I 

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. 

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 ‘‘Outer Continental 

5 Shelf Transboundary Hydrocarbon Agreements Author6 ization Act’’. 


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1 TITLE I—AMENDMENT TO THE 

2 OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF 

3 LANDS ACT 

4 SEC. 101. AMENDMENT TO THE OUTER CONTINENTAL 

5 SHELF LANDS ACT. 

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

7 1331 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 32. TRANSBOUNDARY HYDROCARBON AGREEMENTS. 

10 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary may imple11 ment the terms of any transboundary hydrocarbon agree12 ment for the management of transboundary hydrocarbon 

13 reservoirs entered into by the President and approved by 

14 Congress. In implementing such an agreement, the Sec15 retary shall protect the interests of the United States to 

16 promote domestic job creation and ensure the expeditious 

17 and orderly development and conservation of domestic 

18 mineral resources in accordance with all applicable United 

19 States laws governing the exploration, development, and 

20 production of hydrocarbon resources on the outer Conti21 nental Shelf. 

22 ‘‘(b) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.— 

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

24 after all parties to a transboundary hydrocarbon 

25 agreement have agreed to its terms, a transboundary 


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1 hydrocarbon agreement that does not constitute a 

2 treaty in the judgment of the President shall be sub3 mitted by the Secretary to— 

4 ‘‘(A) the Speaker of the House of Rep5 resentatives; 

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

7 ‘‘(C) the Chair of the Committee on Nat8 ural Resources of the House of Representatives; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(D) the Chair of the Committee on En11 ergy and Natural Resources of the Senate. 

12 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF SUBMISSION.—The submis13 sion shall include— 

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

15 Federal law necessary to implement the agree16 ment; 

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

18 such an agreement and any amendments neces19 sitated by the agreement will have on domestic 

20 exploration, development, and production of hy21 drocarbon resources on the outer Continental 

22 Shelf; and 

23 ‘‘(C) a detailed description of any regula24 tions expected to be issued by the Secretary to 

25 implement the agreement. 


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1 ‘‘(c) IMPLEMENTATION OF SPECIFIC TRANSBOUND2 ARY AGREEMENTS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) MEXICO.—The Secretary may take actions 

4 as necessary to implement the terms of the Agree5 ment between the United States of America and the 

6 United Mexican States Concerning Transboundary 

7 Hydrocarbon Reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico, 

8 signed at Los Cabos, February 20, 2012, includ9 ing— 

10 ‘‘(A) approving unitization agreements and 

11 related agreements for the exploration, develop12 ment, or production of oil and natural gas from 

13 transboundary reservoirs or geological struc14 tures; 

15 ‘‘(B) making available, in the limited man16 ner necessary under the agreement and subject 

17 to the protections of confidentiality provided by 

18 the agreement, information relating to the ex19 ploration, development, and production of oil 

20 and natural gas from a transboundary reservoir 

21 or geological structure that may otherwise be 

22 considered confidential, privileged, or propri23 etary information under law; 

24 ‘‘(C) taking actions consistent with an ex25 pert determination under the agreement, proVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:17 Apr 18, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1613.IH H1613

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1 vided that the expert determination proceedings 

2 were open to the public to the greatest extent 

3 practicable; and 

4 ‘‘(D) ensuring that agents of a foreign gov5 ernment may not stop work or interfere with 

6 exploration, development, or production activi7 ties as approved by the Secretary. 

8 ‘‘(2) CANADA.— 

9 ‘‘(3) RUSSIA.— 

10 ‘‘(4) BAHAMAS.— 

11 ‘‘(5) BERMUDA.— 

12 ‘‘(d) EXEMPTION FROM RESOURCES EXTRACTION

13 REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Actions taken by a public 

14 company in accordance with any transboundary hydro15 carbon agreement shall not constitute the commercial de16 velopment of oil, natural gas, or minerals for purposes of 

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

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

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

20 shall be construed— 

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

22 any negotiations, conferences, or consultations with 

23 Cuba regarding exploration, development, or produc24 tion of hydrocarbon resources in the Gulf of Mexico 

25 along the United States maritime border with Cuba 


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1 or the area known by the Department of the Interior 

2 as the ‘Eastern Gap’; or 

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

4 jurisdiction that the United States has under inter5 national law over the outer Continental Shelf which 

6 appertains to it.’’. 

7 TITLE II—APPROVAL OF TRANS8 BOUNDARY HYDROCARBON 

9 AGREEMENT 

10 SEC. 201. APPROVAL OF AGREEMENT WITH MEXICO. 

11 The Agreement between the United States of Amer12 ica and the United Mexican States Concerning Trans13 boundary Hydrocarbon Reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico, 

14 signed at Los Cabos, February 20, 2012, is hereby ap15 proved. 

Æ 


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