I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1587 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture 

to issue permits for rights-of-way, temporary easements, or other necessary authorizations to facilitate natural gas, oil, and petroleum product 

pipelines and related facilities on eligible Federal lands, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 16, 2013 

Mr. MARINO (for himself, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. REED, and Mr. TURNER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, 

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 authorize the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary 

of Agriculture to issue permits for rights-of-way, temporary easements, or other necessary authorizations to 

facilitate natural gas, oil, and petroleum product pipelines and related facilities on eligible Federal lands, 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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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Energy Infrastructure 

3 Improvement Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. AUTHORITY FOR NATURAL GAS AND OIL PIPE5 LINES. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any provision of 

7 the Mineral Leasing Act (cite), the Secretary may issue 

8 permits for rights-of-way, temporary easements, or other 

9 necessary authorizations to allow a permittee to construct, 

10 operate, maintain, expand, or modify a natural gas, oil, 

11 or petroleum products pipeline and related facilities on eli12 gible Federal lands. 

13 (b) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—A permit issued 

14 under this section shall be consistent with the laws and 

15 regulations generally applicable to utility rights-of-way 

16 within the respective eligible Federal land and subject to 

17 such terms and conditions as the Secretary deems appro18 priate. 

19 (c) FEES.— 

20 (1) PERMIT FEE.—The Secretary shall charge 

21 and retain a fee for any permit issued under this 

22 section. The fee shall be calculated to provide for re23 covery of costs incurred by the United States associ24 ated with processing, issuing, and monitoring the 

25 permit. 


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1 (2) ANNUAL FEE.—The Secretary shall charge 

2 an annual fee related to each permit which requires 

3 payment, in advance, of the fair market rental value 

4 of permitted use as determined by the Secretary. 

5 (d) TERM.— 

6 (1) INITIAL TERM.—The Secretary shall deter7 mine the initial fixed term for a permit issued under 

8 this section, taking into consideration the following: 

9 (A) The cost of planning, approval, con10 struction, operation, and maintenance of the 

11 pipeline and its related facility (in terms of time 

12 and money). 

13 (B) The useful life of the pipeline and its 

14 related facility. 

15 (C) The public or economic purpose served 

16 by the pipeline and its related facility. 

17 (2) RENEWALS.—The Secretary shall renew 

18 any right-of-way issued under this section, in accord19 ance with the provisions of this section, if the pipe20 line and its related facility is in commercial oper21 ation and operated and maintained in accordance 

22 with this section and the permit issued under this 

23 section for that pipeline and its related facility. 

24 (e) ENFORCEMENT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may impose 

2 citations or fines or suspend or revoke any authority 

3 under a permit issued under this section for failure 

4 to comply with or for violation of any term or condi5 tion of the permit. 

6 (2) SUSPENSION OR TERMINATION OF THE

7 RIGHT-OF-WAY.—Abandonment of a permit or delib8 erate noncompliance with any provision of this sec9 tion or of a permit issued under this section may be 

10 grounds for suspension or termination of the permit 

11 if the Secretary determines that such grounds exist 

12 and that suspension or termination is justified after 

13 the permittee has been given— 

14 (A) due notice; 

15 (B) a reasonable opportunity to remedy 

16 the abandonment or noncompliance; and 

17 (C) an appropriate administrative pro18 ceeding pursuant to section 554 of title 5, 

19 United States Code. 

20 (3) MISUSE OR NONUSE OF PERMIT.—Delib21 erate failure to use a permit for the purpose for 

22 which it was granted or renewed for any continuous 

23 two-year period shall constitute a rebuttable pre24 sumption of abandonment of the permit. Where the 

25 failure to use the permit is due to circumstances not 


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1 within the permittee’s control, the Secretary is not 

2 required to commence proceedings to suspend or ter3 minate the permit. 

4 (4) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Not later than 90 days 

5 after a final decision by the Secretary under this 

6 subsection, a permittee may file a suit to challenge 

7 that decision in the United States court of appeals 

8 for the circuit in which the Federal land which is the 

9 subject of the permit is located. Such court shall 

10 have jurisdiction to hear and determine any suit 

11 brought as provided in this subsection. 

12 (f) MODIFICATIONS.—The Secretary may modify a 

13 permit issued under this section if the modification is 

14 agreed upon by the permittee and complies with this sec15 tion. Any action taken by the Secretary pursuant to this 

16 subsection shall not be considered a major Federal action 

17 requiring a detailed statement under section 102(2)(C) of 

18 the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970 (42 U.S.C. 

19 4332(2)(C)). 

20 (g) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

21 (1) ELIGIBLE FEDERAL LANDS.—The term ‘‘el22 igible Federal lands’’ means— 

23 (A) Federal lands under the administrative 

24 jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior, ex25 cept— 


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1 (i) lands held in trust for a federal 

2 recognized Indian tribe or a member of a 

3 federally recognized Indian tribe; and 

4 (ii) lands on the Outer Continental 

5 Shelf; and 

6 (B) National Forest System lands. 

7 (2) FACILITY.—The term ‘‘facility’’— 

8 (A) includes such things as buildings, pipe9 lines, and auxiliary or appurtenant facilities re10 lated to the construction, operation, and main11 tenance of the pipeline; and 

12 (B) does not include wells, drills, or drill13 ing platforms. 

14 (3) PERMITTEE.—The term ‘‘permittee’’ means 

15 the owner of a natural gas, oil, or petroleum prod16 ucts pipeline and the owner’s successors or assigns. 

17 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

18 the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Ag19 riculture, as appropriate in regard the Secretary 

20 with administrative jurisdiction over the Federal 

21 lands involved. 

Æ 


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