I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5636 

To provide for the accurate reporting of fossil fuel extraction and emissions 

by entities with leases on public land, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 16, 2020 

Mr. LOWENTHAL (for himself, Mr. DEUTCH, and Mr. HUFFMAN) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide for the accurate reporting of fossil fuel extraction 

and emissions by entities with leases on public land, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transparency in En5 ergy Production Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS. 

7 (a) REPORT REQUIRED FOR AN ENTITY SEEKING A

8 LEASE.—The Secretary shall require any entity seeking 

9 a lease to develop covered operations on public land to subVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5636.IH H5636
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1 mit to the Secretary a report, at the time of submission 

2 of a bid to develop covered operations. Such report shall— 

3 (1) make the disclosures described in the Sus4 tainable Accounting Standard for the Extractives 

5 and Minerals Processing Sector and the Renewable 

6 Resources and Alternative Energy Sector in effect 

7 on the date the report is filed (that is produced by 

8 the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board) for 

9 the covered operations developed by the entity and 

10 in effect at the date of such bid; and 

11 (2) disaggregate the information in paragraph 1 

12 by State and by type of covered operation. 

13 (b) REPORT REQUIRED FOR AN ENTITY HOLDING A

14 LEASE.—The Secretary shall require any entity holding 

15 a lease to develop covered operations on public land to sub16 mit to the Secretary a report annually. Such report 

17 shall— 

18 (1) make the disclosures described in the Sus19 tainable Accounting Standard for the Extractives 

20 and Minerals Processing Sector and the Renewable 

21 Resources and Alternative Energy Sector in effect 

22 on the date the report is filed (that is produced by 

23 the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board); 

24 and 

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1 (2) disaggregate the information in paragraph 1 

2 by State and by type of covered operation. 

3 (c) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—If the Secretary deter4 mines that an entity did not meet the requirements of sub5 section (a), the Secretary— 

6 (1) may not issue to such entity a lease for a 

7 covered operation; and 

8 (2) may suspend a lease for a covered operation 

9 held by such entity. 

10 SEC. 3. ONLINE PUBLICATION OF DISCLOSURE. 

11 The Secretary shall make the information reported 

12 under section 2 available to the public on an internet 

13 website in a machine readable format. 

14 SEC. 4. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

15 Not later than 2 years after the date of the enact16 ment of this Act and every 2 years thereafter, the Sec17 retary shall submit a report to Congress that includes— 

18 (1) with respect to covered operations, the an19 nual and 2-year totals of greenhouse gas emissions, 

20 air quality, water management, biodiversity impacts, 

21 production, and number of sites according to the 

22 metrics described in the Sustainable Accounting 

23 Standard for Oil and Gas Exploration and Produc24 tion in effect on the date the report is filed (that is 

25 produced by the Sustainability Accounting StandVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5636.IH H5636
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1 ards Board) for covered operations on public land; 

2 and 

3 (2) the changes in the information in paragraph 

4 1; 

5 (3) the projected future changes for 5, 10, and 

6 25 years; and 

7 (4) for renewable energy operations, an esti8 mate of the greenhouse gas emissions that would re9 sult from production of the same amount of energy 

10 using fossil fuels. 

11 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

12 In this Act: 

13 (1) COVERED OPERATION.—The term ‘‘covered 

14 operation’’ means— 

15 (A) any renewable energy operations; and 

16 (B) fossil fuel operations that are subject 

17 to the mineral leasing laws or title V of the 

18 Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 

19 1976 (30 U.S.C. 1761 et seq.). 

20 (2) FOSSIL FUEL.—The term ‘‘fossil fuel’’ 

21 means oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids, and coal. 

22 (3) PUBLIC LAND.—The term ‘‘public land’’ 

23 has the meaning given the term in section 103 of the 

24 Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 

25 (43 U.S.C. 1702). 

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1 (4) RENEWABLE ENERGY.—The term ‘‘renew2 able energy’’ means a project carried out on public 

3 land that uses wind, solar, geothermal, wave, cur4 rent, tidal, or ocean thermal energy to generate elec5 tricity. 

6 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

7 the Secretary of the Interior. 

8 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

9 This Act shall take effect on the date that is 180 days 

10 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

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