I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1782 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct offshore oil and gas 

Lease Sale 220 as soon as practicable, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 26, 2013 

Mr. RIGELL (for himself, Mr. WITTMAN, Mr. GRIFFITH of Virginia, and Mr. 

HURT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct offshore 

oil and gas Lease Sale 220 as soon as practicable, 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 ‘‘Virginia Jobs and En5 ergy Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LEASE SALE 220 AND OTHER OCS OIL AND GAS 

7 LEASE SALES OFFSHORE VIRGINIA. 

8 (a) CONDUCT OF LEASE SALE.—Notwithstanding in9 clusion in the current 5-year oil and gas leasing program 

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1 under section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 

2 Act (43 U.S.C. 1344), the Secretary of the Interior shall 

3 conduct lease sale 220 (as defined in the Draft Proposed 

4 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Pro5 gram for 2010–2015 as published in the Federal Register 

6 on January 21, 2009 (74 Fed. Reg. 3631)) under section 

7 8 of such Act (43 U.S.C. 1337) as soon as practicable, 

8 but not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 

9 this Act. 

10 (b) INCLUSION IN FUTURE LEASING PROGRAMS.— 

11 The Secretary of the Interior shall include at least one 

12 lease sale in the Virginia lease sale planning area in each 

13 5-year oil and gas leasing program that applies after the 

14 current leasing program. 

15 SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF MILITARY OPERATIONS. 

16 (a) PROHIBITION.—No person may engage in any ex17 ploration, development, or production of oil or natural gas 

18 off the coast of Virginia that would conflict with any mili19 tary operation, as determined in accordance with the 

20 Memorandum of Agreement between the Department of 

21 Defense and the Department of the Interior on Mutual 

22 Concerns on the Outer Continental Shelf signed July 20, 

23 1983, and any revision or replacement for that agreement 

24 that is agreed to by the Secretary of Defense and the Sec25 retary of the Interior after that date but before the date 

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1 of issuance of the lease under which such exploration, de2 velopment, or production is conducted. 

3 (b) REVIEW AND UPDATING OF MOA.—The Sec4 retary of the Interior and the Secretary of Defense shall 

5 periodically review and revise such memorandum of agree6 ment to account for new offshore energy production tech7 nologies, including those that use wind energy. 

8 SEC. 4. DISPOSITION OF REVENUE. 

9 (a) PAYMENT OF NEW LEASING REVENUES TO MID10 ATLANTIC STATES.—Notwithstanding section 9 of the 

11 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1338), of 

12 the amount of new leasing revenues received by the United 

13 States each fiscal year under any lease issued under this 

14 Act, 37.5 percent shall be allocated and paid in accordance 

15 with subsection (b) to Mid-Atlantic States that are af16 fected States with respect to the leases under which those 

17 revenues are received by the United States. 

18 (b) ALLOCATION OF PAYMENTS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amount of new leasing 

20 revenues received by the United States with respect 

21 to a leased tract that are required to be paid to Mid22 Atlantic States in accordance with this subsection 

23 each fiscal year shall be allocated among and paid 

24 to Mid-Atlantic States that are within 200 miles of 

25 the leased tract, in amounts that are inversely promstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 portional to the respective distances between the 

2 point on the coastline of each such State that is clos3 est to the geographic center of the lease tract, as de4 termined by the Secretary. 

5 (2) MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM ALLOCATION.— 

6 The amount allocated to a Mid-Atlantic State under 

7 paragraph (1) each fiscal year with respect to a 

8 leased tract shall be— 

9 (A) in the case of a Mid-Atlantic State 

10 that is the nearest Mid-Atlantic State to the ge11 ographic center of the leased tract, not less 

12 than 25 percent of the total amounts allocated 

13 with respect to the leased tract; and 

14 (B) in the case of any other Mid-Atlantic 

15 State, not less than 10 percent, and not more 

16 than 15 percent, of the total amounts allocated 

17 with respect to the leased tract. 

18 (3) ADMINISTRATION.—Amounts allocated to a 

19 Mid-Atlantic State under this subsection— 

20 (A) shall be available to the State without 

21 further appropriation; 

22 (B) shall remain available until expended; 

23 and 

24 (C) shall be in addition to any other 

25 amounts available to the State under the Outer 

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1 Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 

2 et seq.). 

3 (4) USE OF FUNDS.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

5 subparagraph (B), a Mid-Atlantic State may 

6 use funds allocated and paid to it under this 

7 subsection for any purpose as determined by 

8 the laws of that State. 

9 (B) RESTRICTION ON USE FOR MATCH10 ING.—Funds allocated and paid to a Mid-Atlan11 tic State under this subsection may not be used 

12 as matching funds for any other Federal pro13 gram. 

14 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 (1) AFFECTED STATE.—The term ‘‘affected 

16 State’’ has the meaning that term has under section 

17 2 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 

18 U.S.C. 1331). 

19 (2) MID-ATLANTIC STATE.—The term ‘‘Mid-At20 lantic State’’ means each of the States of Delaware, 

21 North Carolina, Maryland, and Virginia. 

22 (3) NEW LEASING REVENUES.—The term ‘‘new 

23 leasing revenues’’ means amounts received by the 

24 United States as bonuses, rents, and royalties under 

25 leases for oil and gas, wind, tidal, or other energy 

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1 exploration, development, and production on areas of 

2 the Outer Continental Shelf that are authorized to 

3 be made available for leasing as a result of enact4 ment of this Act. 

5 (4) VIRGINIA LEASE SALE PLANNING AREA.— 

6 The term ‘‘Virginia lease sale planning area’’ means 

7 the area of the outer Continental Shelf (as that term 

8 is defined in the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

9 (33 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.)) that has— 

10 (A) a boundary consisting of a straight 

11 line extending from the northernmost point of 

12 Virginia’s seaward boundary to the point on the 

13 seaward boundary of the United States exclu14 sive economic zone located at 37 degrees 17 

15 minutes 1 second North latitude, 71 degrees 5 

16 minutes 16 seconds West longitude; and 

17 (B) a southern boundary consisting of a 

18 straight line extending from the southernmost 

19 point of Virginia’s seaward boundary to the 

20 point on the seaward boundary of the United 

21 States exclusive economic zone located at 36 de22 grees 31 minutes 58 seconds North latitude, 71 

23 degrees 30 minutes 1 second West longitude. 

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1 SEC. 5. OFFSHORE METEOROLOGICAL SITE TESTING AND 

2 MONITORING PROJECTS. 

3 (a) OFFSHORE METEOROLOGICAL PROJECT PERMIT4 TING.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte6 rior shall by regulation require that any applicant 

7 seeking to conduct an offshore meteorological site 

8 testing and monitoring project on the outer Conti9 nental Shelf (as that term is defined in the Outer 

10 Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et 

11 seq.)) must obtain a permit and right of way for the 

12 project in accordance with this subsection. 

13 (2) PERMIT AND RIGHT-OF-WAY TIMELINE AND

14 CONDITIONS.— 

15 (A) DEADLINE FOR APPROVAL.—The Sec16 retary shall decide whether to issue a permit 

17 and right of way for an offshore meteorological 

18 site testing and monitoring project within 30 

19 days after receiving an application. 

20 (B) PUBLIC COMMENT AND CONSULTA21 TION.—During the period referred to in sub22 paragraph (A), the Secretary shall— 

23 (i) provide an opportunity for submis24 sion of comments by the public; and 

25 (ii) consult with the Secretary of De26 fense, the Commandant of the Coast 

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1 Guard, and the heads of other Federal, 

2 State, and local agencies that would be af3 fected by issuance of the permit and right 

4 of way. 

5 (C) DENIAL OF PERMIT; OPPORTUNITY TO

6 REMEDY DEFICIENCIES.—If the application is 

7 denied, the Secretary shall provide the appli8 cant— 

9 (i) in writing, clear and comprehensive 

10 reasons why the application was not ap11 proved and detailed information concerning 

12 any deficiencies in the application; and 

13 (ii) an opportunity to remedy such de14 ficiencies. 

15 (b) NEPA EXCLUSION.—Section 102(2)(C) of the 

16 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

17 4332(2)(C)) shall not apply with respect to an offshore 

18 meteorological site testing and monitoring project. 

19 (c) PROTECTION OF INFORMATION.—The informa20 tion provided to the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to 

21 subsection (d)(3) shall be treated by the Secretary as pro22 prietary information and protected against disclosure. 

23 (d) DEFINITION OF AN OFFSHORE METEOROLOG24 ICAL SITE TESTING AND MONITORING PROJECT.—In this 

25 section, the term ‘‘offshore meteorological site testing and 

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1 monitoring project’’ means a project carried out on or in 

2 the waters of the Outer Continental Shelf administered 

3 by the Department of the Interior to test or monitor 

4 weather (including wind, tidal, current, and solar energy) 

5 using towers, buoys, or other temporary ocean infrastruc6 ture, that— 

7 (1) causes— 

8 (A) less than 1 acre of surface or seafloor 

9 disruption at the location of each meteorological 

10 tower or other device; and 

11 (B) not more than 5 acres of surface or 

12 seafloor disruption within the proposed area af13 fected by the project (including hazards to navi14 gation); 

15 (2) is decommissioned not more than 5 years 

16 after the date of commencement of the project, in17 cluding— 

18 (A) removal of towers, buoys, or other tem19 porary ocean infrastructure from the project 

20 site; and 

21 (B) restoration of the project site to ap22 proximately the original condition of the site; 

23 and 

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1 (3) provides meteorological information ob2 tained by the project to the Secretary of the Inte3 rior. 

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