II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3816 

To authorize the Secretary of Energy to carry out a program to lease 

underused facilities of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 21, 2020 

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

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Energy to carry out a program 

to lease underused facilities of the Strategic Petroleum 

Reserve, 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 ‘‘Strategic Petroleum 

5 Reserve Reform Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. USE OF UNDERUSED STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RE2 SERVE FACILITIES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 168 of the Energy Policy 

4 and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6247a) is amended to 

5 read as follows: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 168. USE OF UNDERUSED FACILITIES. 

7 ‘‘(a) LEASING OF FACILITIES.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

9 provision of this title, the Secretary may establish a 

10 program (referred to in this section as the ‘pro11 gram’) under which the Secretary may lease 

12 underused storage facilities and related facilities of 

13 the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to private entities 

14 and foreign governments for any term and under 

15 such other conditions as the Secretary considers nec16 essary or appropriate. 

17 ‘‘(2) EXCLUSION FROM STRATEGIC PETROLEUM

18 RESERVE.—Petroleum products stored in a storage 

19 facility or related facility leased under the program 

20 shall not be part of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. 

21 ‘‘(b) PROTECTION OF FACILITIES.—Each lease en22 tered into under the program shall contain provisions re23 quiring the lessee to pay fees to fully compensate the 

24 United States for all costs relating to the storage and re25 moval of petroleum products (including the proportionate 

26 cost of any replacement facility necessitated as a result 


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1 of any withdrawal) incurred by the United States as a re2 sult of the lease. 

3 ‘‘(c) ACCESS TO PETROLEUM PRODUCTS BY THE

4 UNITED STATES.—The Secretary shall ensure that each 

5 lease entered into under the program shall not impair the 

6 ability of the United States to withdraw, distribute, or sell 

7 petroleum products from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve 

8 in response to— 

9 ‘‘(1) an energy emergency; or 

10 ‘‘(2) the obligations of the United States under 

11 the international energy program. 

12 ‘‘(d) NATIONAL SECURITY.—The Secretary shall en13 sure that any lease entered into under the program with 

14 a foreign government shall not impair national security. 

15 ‘‘(e) DEPOSITS OF AMOUNTS RECEIVED.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para17 graph (2), amounts received from a lease entered 

18 into under the program shall be deposited in the 

19 general fund of the Treasury during the fiscal year 

20 in which the amounts are received. 

21 ‘‘(2) PAYMENT OF COSTS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

23 subparagraph (B), the Secretary, without fur24 ther appropriation, may use amounts received 


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1 from a lease entered into under the program for 

2 the costs described in subsection (b). 

3 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary may not 

4 use amounts received from a lease entered into 

5 under the program for any cost for additions or 

6 changes described in subsection (f)(1). 

7 ‘‘(f) PREPARATION OF FACILITIES.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In using amounts available 

9 in the Energy Security and Infrastructure Mod10 ernization Fund established by section 404 of the 

11 Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (42 U.S.C. 6239 

12 note; Public Law 114–74) (referred to in this sub13 section as the ‘Fund’) for costs described in sub14 section (b), the Secretary shall only use amounts for 

15 costs that relate to the addition of a facility or 

16 changes to a facility or facility operations necessary 

17 to lease the facility, including costs relating to— 

18 ‘‘(A) the acquisition of land; 

19 ‘‘(B) the acquisition of any ancillary facil20 ity or equipment; 

21 ‘‘(C) site development; and 

22 ‘‘(D) other necessary costs relating to cap23 ital improvement. 

24 ‘‘(2) EFFECT.—Nothing in this subsection al25 ters or limits the authority of the Secretary to use 


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1 amounts in the Fund for the uses authorized by sec2 tion 404(d) of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 

3 (42 U.S.C. 6239 note; Public Law 114–74).’’. 

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con5 tents for the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 

6 U.S.C. prec. 6201) is amended by striking the item relat7 ing to section 168 and inserting the following: 

‘‘Sec. 168. Use of underused facilities.’’. 

8 SEC. 3. PROGRAM TO LEASE STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RE9 SERVE FACILITIES. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part B of title I of the Energy 

11 Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6231 et seq.) is 

12 amended by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 170. PROGRAM TO LEASE STORAGE AND RELATED 

14 FACILITIES. 

15 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days 

16 after the date of enactment of the Strategic Petroleum Re17 serve Reform Act, as part of the program established 

18 under section 168, the Secretary shall establish a program 

19 (referred to in this section as the ‘program’) to make avail20 able for lease— 

21 ‘‘(1) capacity for storage of not more than 

22 200,000,000 barrels of petroleum products at stor23 age facilities of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve; 

24 and 

25 ‘‘(2) related facilities. 


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1 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS.—In carrying out the program, the 

2 Secretary shall— 

3 ‘‘(1) identify appropriate storage facilities and 

4 related facilities of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve 

5 to lease, to make maximum use of those facilities; 

6 ‘‘(2) identify and implement any changes to fa7 cilities or facility operations necessary to lease the 

8 facilities identified under paragraph (1), including 

9 any changes necessary to ensure the long-term 

10 structural viability and use of the facilities for pur11 poses of this part and part C; 

12 ‘‘(3) make the facilities identified under para13 graph (1) available for lease; and 

14 ‘‘(4) identify environmental effects, including 

15 benefits, of leasing storage facilities and related fa16 cilities of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. 

17 ‘‘(c) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 

18 date of enactment of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Re19 form Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 

20 describing the status of the program.’’. 

21 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con22 tents for the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 

23 U.S.C. prec. 6201) is amended by adding at the end of 

24 the items relating to part B of title I the following: 

‘‘Sec. 170. Program to lease storage and related facilities.’’. 

Æ 


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