I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1964 

To amend the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976 to direct 

the Secretary of the Interior to conduct an expeditious program of 

competitive leasing of oil and gas in the National Petroleum Reserve 

in Alaska, including at least one lease sale in the Reserve each year 

in the period 2013 through 2023, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 14, 2013 

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington (for himself and Mr. YOUNG of Alaska) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 

Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act 

of 1976 to direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct 

an expeditious program of competitive leasing of oil and 

gas in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, including at least one lease sale in the Reserve each year 

in the period 2013 through 2023, 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 bill shall be called the ‘‘National Petroleum Re5 serve Alaska Access Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS AND REAFFIRMING NATIONAL 

2 POLICY FOR THE NATIONAL PETROLEUM RE3 SERVE IN ALASKA. 

4 It is the sense of Congress that— 

5 (1) the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska 

6 remains explicitly designated, both in name and legal 

7 status, for purposes of providing oil and natural gas 

8 resources to the United States; and 

9 (2) accordingly, the national policy is to actively 

10 advance oil and gas development within the Reserve 

11 by facilitating the expeditious exploration, produc12 tion, and transportation of oil and natural gas from 

13 and through the Reserve. 

14 SEC. 3. NATIONAL PETROLEUM RESERVE IN ALASKA: 

15 LEASE SALES. 

16 Section 107(a) of the Naval Petroleum Reserves Pro17 duction Act of 1976 (42 U.S.C. 6506a(a)) is amended to 

18 read as follows: 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct an 

20 expeditious program of competitive leasing of oil and gas 

21 in the reserve in accordance with this Act. Such program 

22 shall include at least one lease sale annually in those areas 

23 of the reserve most likely to produce commercial quantities 

24 of oil and natural gas each year in the period 2013 

25 through 2023.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. NATIONAL PETROLEUM RESERVE IN ALASKA: PLAN2 NING AND PERMITTING PIPELINE AND ROAD 

3 CONSTRUCTION. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi5 sion of law, the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation 

6 with other appropriate Federal agencies, shall facilitate 

7 and ensure permits, in a timely and environmentally re8 sponsible manner, for all surface development activities, 

9 including for the construction of pipelines and roads, nec10 essary to— 

11 (1) develop and bring into production any areas 

12 within the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska 

13 that are subject to oil and gas leases; and 

14 (2) transport oil and gas from and through the 

15 National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska in the most 

16 direct manner possible to existing transportation or 

17 processing infrastructure on the North Slope of 

18 Alaska. 

19 (b) TIMELINE.—The Secretary shall ensure that any 

20 Federal permitting agency shall issue permits in accord21 ance with the following timeline: 

22 (1) Permits for such construction for transpor23 tation of oil and natural gas produced under existing 

24 Federal oil and gas leases with respect to which the 

25 Secretary has issued a permit to drill shall be apVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:27 May 17, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1964.IH H1964

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1 proved within 60 days after the date of enactment 

2 of this Act. 

3 (2) Permits for such construction for transpor4 tation of oil and natural gas produced under Federal 

5 oil and gas leases shall be approved within 6 months 

6 after the submission to the Secretary of a request 

7 for a permit to drill. 

8 (c) PLAN.—To ensure timely future development of 

9 the Reserve, within 270 days after the date of the enact10 ment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall submit 

11 to Congress a plan for approved rights-of-way for a plan 

12 for pipeline, road, and any other surface infrastructure 

13 that may be necessary infrastructure that will ensure that 

14 all leasable tracts in the Reserve are within 25 miles of 

15 an approved road and pipeline right-of-way that can serve 

16 future development of the Reserve. 

17 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF A NEW INTEGRATED ACTIVITY PLAN 

18 AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT. 

19 (a) ISSUANCE OF NEW INTEGRATED ACTIVITY

20 PLAN.—The Secretary of the Interior shall, within 180 

21 days after the date of enactment of this Act, issue— 

22 (1) a new proposed integrated activity plan 

23 from among the non-adopted alternatives in the Na24 tional Petroleum Reserve Alaska Integrated Activity 


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1 Plan Record of Decision issued by the Secretary of 

2 the Interior and dated February 21, 2013; and 

3 (2) an environmental impact statement under 

4 section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 

5 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)) for 

6 issuance of oil and gas leases in the National Petro7 leum Reserve-Alaska to promote efficient and max8 imum development of oil and natural gas resources 

9 of such reserve. 

10 (b) NULLIFICATION OF EXISTING RECORD OF DECI11 SION, IAP, AND EIS.—Except as provided in subsection 

12 (a), the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska Integrated 

13 Activity Plan Record of Decision issued by the Secretary 

14 of the Interior and dated February 21, 2013, including 

15 the integrated activity plan and environmental impact 

16 statement referred to in that record of decision, shall have 

17 no force or effect. 

18 SEC. 6. DEPARTMENTAL ACCOUNTABILITY FOR DEVELOP19 MENT. 

20 The Secretary of the Interior shall issue regulations 

21 not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 

22 this Act that establish clear requirements to ensure that 

23 the Department of the Interior is supporting development 

24 of oil and gas leases in the National Petroleum Reserve25 Alaska. 


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1 SEC. 7. DEADLINES UNDER NEW PROPOSED INTEGRATED 

2 ACTIVITY PLAN. 

3 At a minimum, the new proposed integrated activity 

4 plan issued under section 5(a)(1) shall— 

5 (1) require the Department of the Interior to 

6 respond within 5 business days to a person who sub7 mits an application for a permit for development of 

8 oil and natural gas leases in the National Petroleum 

9 Reserve-Alaska acknowledging receipt of such appli10 cation; and 

11 (2) establish a timeline for the processing of 

12 each such application, that— 

13 (A) specifies deadlines for decisions and 

14 actions on permit applications; and 

15 (B) provide that the period for issuing 

16 each permit after submission of such an appli17 cation shall not exceed 60 days without the con18 currence of the applicant. 

19 SEC. 8. UPDATED RESOURCE ASSESSMENT. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior shall 

21 complete a comprehensive assessment of all technically re22 coverable fossil fuel resources within the National Petro23 leum Reserve in Alaska, including all conventional and un24 conventional oil and natural gas. 

25 (b) COOPERATION AND CONSULTATION.—The re26 source assessment required by subsection (a) shall be carVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:27 May 17, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1964.IH H1964

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1 ried out by the United States Geological Survey in co2 operation and consultation with the State of Alaska and 

3 the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. 

4 (c) TIMING.—The resource assessment required by 

5 subsection (a) shall be completed within 24 months of the 

6 date of the enactment of this Act. 

7 (d) FUNDING.—The United States Geological Survey 

8 may, in carrying out the duties under this section, coop9 eratively use resources and funds provided by the State 

10 of Alaska. 

Æ 


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