Obama administration says oil permits slow because don't have enough money to do it faster, need more taxpayer dollars if you want faster permits

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Obama administration says it will act on some oil permits but may also challenge the judge's decision saying they must do so. Salazar says the Interior Department needs more taxpayer money if it wants faster permits, that if he doesn't get more taxpayer money things may never get back to what they were.

3/2/11, "US Interior to Act on Permits by March Deadline," RigZone, Dow Jones News

"The department also indicated it could be challenging the federal judge's authority to order it to act on permits within a given time frame.

"The judge in this particular case, in my view, is wrong," said Salazar. "We'll argue the case because I don't believe the court has a jurisdiction to basically tell the Department of Interior what my administrative responsibilities are."

• "We are examining our options in terms of an appeal," Salazar later added....

A U.S. official said Wednesday that the Interior Department will meet a court-imposed deadline to act on five deep-water drilling permit applications before the end of this month.

• Interior Secretary Ken Salazar also said more permits approvals are coming.

"There are other [permits] that will be issued in the days ahead that will become a template for other deep-water permits to be issued," Salazar said before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

A federal judge on Feb. 17 ordered the department to act on five pending applications for offshore-drilling permits within 30 days, ruling in favor of London-based Ensco, which had sued the Interior Department.

The judge's ruling addressed the length of time the Interior Department had taken to review the permits. The ruling extended the order

• to two other applications Tuesday.

"We will comply with the court order and make the decision up or down within the time frame required," David Hayes, deputy secretary of the Interior Department, said at the hearing....

The administration said it has needed more time to evaluate whether new permit applications demonstrate the ability to contain an underwater spill, among other safety considerations.

As Congress considers the Interior Department's funding levels, Salazar also said his department needs a larger budget to pick up the permitting pace.

• Without more funding,
  

"we may never return to the pre-Macondo rate of permitting," Salazar said, referring to the spill at BP's Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico last year."...

via Vladimir at RedState.com