I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2634 

To amend the Submerged Lands Act to make the seaward boundaries of 

the States of Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi equivalent to the 

seaward boundaries of the State of Texas and the Gulf Coast of Florida. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 25, 2005 

Mr. MELANCON (for himself, Mr. BAKER, Mr. MCCRERY, Mr. JEFFERSON, 

Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. BOUSTANY, Mr. JINDAL, and Mr. BONNER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Submerged Lands Act to make the seaward 

boundaries of the States of Louisiana, Alabama, and 

Mississippi equivalent to the seaward boundaries of the 

State of Texas and the Gulf Coast of Florida. 

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 ‘‘Offshore Fairness Act 

5 of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of this Act are— 
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1 (1) to provide equity to the States of Louisiana, 

2 Mississippi, and Alabama with respect to the sea3 ward boundaries of the States in the Gulf of Mexico 

4 by extending the seaward boundaries from 3 geo5 graphical miles to 3 marine leagues if the State 

6 meets certain conditions not later than 5 years after 

7 the date of enactment of this Act; 

8 (2) to convey to the States of Louisiana, Mis9 sissippi, and Alabama the interest of the United 

10 States in the submerged land of the outer Conti11 nental Shelf that is located in the extended seaward 

12 boundaries of the States; 

13 (3) to provide that any mineral leases, ease14 ments, rights-of-use, and rights-of-way issued by the 

15 Secretary of the Interior with respect to the sub16 merged land to be conveyed shall remain in full force 

17 and effect; and 

18 (4) in conveying the submerged land, to ensure 

19 that the rights of lessees, operators, and holders of 

20 easements, rights-of-use, and rights-of-way on the 

21 submerged land are protected. 

22 SEC. 3. SEAWARD BOUNDARY EXTENSION. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Submerged Lands 

24 Act (43 U.S.C. 1311 et seq.) is amended— 
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1 (1) by redesignating section 11 as section 12; 

2 and 

3 (2) by inserting after section 10 the following: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 11. EXTENSION OF SEAWARD BOUNDARIES OF THE 

5 STATES OF LOUISIANA, MISSISSIPPI, AND 

6 ALABAMA. 

7 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 ‘‘(1) EXISTING INTEREST.—The term ‘existing 

9 interest’ means any lease, easement, right-of-use, or 

10 right-of-way on, or for any natural resource or min11 erals underlying, the expanded submerged land that 

12 is existence on the date of the conveyance of the ex13 panded submerged land to the State under sub14 section (b)(1). 

15 ‘‘(2) EXPANDED SEAWARD BOUNDARY.—The 

16 term ‘expanded seaward boundary’ means the sea17 ward boundary of the State that is 3 marine leagues 

18 seaward of the coast line of the State as of the day 

19 before the date of enactment of this section. 

20 ‘‘(3) EXPANDED SUBMERGED LAND.—The term 

21 ‘expanded submerged land’ means the area of the 

22 outer Continental Shelf that is located between 3 

23 geographical miles and 3 marine leagues seaward of 

24 the coast line of the State as of the day before the 

25 date of enactment of this section. 
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1 ‘‘(4) INTEREST OWNER.—The term ‘interest 

2 owner’ means any person that owns or holds an ex3 isting interest in the expanded submerged land or 

4 portion of an existing interest in the expanded sub5 merged land. 

6 ‘‘(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

7 the Secretary of the Interior. 

8 ‘‘(6) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of 

9 the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. 

10 ‘‘(b) CONVEYANCE OF EXPANDED SUBMERGED

11 LAND.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a State demonstrates to 

13 the satisfaction of the Secretary that the conditions 

14 described in paragraph (2) will be met, the Secretary 

15 shall, subject to valid existing rights and subsection 

16 (c), convey to the State the interest of the United 

17 States in the expanded submerged land of the State. 

18 ‘‘(2) CONDITIONS.—A conveyance under para19 graph (1) shall be subject to the condition that— 

20 ‘‘(A) on conveyance of the interest of the 

21 United States in the expanded submerged land 

22 to the State under paragraph (1)— 

23 ‘‘(i) the Governor of the State (or a 

24 delegate of the Governor) shall exercise the 

25 powers and duties of the Secretary under 
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1 the terms of any existing interest, subject 

2 to the requirement that the State and the 

3 officers of the State may not exercise the 

4 powers to impose any burden or require5 ment on any interest owner that is more 

6 onerous or strict than the burdens or re7 quirements imposed under applicable Fed8 eral law (including regulations) on owners 

9 or holders of the same type of lease, ease10 ment, right-of-use, or right-of-way on the 

11 outer Continental Shelf seaward of the ex12 panded submerged land; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) the State shall not impose any 

14 administrative or judicial penalty or sanc15 tion on any interest owner that is more se16 vere than the penalty or sanction under 

17 Federal law (including regulations) appli18 cable to owners or holders of leases, ease19 ments, rights-of-use, or rights-or-way on 

20 the outer Continental Shelf seaward of the 

21 expanded submerged lands for the same 

22 act, omission, or violation; 

23 ‘‘(B) not later than 5 years after the date 

24 of enactment of this section— 
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1 ‘‘(i) the State shall enact laws or pro2 mulgate regulations with respect to the en3 vironmental protection, safety, and oper4 ations of any platform pipeline in existence 

5 on the date of conveyance to the State 

6 under paragraph (1) that is affixed to or 

7 above the expanded submerged land that 

8 impose the same requirements as Federal 

9 law (including regulations) applicable to a 

10 platform pipeline on the outer Continental 

11 Shelf seaward of the expanded submerged 

12 land; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) the State shall enact laws or pro14 mulgate regulations for determining the 

15 value of oil, gas, or other mineral produc16 tion from existing interests for royalty pur17 poses that establish the same requirements 

18 as the requirements under Federal law (in19 cluding regulations) applicable to Federal 

20 leases for the same minerals on the outer 

21 Continental Shelf seaward of the expanded 

22 submerged land; and 

23 ‘‘(C) the State laws and regulations en24 acted or promulgated under subparagraph (B) 

25 shall provide that if Federal law (including reg-
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1 ulations) applicable to leases, easements, rights2 of-use, or rights-of-way on the outer Conti3 nental Shelf seaward of the expanded sub4 merged land are modified after the date on 

5 which the State laws and regulations are en6 acted or promulgated, the State laws and regu7 lations applicable to existing interests will be 

8 modified to reflect the change in Federal laws 

9 (including regulations). 

10 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTIONS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) MINERAL LEASE OR UNIT DIVIDED.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If any existing Fed13 eral oil and gas or other mineral lease or unit 

14 would be divided by the expanded seaward 

15 boundary of a State, the interest of the United 

16 States in the leased minerals underlying the 

17 portion of the lease or unit that lies within the 

18 expanded submerged boundary shall not consid19 ered to be conveyed to the State until the date 

20 on which the lease or unit expires or is relin21 quished by the United States. 

22 ‘‘(B) APPLICABILITY FOR OTHER PUR23 POSES.—Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), 

24 the expanded seaward boundary of a State shall 

25 be the seaward boundary of the State for all 
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1 other purposes, including the distribution of 

2 revenues under section 8(g)(2) of the Outer 

3 Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 

4 1337(g)(2)). 

5 ‘‘(2) LAWS AND REGULATIONS NOT SUFFI6 CIENT.—If the Secretary determines that any law or 

7 regulation enacted or promulgated by a State under 

8 subparagraph (B) of subsection (b)(2) does not meet 

9 the requirements of that subparagraph, the Sec10 retary shall not convey the expanded submerged land 

11 to the State. 

12 ‘‘(d) INTEREST ISSUED OR GRANTED BY THE

13 STATE.—This section does not apply to any interest in 

14 the expanded submerged land that a State issues or grants 

15 after the date of conveyance of the expanded submerged 

16 land to the State under subsection (b)(1). 

17 ‘‘(e) LIABILITY.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—By accepting conveyance of 

19 the expanded submerged land, the State agrees to 

20 indemnify the United States for any liability to any 

21 interest owner for the taking of any property inter22 est or breach of contract from— 

23 ‘‘(A) the conveyance of the expanded sub24 merged land to the State; or 
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1 ‘‘(B) the State’s administration of any ex2 isting interest under subsection (b)(2)(A)(i). 

3 ‘‘(2) DEDUCTION FROM OIL AND GAS LEASING

4 REVENUES.—The Secretary may deduct from the 

5 amounts otherwise payable to the State under sec6 tion 8(g)(2) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 

7 Act (43 U.S.C. 1337(g)(2)) the amount of any final 

8 nonappealable judgment for a taking or breach of 

9 contract described in paragraph (1).’’. 

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 2(b) of the 

11 Submerged Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1301(b)) is amended 

12 by striking ‘‘section 4 hereof’’ and inserting ‘‘section 4 or 

13 11’’. 

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