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[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1613 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1613

   To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to provide for the 
 proper Federal management and oversight of transboundary hydrocarbon 
                  reservoirs, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 18, 2013

Mr. Duncan of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. Hastings of Washington, 
 and Mr. Salmon) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
 the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees 
     on Foreign Affairs and Financial Services, 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 to provide for the 
 proper Federal management and oversight of transboundary hydrocarbon 
                  reservoirs, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Outer Continental Shelf 
Transboundary Hydrocarbon Agreements Authorization Act''.

      TITLE I--AMENDMENT TO THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF LANDS ACT

SEC. 101. AMENDMENT TO THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF LANDS ACT.

    The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 32. TRANSBOUNDARY HYDROCARBON AGREEMENTS.

    ``(a) Authorization.--The Secretary may implement the terms of any 
transboundary hydrocarbon agreement for the management of transboundary 
hydrocarbon reservoirs entered into by the President and approved by 
Congress. In implementing such an agreement, the Secretary shall 
protect the interests of the United States to promote domestic job 
creation and ensure the expeditious and orderly development and 
conservation of domestic mineral resources in accordance with all 
applicable United States laws governing the exploration, development, 
and production of hydrocarbon resources on the outer Continental Shelf.
    ``(b) Submission to Congress.--
            ``(1) In general.--No later than 180 days after all parties 
        to a transboundary hydrocarbon agreement have agreed to its 
        terms, a transboundary hydrocarbon agreement that does not 
        constitute a treaty in the judgment of the President shall be 
        submitted by the Secretary to--
                    ``(A) the Speaker of the House of Representatives;
                    ``(B) the Majority Leader of the Senate;
                    ``(C) the Chair of the Committee on Natural 
                Resources of the House of Representatives; and
                    ``(D) the Chair of the Committee on Energy and 
                Natural Resources of the Senate.
            ``(2) Contents of submission.--The submission shall 
        include--
                    ``(A) any amendments to this Act or other Federal 
                law necessary to implement the agreement;
                    ``(B) an analysis of the economic impacts such an 
                agreement and any amendments necessitated by the 
                agreement will have on domestic exploration, 
                development, and production of hydrocarbon resources on 
                the outer Continental Shelf; and
                    ``(C) a detailed description of any regulations 
                expected to be issued by the Secretary to implement the 
                agreement.
    ``(c) Implementation of Specific Transboundary Agreements.--
            ``(1) Mexico.--The Secretary may take actions as necessary 
        to implement the terms of the Agreement between the United 
        States of America and the United Mexican States Concerning 
        Transboundary Hydrocarbon Reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico, 
        signed at Los Cabos, February 20, 2012, including--
                    ``(A) approving unitization agreements and related 
                agreements for the exploration, development, or 
                production of oil and natural gas from transboundary 
                reservoirs or geological structures;
                    ``(B) making available, in the limited manner 
                necessary under the agreement and subject to the 
                protections of confidentiality provided by the 
                agreement, information relating to the exploration, 
                development, and production of oil and natural gas from 
                a transboundary reservoir or geological structure that 
                may otherwise be considered confidential, privileged, 
                or proprietary information under law;
                    ``(C) taking actions consistent with an expert 
                determination under the agreement, provided that the 
                expert determination proceedings were open to the 
                public to the greatest extent practicable; and
                    ``(D) ensuring that agents of a foreign government 
                may not stop work or interfere with exploration, 
                development, or production activities as approved by 
                the Secretary.
            ``(2) Canada.--
            ``(3) Russia.--
            ``(4) Bahamas.--
            ``(5) Bermuda.--
    ``(d) Exemption From Resources Extraction Reporting Requirement.--
Actions taken by a public company in accordance with any transboundary 
hydrocarbon agreement shall not constitute the commercial development 
of oil, natural gas, or minerals for purposes of section 13(q) of the 
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (157 U.S.C. 78m(q)).
    ``(e) Savings Provisions.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed--
            ``(1) to authorize the Secretary to participate in any 
        negotiations, conferences, or consultations with Cuba regarding 
        exploration, development, or production of hydrocarbon 
        resources in the Gulf of Mexico along the United States 
        maritime border with Cuba or the area known by the Department 
        of the Interior as the `Eastern Gap'; or
            ``(2) as affecting the sovereign rights and the 
        jurisdiction that the United States has under international law 
        over the outer Continental Shelf which appertains to it.''.

       TITLE II--APPROVAL OF TRANSBOUNDARY HYDROCARBON AGREEMENT

SEC. 201. APPROVAL OF AGREEMENT WITH MEXICO.

    The Agreement between the United States of America and the United 
Mexican States Concerning Transboundary Hydrocarbon Reservoirs in the 
Gulf of Mexico, signed at Los Cabos, February 20, 2012, is hereby 
approved.
                                 <all>
```