II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 76 

To prohibit the President from issuing moratoria on leasing and permitting 

energy and minerals on certain Federal land, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 28, 2021 

Ms. LUMMIS (for herself, Mr. BARRASSO, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. 

CASSIDY, Mr. COTTON, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. 

CRUZ, Mr. DAINES, Mr. HOEVEN, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. 

KENNEDY, Mr. LEE, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. TOOMEY, Mr. TUBERVILLE, 

Mr. RISCH, Mr. ROMNEY, Mr. WICKER, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. JOHNSON, 

Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina, and Mr. LANKFORD) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To prohibit the President from issuing moratoria on leasing 

and permitting energy and minerals on certain Federal 

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 ‘‘Protecting Our Wealth 

5 of Energy Resources Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘POWER Act 

6 of 2021’’. 

2 

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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON MORATORIA OF NEW ENERGY 

2 LEASES ON CERTAIN FEDERAL LAND AND ON 

3 WITHDRAWAL OF FEDERAL LAND FROM EN4 ERGY DEVELOPMENT. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) CRITICAL MINERAL.—The term ‘‘critical 

7 mineral’’ means any mineral included on the list of 

8 critical minerals published in the notice of the Sec9 retary of the Interior entitled ‘‘Final List of Critical 

10 Minerals 2018’’ (83 Fed. Reg. 23295 (May 18, 

11 2018)). 

12 (2) FEDERAL LAND.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Federal 

14 land’’ means— 

15 (i) National Forest System land; 

16 (ii) public lands (as defined in section 

17 103 of the Federal Land Policy and Man18 agement Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702)); 

19 (iii) the outer Continental Shelf (as 

20 defined in section 2 of the Outer Conti21 nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331)); 

22 and 

23 (iv) land managed by the Secretary of 

24 Energy. 

25 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘Federal 

26 land’’ includes land described in clauses (i) 

3 

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1 through (iv) of subparagraph (A) for which the 

2 rights to the surface estate or subsurface estate 

3 are owned by a non-Federal entity. 

4 (3) PRESIDENT.—The term ‘‘President’’ means 

5 the President or any designee, including— 

6 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture; 

7 (B) the Secretary of Energy; and 

8 (C) the Secretary of the Interior. 

9 (b) PROHIBITIONS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

11 provision of law, the President shall not carry out 

12 any action that would prohibit or substantially delay 

13 the issuance of any of the following on Federal land, 

14 unless such an action has been authorized by an Act 

15 of Congress: 

16 (A) New oil and gas leases, permits, ap17 provals, or authorizations. 

18 (B) New coal leases, permits, approvals, or 

19 authorizations. 

20 (C) New hard rock leases, permits, approv21 als, or authorizations. 

22 (D) New critical minerals leases, permits, 

23 approvals, or authorizations. 

24 (2) PROHIBITION ON WITHDRAWAL.—Notwith25 standing any other provision of law, the President 

4 

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1 shall not withdraw any Federal land from forms of 

2 entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public 

3 land laws, location, entry, and patent under the min4 ing laws, or disposition under laws pertaining to 

5 mineral and geothermal leasing or mineral materials 

6 unless the withdrawal has been authorized by an Act 

7 of Congress. 

Æ