I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4383 

To streamline the application for permits to drill process and increase funds 

for energy project permit processing, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 18, 2012 

Mr. LAMBORN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on the 

Judiciary, 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 streamline the application for permits to drill process 

and increase funds for energy project permit processing, 

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 ‘‘Streamlining Permit5 ting of American Energy Act of 2012’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

7 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 


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TITLE I—APPLICATION FOR PERMITS TO DRILL PROCESS 

REFORM 

Sec. 101. Permit to drill application timeline. 

Sec. 102. Solar and wind right-of-way rental reform. 

TITLE II—ADMINISTRATIVE PROTEST DOCUMENTATION REFORM 

Sec. 201. Administrative protest documentation reform. 

TITLE III—PERMIT STREAMLINING 

Sec. 301. Improve Federal energy permit coordination. 

Sec. 302. Administration of current law. 

TITLE IV—JUDICIAL REVIEW 

Sec. 401. Definitions. 

Sec. 402. Exclusive venue for certain civil actions relating to covered energy 

projects. 

Sec. 403. Timely filing. 

Sec. 404. Expedition in hearing and determining the action. 

Sec. 405. Standard of review. 

Sec. 406. Limitation on injunction and prospective relief. 

Sec. 407. Limitation on attorneys’ fees. 

Sec. 408. Legal standing. 

1 TITLE I—APPLICATION FOR PER2 MITS TO DRILL PROCESS RE3 FORM 

4 SEC. 101. PERMIT TO DRILL APPLICATION TIMELINE. 

5 Notwithstanding section 17(p)(2) of the Mineral 

6 Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(p)(2)) is amended to read as 

7 follows: 

8 ‘‘(2) APPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO DRILL RE9 FORM AND PROCESS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) TIMELINE.—The Secretary shall de11 cide whether to issue a permit to drill within 30 

12 days after receiving an application for the per13 mit. The Secretary may extend such period for 

14 up to 2 periods of 15 days each, if the SecVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:19 Apr 21, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4383.IH H4383

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1 retary has given written notice of the delay to 

2 the applicant. The notice shall be in the form 

3 of a letter from the Secretary or a designee of 

4 the Secretary, and shall include the names and 

5 titles of the persons processing the application, 

6 the specific reasons for the delay, and a specific 

7 date a final decision on the application is ex8 pected. 

9 ‘‘(B) NOTICE OF REASONS FOR DENIAL.— 

10 If the application is denied, the Secretary shall 

11 provide the applicant— 

12 ‘‘(i) in writing, clear and comprehen13 sive reasons why the application was not 

14 accepted and detailed information con15 cerning any deficiencies; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) an opportunity to remedy any de17 ficiencies. 

18 ‘‘(C) APPLICATION DEEMED APPROVED.— 

19 If the Secretary has not made a decision on the 

20 application by the end of the 60-day period be21 ginning on the date the application is received 

22 by the Secretary, the application is deemed ap23 proved, except in cases in which existing reviews 

24 under the National Environmental Policy Act of 


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1 1969 or Endangered Species Act of 1973 are 

2 incomplete. 

3 ‘‘(D) DENIAL OF PERMIT.—If the Sec4 retary decides not to issue a permit to drill in 

5 accordance with subparagraph (A), the Sec6 retary shall— 

7 ‘‘(i) provide to the applicant a descrip8 tion of the reasons for the denial of the 

9 permit; 

10 ‘‘(ii) allow the applicant to resubmit 

11 an application for a permit to drill during 

12 the 10-day period beginning on the date of 

13 the receipt of the description by the appli14 cant; and 

15 ‘‘(iii) issue or deny any resubmitted 

16 application not later than 10 days after the 

17 date the application is submitted to the 

18 Secretary. 

19 ‘‘(E) FEE.— 

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding 

21 any other law, the Secretary shall collect a 

22 single $6,500 permit processing fee per ap23 plication from each applicant at the time 

24 the decision is made whether or not to 

25 issue a permit under subparagraph (A). 


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1 ‘‘(ii) TREATMENT OF PERMIT PROC2 ESSING FEE.—Of all fees collected under 

3 this paragraph, 50 percent shall be trans4 ferred to the field office where they are col5 lected and used to process protests, leases, 

6 and permits under this Act subject to ap7 propriations.’’. 

8 SEC. 102. SOLAR AND WIND RIGHT-OF-WAY RENTAL RE9 FORM. 

10 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, each fis11 cal year, of fees collected as annual wind energy and solar 

12 energy right-of-way authorization fees required under sec13 tion 504(g) of the Federal Land Policy and Management 

14 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1764(g)), 50 percent shall be 

15 transferred to the field office where they are collected and 

16 used to process permits, right-of-way applications, and 

17 other activities necessary for renewable energy develop18 ment subject to appropriations. 


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1 TITLE II—ADMINISTRATIVE PRO2 TEST DOCUMENTATION RE3 FORM 

4 SEC. 201. ADMINISTRATIVE PROTEST DOCUMENTATION RE5 FORM. 

6 Section 17(p) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

7 226(p)) is further amended by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(4) PROTEST FEE.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

11 collect a $5,000 documentation fee to accom12 pany each protest for a lease, right of way, or 

13 application for permit to drill. 

14 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF FEES.—Of all fees 

15 collected under this paragraph, 50 percent shall 

16 remain in the field office where they are col17 lected and used to process protests subject to 

18 appropriations.’’. 

19 TITLE III—PERMIT 

20 STREAMLINING 

21 SEC. 301. IMPROVE FEDERAL ENERGY PERMIT COORDINA22 TION. 

23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of the Interior 

24 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall estab25 lish a Federal Permit Streamlining Project (referred to 


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1 in this section as the ‘‘Project’’) in every Bureau of Land 

2 Management Field office with responsibility for permitting 

3 energy projects on Federal land. 

4 (b) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

7 shall enter into a memorandum of understanding for 

8 purposes of this section with— 

9 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture; 

10 (B) the Administrator of the Environ11 mental Protection Agency; and 

12 (C) the Chief of the Army Corps of Engi13 neers. 

14 (2) STATE PARTICIPATION.—The Secretary 

15 may request that the Governor of any State with en16 ergy projects on Federal lands to be a signatory to 

17 the memorandum of understanding. 

18 (c) DESIGNATION OF QUALIFIED STAFF.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 

20 the date of the signing of the memorandum of un21 derstanding under subsection (b), all Federal signa22 tory parties shall, if appropriate, assign to each of 

23 the field offices an employee who has expertise in 

24 the regulatory issues relating to the office in which 


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1 the employee is employed, including, as applicable, 

2 particular expertise in— 

3 (A) the consultations and the preparation 

4 of biological opinions under section 7 of the En5 dangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

6 1536); 

7 (B) permits under section 404 of Federal 

8 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344); 

9 (C) regulatory matters under the Clean Air 

10 Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.); 

11 (D) planning under the National Forest 

12 Management Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 472a et 

13 seq.); and 

14 (E) the preparation of analyses under the 

15 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

16 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

17 (2) DUTIES.—Each employee assigned under 

18 paragraph (1) shall— 

19 (A) not later than 90 days after the date 

20 of assignment, report to the Bureau of Land 

21 Management Field Managers in the office to 

22 which the employee is assigned; 

23 (B) be responsible for all issues relating to 

24 the jurisdiction of the project permitting home 

25 office or agency of the employee; and 


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1 (C) participate as part of the team of per2 sonnel working on proposed energy projects, 

3 planning, and environmental analyses on Fed4 eral lands. 

5 (d) ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL.—The Secretary shall 

6 assign to each field office identified in subsection (a) any 

7 additional personnel that are necessary to ensure the ef8 fective implementation of programs administered by the 

9 field offices, including inspection and enforcement relating 

10 to energy development on Federal land, in accordance with 

11 the multiple use mandate of the Federal Land Policy and 

12 Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.). 

13 (e) FUNDING.—Funding for the additional personnel 

14 shall come from the Department of the Interior reforms 

15 identified in sections 101, 102, and 201. 

16 (f) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this section af17 fects— 

18 (1) the operation of any Federal or State law; 

19 or 

20 (2) any delegation of authority made by the 

21 head of a Federal agency whose employees are par22 ticipating in the Project. 

23 (g) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section the 

24 term ‘‘energy projects’’ includes oil, natural gas, coal, and 

25 other energy projects as defined by the Secretary. 


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1 SEC. 302. ADMINISTRATION OF CURRENT LAW. 

2 Notwithstanding any other law, the Secretary of the 

3 Interior shall not require a finding of extraordinary cir4 cumstances in administering section 390 of the Energy 

5 Policy Act of 2005. 

6 TITLE IV—JUDICIAL REVIEW 

7 SEC. 401. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act— 

9 (1) the term ‘‘covered civil action’’ means a civil 

10 action containing a claim under section 702 of title 

11 5, United States Code, regarding agency action (as 

12 defined for the purposes of that section) affecting a 

13 covered energy project on Federal lands of the 

14 United States; and 

15 (2) the term ‘‘covered energy project’’ means 

16 the leasing of Federal lands of the United States for 

17 the exploration, development, production, processing, 

18 or transmission of oil, natural gas, wind, or any 

19 other source of energy, and any action under such 

20 a lease, except that the term does not include any 

21 disputes between the parties to a lease regarding the 

22 obligations under such lease, including regarding 

23 any alleged breach of the lease. 


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1 SEC. 402. EXCLUSIVE VENUE FOR CERTAIN CIVIL ACTIONS 

2 RELATING TO COVERED ENERGY PROJECTS. 

3 Venue for any covered civil action shall lie in the dis4 trict court where the project or leases exist or are pro5 posed. 

6 SEC. 403. TIMELY FILING. 

7 To ensure timely redress by the courts, a covered civil 

8 action must be filed no later than the end of the 90-day 

9 period beginning on the date of the final Federal agency 

10 action to which it relates. 

11 SEC. 404. EXPEDITION IN HEARING AND DETERMINING THE 

12 ACTION. 

13 The court shall endeavor to hear and determine any 

14 covered civil action as expeditiously as possible. 

15 SEC. 405. STANDARD OF REVIEW. 

16 In any judicial review of a covered civil action, admin17 istrative findings and conclusions relating to the chal18 lenged Federal action or decision shall be presumed to be 

19 correct, and the presumption may be rebutted only by the 

20 preponderance of the evidence contained in the adminis21 trative record. 

22 SEC. 406. LIMITATION ON INJUNCTION AND PROSPECTIVE 

23 RELIEF. 

24 In a covered civil action, the court shall not grant 

25 or approve any prospective relief unless the court finds 

26 that such relief is narrowly drawn, extends no further than 


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1 necessary to correct the violation of a legal requirement, 

2 and is the least intrusive means necessary to correct that 

3 violation. In addition, courts shall limit the duration of 

4 preliminary injunctions to halt covered energy projects to 

5 no more than 60 days, unless the court finds clear reasons 

6 to extend the injunction. In such cases of extensions, such 

7 extensions shall only be in 30-day increments and shall 

8 require action by the court to renew the injunction. 

9 SEC. 407. LIMITATION ON ATTORNEYS’ FEES. 

10 Sections 504 of title 5, United States Code, and 2412 

11 of title 28, United States Code, (together commonly called 

12 the Equal Access to Justice Act) do not apply to a covered 

13 civil action, nor shall any party in such a covered civil ac14 tion receive payment from the Federal Government for 

15 their attorneys’ fees, expenses, and other court costs. 

16 SEC. 408. LEGAL STANDING. 

17 Challengers filing appeals with the Department of the 

18 Interior Board of Land Appeals shall meet the same 

19 standing requirements as challengers before a United 

20 States district court. 

Æ 


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