II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4733 

To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to provide for certain reforms to the 

process relating to applications for permits to drill and the eligibility 

requirements for prospective bidders in lease sales, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 2, 2022 

Ms. CORTEZ MASTO introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to provide for certain 

reforms to the process relating to applications for permits to drill and the eligibility requirements for prospective bidders in lease sales, 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 ‘‘Use it or Lose It Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY TO PARTICIPATE IN LEASE SALES. 

6 Section 17(h) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

7 226(h)) is amended by striking the subsection designation 


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1 and all that follows through ‘‘The Secretary’’ and insert2 ing the following: 

3 ‘‘(h) LIMITATIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) REQUIRED CERTIFICATION.—A prospective 

5 lessee shall not be eligible to participate in a lease 

6 sale or otherwise acquire a new lease under this sec7 tion until the date on which the prospective lessee, 

8 in accordance with procedures developed by the Sec9 retary of the Interior, certifies to the Secretary of 

10 the Interior that the prospective lessee— 

11 ‘‘(A) has diligently developed all other 

12 leases issued to the prospective bidder under 

13 this section by not later than the expiration of 

14 the applicable primary lease term, as deter15 mined by the Secretary of the Interior; 

16 ‘‘(B) has relinquished any other leases 

17 issued to the prospective bidder under this sec18 tion that have not been diligently developed by 

19 the prospective bidder by not later than the ex20 piration of the applicable primary lease term, as 

21 determined by the Secretary; and 

22 ‘‘(C) has complied with any other certifi23 cations that the Secretary of the Interior may 

24 reasonably require. 


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1 ‘‘(2) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LAND.—The 

2 Secretary’’. 

3 SEC. 3. APPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO DRILL. 

4 Section 17(p) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

5 226(p)) is amended adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(4) PRIORITY FOR ISSUING APPLICATIONS FOR

7 PERMITS TO DRILL.—For purposes of considering 

8 applications for permits to drill submitted to the 

9 Secretary of the Interior under this subsection, the 

10 Secretary of the Interior shall give priority to any 

11 applicant that has— 

12 ‘‘(A) demonstrated, to the satisfaction of 

13 the Secretary of the Interior, an ability and 

14 willingness to commit to climate mitigation and 

15 other forms of environmental mitigation with 

16 respect to the proposed activities, including— 

17 ‘‘(i) binding commitments to plug and 

18 reclaim inactive wells; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) a willingness to relinquish leases 

20 in sensitive areas, particularly areas that 

21 were subsequently closed to, or withdrawn 

22 from, leasing; 

23 ‘‘(B) provided production estimates for the 

24 proposed drilling activities; or 


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1 ‘‘(C) demonstrated previous success with 

2 respect to completing wells. 

3 ‘‘(5) EXPIRATION OF UNUSED APPLICATIONS

4 FOR PERMITS TO DRILL; EXTENSIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara6 graph (B), an application for a permit to drill 

7 that is approved under this subsection after the 

8 date of enactment of this paragraph that is con9 sidered to be unused, as determined by the Sec10 retary of the Interior, shall expire on the date 

11 that is 1 year after the date of the approval of 

12 the application for a permit to drill. 

13 ‘‘(B) EXTENSIONS.—The Secretary of the 

14 Interior— 

15 ‘‘(i) may extend, not more than 1 

16 time, the expiration date of an unused ap17 proved application for a permit to drill that 

18 would otherwise expire under subpara19 graph (A) for a period of not more than 

20 180 days; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) may not extend the expiration 

22 date of an approved application for a per23 mit to drill that was approved before the 

24 date of enactment of this paragraph that is 


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1 considered to be unused, as determined by 

2 the Secretary of the Interior. 

3 ‘‘(C) DISQUALIFICATION OF CERTAIN AP4 PLICANTS.—Beginning on the date of enact5 ment of this paragraph, an applicant for a per6 mit to drill that has a higher than average 

7 number of unused approved applications for 

8 permits to drill under this subsection, as deter9 mined by the Secretary of the Interior, shall not 

10 be eligible for a new application for a permit to 

11 drill under this subsection unless the Secretary 

12 of the Interior determines that— 

13 ‘‘(i) the applicant has relinquished a 

14 sufficient number of unused approved ap15 plications for permits to drill; or 

16 ‘‘(ii) the applicant has converted a 

17 sufficient number of unused approved ap18 plications for permits to drill of the appli19 cant to ‘in use’ status.’’. 

Æ 


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