II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 624 

To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to increase certain royalty rates, minimum 

bid amounts, and rental rates, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 9, 2021 

Ms. ROSEN (for herself and Mr. GRASSLEY) 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 increase certain royalty rates, minimum bid amounts, and rental rates, 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 ‘‘Fair Returns for Pub5 lic Lands Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. INCREASED ONSHORE OIL AND GAS ROYALTY 

7 RATES. 

8 Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

9 226) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘12.5’’ each place it appears 

2 and inserting ‘‘18.75’’; and 

(2) by striking ‘‘121 3 ⁄2 per centum’’ each place 

4 it appears and inserting ‘‘18.75 percent’’. 

5 SEC. 3. INCREASED MINIMUM BID AMOUNT. 

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

7 226(b)) is amended— 

8 (1) in paragraph (1)(B)— 

9 (A) by striking the subparagraph designa10 tion and all that follows through the period at 

11 the end of the first sentence and inserting the 

12 following: 

13 ‘‘(B) NATIONAL MINIMUM ACCEPTABLE

14 BID.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro16 vided in clauses (ii) and (v), the national 

17 minimum acceptable bid shall be $10 per 

18 acre.’’; 

19 (B) in the second sentence— 

20 (i) by striking ‘‘Thereafter, the Sec21 retary’’ and inserting the following: 

22 ‘‘(ii) ADJUSTMENT.—The Secretary’’; 

23 (ii) by striking ‘‘is necessary: (i) to 

24 enhance’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘is 

25 necessary— 


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1 ‘‘(I) to enhance’’; and 

2 (iii) by striking ‘‘(ii) to promote’’ and 

3 inserting the following: 

4 ‘‘(II) to promote’’; 

5 (C) in the third sentence, by striking 

6 ‘‘Ninety days’’ and inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(iii) NOTIFICATION.—90 days’’; 

8 (D) in the fourth sentence, by striking 

9 ‘‘The proposal’’ and inserting the following: 

10 ‘‘(iv) NEPA.—The proposal’’; and 

11 (E) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(v) EXCEPTION.—To ensure a return 

13 of fair market value, as determined by the 

14 Secretary, the Secretary may establish in a 

15 notice of competitive lease sale a minimum 

16 acceptable bid applicable to the lease sale 

17 or 1 or more parcels within the lease sale 

18 that is higher than the national minimum 

19 bid under clause (i).’’; and 

20 (2) in subsection (b)(2)(C), by striking ‘‘$2 per 

21 acre’’ and inserting ‘‘$10 per acre’’. 

22 SEC. 4. INCREASED ONSHORE OIL AND GAS RENTAL RATES. 

23 Section 17(d) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

24 226(d)) is amended, in the first sentence— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘$1.50 per acre’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘$3 per acre’’; and 

3 (2) by striking ‘‘$2 per acre’’ and inserting ‘‘$5 

4 per acre’’. 

5 SEC. 5. FEE FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST. 

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

7 226) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(q) FEE FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall charge 

10 any person who submits, in accordance with proce11 dures established by the Secretary to carry out this 

12 subsection, an expression of interest in leasing land 

13 available for disposition under this section for explo14 ration for, and development of, oil or gas a fee, in 

15 an amount determined by the Secretary under para16 graph (2). 

17 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT.—The fee authorized under para18 graph (1) shall be established by the Secretary in an 

19 amount that is determined by the Secretary to be 

20 appropriate to cover the aggregate cost of processing 

21 an expression of interest under this subsection, but 

22 not less than $15 per acre of the area covered by the 

23 applicable expression of interest.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. ADJUSTMENT. 

2 Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

3 226) (as amended by section 5) is amended by adding at 

4 the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(r) ADJUSTMENT TO CERTAIN FEES.—The Sec6 retary shall— 

7 ‘‘(1) not later than 4 years after the date of en8 actment of the Fair Returns for Public Lands Act 

9 of 2021, and at least once every 4 years thereafter, 

10 promulgate regulations adjusting each of the per11 acre dollar amounts of fees imposed under sub12 sections (b), (d), and (q) and subsections (e) and (f) 

13 of section 31 to reflect the change in the Consumer 

14 Price Index for All Urban Consumers published by 

15 the Bureau of Labor Statistics; and 

16 ‘‘(2) as the Secretary determines to be nec17 essary to enhance financial returns to the United 

18 States or to promote more efficient management of 

19 oil and gas resources on Federal land, promulgate 

20 regulations adjusting any of the applicable per-acre 

21 dollar amounts of fees imposed under subsection (b), 

22 (d), or (q) or subsection (e) or (f) of section 31, as 

23 applicable.’’. 

24 SEC. 7. REINSTATEMENT OF COMPETITIVE LEASES. 

25 Section 31 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

26 188) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (e)— 

2 (A) by striking paragraph (2) and insert3 ing the following: 

4 ‘‘(2) payment of back rentals and the inclusion 

5 in a reinstated lease of a requirement for future 

6 rentals at a rate of not less than $20 per acre per 

7 year;’’; 

8 (B) in paragraph (3)— 

9 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

10 (I) by striking the subparagraph 

11 designation; 

12 (II) by striking ‘‘issued pursuant 

13 to the provisions of section 17(b) of 

14 this Act’’; 

(III) by striking ‘‘162 15 ⁄3’’ and in16 serting ‘‘25’’; and 

17 (IV) by inserting ‘‘and’’ after the 

18 semicolon; and 

19 (ii) by striking subparagraph (B); and 

20 (C) in the second sentence of the undesig21 nated matter following paragraph (4), by strik22 ing ‘‘, but not to exceed $500’’; and 

23 (2) in subsection (f)— 

24 (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘$5’’ and 

25 inserting ‘‘$10’’; and 


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(B) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘121 1 ⁄2’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘25’’. 

3 SEC. 8. FISCAL REFORM STUDY AND REPORT. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of the 

5 United States shall offer to enter into an arrangement 

6 with the National Academy of Sciences under which the 

7 National Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the 

8 Comptroller General of the United States, shall conduct 

9 a study evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of the 

10 implementation of this Act and the amendments made by 

11 this Act. 

12 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—The study conducted under 

13 subsection (a) shall include consideration of— 

14 (1) the systems of the Department of the Inte15 rior for collecting and auditing payments under this 

16 Act and the amendments made by this Act; 

17 (2) the performance of the stewardship of the 

18 Department of the Interior and the disposition of re19 ceipts by the Department of the Interior in carrying 

20 out this Act and the amendments made by this Act; 

21 and 

22 (3) the performance of the valuation approach 

23 carried out under this Act and the amendments 

24 made by this Act, including a review of whether 

25 other approaches could more fully capture foregone 


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1 revenue of leasing in low-market conditions in light 

2 of other possible economic uses at different points in 

3 the future. 

4 (c) REPORT.—If the Comptroller General of the 

5 United States enters into an arrangement with the Na6 tional Academy of Sciences under subsection (a), not ear7 lier than 3, but not later than 5, years after the date of 

8 enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall sub9 mit to Congress a report that describes the results of the 

10 study conducted under that subsection. 

Æ 


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