United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

The Committee on Public Lands was created in 1816 during the 14th Congress chaired by senator Jeremiah Morrow. In its early years, it managed the settlement of the recently purchased Missouri Territory. Over time, the committee oversaw the western expansion of the United States, including the Texas annexation, the Oregon Treaty, the Mexican Cession, and the Gadsden Purchase. The Homestead Act of 1860, which would have benefited western settlers and migrants, was a result of jurisdiction of the Public Lands Committee.

In 1849, the Department of the Interior was established, with the Public Lands Committee serving as legislative oversight. The committee became responsible for enacting legislation to conserve nature and its resources. Due to the actions of the committee, Congress began working towards preservation of forests, wilderness, and historical landmarks with the signing of the Antiquities Act in 1906 and the establishment of the National Park Service in 1916.

The committee has gone under a number of name changes, but the functions and policy have remained similar to its creation. In 1921, the committee merged with the Committee on Geological Surveys to become the Committee of Public Lands and Surveys. Following the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, it became the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, absorbing the jurisdiction of the Indian Affairs, Territorial and Insular Affairs, Mines and Mining, and Irrigation and Reclamation committees. Its most recent iteration, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, was established on February 4, 1977 after the Committee System Reorganization Amendments of 1977.[1]

In accordance of Rule XXV of the United States Senate, all proposed legislation, messages, petitions, memorials, and other matters relating to the following subjects is referred to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources:

1. Coal production, distribution, and utilization;
2. Energy policy;
3. Energy regulation and conservation;
4. Energy related aspects of deepwater ports;
5. Energy research and development;
6. Extraction of minerals from oceans and Outer Continental Shelf lands;
7. Hydroelectric power, irrigation, and reclamation;
8. Mining education and research;
9. Mining, mineral lands, mining claims, and mineral conservation;
10. National parks, recreation areas, wilderness areas, wild and scenic rivers, historical sites, military parks and battlefields, and on the public domain, preservation of prehistoric ruins and objects of interest;
11. Naval petroleum reserves in Alaska;
12. Nonmilitary development of nuclear energy;
13. Oil and gas production and distribution;
14. Public lands and forests, including farming and grazing thereon, and mineral extraction therefrom;
15. Solar energy systems; and,
16. Territorial possessions of the United States, including trusteeships.

The Committee is also charged to "study and review, on a comprehensive basis, matters relating to energy and resources development, and report thereon from time to time."[2]

The Energy Committee has four subcommittees:

• List of current United States Senate committees
• The United States House Committee on Public Lands, was a predecessor of the United States House Committee on Resources

• Official Committee Website (Archive)
• Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee – Legislation activity and reports, Congress.gov