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Trust
Pombo starts investigation of DOI royalty program


Rep. Richard Pombo, the chairman of the House Resources Committee, launched an investigation on Wednesday into the Interior Department's "royalty relief" program.

Pombo asked Interior Secretary Gale Norton for a wide range of documents related to the program in response to a New York Times story published on Tuesday. The story reported that DOI planned to give away $7 billion in oil and gas royalties over the next five years.

The Times also published a story last month that said DOI essentially gave away $700 million in royalties under the relief program. Norton claimed the story was inaccurate.

Get the Story:
Congressman Starts Inquiry of Windfall to Oil Companies (The New York Times 2/16)
pwnyt

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