II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2314 

To suspend the application of any provision of Federal law under which 

persons are relieved from the requirement to pay royalties for production 

of oil or natural gas from Federal lands in periods of high oil and 

natural gas prices, to require the Secretary to seek to renegotiate existing 

oil and natural gas leases to similarly limit suspension of royalty obligations under such leases, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 16, 2006 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. KERRY, and Mrs. BOXER) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To suspend the application of any provision of Federal law 

under which persons are relieved from the requirement 

to pay royalties for production of oil or natural gas 

from Federal lands in periods of high oil and natural 

gas prices, to require the Secretary to seek to renegotiate 

existing oil and natural gas leases to similarly limit suspension of royalty obligations under such leases, 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, 
2 

•S 2314 IS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Royalty Relief Act of 

3 2006’’. 

4 SEC. 2. SUSPENSION OF ROYALTY RELIEF. 

5 (a) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary of the Interior 

6 (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall suspend 

7 the application of any provision of Federal law under 

8 which a person would otherwise be provided relief from 

9 a requirement to pay a royalty for the production of oil 

10 or natural gas from Federal land (including submerged 

11 land) occurring after the date of enactment of this Act 

12 during a period in which— 

13 (1) for the production of oil, the average price 

14 of crude oil in the United States during the 4-week 

15 period immediately preceding the suspension is 

16 greater than $34.71 per barrel; and 

17 (2) for the production of natural gas, the aver18 age wellhead price of natural gas in the United 

19 States during the 4-week period immediately pre20 ceding the suspension is greater than $4.34 per 

21 1,000 cubic feet. 

22 (b) DETERMINATION OF AVERAGE PRICES.—For 

23 purposes of subsection (a), the Secretary shall determine 

24 average prices, taking into consideration the most recent 

25 data reported by the Energy Information Administration. 
3 

•S 2314 IS

1 SEC. 3. RENEGOTIATION OF EXISTING LEASES. 

2 (a) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary shall renegotiate 

3 each lease authorizing production of oil or natural gas on 

4 Federal land (including submerged land) issued by the 

5 Secretary before the date of the enactment of this Act as 

6 the Secretary determines to be necessary to modify the 

7 terms of the lease to ensure that a suspension of a require8 ment to pay royalties under the lease does not apply to 

9 production described in section 2(a). 

10 (b) FAILURE TO RENEGOTIATE AND MODIFY.—Be11 ginning on the date that is 1 year after the date of enact12 ment of this Act, a lessee under a lease described in sub13 section (a) shall not be eligible— 

14 (1) to enter into a new lease described in that 

15 subsection; or 

16 (2) to obtain by sale or other transfer any lease 

17 issued before that date, unless the lessee— 

18 (A) renegotiates the lease; and 

19 (B) enters into an agreement with the Sec20 retary to modify the terms of the lease in ac21 cordance with subsection (a). 

22 SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

23 Sections 344, 345, and 346 of the Energy Policy Act 

24 of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15904, 15905; 119 Stat. 704) are re25 pealed. 

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