA as a result of ongoing research (PDF)

American Petroleum Institute leads the way in modernizing the industry’s brand (PDF)

Oil market to remain static in 2020:

U.S. continues withdrawal process from Paris Climate Accord. The Accord has allowed a record increase of 1.6 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere since it was ratified:
https://www.worldoil.com/magazine/2019/december-2019/columns/oil-and-gas-in-the-capitals#.XgoMJ8dEWXc.linkedin