II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1092

To establish a program under which the Secretary of the Interior offers 

for lease certain land for oil shale development, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 20, 2005

Mr. SALAZAR introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL

To establish a program under which the Secretary of the 

Interior offers for lease certain land for oil shale development, 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 ‘‘Oil Shale Development 

5 Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. OIL SHALE LEASING. 

7 (a) DECLARATION OF POLICY.—Congress declares 

8 that it is the policy of the United States that—

9 (1) United States oil shale and oil sands are 

10 strategically important domestic resources that 
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1 should be developed through methods that help re2 duce the growing dependence of the United States 

3 on politically and economically unstable sources of 

4 foreign oil imports; 

5 (2) the development of oil shale and oil sands, 

6 for research and commercial development, should be 

7 conducted in an environmentally sound and economi8 cally feasible manner; and 

9 (3) development described in paragraph (2) 

10 should occur at a deliberate pace, with an emphasis 

11 on sustainability, to benefit the United States while 

12 taking into account affected States and commu13 nities. 

14 (b) LEASING FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with section 

16 21 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 241) and 

17 any other applicable law, except as provided in this 

18 section, not later than 1 year after the date of enact19 ment of this Act, from land otherwise available for 

20 leasing, the Secretary of the Interior (referred to in 

21 this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall, for a period 

22 determined by the Secretary, make available for 

23 leasing such land as the Secretary considers to be 

24 necessary to conduct research and development ac25 tivities with respect to innovative technologies for 
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1 the recovery of shale oil from oil shale resources on 

2 public land. 

3 (2) APPLICATION.—The Secretary may offer to 

4 lease the land to persons that submit an application 

5 for the lease, if the Secretary determines that there 

6 is no competitive interest in the land. 

7 (3) ADMINISTRATION.—In carrying out this 

8 subsection, the Secretary shall— 

9 (A) provide for environmentally sound re10 search and development of oil shale; 

11 (B) provide for an appropriate return to 

12 the public, as determined by the Secretary; 

13 (C) before carrying out any activity that 

14 will disturb the surface of land, provide for an 

15 adequate bond, surety, or other financial ar16 rangement to ensure reclamation; 

17 (D) provide for a primary lease term of 10 

18 years, after which the lease term may be ex19 tended if the Secretary determines that diligent 

20 research and development activities are occur21 ring on the land leased; 

22 (E) require the owner or operator of a 

23 project under this subsection, within such pe24 riod as the Secretary may determine—

25 (i) to submit a plan of operations; 
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1 (ii) to develop an environmental pro2 tection plan; and 

3 (iii) to undertake diligent research 

4 and development activities; 

5 (F) ensure that leases under this section 

6 are not larger than necessary to conduct re7 search and development activities under an ap8 plication under paragraph (2); 

9 (G) provide for consultation with affected 

10 State and local governments; and 

11 (H) provide for such requirements as the 

12 Secretary determines to be in the public inter13 est. 

14 (4) MONEYS RECEIVED.—Any moneys received 

15 from a leasing activity under this subsection shall be 

16 paid in accordance with section 35 of the Mineral 

17 Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 191). 

18 (c) PROGRAMMATIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

19 STATEMENT.—Not later than 18 months after the date 

20 of enactment of this Act, in accordance with section 

21 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 

22 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)), the Secretary shall com23 plete a programmatic environmental impact statement 

24 that analyzes potential leasing for commercial develop25 ment of oil shale resources on public land. 
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1 (d) ANALYSIS OF POTENTIAL LEASING PROGRAM.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 

3 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec4 retary shall submit to Congress a report (including 

5 recommendations) analyzing a potential leasing pro6 gram for the commercial development of oil shale on 

7 public land. 

8 (2) INCLUSIONS.—The report under paragraph 

9 (1) shall include— 

10 (A) an analysis of technologies and re11 search and development programs for the pro12 duction of oil and other materials from oil shale 

13 and tar sands in existence on the date on which 

14 the report is prepared; 

15 (B) an analysis of—

16 (i) whether leases under the program 

17 should be issued on a competitive basis; 

18 (ii) the term of the leases; 

19 (iii) the maximum size of the leases; 

20 (iv) the use and distribution of bonus 

21 bid lease payments; 

22 (v) the royalty rate to be applied, in23 cluding whether a sliding scale royalty rate 

24 should be used; 
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1 (vi) whether an opportunity should be 

2 provided to convert research and develop3 ment leases into leases for commercial de4 velopment, including the terms and condi5 tions that should apply to the conversion; 

6 (vii) the maximum number of leases 

7 and maximum acreage to be leased under 

8 the leasing program to an individual; and 

9 (viii) any infrastructure required to 

10 support oil shale development in industry 

11 and communities; and 

12 (C) an analysis, developed in conjunction 

13 with the appropriate State water resource agen14 cies, of the demand for, and availability of, 

15 water with respect to the development of oil 

16 shale. 

17 (3) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—In preparing the 

18 report under this subsection, the Secretary shall pro19 vide notice to, and solicit comment from—

20 (A) the public; 

21 (B) representatives of local governments; 

22 (C) representatives of industry; and 

23 (D) other interested parties. 
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1 (4) PARTICIPATION BY CERTAIN STATES.—In 

2 preparing the report under this subsection, the Sec3 retary shall—

4 (A) provide notice to, and solicit comment 

5 from, the Governors of the States of Colorado, 

6 Utah, and Wyoming; and 

7 (B) incorporate into the report submitted 

8 to Congress under paragraph (1) any response 

9 of the Secretary to those comments. 

10 (e) NATIONAL OIL SHALE ASSESSMENT.—

11 (1) ASSESSMENT.—

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

13 carry out a national assessment of oil shale re14 sources for the purposes of evaluating and map15 ping oil shale deposits, in the geographic areas 

16 described in subparagraph (B). 

17 (B) GEOGRAPHIC AREAS.—The geographic 

18 areas referred to in subparagraph (A), listed in 

19 the order in which the Secretary shall assign 

20 priority, are—

21 (i) the Green River Region of the 

22 States of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming; 

23 (ii) the Devonian oil shales of the 

24 eastern United States; and 
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1 (iii) any remaining area in the central 

2 and western United States (including the 

3 State of Alaska) that contains oil shale, as 

4 determined by the Secretary. 

5 (2) USE OF STATE SURVEYS AND UNIVER6 SITIES.—In carrying out the assessment under para7 graph (1), the Secretary may request assistance 

8 from any State-administered geological survey or 

9 university. 

10 (f) STATE WATER RIGHTS.—Nothing in this section 

11 preempts or affects any State water law or interstate com12 pact relating to water. 

13 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

14 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec15 essary to carry out this section.

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