Congress probes BLM environmental review process The U.S. Congress is investigating the way the Bureau of Land Management has bypassed environmental reviews when issuing drilling permits for oil and gas in recent years. The BLM’s Pinedale field office is among those under investigation, officials confirmed Wednesday. The Government Accountability Office, which is the investigative arm of Congress, sent auditors to Utah this week, and tentatively plans to have personnel in Wyoming by the end of this month, said GAO Assistant Director Jeff Malcolm. The investigators will examine the way the BLM has implemented a legal but relatively new tool to exempt some oil and gas drilling from environmental review, said Robin Nazzarro, director of the GAO’s natural resources and environmental team. A spokeswoman for the BLM in Wyoming said the agency welcomes the review and looks forward to working with the investigators. Conservation organizations, however — who have been fighting against these “categorical exclusions” for oil and gas drilling since they were implemented in 2005 — said the Congressional investigation indicates that at least some members of Congress believe the BLM has misused these tools.