IIB 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1613 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 8, 2013 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

AN ACT 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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HR 1613 RFS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Outer Continental 

3 Shelf Transboundary Hydrocarbon Agreements Author4 ization Act’’. 

5 TITLE I—AMENDMENT TO THE 

6 OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF 

7 LANDS ACT 

8 SEC. 101. AMENDMENT TO THE OUTER CONTINENTAL 

9 SHELF LANDS ACT. 

10 The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 

11 1331 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 32. TRANSBOUNDARY HYDROCARBON AGREEMENTS. 

14 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—After the date of enactment 

15 of the Outer Continental Shelf Transboundary Hydro16 carbon Agreements Authorization Act, the Secretary may 

17 implement the terms of any transboundary hydrocarbon 

18 agreement for the management of transboundary hydro19 carbon reservoirs entered into by the President and ap20 proved by Congress. In implementing such an agreement, 

21 the Secretary shall protect the interests of the United 

22 States to promote domestic job creation and ensure the 

23 expeditious and orderly development and conservation of 

24 domestic mineral resources in accordance with all applica25 ble United States laws governing the exploration, developVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:32 Jul 09, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1613.RFS H1613

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1 ment, and production of hydrocarbon resources on the 

2 outer Continental Shelf. 

3 ‘‘(b) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No later than 180 days 

5 after all parties to a transboundary hydrocarbon 

6 agreement have agreed to its terms, a transboundary 

7 hydrocarbon agreement that does not constitute a 

8 treaty in the judgment of the President shall be sub9 mitted by the Secretary to— 

10 ‘‘(A) the Speaker of the House of Rep11 resentatives; 

12 ‘‘(B) the Majority Leader of the Senate; 

13 ‘‘(C) the Chair of the Committee on Nat14 ural Resources of the House of Representatives; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(D) the Chair of the Committee on En17 ergy and Natural Resources of the Senate. 

18 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF SUBMISSION.—The submis19 sion shall include— 

20 ‘‘(A) any amendments to this Act or other 

21 Federal law necessary to implement the agree22 ment; 

23 ‘‘(B) an analysis of the economic impacts 

24 such an agreement and any amendments neces25 sitated by the agreement will have on domestic 


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1 exploration, development, and production of hy2 drocarbon resources on the outer Continental 

3 Shelf; and 

4 ‘‘(C) a detailed description of any regula5 tions expected to be issued by the Secretary to 

6 implement the agreement. 

7 ‘‘(c) IMPLEMENTATION OF SPECIFIC TRANSBOUND8 ARY AGREEMENT WITH MEXICO.—The Secretary may 

9 take actions as necessary to implement the terms of the 

10 Agreement between the United States of America and the 

11 United Mexican States Concerning Transboundary Hydro12 carbon Reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico, signed at Los 

13 Cabos, February 20, 2012, including— 

14 ‘‘(1) approving unitization agreements and re15 lated arrangements for the exploration, development, 

16 or production of oil and natural gas from trans17 boundary reservoirs or geological structures; 

18 ‘‘(2) making available, in the limited manner 

19 necessary under the agreement and subject to the 

20 protections of confidentiality provided by the agree21 ment, information relating to the exploration, devel22 opment, and production of oil and natural gas from 

23 a transboundary reservoir or geological structure 

24 that may be considered confidential, privileged, or 

25 proprietary information under law; 


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1 ‘‘(3) taking actions consistent with an expert 

2 determination under the agreement; and 

3 ‘‘(4) ensuring only appropriate inspection staff 

4 at the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforce5 ment or other Federal agency personnel designated 

6 by the Bureau, the operator, or the lessee have au7 thority to stop work on any installation or other de8 vice or vessel permanently or temporarily attached to 

9 the seabed of the United States, which may be erect10 ed thereon for the purpose of resource exploration, 

11 development or production activities as approved by 

12 the Secretary. 

13 ‘‘(d) EXEMPTION FROM RESOURCES EXTRACTION

14 REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Actions taken by a public 

15 company in accordance with any transboundary hydro16 carbon agreement shall not constitute the commercial de17 velopment of oil, natural gas, or minerals for purposes of 

18 section 13(q) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (157 

19 U.S.C. 78m(q)). 

20 ‘‘(e) SAVINGS PROVISIONS.—Nothing in this section 

21 shall be construed— 

22 ‘‘(1) to authorize the Secretary to participate in 

23 any negotiations, conferences, or consultations with 

24 Cuba regarding exploration, development, or produc25 tion of hydrocarbon resources in the Gulf of Mexico 


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1 along the United States maritime border with Cuba 

2 or the area known by the Department of the Interior 

3 as the ‘Eastern Gap’; or 

4 ‘‘(2) as affecting the sovereign rights and the 

5 jurisdiction that the United States has under inter6 national law over the outer Continental Shelf which 

7 appertains to it.’’. 

8 TITLE II—APPROVAL OF TRANS9 BOUNDARY HYDROCARBON 

10 AGREEMENT 

11 SEC. 201. APPROVAL OF AGREEMENT WITH MEXICO. 

12 The Agreement between the United States of Amer13 ica and the United Mexican States Concerning Trans14 boundary Hydrocarbon Reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico, 

15 signed at Los Cabos, February 20, 2012, is hereby ap16 proved. 

Passed the House of Representatives June 27, 2013. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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