Interior Establishes Committee to Oversee Implementation of U.S. Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative

Requests nominations for participants from industry, government and public

07/26/2012
Last edited 09/05/2019

WASHINGTON – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced the establishment of a national committee to guide and oversee U.S. implementation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (USEITI), a voluntary, global initiative designed to increase transparency, strengthen the accountability of natural resource revenues, and build public trust for the governance of these vital activities. Interior is seeking nominations for the committee from industry, civil society, and other stakeholders.

Today's announcement marks a significant step in President Obama's commitment and leadership in promoting the principles of the Open Government Partnership, a global initiative that supports efforts to promote global institutions that are more transparent, effective, and accountable to the people.

“The United States is fully committed to leading the charge and helping to secure concrete commitments from governments around the globe to promote transparency, increase civic participation, fight corruption, and harness new technologies that make government more open, effective and accountable when it comes to developing energy resources,” said Salazar. “This transparency initiative will also help to ensure that American taxpayers receive every dollar due for the extraction of these valuable public resources.”

The committee will oversee the U.S implementation of EITI, which commits participating countries to disclose to an independent reconciler certain revenues obtained for oil, gas and mining development. It also commits companies to make parallel disclosures regarding payments to the government. The reconciled figures are then made public. The design of each nation's EITI framework is country-specific and developed jointly by a Multi-Stakeholder Group comprised of members of the public, government and industry through a multi-year, consensus-based process. The Committee established today will serve as the initial Multi-Stakeholder Group for USEITI implementation.

In September 2010, President Obama challenged the members of the United Nations General Assembly to make all governments more open. Soon afterward, spearheaded by the United States and Brazil, groups of governments and civil society organizations around the world formed the Open Government Partnership. In September 2011, President Obama announced the U.S. commitment to domestic implementation of EITI, a key element of the President's Open Government Partnership commitments, and soon after appointed Secretary Salazar to lead the U.S. implementation.

The committee will be convened as a new federal advisory group established under the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The committee will consist of approximately 21 members to represent a range of interests concerned with the implementation of USEITI. Members will include non-federal representatives from the extractive industry and the public, and may ultimately include representatives from state, local, and/or Tribal governments.

Nominations for membership on the committee must be received by August 27, 2012, and should be made by the following methods:

  • Mail or hand-carry nominations to Ms. Shirley Conway; Department of the Interior; Office of Natural Resources Revenue; 1801 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 400; Washington, DC 20006.

Nominations should describe and document the proposed member's qualifications for membership to the committee, and include a resume listing their name, title, address, telephone, e-mail and fax number.

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