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Union Calendar No. 379 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4382 

[Report No. 112–531] 

To ensure Federal oil and natural gas lease sales occur, eliminate redundant 

leasing bureaucracy, and provide leasing certainty. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 18, 2012 

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Natural Resources 

JUNE 15, 2012 

Additional sponsors: Mrs. BLACK, Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio, Mr. GRIFFIN of Arkansas, Mr. DUNCAN of South Carolina, Mr. TIPTON, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. 

DENHAM, Ms. FOXX, Mr. NUNNELEE, Mr. LATHAM, Mr. REED, Mrs. 

CAPITO, and Mr. CONAWAY

JUNE 15, 2012 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 

and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 18, 2012] 


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•HR 4382 RH

A BILL 

To ensure Federal oil and natural gas lease sales occur, 

eliminate redundant leasing bureaucracy, and provide 

leasing certainty. 


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•HR 4382 RH

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 ‘‘Providing Leasing Cer5 tainty for American Energy Act of 2012’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MINIMUM ACREAGE REQUIREMENT FOR ONSHORE 

7 LEASE SALES. 

8 In conducting lease sales as required by section 17(a) 

9 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(a)), each year 

10 the Secretary of the Interior shall perform the following: 

11 (1) The Secretary shall offer for sale no less than 

12 25 percent of the annual nominated acreage not pre13 viously made available for lease. Acreage offered for 

14 lease pursuant to this paragraph shall not be subject 

15 to protest and shall be eligible for categorical exclu16 sions under section 390 of the Energy Policy Act of 

17 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15492), except that it shall not be 

18 subject to the test of extraordinary circumstances. 

19 (2) In administering this section, the Secretary 

20 shall only consider leasing of Federal lands that are 

21 available for leasing at the time the lease sale occurs. 

22 SEC. 3. LEASING CERTAINTY. 

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

24 226(a)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘All lands’’, 

25 and by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(2)(A) The Secretary shall not withdraw any covered 

2 energy project issued under this Act without finding a vio3 lation of the terms of the lease by the lessee. 

4 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall not infringe upon lease rights 

5 under leases issued under this Act by indefinitely delaying 

6 issuance of project approvals, drilling and seismic permits, 

7 and rights of way for activities under such a lease. 

8 ‘‘(C) No later than 18 months after an area is des9 ignated as open under the current land use plan the Sec10 retary shall make available nominated areas for lease under 

11 the criteria in section 2. 

12 ‘‘(D) Notwithstanding any other law, the Secretary 

13 shall issue all leases sold no later than 60 days after the 

14 last payment is made. 

15 ‘‘(E) The Secretary shall not cancel or withdraw any 

16 lease parcel after a competitive lease sale has occurred and 

17 a winning bidder has submitted the last payment for the 

18 parcel. 

19 ‘‘(F) Not later than 60 days after a lease sale held 

20 under this Act, the Secretary shall adjudicate any lease pro21 tests filed following a lease sale. If after 60 days any protest 

22 is left unsettled, said protest is automatically denied and 

23 appeal rights of the protestor begin. 

24 ‘‘(G) No additional lease stipulations may be added 

25 after the parcel is sold without consultation and agreement 


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1 of the lessee, unless the Secretary deems such stipulations 

2 as emergency actions to conserve the resources of the United 

3 States.’’. 

4 SEC. 4. LEASING CONSISTENCY. 

5 Federal land managers must follow existing resource 

6 management plans and continue to actively lease in areas 

7 designated as open when resource management plans are 

8 being amended or revised, until such time as a new record 

9 of decision is signed. 

10 SEC. 5. REDUCE REDUNDANT POLICIES. 

11 Bureau of Land Management Instruction Memo12 randum 2010–117 shall have no force or effect. 


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Union Calendar No. 379 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4382 

[Report No. 112–531] 

A BILL 

To ensure Federal oil and natural gas lease sales 

and provide leasing certainty. occur, eliminate redundant leasing bureaucracy, 

JUNE 15, 2012 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 


TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS