I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4211 

To prohibit the drawdown of petroleum from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve 

unless the President has taken certain actions. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 19, 2012 

Mr. POE of Texas (for himself and Mr. BURTON of Indiana) introduced the 

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

and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce and Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined 

by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 

within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To prohibit the drawdown of petroleum from the Strategic 

Petroleum Reserve unless the President has taken certain 

actions. 

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 ‘‘American Energy First 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ACTION REQUIRED AS 

2 CONDITION FOR DRAWDOWN FROM STRA3 TEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVE. 

4 No petroleum product may be drawn down and sold 

5 or exchanged from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve unless 

6 the President has taken all of the actions required by sec7 tions 3 through 8 of this Act. 

8 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVENESS OF OIL SHALE REGULATIONS, 

9 AMENDMENTS TO RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 

10 PLANS, AND RECORD OF DECISION. 

11 (a) REGULATIONS.—The President shall direct the 

12 Secretary of the Interior and the heads of all other rel13 evant Federal agencies to treat the final regulations re14 garding oil shale management published by the Bureau 

15 of Land Management on November 18, 2008 (73 Fed. 

16 Reg. 69,414), as satisfying all legal and procedural re17 quirements under any law, including the Federal Land 

18 Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et 

19 seq.), the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

20 1531 et seq.), the National Environmental Policy Act of 

21 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), and the Energy Policy Act 

22 of 2005 (Public Law 109–58), and the Secretary of the 

23 Interior shall implement those regulations, including the 

24 oil shale leasing program authorized by the regulations, 

25 without any other administrative action necessary. 


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1 (b) AMENDMENTS TO RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

2 PLANS AND RECORD OF DECISION.—Notwithstanding 

3 any other law or regulation to the contrary, the President 

4 shall direct the Secretary of the Interior and the heads 

5 of all other relevant Federal agencies to treat the Novem6 ber 17, 2008, U.S. Bureau of Land Management Ap7 proved Resource Management Plan Amendments/Record 

8 of Decision for Oil Shale and Tar Sands Resources to Ad9 dress Land Use Allocations in Colorado, Utah, and Wyo10 ming and Final Programmatic Environmental Impact 

11 Statement as satisfying all legal and procedural require12 ments under any law, including the Federal Land Policy 

13 and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), 

14 the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 

15 seq.), the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

16 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), and the Energy Policy Act of 2005 

17 (Public Law 109–58), and the Secretary of the Interior 

18 shall implement the oil shale leasing program authorized 

19 by the regulations referred to in subsection (a) in those 

20 areas covered by the resource management plans amended 

21 by such amendments, and covered by such record of deci22 sion, without any other administrative action necessary. 


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1 SEC. 4. REQUIREMENT TO CONDUCT PROPOSED OIL AND 

2 GAS LEASE SALE 216 IN THE CENTRAL GULF 

3 OF MEXICO. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall direct the 

5 Secretary of the Interior to conduct offshore oil and gas 

6 Lease Sale 216 under section 8 of the Outer Continental 

7 Shelf Lands Act (33 U.S.C. 1337) as soon as practicable, 

8 but not later than 4 months after the date of enactment 

9 of this Act. 

10 (b) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.—For the purposes of 

11 that lease sale, the Environmental Impact Statement for 

12 the 2007–2012 5-Year OCS Plan and the Multi-Sale Envi13 ronmental Impact Statement are deemed to satisfy the re14 quirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 

15 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

16 SEC. 5. REQUIREMENT TO CONDUCT PROPOSED OIL AND 

17 GAS LEASE SALE 218 IN THE WESTERN GULF 

18 OF MEXICO. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall direct the 

20 Secretary of the Interior to conduct offshore oil and gas 

21 Lease Sale 218 under section 8 of the Outer Continental 

22 Shelf Lands Act (33 U.S.C. 1337) as soon as practicable, 

23 but not later than 8 months after the date of enactment 

24 of this Act. 

25 (b) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.—For the purposes of 

26 that lease sale, the Environmental Impact Statement for 


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1 the 2007–2012 5-Year OCS Plan and the Multi-Sale Envi2 ronmental Impact Statement are deemed to satisfy the re3 quirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 

4 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

5 SEC. 6. REQUIREMENT TO CONDUCT PROPOSED OIL AND 

6 GAS LEASE SALE 222 IN THE CENTRAL GULF 

7 OF MEXICO. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall direct the 

9 Secretary of the Interior to conduct offshore oil and gas 

10 Lease Sale 222 under section 8 of the Outer Continental 

11 Shelf Lands Act (33 U.S.C. 1337) as soon as practicable, 

12 but not later than June 1, 2012. 

13 (b) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.—For the purposes of 

14 that lease sale, the Environmental Impact Statement for 

15 the 2007–2012 5-Year OCS Plan and the Multi-Sale Envi16 ronmental Impact Statement are deemed to satisfy the re17 quirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 

18 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

19 SEC. 7. KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE PERMIT APPROVAL. 

20 (a) PERMIT APPROVAL.—The President shall direct 

21 the Secretary of State to approve the permit described in 

22 subsection (b). 

23 (b) DESCRIPTION OF PERMIT.—The permit approved 

24 under subsection (a) is the permit with respect to certain 

25 energy-related facilities and land transportation crossings 


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1 on the international boundaries of the United States for 

2 the Keystone XL pipeline project, an application for which 

3 was filed on September 19, 2008 (including amendments). 

4 (c) REQUIREMENTS.—The permit granted under sub5 section (a) shall require the following: 

6 (1) The permittee shall comply with all applica7 ble Federal and State laws (including regulations) 

8 and all applicable industrial codes regarding the con9 struction, connection, operation, and maintenance of 

10 the United States facilities. 

11 (2) The permittee shall take all appropriate 

12 measures to prevent or mitigate any adverse envi13 ronmental impact or disruption of historic properties 

14 in connection with the construction, operation, and 

15 maintenance of the United States facilities. 

16 (3) For the purpose of the permit approved 

17 under subsection (a) (regardless of any modifications 

18 under subsection (d))— 

19 (A) the final environmental impact state20 ment issued by the Secretary of State on Au21 gust 26, 2011, satisfies all requirements of the 

22 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

23 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and section 106 of the Na24 tional Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 

25 470f); 


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1 (B) any modification required by the Sec2 retary of State to the Plan described in para3 graph (4)(A) shall not require supplementation 

4 of the final environmental impact statement de5 scribed in that paragraph; and 

6 (C) no further Federal environmental re7 view shall be required. 

8 (4) The construction, operation, and mainte9 nance of the facilities shall be in all material re10 spects similar to that described in the application 

11 described in subsection (b) and in accordance with— 

12 (A) the construction, mitigation, and rec13 lamation measures agreed to by the permittee 

14 in the Construction Mitigation and Reclamation 

15 Plan found in appendix B of the final environ16 mental impact statement issued by the Sec17 retary of State on August 26, 2011, subject to 

18 the modification described in subsection (d); 

19 (B) the special conditions agreed to be20 tween the permittee and the Administrator of 

21 the Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Ad22 ministration of the Department of Transpor23 tation found in appendix U of the final environ24 mental impact statement described in subpara25 graph (A); 


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1 (C) if the modified route submitted by the 

2 Governor of Nebraska under subsection 

3 (d)(3)(B) crosses the Sand Hills region, the 

4 measures agreed to by the permittee for the 

5 Sand Hills region found in appendix H of the 

6 final environmental impact statement described 

7 in subparagraph (A); and 

8 (D) the stipulations identified in appendix 

9 S of the final environmental impact statement 

10 described in subparagraph (A). 

11 (5) Other requirements that are standard in12 dustry practice or commonly included in Federal 

13 permits that are similar to a permit approved under 

14 subsection (a). 

15 (d) MODIFICATION.—The permit approved under 

16 subsection (a) shall require— 

17 (1) the reconsideration of routing of the Key18 stone XL pipeline within the State of Nebraska; 

19 (2) a review period during which routing within 

20 the State of Nebraska may be reconsidered and the 

21 route of the Keystone XL pipeline through the State 

22 altered with any accompanying modification to the 

23 Plan described in subsection (c)(4)(A); and 

24 (3) the President— 


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1 (A) to coordinate review with the State of 

2 Nebraska and provide any necessary data and 

3 reasonable technical assistance material to the 

4 review process required under this subsection; 

5 and 

6 (B) to approve the route within the State 

7 of Nebraska that has been submitted to the 

8 Secretary of State by the Governor of Ne9 braska. 

10 (e) EFFECT OF NO APPROVAL.—If the President 

11 does not approve the route within the State of Nebraska 

12 submitted by the Governor of Nebraska under subsection 

13 (d)(3)(B) not later than 10 days after the date of submis14 sion, the route submitted by the Governor of Nebraska 

15 under subsection (d)(3)(B) shall be considered approved, 

16 pursuant to the terms of the permit approved under sub17 section (a) that meets the requirements of subsection (c) 

18 and this subsection, by operation of law. 

19 (f) PRIVATE PROPERTY SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing 

20 in this section alters the Federal, State, or local processes 

21 or conditions in effect on the date of enactment of this 

22 Act that are necessary to secure access from private prop23 erty owners to construct the Keystone XL pipeline. 


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1 SEC. 8. REQUIREMENT TO EXPEDITE PERMITTING FOR EX2 ISTING OIL AND GAS LEASES. 

3 The President shall direct the Secretary of the Inte4 rior to expedite permitting of activities under oil and gas 

5 leases for Federal onshore lands and Federal submerged 

6 lands in the Gulf of Mexico. 

Æ 


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