II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 69 

To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to require annual lease 

sales in the Gulf of Mexico region of the outer Continental Shelf, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 27, 2021 

Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. 

DAINES, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. WICKER, and Ms. LUMMIS) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to require 

annual lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico region of the 

outer Continental Shelf, 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 ‘‘Conservation Funding 

5 Protection Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ANNUAL LEASE SALES IN GULF OF MEXICO REGION. 

2 Section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

3 (43 U.S.C. 1344) is amended by adding at the end the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(i) ANNUAL LEASE SALES IN GULF OF MEXICO RE6 GION.— 

7 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

8 ‘‘(A) CENTRAL GULF OF MEXICO PLAN9 NING AREA.—The term ‘Central Gulf of Mexico 

10 Planning Area’ has the meaning given the term 

11 ‘Central Planning Area’ in section 102 of the 

12 Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 

13 (43 U.S.C. 1331 note; Public Law 109–432). 

14 ‘‘(B) WESTERN GULF OF MEXICO PLAN15 NING AREA.—The term ‘Western Gulf of Mex16 ico Planning Area’ means the Western Gulf of 

17 Mexico Planning Area of the outer Continental 

18 Shelf, as designated in the document entitled 

19 ‘Draft Proposed Program Outer Continental 

20 Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program 2007– 

21 2012’ and dated February 2006. 

22 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL LEASE SALES.—Notwithstanding 

23 any other provision of law, beginning in fiscal year 

24 2022, the Secretary shall hold a minimum of 2 re25 gion-wide lease sales annually in the Gulf of Mexico 


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1 pursuant to this Act, each of which shall include 

2 areas in— 

3 ‘‘(A) the Central Gulf of Mexico Planning 

4 Area; and 

5 ‘‘(B) the Western Gulf of Mexico Planning 

6 Area. 

7 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the 

9 lease sales under paragraph (2), the Secretary 

10 shall issue leases to the highest responsible 

11 qualified bidder or bidders. 

12 ‘‘(B) AREAS INCLUDED IN LEASE SALES.— 

13 In carrying out the lease sales under paragraph 

14 (2), the Secretary shall include in each lease 

15 sale all unleased areas that are not subject to 

16 restrictions as of the date of the lease sale. 

17 ‘‘(4) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to each 

19 lease sale required under paragraph (2), the 

20 Secretary shall conduct any environmental re21 views required by the National Environmental 

22 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

23 ‘‘(B) DEADLINE.— 

24 ‘‘(i) INDIVIDUAL REVIEW.—If the Sec25 retary conducts environmental reviews with 


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1 respect to a lease sale under subparagraph 

2 (A) for each individual lease included in 

3 the lease sale, the Secretary shall complete 

4 all environmental reviews for the lease sale, 

5 including by issuing a finding of no signifi6 cant impact or a record of decision, if ap7 plicable, in less than 365 calendar days. 

8 ‘‘(ii) PROGRAMMATIC REVIEW.—If the 

9 Secretary conducts a programmatic envi10 ronmental review with respect to a lease 

11 sale under subparagraph (A) for all leases 

12 under the lease sale, the Secretary shall 

13 complete the programmatic environmental 

14 review, including by issuing a finding of no 

15 significant impact or a record of decision, 

16 if applicable, in less than 180 calendar 

17 days. 

18 ‘‘(j) PERMITTING.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Pursuant to sovereign con20 tracting rights and obligations, the Secretary shall 

21 review and grant or deny in accordance with para22 graph (2) any application for a permit or other ap23 proval for offshore oil and natural gas exploration, 

24 development, and production activities under a lease 


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1 issued pursuant to this Act by not later than the 

2 earlier of— 

3 ‘‘(A) 75 calendar days after the date on 

4 which the application is received by the Bureau 

5 of Ocean Energy Management or the Bureau of 

6 Safety and Environmental Enforcement; or 

7 ‘‘(B) any other applicable deadline re8 quired by law. 

9 ‘‘(2) APPROVAL OR DENIAL.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Absent clear grounds 

11 for denial of an application for a permit or 

12 other approval described in paragraph (1), the 

13 Secretary shall grant the permit or approval. 

14 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—If the Secretary de15 nies an application for a permit or other ap16 proval under subparagraph (A), the Secretary 

17 shall provide to the applicant written notice ex18 plaining the grounds for the denial.’’. 

Æ 


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