I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9696 

To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and the Mineral Leasing 

Act to require reports on rejected bids, to clarify timelines for the 

issuance of leases, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2024 

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana (for himself and Ms. HAGEMAN) 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 amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and the 

Mineral Leasing Act to require reports on rejected bids, 

to clarify timelines for the issuance of leases, 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 ‘‘Federal Lands and 

5 Waters Leasing Transparency Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REPORT ON THE DETERMINATION OF THE FAIR 

2 MARKET VALUE OF OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS 

3 LEASE BIDS. 

4 Section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

5 (43 U.S.C. 1344) is amended by adding at the end the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(j) REPORT ON THE DETERMINATION OF THE FAIR

8 MARKET VALUE OF OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASE

9 BIDS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—If the Secretary deter11 mines pursuant to subsection (a)(4) that the Federal 

12 Government will not receive the fair market value 

13 from a bid for a covered lease tract, the Secretary 

14 shall provide to the bidder a report that explains the 

15 basis for such determination. If the bid was a quali16 fied bid that was subject to a resource and economic 

17 evaluation, the report shall include information on 

18 how such qualified bid relates to the Mean Range of 

19 Values, Delay-adjusted Mean Range of Values, Ad20 justed Delayed Value, and Revised Arithmetic Aver21 age Measure for the covered lease tract. 

22 ‘‘(2) COVERED LEASE TRACT.—In this sub23 section, The term ‘covered lease tract’ means a lease 

24 tract for which the Secretary— 

25 ‘‘(A) held a lease sale; 

26 ‘‘(B) received at least one bid; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) did not issue a lease to the highest 

2 responsible qualified bidder.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. EFFECT OF COURT ORDERS ON DEADLINE TO ISSUE 

4 ONSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASES. 

5 Section 17(b)(1)(A) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 

6 U.S.C. 226(b)(1)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘No court 

7 order may prevent the Secretary from issuing a lease by 

8 such 60 day deadline unless the court finds that the 

9 issuance of the lease would violate a requirement of Fed10 eral law.’’ after ‘‘first lease year.’’. 

11 SEC. 4. CIVIL ACTIONS CHALLENGING OFFSHORE LEASE 

12 SALES. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi14 sion of law, a civil action challenging an offshore oil and 

15 gas lease sale conducted under the Outer Continental 

16 Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) shall not— 

17 (1) affect the validity of any lease issued under 

18 such an offshore lease sale; and 

19 (2) cause a delay in the timelines for the con20 sideration of any exploration plan, development plan, 

21 development operations coordination document, ap22 plications for permit to drill, or other application for 

23 a Federal agency authorization or approval for ac24 tivities on a lease issued under such an offshore 

25 lease sale. 


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1 (b) REMAND; PROCESSING OF APPROVALS AND AP2 PLICATIONS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

3 if, in a civil action described in subsection (a), a court 

4 finds that the offshore lease sale was not carried out in 

5 compliance with Federal law— 

6 (1) the court shall not— 

7 (A) set aside, vacate, or enjoin the offshore 

8 lease sale; 

9 (B) set aside, vacate, or enjoin the leases 

10 issued pursuant to the offshore lease sale; or 

11 (C) enjoin the Secretary of the Interior 

12 from issuing leases to the highest bidders in the 

13 challenged offshore lease sale; 

14 (2) the court shall remand the matter to the 

15 Secretary of the Interior and require the Secretary 

16 of the Interior to correct the noncompliance; and 

17 (3) the Secretary of the Interior shall continue 

18 to process all exploration plans, development and 

19 production plans, development operations coordina20 tion documents, applications for permit to drill, and 

21 other applications for a Federal agency authoriza22 tion or other approval for activities requested under 

23 any lease issued under the challenged offshore lease 


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1 sale in accordance with the Outer Continental Shelf 

2 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.). 

Æ 


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