I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1205 

To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to streamline the oil and gas permitting 

process and to recognize fee ownership for certain oil and gas drilling 

or spacing units, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 27, 2023 

Mrs. BICE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to streamline the oil 

and gas permitting process and to recognize fee ownership for certain oil and gas drilling or spacing units, 

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 ‘‘Bureau of Land Man5 agement Mineral Spacing Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ACCESS TO FEDERAL ENERGY RESOURCES FROM 

2 NON-FEDERAL SURFACE ESTATE. 

3 Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

4 226) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(r) NO FEDERAL PERMIT REQUIRED FOR OIL AND

6 GAS ACTIVITIES ON CERTAIN LAND.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall not re8 quire an operator to obtain a Federal drilling permit 

9 for oil and gas exploration and production activities 

10 conducted on non-Federal surface estate, provided 

11 that— 

12 ‘‘(A) the United States holds an ownership 

13 interest of less than 50 percent of the sub14 surface mineral estate to be accessed by the 

15 proposed action; and 

16 ‘‘(B) the operator submits to the Secretary 

17 a State permit to conduct oil and gas explo18 ration and production activities on the non-Fed19 eral surface estate. 

20 ‘‘(2) NO FEDERAL ACTION.—An oil and gas ex21 ploration and production activity carried out under 

22 paragraph (1)— 

23 ‘‘(A) shall not be considered a major Fed24 eral action for the purposes of section 

25 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy 

26 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332); 


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1 ‘‘(B) shall require no additional Federal 

2 action; 

3 ‘‘(C) may commence 30 days after submis4 sion of the State permit to the Secretary; and 

5 ‘‘(D) shall not be subject to— 

6 ‘‘(i) section 306108 of title 54, United 

7 States Code (commonly known as the Na8 tional Historic Preservation Act of 1966); 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(ii) section 7 of the Endangered Spe11 cies Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536). 

12 ‘‘(3) ROYALTIES AND PRODUCTION ACCOUNT13 ABILITY.—(A) Nothing in this subsection shall affect 

14 the amount of royalties due to the United States 

15 under this Act from the production of oil and gas, 

16 or alter the Secretary’s authority to conduct audits 

17 and collect civil penalties pursuant to the Federal 

18 Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982 (30 

19 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.). 

20 ‘‘(B) The Secretary may conduct onsite reviews 

21 and inspections to ensure proper accountability, 

22 measurement, and reporting of production of Fed23 eral oil and gas, and payment of royalties. 

24 ‘‘(4) NONAPPLICABILITY TO INDIAN LANDS.— 

25 This subsection shall not apply to Indian lands. 


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1 ‘‘(5) INDIAN LAND.—In this subsection, the 

2 term ‘Indian land’ means— 

3 ‘‘(A) any land located within the bound4 aries of an Indian reservation, pueblo, or 

5 rancheria; and 

6 ‘‘(B) any land not located within the 

7 boundaries of an Indian reservation, pueblo, or 

8 rancheria, the title to which is held— 

9 ‘‘(i) in trust by the United States for 

10 the benefit of an Indian tribe or an indi11 vidual Indian; 

12 ‘‘(ii) by an Indian tribe or an indi13 vidual Indian, subject to restriction against 

14 alienation under laws of the United States; 

15 or 

16 ‘‘(iii) by a dependent Indian commu17 nity.’’. 

Æ 


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