II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 947 

To lower energy costs by increasing American energy production, exports, 

infrastructure, and critical minerals processing, by promoting transparency, accountability, permitting, and production of American resources, and by improving water quality certification and energy projects, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 22, 2023 

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

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To lower energy costs by increasing American energy production, exports, infrastructure, and critical minerals processing, by promoting transparency, accountability, permitting, and production of American resources, and by 

improving water quality certification and energy projects, 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Lower Energy Costs Act’’. 


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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

DIVISION A—INCREASING AMERICAN ENERGY PRODUCTION, EXPORTS, INFRASTRUCTURE, AND CRITICAL MINERALS PROCESSING 

Sec. 10001. Securing America’s critical minerals supply. 

Sec. 10002. Protecting American energy production. 

Sec. 10003. Researching efficient Federal improvements for necessary energy 

refining. 

Sec. 10004. Promoting cross-border energy infrastructure. 

Sec. 10005. Sense of Congress expressing disapproval of the revocation of the 

Presidential permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. 

Sec. 10006. Sense of Congress opposing restrictions on the export of crude oil 

or other petroleum products. 

Sec. 10007. Unlocking our domestic LNG potential. 

Sec. 10008. Promoting interagency coordination for review of natural gas pipelines. 

Sec. 10009. Interim hazardous waste permits for critical energy resource facilities. 

Sec. 10010. Flexible air permits for critical energy resource facilities. 

Sec. 10011. National security or energy security waivers to produce critical energy resources. 

Sec. 10012. Ending future delays in chemical substance review for critical energy resources. 

Sec. 10013. Natural gas tax repeal. 

Sec. 10014. Repeal of greenhouse gas reduction fund. 

Sec. 10015. Keeping America’s refineries operating. 

Sec. 10016. Homeowner energy freedom. 

DIVISION B—TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY, PERMITTING, 

AND PRODUCTION OF AMERICAN RESOURCES 

Sec. 20001. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—ONSHORE AND OFFSHORE LEASING AND OVERSIGHT 

Sec. 20101. Onshore oil and gas leasing. 

Sec. 20102. Lease reinstatement. 

Sec. 20103. Protested lease sales. 

Sec. 20104. Suspension of operations. 

Sec. 20105. Administrative protest process reform. 

Sec. 20106. Leasing and permitting transparency. 

Sec. 20107. Offshore oil and gas leasing. 

Sec. 20108. Five-year plan for offshore oil and gas leasing. 

Sec. 20109. Geothermal leasing. 

Sec. 20110. Leasing for certain qualified coal applications. 

Sec. 20111. Future coal leasing. 

Sec. 20112. Staff planning report. 

Sec. 20113. Prohibition on Chinese communist party ownership interest. 

Sec. 20114. Effect on other law. 


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TITLE II—PERMITTING STREAMLINING 

Sec. 20201. Definitions. 

Sec. 20202. BUILDER Act. 

Sec. 20203. Codification of National Environmental Policy Act regulations. 

Sec. 20204. Non-major Federal actions. 

Sec. 20205. No net loss determination for existing rights-of-way. 

Sec. 20206. Determination of National Environmental Policy Act adequacy. 

Sec. 20207. Determination regarding rights-of-way. 

Sec. 20208. Terms of rights-of-way. 

Sec. 20209. Funding to process permits and develop information technology. 

Sec. 20210. Offshore geological and geophysical survey licensing. 

Sec. 20211. Deferral of applications for permits to drill. 

Sec. 20212. Processing and terms of applications for permits to drill. 

Sec. 20213. Amendments to the Energy Policy Act of 2005. 

Sec. 20214. Access to Federal energy resources from non-Federal surface estate. 

Sec. 20215. Scope of environmental reviews for oil and gas leases. 

Sec. 20216. Expediting approval of gathering lines. 

Sec. 20217. Lease sale litigation. 

Sec. 20218. Limitation on claims. 

Sec. 20219. Government Accountability Office report on permits to drill. 

Sec. 20220. E–NEPA. 

TITLE III—PERMITTING FOR MINING NEEDS 

Sec. 20301. Definitions. 

Sec. 20302. Minerals supply chain and reliability. 

Sec. 20303. Federal Register process improvement. 

Sec. 20304. Designation of mining as a covered sector for Federal permitting 

improvement purposes. 

Sec. 20305. Treatment of actions under Presidential Determination 2022–11 

for Federal permitting improvement purposes. 

Sec. 20306. Notice for mineral exploration activities with limited surface disturbance. 

Sec. 20307. Use of mining claims for ancillary activities. 

Sec. 20308. Ensuring consideration of uranium as a critical mineral. 

Sec. 20309. Barring foreign bad actors from operating on Federal lands. 

TITLE IV—FEDERAL LAND USE PLANNING 

Sec. 20401. Federal land use planning and withdrawals. 

Sec. 20402. Prohibitions on delay of mineral development of certain Federal 

land. 

Sec. 20403. Definitions. 

TITLE V—ENSURING COMPETITIVENESS ON FEDERAL LANDS 

Sec. 20501. Incentivizing domestic production. 

TITLE VI—ENERGY REVENUE SHARING 

Sec. 20601. Gulf of Mexico outer Continental Shelf revenue. 

Sec. 20602. Parity in offshore wind revenue sharing. 

Sec. 20603. Elimination of administrative fee under the Mineral Leasing Act. 


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DIVISION C—WATER QUALITY CERTIFICATION AND ENERGY 

PROJECT IMPROVEMENT 

Sec. 30001. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 30002. Certification. 

1 DIVISION A—INCREASING AMER2 ICAN ENERGY PRODUCTION, 

3 EXPORTS, INFRASTRUCTURE, 

4 AND CRITICAL MINERALS 

5 PROCESSING 

Sec. 10001. Securing America’s critical minerals supply. 

Sec. 10002. Protecting American energy production. 

Sec. 10003. Researching efficient Federal improvements for necessary energy 

refining. 

Sec. 10004. Promoting cross-border energy infrastructure. 

Sec. 10005. Sense of Congress expressing disapproval of the revocation of the 

Presidential permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. 

Sec. 10006. Sense of Congress opposing restrictions on the export of crude oil 

or other petroleum products. 

Sec. 10007. Unlocking our domestic LNG potential. 

Sec. 10008. Promoting interagency coordination for review of natural gas pipelines. 

Sec. 10009. Interim hazardous waste permits for critical energy resource facilities. 

Sec. 10010. Flexible air permits for critical energy resource facilities. 

Sec. 10011. National security or energy security waivers to produce critical energy resources. 

Sec. 10012. Ending future delays in chemical substance review for critical energy resources. 

Sec. 10013. Natural gas tax repeal. 

Sec. 10014. Repeal of greenhouse gas reduction fund. 

Sec. 10015. Keeping America’s refineries operating. 

Sec. 10016. Homeowner energy freedom. 

6 SEC. 10001. SECURING AMERICA’S CRITICAL MINERALS 

7 SUPPLY. 

8 (a) AMENDMENT TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

9 ORGANIZATION ACT.—The Department of Energy Orga10 nization Act (42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) is amended— 

11 (1) in section 2, by adding at the end the fol12 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(d) As used in sections 102(20) and 203(a)(12), the 

2 term ‘critical energy resource’ means any energy re3 source— 

4 ‘‘(1) that is essential to the energy sector and 

5 energy systems of the United States; and 

6 ‘‘(2) the supply chain of which is vulnerable to 

7 disruption.’’; 

8 (2) in section 102, by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(20) To ensure there is an adequate and reli11 able supply of critical energy resources that are es12 sential to the energy security of the United States.’’; 

13 and 

14 (3) in section 203(a), by adding at the end the 

15 following: 

16 ‘‘(12) Functions that relate to securing the sup17 ply of critical energy resources, including identifying 

18 and mitigating the effects of a disruption of such 

19 supply on— 

20 ‘‘(A) the development and use of energy 

21 technologies; and 

22 ‘‘(B) the operation of energy systems.’’. 

23 (b) SECURING CRITICAL ENERGY RESOURCE SUPPLY

24 CHAINS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the require2 ments of the Department of Energy Organization 

3 Act (42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.), the Secretary of En4 ergy, in consultation with the appropriate Federal 

5 agencies, representatives of the energy sector, 

6 States, and other stakeholders, shall— 

7 (A) conduct ongoing assessments of— 

8 (i) energy resource criticality based on 

9 the importance of critical energy resources 

10 to the development of energy technologies 

11 and the supply of energy; 

12 (ii) the critical energy resource supply 

13 chain of the United States; 

14 (iii) the vulnerability of such supply 

15 chain; and 

16 (iv) how the energy security of the 

17 United States is affected by the reliance of 

18 the United States on importation of critical 

19 energy resources; 

20 (B) facilitate development of strategies to 

21 strengthen critical energy resource supply 

22 chains in the United States, including by— 

23 (i) diversifying the sources of the sup24 ply of critical energy resources; and 


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1 (ii) increasing domestic production, 

2 separation, and processing of critical en3 ergy resources; 

4 (C) develop substitutes and alternatives to 

5 critical energy resources; and 

6 (D) improve technology that reuses and re7 cycles critical energy resources. 

8 (2) CRITICAL ENERGY RESOURCE DEFINED.— 

9 In this section, the term ‘‘critical energy resource’’ 

10 has the meaning given such term in section 2 of the 

11 Department of Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 

12 7101). 

13 SEC. 10002. PROTECTING AMERICAN ENERGY PRODUCTION. 

14 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con15 gress that States should maintain primacy for the regula16 tion of hydraulic fracturing for oil and natural gas produc17 tion on State and private lands. 

18 (b) PROHIBITION ON DECLARATION OF A MORATO19 RIUM ON HYDRAULIC FRACTURING.—Notwithstanding 

20 any other provision of law, the President may not declare 

21 a moratorium on the use of hydraulic fracturing unless 

22 such moratorium is authorized by an Act of Congress. 


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1 SEC. 10003. RESEARCHING EFFICIENT FEDERAL IMPROVE2 MENTS FOR NECESSARY ENERGY REFINING. 

3 Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 

4 of this section, the Secretary of Energy shall direct the 

5 National Petroleum Council to— 

6 (1) submit to the Secretary of Energy and Con7 gress a report containing— 

8 (A) an examination of the role of petro9 chemical refineries located in the United States 

10 and the contributions of such petrochemical re11 fineries to the energy security of the United 

12 States, including the reliability of supply in the 

13 United States of liquid fuels and feedstocks, 

14 and the affordability of liquid fuels for con15 sumers in the United States; 

16 (B) analyses and projections with respect 

17 to— 

18 (i) the capacity of petrochemical refin19 eries located in the United States; 

20 (ii) opportunities for expanding such 

21 capacity; and 

22 (iii) the risks to petrochemical refin23 eries located in the United States; 

24 (C) an assessment of any Federal or State 

25 executive actions, regulations, or policies that 

26 have caused or contributed to a decline in the 


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1 capacity of petrochemical refineries located in 

2 the United States; and 

3 (D) any recommendations for Federal 

4 agencies and Congress to encourage an increase 

5 in the capacity of petrochemical refineries lo6 cated in the United States; and 

7 (2) make publicly available the report submitted 

8 under paragraph (1). 

9 SEC. 10004. PROMOTING CROSS-BORDER ENERGY INFRA10 STRUCTURE. 

11 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF CERTAIN ENERGY INFRA12 STRUCTURE PROJECTS AT AN INTERNATIONAL BOUND13 ARY OF THE UNITED STATES.— 

14 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—Except as provided in 

15 paragraph (3) and subsection (d), no person may 

16 construct, connect, operate, or maintain a border17 crossing facility for the import or export of oil or 

18 natural gas, or the transmission of electricity, across 

19 an international border of the United States without 

20 obtaining a certificate of crossing for the border21 crossing facility under this subsection. 

22 (2) CERTIFICATE OF CROSSING.— 

23 (A) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 120 

24 days after final action is taken, by the relevant 

25 official or agency identified under subparagraph 


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1 (B), under the National Environmental Policy 

2 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) with re3 spect to a border-crossing facility for which a 

4 person requests a certificate of crossing under 

5 this subsection, the relevant official or agency, 

6 in consultation with appropriate Federal agen7 cies, shall issue a certificate of crossing for the 

8 border-crossing facility unless the relevant offi9 cial or agency finds that the construction, con10 nection, operation, or maintenance of the bor11 der-crossing facility is not in the public interest 

12 of the United States. 

13 (B) RELEVANT OFFICIAL OR AGENCY.— 

14 The relevant official or agency referred to in 

15 subparagraph (A) is— 

16 (i) the Federal Energy Regulatory 

17 Commission with respect to border-cross18 ing facilities consisting of oil or natural 

19 gas pipelines; and 

20 (ii) the Secretary of Energy with re21 spect to border-crossing facilities consisting 

22 of electric transmission facilities. 

23 (C) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT FOR

24 ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION FACILITIES.—In the 

25 case of a request for a certificate of crossing for 


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1 a border-crossing facility consisting of an elec2 tric transmission facility, the Secretary of En3 ergy shall require, as a condition of issuing the 

4 certificate of crossing under subparagraph (A), 

5 that the border-crossing facility be constructed, 

6 connected, operated, or maintained consistent 

7 with all applicable policies and standards of— 

8 (i) the Electric Reliability Organiza9 tion and the applicable regional entity; and 

10 (ii) any Regional Transmission Orga11 nization or Independent System Operator 

12 with operational or functional control over 

13 the border-crossing facility. 

14 (3) EXCLUSIONS.—This subsection shall not 

15 apply to any construction, connection, operation, or 

16 maintenance of a border-crossing facility for the im17 port or export of oil or natural gas, or the trans18 mission of electricity— 

19 (A) if the border-crossing facility is oper20 ating for such import, export, or transmission 

21 as of the date of enactment of this Act; 

22 (B) if a Presidential permit (or similar 

23 permit) for the construction, connection, oper24 ation, or maintenance has been issued pursuant 

25 to any provision of law or Executive order; or 


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1 (C) if an application for a Presidential per2 mit (or similar permit) for the construction, 

3 connection, operation, or maintenance is pend4 ing on the date of enactment of this Act, until 

5 the earlier of— 

6 (i) the date on which such application 

7 is denied; or 

8 (ii) 2 years after the date of enact9 ment of this Act, if such a permit has not 

10 been issued by such date of enactment. 

11 (4) EFFECT OF OTHER LAWS.— 

12 (A) APPLICATION TO PROJECTS.—Nothing 

13 in this subsection or subsection (d) shall affect 

14 the application of any other Federal statute to 

15 a project for which a certificate of crossing for 

16 a border-crossing facility is requested under 

17 this subsection. 

18 (B) NATURAL GAS ACT.—Nothing in this 

19 subsection or subsection (d) shall affect the re20 quirement to obtain approval or authorization 

21 under sections 3 and 7 of the Natural Gas Act 

22 (15 U.S.C. 717b, 717f) for the siting, construc23 tion, or operation of any facility to import or 

24 export natural gas. 


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1 (C) OIL PIPELINES.—Nothing in this sub2 section or subsection (d) shall affect the author3 ity of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commis4 sion with respect to oil pipelines under section 

5 60502 of title 49, United States Code. 

6 (b) TRANSMISSION OF ELECTRIC ENERGY TO CAN7 ADA AND MEXICO.— 

8 (1) REPEAL OF REQUIREMENT TO SECURE

9 ORDER.—Section 202(e) of the Federal Power Act 

10 (16 U.S.C. 824a(e)) is repealed. 

11 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

12 (A) STATE REGULATIONS.—Section 202(f) 

13 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824a(f)) 

14 is amended by striking ‘‘insofar as such State 

15 regulation does not conflict with the exercise of 

16 the Commission’s powers under or relating to 

17 subsection 202(e)’’. 

18 (B) SEASONAL DIVERSITY ELECTRICITY

19 EXCHANGE.—Section 602(b) of the Public Util20 ity Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 

21 824a–4(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘the Com22 mission has conducted hearings and made the 

23 findings required under section 202(e) of the 

24 Federal Power Act’’ and all that follows 

25 through the period at the end and inserting 


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1 ‘‘the Secretary has conducted hearings and 

2 finds that the proposed transmission facilities 

3 would not impair the sufficiency of electric sup4 ply within the United States or would not im5 pede or tend to impede the coordination in the 

6 public interest of facilities subject to the juris7 diction of the Secretary.’’. 

8 (c) NO PRESIDENTIAL PERMIT REQUIRED.—No 

9 Presidential permit (or similar permit) shall be required 

10 pursuant to any provision of law or Executive order for 

11 the construction, connection, operation, or maintenance of 

12 an oil or natural gas pipeline or electric transmission facil13 ity, or any border-crossing facility thereof. 

14 (d) MODIFICATIONS TO EXISTING PROJECTS.—No 

15 certificate of crossing under subsection (a), or Presidential 

16 permit (or similar permit), shall be required for a modi17 fication to— 

18 (1) an oil or natural gas pipeline or electric 

19 transmission facility that is operating for the import 

20 or export of oil or natural gas or the transmission 

21 of electricity as of the date of enactment of this Act; 

22 (2) an oil or natural gas pipeline or electric 

23 transmission facility for which a Presidential permit 

24 (or similar permit) has been issued pursuant to any 

25 provision of law or Executive order; or 


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1 (3) a border-crossing facility for which a certifi2 cate of crossing has previously been issued under 

3 subsection (a). 

4 (e) PROHIBITION ON REVOCATION OF PRESIDENTIAL

5 PERMITS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

6 the President may not revoke a Presidential permit (or 

7 similar permit) issued pursuant to Executive Order 13337 

8 (3 U.S.C. 301 note), Executive Order 11423 (3 U.S.C. 

9 301 note), Executive Order 12038 (43 Fed. Reg. 4957), 

10 Executive Order 10485 (18 Fed. Reg. 5397), or any other 

11 Executive order for the construction, connection, oper12 ation, or maintenance of an oil or natural gas pipeline or 

13 electric transmission facility, or any border-crossing facil14 ity thereof, unless such revocation is authorized by an Act 

15 of Congress. 

16 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE; RULEMAKING DEADLINES.— 

17 (1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsections (a) 

18 through (d), and the amendments made by such 

19 subsections, shall take effect on the date that is 1 

20 year after the date of enactment of this Act. 

21 (2) RULEMAKING DEADLINES.—Each relevant 

22 official or agency described in subsection (a)(2)(B) 

23 shall— 

24 (A) not later than 180 days after the date 

25 of enactment of this Act, publish in the Federal 


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1 Register notice of a proposed rulemaking to 

2 carry out the applicable requirements of sub3 section (a); and 

4 (B) not later than 1 year after the date of 

5 enactment of this Act, publish in the Federal 

6 Register a final rule to carry out the applicable 

7 requirements of subsection (a). 

8 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) BORDER-CROSSING FACILITY.—The term 

10 ‘‘border-crossing facility’’ means the portion of an oil 

11 or natural gas pipeline or electric transmission facil12 ity that is located at an international boundary of 

13 the United States. 

14 (2) MODIFICATION.—The term ‘‘modification’’ 

15 includes a reversal of flow direction, change in own16 ership, change in flow volume, addition or removal 

17 of an interconnection, or an adjustment to maintain 

18 flow (such as a reduction or increase in the number 

19 of pump or compressor stations). 

20 (3) NATURAL GAS.—The term ‘‘natural gas’’ 

21 has the meaning given that term in section 2 of the 

22 Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717a). 

23 (4) OIL.—The term ‘‘oil’’ means petroleum or 

24 a petroleum product. 


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1 (5) ELECTRIC RELIABILITY ORGANIZATION; RE2 GIONAL ENTITY.—The terms ‘‘Electric Reliability 

3 Organization’’ and ‘‘regional entity’’ have the mean4 ings given those terms in section 215(a) of the Fed5 eral Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824o(a)). 

6 (6) INDEPENDENT SYSTEM OPERATOR; RE7 GIONAL TRANSMISSION ORGANIZATION.—The terms 

8 ‘‘Independent System Operator’’ and ‘‘Regional 

9 Transmission Organization’’ have the meanings 

10 given those terms in section 3 of the Federal Power 

11 Act (16 U.S.C. 796). 

12 SEC. 10005. SENSE OF CONGRESS EXPRESSING DIS13 APPROVAL OF THE REVOCATION OF THE 

14 PRESIDENTIAL PERMIT FOR THE KEYSTONE 

15 XL PIPELINE. 

16 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

17 (1) On March 29, 2019, TransCanada Key18 stone Pipeline, L.P., was granted a Presidential per19 mit to construct, connect, operate, and maintain the 

20 Keystone XL pipeline. 

21 (2) On January 20, 2021, President Biden 

22 issued Executive Order 13990 (86 Fed. Reg. 7037) 

23 that revoked the March 2019 Presidential permit for 

24 the Keystone XL. 


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1 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con2 gress that Congress disapproves of the revocation by 

3 President Biden of the Presidential permit for the Key4 stone XL pipeline. 

5 SEC. 10006. SENSE OF CONGRESS OPPOSING RESTRICTIONS 

6 ON THE EXPORT OF CRUDE OIL OR OTHER 

7 PETROLEUM PRODUCTS. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

9 (1) The United States has enjoyed a renais10 sance in energy production, with the expansion of 

11 domestic crude oil and other petroleum product pro12 duction contributing to enhanced energy security 

13 and significant economic benefits to the national 

14 economy. 

15 (2) In 2015, Congress recognized the need to 

16 adapt to changing crude oil market conditions and 

17 repealed all restrictions on the export of crude oil on 

18 a bipartisan basis. 

19 (3) Section 101 of title I of division O of the 

20 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (42 U.S.C. 

21 6212a) established the national policy on oil export 

22 restriction, prohibiting any official of the Federal 

23 Government from imposing or enforcing any restric24 tions on the export of crude oil with limited excep25 tions, including a savings clause maintaining the auVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:53 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S947.IS S947

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1 thority to prohibit exports under any provision of 

2 law that imposes sanctions on a foreign person or 

3 foreign government (including any provision of law 

4 that prohibits or restricts United States persons 

5 from engaging in a transaction with a sanctioned 

6 person or government), including a foreign govern7 ment that is designated as a state sponsor of ter8 rorism. 

9 (4) Lifting the restrictions on crude oil exports 

10 encouraged additional domestic energy production, 

11 created American jobs and economic development, 

12 and allowed the United States to emerge as the lead13 ing oil producer in the world. 

14 (5) In 2019, the United States became a net 

15 exporter of petroleum products for the first time 

16 since 1952, and the reliance of the United States on 

17 foreign imports of petroleum products has declined 

18 to historic lows. 

19 (6) Free trade, open markets, and competition 

20 have contributed to the rise of the United States as 

21 a global energy superpower. 

22 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con23 gress that the Federal Government should not impose— 


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1 (1) overly restrictive regulations on the explo2 ration, production, or marketing of energy resources; 

3 or 

4 (2) any restrictions on the export of crude oil 

5 or other petroleum products under the Energy Pol6 icy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6201 et seq.), 

7 except with respect to the export of crude oil or 

8 other petroleum products to a foreign person or for9 eign government subject to sanctions under any pro10 vision of United States law, including to a country 

11 the government of which is designated as a state 

12 sponsor of terrorism. 

13 SEC. 10007. UNLOCKING OUR DOMESTIC LNG POTENTIAL. 

14 Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) 

15 is amended— 

16 (1) by striking subsections (a) through (c); 

17 (2) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as 

18 subsections (a) and (b), respectively; 

19 (3) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub20 section (c), and moving such subsection after sub21 section (b), as so redesignated; 

22 (4) in subsection (a), as so redesignated, by 

23 amending paragraph (1) to read as follows: 

24 ‘‘(1) The Federal Energy Regulatory Commis25 sion (in this subsection referred to as the ‘CommisVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:53 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S947.IS S947

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1 sion’) shall have the exclusive authority to approve 

2 or deny an application for authorization for the 

3 siting, construction, expansion, or operation of a fa4 cility to export natural gas from the United States 

5 to a foreign country or import natural gas from a 

6 foreign country, including an LNG terminal. In de7 termining whether to approve or deny an application 

8 under this paragraph, the Commission shall deem 

9 the exportation or importation of natural gas to be 

10 consistent with the public interest. Except as specifi11 cally provided in this Act, nothing in this Act is in12 tended to affect otherwise applicable law related to 

13 any Federal agency’s authorities or responsibilities 

14 related to facilities to import or export natural gas, 

15 including LNG terminals.’’; and 

16 (5) by adding at the end the following new sub17 section: 

18 ‘‘(d)(1) Nothing in this Act limits the authority of 

19 the President under the Constitution, the International 

20 Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et 

21 seq.), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et 

22 seq.), part B of title II of the Energy Policy and Conserva23 tion Act (42 U.S.C. 6271 et seq.), the Trading with the 

24 enemy Act (50 U.S.C. 4301 et seq.), or any other provi25 sion of law that imposes sanctions on a foreign person or 


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1 foreign government (including any provision of law that 

2 prohibits or restricts United States persons from engaging 

3 in a transaction with a sanctioned person or government), 

4 including a country that is designated as a state sponsor 

5 of terrorism, to prohibit imports or exports. 

6 ‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘state sponsor of ter7 rorism’ means a country the government of which the Sec8 retary of State determines has repeatedly provided sup9 port for international terrorism pursuant to— 

10 ‘‘(A) section 1754(c)(1)(A) of the Export Con11 trol Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4813(c)(1)(A)); 

12 ‘‘(B) section 620A of the Foreign Assistance 

13 Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371); 

14 ‘‘(C) section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act 

15 (22 U.S.C. 2780); or 

16 ‘‘(D) any other provision of law.’’. 

17 SEC. 10008. PROMOTING INTERAGENCY COORDINATION 

18 FOR REVIEW OF NATURAL GAS PIPELINES. 

19 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

21 means the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. 

22 (2) FEDERAL AUTHORIZATION.—The term 

23 ‘‘Federal authorization’’ has the meaning given that 

24 term in section 15(a) of the Natural Gas Act (15 

25 U.S.C. 717n(a)). 


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1 (3) NEPA REVIEW.—The term ‘‘NEPA review’’ 

2 means the process of reviewing a proposed Federal 

3 action under section 102 of the National Environ4 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332). 

5 (4) PROJECT-RELATED NEPA REVIEW.—The 

6 term ‘‘project-related NEPA review’’ means any 

7 NEPA review required to be conducted with respect 

8 to the issuance of an authorization under section 3 

9 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) or a cer10 tificate of public convenience and necessity under 

11 section 7 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 717f). 

12 (b) COMMISSION NEPA REVIEW RESPONSIBIL13 ITIES.—In acting as the lead agency under section 

14 15(b)(1) of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717n(b)(1)) 

15 for the purposes of complying with the National Environ16 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) with 

17 respect to an authorization under section 3 of the Natural 

18 Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) or a certificate of public conven19 ience and necessity under section 7 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 

20 717f), the Commission shall, in accordance with this sec21 tion and other applicable Federal law— 

22 (1) be the only lead agency; 

23 (2) coordinate as early as practicable with each 

24 agency designated as a participating agency under 

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1 velops information in conducting its project-related 

2 NEPA review that is usable by the participating 

3 agency in considering an aspect of an application for 

4 a Federal authorization for which the agency is re5 sponsible; and 

6 (3) take such actions as are necessary and 

7 proper to facilitate the expeditious resolution of its 

8 project-related NEPA review. 

9 (c) DEFERENCE TO COMMISSION.—In making a deci10 sion with respect to a Federal authorization required with 

11 respect to an application for authorization under section 

12 3 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) or a certificate 

13 of public convenience and necessity under section 7 of such 

14 Act (15 U.S.C. 717f), each agency shall give deference, 

15 to the maximum extent authorized by law, to the scope 

16 of the project-related NEPA review that the Commission 

17 determines to be appropriate. 

18 (d) PARTICIPATING AGENCIES.— 

19 (1) IDENTIFICATION.—The Commission shall 

20 identify, not later than 30 days after the Commis21 sion receives an application for an authorization 

22 under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 

23 717b) or a certificate of public convenience and ne24 cessity under section 7 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 

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1 ment, or Indian Tribe that may issue a Federal au2 thorization or is required by Federal law to consult 

3 with the Commission in conjunction with the 

4 issuance of a Federal authorization required for 

5 such authorization or certificate. 

6 (2) INVITATION.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 45 days 

8 after the Commission receives an application for 

9 an authorization under section 3 of the Natural 

10 Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) or a certificate of 

11 public convenience and necessity under section 

12 7 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 717f), the Commis13 sion shall invite any agency identified under 

14 paragraph (1) to participate in the review proc15 ess for the applicable Federal authorization. 

16 (B) DEADLINE.—An invitation issued 

17 under subparagraph (A) shall establish a dead18 line by which a response to the invitation shall 

19 be submitted to the Commission, which may be 

20 extended by the Commission for good cause. 

21 (3) DESIGNATION AS PARTICIPATING AGEN22 CIES.—Not later than 60 days after the Commission 

23 receives an application for an authorization under 

24 section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) 

25 or a certificate of public convenience and necessity 


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1 under section 7 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 717f), the 

2 Commission shall designate an agency identified 

3 under paragraph (1) as a participating agency with 

4 respect to an application for authorization under 

5 section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) 

6 or a certificate of public convenience and necessity 

7 under section 7 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 717f) unless 

8 the agency informs the Commission, in writing, by 

9 the deadline established pursuant to paragraph 

10 (2)(B), that the agency— 

11 (A) has no jurisdiction or authority with 

12 respect to the applicable Federal authorization; 

13 (B) has no special expertise or information 

14 relevant to any project-related NEPA review; or 

15 (C) does not intend to submit comments 

16 for the record for the project-related NEPA re17 view conducted by the Commission. 

18 (4) EFFECT OF NON-DESIGNATION.— 

19 (A) EFFECT ON AGENCY.—Any agency 

20 that is not designated as a participating agency 

21 under paragraph (3) with respect to an applica22 tion for an authorization under section 3 of the 

23 Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) or a certifi24 cate of public convenience and necessity under 

25 section 7 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 717f) may not 


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1 request or conduct a NEPA review that is sup2 plemental to the project-related NEPA review 

3 conducted by the Commission, unless the agen4 cy— 

5 (i) demonstrates that such review is 

6 legally necessary for the agency to carry 

7 out responsibilities in considering an as8 pect of an application for a Federal au9 thorization; and 

10 (ii) requires information that could 

11 not have been obtained during the project12 related NEPA review conducted by the 

13 Commission. 

14 (B) COMMENTS; RECORD.—The Commis15 sion shall not, with respect to an agency that is 

16 not designated as a participating agency under 

17 paragraph (3) with respect to an application for 

18 an authorization under section 3 of the Natural 

19 Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) or a certificate of 

20 public convenience and necessity under section 

21 7 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 717f)— 

22 (i) consider any comments or other in23 formation submitted by such agency for 

24 the project-related NEPA review conducted 

25 by the Commission; or 


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1 (ii) include any such comments or 

2 other information in the record for such 

3 project-related NEPA review. 

4 (e) WATER QUALITY IMPACTS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 401 

6 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 

7 U.S.C. 1341), an applicant for a Federal authoriza8 tion shall not be required to provide a certification 

9 under such section with respect to the Federal au10 thorization. 

11 (2) COORDINATION.—With respect to any 

12 NEPA review for a Federal authorization to conduct 

13 an activity that will directly result in a discharge 

14 into the navigable waters (within the meaning of the 

15 Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 

16 1251 et seq.)), the Commission shall identify as an 

17 agency under subsection (d)(1) the State in which 

18 the discharge originates or will originate, or, if ap19 propriate, the interstate water pollution control 

20 agency having jurisdiction over the navigable waters 

21 at the point where the discharge originates or will 

22 originate. 

23 (3) PROPOSED CONDITIONS.—A State or inter24 state agency designated as a participating agency 

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1 mission terms or conditions for inclusion in an au2 thorization under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act 

3 (15 U.S.C. 717b) or a certificate of public conven4 ience and necessity under section 7 of such Act (15 

5 U.S.C. 717f) that the State or interstate agency de6 termines are necessary to ensure that any activity 

7 described in paragraph (2) conducted pursuant to 

8 such authorization or certification will comply with 

9 the applicable provisions of sections 301, 302, 303, 

10 306, and 307 of the Federal Water Pollution Con11 trol Act (33 U.S.C. 1311, 1312, 1316, 1317). 

12 (4) COMMISSION CONSIDERATION OF CONDI13 TIONS.—The Commission may include a term or 

14 condition in an authorization under section 3 of the 

15 Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) or a certificate 

16 of public convenience and necessity under section 7 

17 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 717f) proposed by a State 

18 or interstate agency under paragraph (3) only if the 

19 Commission finds that the term or condition is nec20 essary to ensure that any activity described in para21 graph (2) conducted pursuant to such authorization 

22 or certification will comply with the applicable provi23 sions of sections 301, 302, 303, 306, and 307 of the 

24 Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 

25 1311, 1312, 1316, 1317). 


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1 (f) SCHEDULE.— 

2 (1) DEADLINE FOR FEDERAL AUTHORIZA3 TIONS.—A deadline for a Federal authorization re4 quired with respect to an application for authoriza5 tion under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (15 

6 U.S.C. 717b) or a certificate of public convenience 

7 and necessity under section 7 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 

8 717f) set by the Commission under section 15(c)(1) 

9 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 717n(c)(1)) shall be not later 

10 than 90 days after the Commission completes its 

11 project-related NEPA review, unless an applicable 

12 schedule is otherwise established by Federal law. 

13 (2) CONCURRENT REVIEWS.—Each Federal and 

14 State agency— 

15 (A) that may consider an application for a 

16 Federal authorization required with respect to 

17 an application for authorization under section 3 

18 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) or a 

19 certificate of public convenience and necessity 

20 under section 7 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 717f) 

21 shall formulate and implement a plan for ad22 ministrative, policy, and procedural mechanisms 

23 to enable the agency to ensure completion of 

24 Federal authorizations in compliance with 

25 schedules established by the Commission under 


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1 section 15(c)(1) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 

2 717n(c)(1)); and 

3 (B) in considering an aspect of an applica4 tion for a Federal authorization required with 

5 respect to an application for authorization 

6 under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (15 

7 U.S.C. 717b) or a certificate of public conven8 ience and necessity under section 7 of such Act 

9 (15 U.S.C. 717f), shall— 

10 (i) formulate and implement a plan to 

11 enable the agency to comply with the 

12 schedule established by the Commission 

13 under section 15(c)(1) of such Act (15 

14 U.S.C. 717n(c)(1)); 

15 (ii) carry out the obligations of that 

16 agency under applicable law concurrently, 

17 and in conjunction with, the project-related 

18 NEPA review conducted by the Commis19 sion, and in compliance with the schedule 

20 established by the Commission under sec21 tion 15(c)(1) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 

22 717n(c)(1)), unless the agency notifies the 

23 Commission in writing that doing so would 

24 impair the ability of the agency to conduct 


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1 needed analysis or otherwise carry out 

2 such obligations; 

3 (iii) transmit to the Commission a 

4 statement— 

5 (I) acknowledging receipt of the 

6 schedule established by the Commis7 sion under section 15(c)(1) of the 

8 Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 

9 717n(c)(1)); and 

10 (II) setting forth the plan formu11 lated under clause (i) of this subpara12 graph; 

13 (iv) not later than 30 days after the 

14 agency receives such application for a Fed15 eral authorization, transmit to the appli16 cant a notice— 

17 (I) indicating whether such appli18 cation is ready for processing; and 

19 (II) if such application is not 

20 ready for processing, that includes a 

21 comprehensive description of the in22 formation needed for the agency to 

23 determine that the application is 

24 ready for processing; 


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1 (v) determine that such application 

2 for a Federal authorization is ready for 

3 processing for purposes of clause (iv) if 

4 such application is sufficiently complete for 

5 the purposes of commencing consideration, 

6 regardless of whether supplemental infor7 mation is necessary to enable the agency to 

8 complete the consideration required by law 

9 with respect to such application; and 

10 (vi) not less often than once every 90 

11 days, transmit to the Commission a report 

12 describing the progress made in consid13 ering such application for a Federal au14 thorization. 

15 (3) FAILURE TO MEET DEADLINE.—If a Fed16 eral or State agency, including the Commission, fails 

17 to meet a deadline for a Federal authorization set 

18 forth in the schedule established by the Commission 

19 under section 15(c)(1) of the Natural Gas Act (15 

20 U.S.C. 717n(c)(1)), not later than 5 days after such 

21 deadline, the head of the relevant Federal agency 

22 (including, in the case of a failure by a State agency, 

23 the Federal agency overseeing the delegated author24 ity) shall notify Congress and the Commission of 

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1 tation plan to ensure completion of the action to 

2 which such deadline applied. 

3 (g) CONSIDERATION OF APPLICATIONS FOR FED4 ERAL AUTHORIZATION.— 

5 (1) ISSUE IDENTIFICATION AND RESOLU6 TION.— 

7 (A) IDENTIFICATION.—Federal and State 

8 agencies that may consider an aspect of an ap9 plication for a Federal authorization shall iden10 tify, as early as possible, any issues of concern 

11 that may delay or prevent an agency from 

12 working with the Commission to resolve such 

13 issues and granting such authorization. 

14 (B) ISSUE RESOLUTION.—The Commission 

15 may forward any issue of concern identified 

16 under subparagraph (A) to the heads of the rel17 evant agencies (including, in the case of an 

18 issue of concern that is a failure by a State 

19 agency, the Federal agency overseeing the dele20 gated authority, if applicable) for resolution. 

21 (2) REMOTE SURVEYS.—If a Federal or State 

22 agency considering an aspect of an application for a 

23 Federal authorization requires the person applying 

24 for such authorization to submit data, the agency 

25 shall consider any such data gathered by aerial or 


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1 other remote means that the person submits. The 

2 agency may grant a conditional approval for the 

3 Federal authorization based on data gathered by 

4 aerial or remote means, conditioned on the 

5 verification of such data by subsequent onsite in6 spection. 

7 (3) APPLICATION PROCESSING.—The Commis8 sion, and Federal and State agencies, may allow a 

9 person applying for a Federal authorization to fund 

10 a third-party contractor to assist in reviewing the 

11 application for such authorization. 

12 (h) ACCOUNTABILITY, TRANSPARENCY, EFFI13 CIENCY.—For an application for an authorization under 

14 section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) or a 

15 certificate of public convenience and necessity under sec16 tion 7 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 717f) that requires multiple 

17 Federal authorizations, the Commission, with input from 

18 any Federal or State agency considering an aspect of the 

19 application, shall track and make available to the public 

20 on the Commission’s website information related to the ac21 tions required to complete the Federal authorizations. 

22 Such information shall include the following: 

23 (1) The schedule established by the Commission 

24 under section 15(c)(1) of the Natural Gas Act (15 

25 U.S.C. 717n(c)(1)). 


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1 (2) A list of all the actions required by each ap2 plicable agency to complete permitting, reviews, and 

3 other actions necessary to obtain a final decision on 

4 the application. 

5 (3) The expected completion date for each such 

6 action. 

7 (4) A point of contact at the agency responsible 

8 for each such action. 

9 (5) In the event that an action is still pending 

10 as of the expected date of completion, a brief expla11 nation of the reasons for the delay. 

12 (i) PIPELINE SECURITY.—In considering an applica13 tion for an authorization under section 3 of the Natural 

14 Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) or a certificate of public conven15 ience and necessity under section 7 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 

16 717f), the Commission shall consult with the Adminis17 trator of the Transportation Security Administration re18 garding the applicant’s compliance with security guidance 

19 and best practice recommendations of the Administration 

20 regarding pipeline infrastructure security, pipeline cyber21 security, pipeline personnel security, and other pipeline se22 curity measures. 


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1 SEC. 10009. INTERIM HAZARDOUS WASTE PERMITS FOR 

2 CRITICAL ENERGY RESOURCE FACILITIES. 

3 Section 3005(e) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 

4 U.S.C. 6925(e)) is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (1)(A)— 

6 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

7 end; 

8 (B) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘or’’ after 

9 ‘‘this section,’’; and 

10 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(iii) is a critical energy resource facility,’’; 

12 and 

13 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this sub15 section: 

16 ‘‘(A) CRITICAL ENERGY RESOURCE.—The term 

17 ‘critical energy resource’ means, as determined by 

18 the Secretary of Energy, any energy resource— 

19 ‘‘(i) that is essential to the energy sector 

20 and energy systems of the United States; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) the supply chain of which is vulner22 able to disruption. 

23 ‘‘(B) CRITICAL ENERGY RESOURCE FACILITY.— 

24 The term ‘critical energy resource facility’ means a 

25 facility that processes or refines a critical energy re26 source.’’. 


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1 SEC. 10010. FLEXIBLE AIR PERMITS FOR CRITICAL ENERGY 

2 RESOURCE FACILITIES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Envi4 ronmental Protection Agency shall, as necessary, revise 

5 regulations under parts 70 and 71 of title 40, Code of 

6 Federal Regulations, to— 

7 (1) authorize the owner or operator of a critical 

8 energy resource facility to utilize flexible air permit9 ting (as described in the final rule entitled ‘‘Oper10 ating Permit Programs; Flexible Air Permitting 

11 Rule’’ published by the Environmental Protection 

12 Agency in the Federal Register on October 6, 2009 

13 (74 Fed. Reg. 51418)) with respect to such critical 

14 energy resource facility; and 

15 (2) facilitate flexible, market-responsive oper16 ations (as described in the final rule identified in 

17 paragraph (1)) with respect to critical energy re18 source facilities. 

19 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 (1) CRITICAL ENERGY RESOURCE.—The term 

21 ‘‘critical energy resource’’ means, as determined by 

22 the Secretary of Energy, any energy resource— 

23 (A) that is essential to the energy sector 

24 and energy systems of the United States; and 

25 (B) the supply chain of which is vulnerable 

26 to disruption. 


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1 (2) CRITICAL ENERGY RESOURCE FACILITY.— 

2 The term ‘‘critical energy resource facility’’ means a 

3 facility that processes or refines a critical energy re4 source. 

5 SEC. 10011. NATIONAL SECURITY OR ENERGY SECURITY 

6 WAIVERS TO PRODUCE CRITICAL ENERGY 

7 RESOURCES. 

8 (a) CLEAN AIR ACT REQUIREMENTS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Administrator of the 

10 Environmental Protection Agency, in consultation 

11 with the Secretary of Energy, determines that, by 

12 reason of a sudden increase in demand for, or a 

13 shortage of, a critical energy resource, or another 

14 cause, the processing or refining of a critical energy 

15 resource at a critical energy resource facility is nec16 essary to meet the national security or energy secu17 rity needs of the United States, then the Adminis18 trator may, with or without notice, hearing, or other 

19 report, issue a temporary waiver of any requirement 

20 under the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) 

21 with respect to such critical energy resource facility 

22 that, in the judgment of the Administrator, will 

23 allow for such processing or refining at such critical 

24 energy resource facility as necessary to best meet 

25 such needs and serve the public interest. 


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1 (2) CONFLICT WITH OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL

2 LAWS.—The Administrator shall ensure that any 

3 waiver of a requirement under the Clean Air Act (42 

4 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) under this subsection, to the 

5 maximum extent practicable, does not result in a 

6 conflict with a requirement of any other applicable 

7 Federal, State, or local environmental law or regula8 tion and minimizes any adverse environmental im9 pacts. 

10 (3) VIOLATIONS OF OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL

11 LAWS.—To the extent any omission or action taken 

12 by a party under a waiver issued under this sub13 section is in conflict with any requirement of a Fed14 eral, State, or local environmental law or regulation, 

15 such omission or action shall not be considered a 

16 violation of such environmental law or regulation, or 

17 subject such party to any requirement, civil or crimi18 nal liability, or a citizen suit under such environ19 mental law or regulation. 

20 (4) EXPIRATION AND RENEWAL OF WAIVERS.— 

21 A waiver issued under this subsection shall expire 

22 not later than 90 days after it is issued. The Admin23 istrator may renew or reissue such waiver pursuant 

24 to paragraphs (1) and (2) for subsequent periods, 

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1 istrator determines necessary to meet the national 

2 security or energy security needs described in para3 graph (1) and serve the public interest. In renewing 

4 or reissuing a waiver under this paragraph, the Ad5 ministrator shall include in any such renewed or re6 issued waiver such conditions as are necessary to 

7 minimize any adverse environmental impacts to the 

8 extent practicable. 

9 (5) SUBSEQUENT ACTION BY COURT.—If a 

10 waiver issued under this subsection is subsequently 

11 stayed, modified, or set aside by a court pursuant a 

12 provision of law, any omission or action previously 

13 taken by a party under the waiver while the waiver 

14 was in effect shall remain subject to paragraph (3). 

15 (6) CRITICAL ENERGY RESOURCE; CRITICAL EN16 ERGY RESOURCE FACILITY DEFINED.—In this sub17 section, the terms ‘‘critical energy resource’’ and 

18 ‘‘critical energy resource facility’’ have the meanings 

19 given such terms in section 3025(f) of the Solid 

20 Waste Disposal Act (as added by this section). 

21 (b) SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL ACT REQUIREMENTS.— 

22 (1) HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT.—The 

23 Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.) 

24 is amended by inserting after section 3024 the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 3025. WAIVERS FOR CRITICAL ENERGY RESOURCE 

2 FACILITIES. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If the Administrator, in con4 sultation with the Secretary of Energy, determines that, 

5 by reason of a sudden increase in demand for, or a short6 age of, a critical energy resource, or another cause, the 

7 processing or refining of a critical energy resource at a 

8 critical energy resource facility is necessary to meet the 

9 national security or energy security needs of the United 

10 States, then the Administrator may, with or without no11 tice, hearing, or other report, issue a temporary waiver 

12 of any covered requirement with respect to such critical 

13 energy resource facility that, in the judgment of the Ad14 ministrator, will allow for such processing or refining at 

15 such critical energy resource facility as necessary to best 

16 meet such needs and serve the public interest. 

17 ‘‘(b) CONFLICT WITH OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL

18 LAWS.—The Administrator shall ensure that any waiver 

19 of a covered requirement under this section, to the max20 imum extent practicable, does not result in a conflict with 

21 a requirement of any other applicable Federal, State, or 

22 local environmental law or regulation and minimizes any 

23 adverse environmental impacts. 

24 ‘‘(c) VIOLATIONS OF OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL

25 LAWS.—To the extent any omission or action taken by 

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1 flict with any requirement of a Federal, State, or local 

2 environmental law or regulation, such omission or action 

3 shall not be considered a violation of such environmental 

4 law or regulation, or subject such party to any require5 ment, civil or criminal liability, or a citizen suit under such 

6 environmental law or regulation. 

7 ‘‘(d) EXPIRATION AND RENEWAL OF WAIVERS.—A 

8 waiver issued under this section shall expire not later than 

9 90 days after it is issued. The Administrator may renew 

10 or reissue such waiver pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) 

11 for subsequent periods, not to exceed 90 days for each pe12 riod, as the Administrator determines necessary to meet 

13 the national security or energy security needs described 

14 in subsection (a) and serve the public interest. In renewing 

15 or reissuing a waiver under this subsection, the Adminis16 trator shall include in any such renewed or reissued waiver 

17 such conditions as are necessary to minimize any adverse 

18 environmental impacts to the extent practicable. 

19 ‘‘(e) SUBSEQUENT ACTION BY COURT.—If a waiver 

20 issued under this section is subsequently stayed, modified, 

21 or set aside by a court pursuant a provision of law, any 

22 omission or action previously taken by a party under the 

23 waiver while the waiver was in effect shall remain subject 

24 to subsection (c). 

25 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 ‘‘(1) COVERED REQUIREMENT.—The term ‘cov2 ered requirement’ means— 

3 ‘‘(A) any standard established under sec4 tion 3002, 3003, or 3004; 

5 ‘‘(B) the permit requirement under section 

6 3005; or 

7 ‘‘(C) any other requirement of this Act, as 

8 the Administrator determines appropriate. 

9 ‘‘(2) CRITICAL ENERGY RESOURCE.—The term 

10 ‘critical energy resource’ means, as determined by 

11 the Secretary of Energy, any energy resource— 

12 ‘‘(A) that is essential to the energy sector 

13 and energy systems of the United States; and 

14 ‘‘(B) the supply chain of which is vulner15 able to disruption. 

16 ‘‘(3) CRITICAL ENERGY RESOURCE FACILITY.— 

17 The term ‘critical energy resource facility’ means a 

18 facility that processes or refines a critical energy re19 source.’’. 

20 (2) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of con21 tents of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 

22 6901 note; Public Law 89–272) is amended by in23 serting after the item relating to section 3024 the 

24 following: 

‘‘Sec. 3025. Waivers for critical energy resource facilities.’’. 


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1 SEC. 10012. ENDING FUTURE DELAYS IN CHEMICAL SUB2 STANCE REVIEW FOR CRITICAL ENERGY RE3 SOURCES. 

4 Section 5(a) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 

5 U.S.C. 2604(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(6) CRITICAL ENERGY RESOURCES.— 

8 ‘‘(A) STANDARD.—For purposes of a de9 termination under paragraph (3) with respect 

10 to a chemical substance that is a critical energy 

11 resource, the Administrator shall take into con12 sideration economic, societal, and environmental 

13 costs and benefits, notwithstanding any require14 ment of this section to not take such factors 

15 into consideration. 

16 ‘‘(B) FAILURE TO RENDER DETERMINA17 TION.— 

18 ‘‘(i) ACTIONS AUTHORIZED.—If, with 

19 respect to a chemical substance that is a 

20 critical energy resource, the Administrator 

21 fails to make a determination on a notice 

22 under paragraph (3) by the end of the ap23 plicable review period and the notice has 

24 not been withdrawn by the submitter, the 

25 submitter may take the actions described 

26 in paragraph (1)(A) with respect to the 


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1 chemical substance, and the Administrator 

2 shall be relieved of any requirement to 

3 make such determination. 

4 ‘‘(ii) NON-DUPLICATION.—A refund of 

5 applicable fees under paragraph (4)(A) 

6 shall not be made if a submitter takes an 

7 action described in paragraph (1)(A) under 

8 this subparagraph. 

9 ‘‘(C) PREREQUISITE FOR SUGGESTION OF

10 WITHDRAWAL OR SUSPENSION.—The Adminis11 trator may not suggest to, or request of, a sub12 mitter of a notice under this subsection for a 

13 chemical substance that is a critical energy re14 source that such submitter withdraw such no15 tice, or request a suspension of the running of 

16 the applicable review period with respect to 

17 such notice, unless the Administrator has— 

18 ‘‘(i) conducted a preliminary review of 

19 such notice; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) provided to the submitter a draft 

21 of a determination under paragraph (3), 

22 including any supporting information. 

23 ‘‘(D) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this 

24 paragraph, the term ‘critical energy resource’ 


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1 means, as determined by the Secretary of En2 ergy, any energy resource— 

3 ‘‘(i) that is essential to the energy sec4 tor and energy systems of the United 

5 States; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) the supply chain of which is vul7 nerable to disruption.’’. 

8 SEC. 10013. NATURAL GAS TAX REPEAL. 

9 (a) REPEAL.—Section 136 of the Clean Air Act (42 

10 U.S.C. 7436) (relating to methane emissions and waste 

11 reduction incentive program for petroleum and natural gas 

12 systems) is repealed. 

13 (b) RESCISSION.—The unobligated balance of any 

14 amounts made available under section 136 of the Clean 

15 Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7436) (as in effect on the day before 

16 the date of enactment of this Act) is rescinded. 

17 SEC. 10014. REPEAL OF GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION 

18 FUND. 

19 (a) REPEAL.—Section 134 of the Clean Air Act (42 

20 U.S.C. 7434) (relating to the greenhouse gas reduction 

21 fund) is repealed. 

22 (b) RESCISSION.—The unobligated balance of any 

23 amounts made available under section 134 of the Clean 

24 Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7434) (as in effect on the day before 

25 the date of enactment of this Act) is rescinded. 


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1 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 60103 of 

2 Public Law 117–169 (relating to the greenhouse gas re3 duction fund) is repealed. 

4 SEC. 10015. KEEPING AMERICA’S REFINERIES OPERATING. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The owner or operator of a sta6 tionary source described in subsection (b) of this section 

7 shall not be required by the regulations promulgated 

8 under section 112(r)(7)(B) of the Clean Air Act (42 

9 U.S.C. 7412(r)(7)(B)) to include in any hazard assess10 ment under clause (ii) of such section 112(r)(7)(B) an as11 sessment of safer technology and alternative risk manage12 ment measures with respect to the use of hydrofluoric acid 

13 in an alkylation unit. 

14 (b) STATIONARY SOURCE DESCRIBED.—A stationary 

15 source described in this subsection is a stationary source 

16 (as defined in section 112(r)(2)(C) of the Clean Air Act 

17 (42 U.S.C. 7412(r)(2)(C))) in North American Industry 

18 Classification System code 324— 

19 (1) for which a construction permit or operating 

20 permit has been issued pursuant to the Clean Air 

21 Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.); or 

22 (2) for which the owner or operator dem23 onstrates to the Administrator of the Environmental 

24 Protection Agency that such stationary source con25 forms or will conform to the most recent version of 


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1 American Petroleum Institute Recommended Prac2 tice 751. 

3 SEC. 10016. HOMEOWNER ENERGY FREEDOM. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The following are repealed: 

5 (1) Section 50122 of Public Law 117–169 (42 

6 U.S.C. 18795a) (relating to a high-efficiency electric 

7 home rebate program). 

8 (2) Section 50123 of Public Law 117–169 (42 

9 U.S.C. 18795b) (relating to State-based home en10 ergy efficiency contractor training grants). 

11 (3) Section 50131 of Public Law 117–169 (136 

12 Stat. 2041) (relating to assistance for latest and 

13 zero building energy code adoption). 

14 (b) RESCISSIONS.—The unobligated balances of any 

15 amounts made available under each of sections 50122, 

16 50123, and 50131 of Public Law 117–169 (42 U.S.C. 

17 18795a, 18795b; 136 Stat. 2041) (as in effect on the day 

18 before the date of enactment of this Act) are rescinded. 

19 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

20 50121(c)(7) of Public Law 117–169 (42 U.S.C. 

21 18795(c)(7)) is amended by striking ‘‘, including a rebate 

22 provided under a high-efficiency electric home rebate pro23 gram (as defined in section 50122(d)),’’. 


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1 DIVISION B—TRANSPARENCY, 

2 ACCOUNTABILITY, PERMIT3 TING, AND PRODUCTION OF 

4 AMERICAN RESOURCES 

5 SEC. 20001. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

6 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This division may be cited as the 

7 ‘‘Transparency, Accountability, Permitting, and Produc8 tion of American Resources Act’’ or the ‘‘TAPP American 

9 Resources Act’’. 

10 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

11 this division is as follows: 

DIVISION B—TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY, PERMITTING, 

AND PRODUCTION OF AMERICAN RESOURCES 

Sec. 20001. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—ONSHORE AND OFFSHORE LEASING AND OVERSIGHT 

Sec. 20101. Onshore oil and gas leasing. 

Sec. 20102. Lease reinstatement. 

Sec. 20103. Protested lease sales. 

Sec. 20104. Suspension of operations. 

Sec. 20105. Administrative protest process reform. 

Sec. 20106. Leasing and permitting transparency. 

Sec. 20107. Offshore oil and gas leasing. 

Sec. 20108. Five-year plan for offshore oil and gas leasing. 

Sec. 20109. Geothermal leasing. 

Sec. 20110. Leasing for certain qualified coal applications. 

Sec. 20111. Future coal leasing. 

Sec. 20112. Staff planning report. 

Sec. 20113. Prohibition on Chinese communist party ownership interest. 

Sec. 20114. Effect on other law. 

TITLE II—PERMITTING STREAMLINING 

Sec. 20201. Definitions. 

Sec. 20202. BUILDER Act. 

Sec. 20203. Codification of National Environmental Policy Act regulations. 

Sec. 20204. Non-major Federal actions. 

Sec. 20205. No net loss determination for existing rights-of-way. 

Sec. 20206. Determination of National Environmental Policy Act adequacy. 

Sec. 20207. Determination regarding rights-of-way. 

Sec. 20208. Terms of rights-of-way. 


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Sec. 20209. Funding to process permits and develop information technology. 

Sec. 20210. Offshore geological and geophysical survey licensing. 

Sec. 20211. Deferral of applications for permits to drill. 

Sec. 20212. Processing and terms of applications for permits to drill. 

Sec. 20213. Amendments to the Energy Policy Act of 2005. 

Sec. 20214. Access to Federal energy resources from non-Federal surface estate. 

Sec. 20215. Scope of environmental reviews for oil and gas leases. 

Sec. 20216. Expediting approval of gathering lines. 

Sec. 20217. Lease sale litigation. 

Sec. 20218. Limitation on claims. 

Sec. 20219. Government Accountability Office report on permits to drill. 

Sec. 20220. E–NEPA. 

TITLE III—PERMITTING FOR MINING NEEDS 

Sec. 20301. Definitions. 

Sec. 20302. Minerals supply chain and reliability. 

Sec. 20303. Federal Register process improvement. 

Sec. 20304. Designation of mining as a covered sector for Federal permitting 

improvement purposes. 

Sec. 20305. Treatment of actions under Presidential Determination 2022–11 

for Federal permitting improvement purposes. 

Sec. 20306. Notice for mineral exploration activities with limited surface disturbance. 

Sec. 20307. Use of mining claims for ancillary activities. 

Sec. 20308. Ensuring consideration of uranium as a critical mineral. 

Sec. 20309. Barring foreign bad actors from operating on Federal lands. 

TITLE IV—FEDERAL LAND USE PLANNING 

Sec. 20401. Federal land use planning and withdrawals. 

Sec. 20402. Prohibitions on delay of mineral development of certain Federal 

land. 

Sec. 20403. Definitions. 

TITLE V—ENSURING COMPETITIVENESS ON FEDERAL LANDS 

Sec. 20501. Incentivizing domestic production. 

TITLE VI—ENERGY REVENUE SHARING 

Sec. 20601. Gulf of Mexico outer Continental Shelf revenue. 

Sec. 20602. Parity in offshore wind revenue sharing. 

Sec. 20603. Elimination of administrative fee under the Mineral Leasing Act. 


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1 TITLE I—ONSHORE AND OFF2 SHORE LEASING AND OVER3 SIGHT 

4 SEC. 20101. ONSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASING. 

5 (a) REQUIREMENT TO IMMEDIATELY RESUME ON6 SHORE OIL AND GAS LEASE SALES.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte8 rior shall immediately resume quarterly onshore oil 

9 and gas lease sales in compliance with the Mineral 

10 Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.). 

11 (2) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary of the Inte12 rior shall ensure— 

13 (A) that any oil and gas lease sale pursu14 ant to paragraph (1) is conducted immediately 

15 on completion of all applicable scoping, public 

16 comment, and environmental analysis require17 ments under the Mineral Leasing Act (30 

18 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) and the National Environ19 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 

20 seq.); and 

21 (B) that the processes described in sub22 paragraph (A) are conducted in a timely man23 ner to ensure compliance with subsection (b)(1). 

24 (3) LEASE OF OIL AND GAS LANDS.—Section 

25 17(b)(1)(A) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 


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1 226(b)(1)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘Eligible 

2 lands comprise all lands subject to leasing under this 

3 Act and not excluded from leasing by a statutory or 

4 regulatory prohibition. Available lands are those 

5 lands that have been designated as open for leasing 

6 under a land use plan developed under section 202 

7 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 

8 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712) and that have been nomi9 nated for leasing through the submission of an ex10 pression of interest, are subject to drainage in the 

11 absence of leasing, or are otherwise designated as 

12 available pursuant to regulations adopted by the 

13 Secretary.’’ after ‘‘sales are necessary.’’. 

14 (b) QUARTERLY LEASE SALES.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with the Min16 eral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.), each fiscal 

17 year, the Secretary of the Interior shall conduct a 

18 minimum of 4 oil and gas lease sales in each of the 

19 following States: 

20 (A) Wyoming. 

21 (B) New Mexico. 

22 (C) Colorado. 

23 (D) Utah. 

24 (E) Montana. 

25 (F) North Dakota. 


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1 (G) Oklahoma. 

2 (H) Nevada. 

3 (I) Alaska. 

4 (J) Any other State in which there is land 

5 available for oil and gas leasing under the Min6 eral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) or any 

7 other mineral leasing law. 

8 (2) REQUIREMENT.—In conducting a lease sale 

9 under paragraph (1) in a State described in that 

10 paragraph, the Secretary of the Interior shall offer 

11 all parcels nominated and eligible pursuant to the 

12 requirements of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

13 181 et seq.) for oil and gas exploration, develop14 ment, and production under the resource manage15 ment plan in effect for the State. 

16 (3) REPLACEMENT SALES.—The Secretary of 

17 the Interior shall conduct a replacement sale during 

18 the same fiscal year if— 

19 (A) a lease sale under paragraph (1) is 

20 canceled, delayed, or deferred, including for a 

21 lack of eligible parcels; or 

22 (B) during a lease sale under paragraph 

23 (1) the percentage of acreage that does not re24 ceive a bid is equal to or greater than 25 per25 cent of the acreage offered. 


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1 (4) NOTICE REGARDING MISSED SALES.—Not 

2 later than 30 days after a sale required under this 

3 subsection is canceled, delayed, deferred, or other4 wise missed, the Secretary of the Interior shall sub5 mit to the Committee on Natural Resources of the 

6 House of Representatives and the Committee on En7 ergy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report 

8 that states what sale was missed and why it was 

9 missed. 

10 SEC. 20102. LEASE REINSTATEMENT. 

11 The reinstatement of a lease entered into under the 

12 Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) or the Geo13 thermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) by 

14 the Secretary of the Interior shall be not considered a 

15 major Federal action under section 102(2)(C) of the Na16 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

17 4332(2)(C)). 

18 SEC. 20103. PROTESTED LEASE SALES. 

19 Section 17(b)(1)(A) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 

20 U.S.C. 226(b)(1)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘The Sec21 retary shall resolve any protest to a lease sale not later 

22 than 60 days after such payment.’’ after ‘‘annual rental 

23 for the first lease year.’’. 


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1 SEC. 20104. SUSPENSION OF OPERATIONS. 

2 Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

3 226) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(r) SUSPENSION OF OPERATIONS PERMITS.—In the 

5 event that an oil and gas lease owner has submitted an 

6 expression of interest for adjacent acreage that is part of 

7 the nature of the geological play and has yet to be offered 

8 in a lease sale by the Secretary, they may request a sus9 pension of operations from the Secretary of the Interior 

10 and upon request, the Secretary shall grant the suspension 

11 of operations within 15 days. Any payment of acreage 

12 rental or of minimum royalty prescribed by such lease like13 wise shall be suspended during such period of suspension 

14 of operations and production; and the term of such lease 

15 shall be extended by adding any such suspension period 

16 thereto.’’. 

17 SEC. 20105. ADMINISTRATIVE PROTEST PROCESS REFORM. 

18 Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

19 226) (as amended by section 20104) is further amended 

20 by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(s) PROTEST FILING FEE.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Before processing any pro23 test filed under this section, the Secretary shall col24 lect a filing fee in the amount described in para25 graph (2) from the protestor to recover the cost for 


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1 processing documents filed for each administrative 

2 protest. 

3 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT.—The amount described in this 

4 paragraph is calculated as follows: 

5 ‘‘(A) For each protest filed in a submission 

6 not exceeding 10 pages in length, the base filing 

7 fee shall be $150. 

8 ‘‘(B) For each submission exceeding 10 

9 pages in length, in addition to the base filing 

10 fee, an assessment of $5 per page in excess of 

11 10 pages shall apply. 

12 ‘‘(C) For protests that include more than 

13 one oil and gas lease parcel, right-of-way, or ap14 plication for permit to drill in a submission, an 

15 additional assessment of $10 per additional 

16 lease parcel, right-of-way, or application for 

17 permit to drill shall apply. 

18 ‘‘(3) ADJUSTMENT.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on January 

20 1, 2024, and annually thereafter, the Secretary 

21 shall adjust the filing fees established in this 

22 subsection to whole dollar amounts to reflect 

23 changes in the Producer Price Index, as pub24 lished by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, for 

25 the previous 12 months. 


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1 ‘‘(B) PUBLICATION OF ADJUSTED FILING

2 FEES.—At least 30 days before the filing fees 

3 as adjusted under this paragraph take effect, 

4 the Secretary shall publish notification of the 

5 adjustment of such fees in the Federal Reg6 ister.’’. 

7 SEC. 20106. LEASING AND PERMITTING TRANSPARENCY. 

8 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 30 days after the date 

9 of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Sec10 retary of the Interior shall submit to the Committee on 

11 Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and 

12 the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 

13 Senate a report that describes— 

14 (1) the status of nominated parcels for future 

15 onshore oil and gas and geothermal lease sales, in16 cluding— 

17 (A) the number of expressions of interest 

18 received each month during the period of 365 

19 days that ends on the date on which the report 

20 is submitted with respect to which the Bureau 

21 of Land Management— 

22 (i) has not taken any action to review; 

23 (ii) has not completed review; or 

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1 plicable requirements for leasing, but has 

2 not offered the relevant area in a lease 

3 sale; 

4 (B) how long expressions of interest de5 scribed in subparagraph (A) have been pending; 

6 and 

7 (C) a plan, including timelines, for how the 

8 Secretary of the Interior plans to— 

9 (i) work through future expressions of 

10 interest to prevent delays; 

11 (ii) put expressions of interest de12 scribed in subparagraph (A) into a lease 

13 sale; and 

14 (iii) complete review for expressions of 

15 interest described in clauses (i) and (ii) of 

16 subparagraph (A); 

17 (2) the status of each pending application for 

18 permit to drill received during the period of 365 

19 days that ends on the date on which the report is 

20 submitted, including the number of applications re21 ceived each month, by each Bureau of Land Man22 agement office, including— 

23 (A) a description of the cause of delay for 

24 pending applications, including as a result of 

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1 plete applications, and incomplete review pursu2 ant to the National Environmental Policy Act 

3 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) or other ap4 plicable laws; 

5 (B) the number of days an application has 

6 been pending in violation of section 17(p)(2) of 

7 the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(p)(2)); 

8 and 

9 (C) a plan for how the office intends to 

10 come into compliance with the requirements of 

11 section 17(p)(2) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 

12 U.S.C. 226(p)(2)); 

13 (3) the number of permits to drill issued each 

14 month by each Bureau of Land Management office 

15 during the 5-year period ending on the date on 

16 which the report is submitted; 

17 (4) the status of each pending application for a 

18 license for offshore geological and geophysical sur19 veys received during the period of 365 days that 

20 ends on the date on which the report is submitted, 

21 including the number of applications received each 

22 month, by each Bureau of Ocean Energy manage23 ment regional office, including— 

24 (A) a description of any cause of delay for 

25 pending applications, including as a result of 


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1 staffing shortages, technical limitations, incom2 plete applications, and incomplete review pursu3 ant to the National Environmental Policy Act 

4 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) or other ap5 plicable laws; 

6 (B) the number of days an application has 

7 been pending; and 

8 (C) a plan for how the Bureau of Ocean 

9 Energy Management intends to complete review 

10 of each application; 

11 (5) the number of licenses for offshore geologi12 cal and geophysical surveys issued each month by 

13 each Bureau of Ocean Energy Management regional 

14 office during the 5-year period ending on the date on 

15 which the report is submitted; 

16 (6) the status of each pending application for a 

17 permit to drill received during the period of 365 

18 days that ends on the date on which the report is 

19 submitted, including the number of applications re20 ceived each month, by each Bureau of Safety and 

21 Environmental Enforcement regional office, includ22 ing— 

23 (A) a description of any cause of delay for 

24 pending applications, including as a result of 

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1 plete applications, and incomplete review pursu2 ant to the National Environmental Policy Act 

3 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) or other ap4 plicable laws; 

5 (B) the number of days an application has 

6 been pending; and 

7 (C) steps the Bureau of Safety and Envi8 ronmental Enforcement is taking to complete 

9 review of each application; 

10 (7) the number of permits to drill issued each 

11 month by each Bureau of Safety and Environmental 

12 Enforcement regional office during the period of 365 

13 days that ends on the date on which the report is 

14 submitted; 

15 (8) how, as applicable, the Bureau of Land 

16 Management, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Manage17 ment, and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental 

18 Enforcement determines whether to— 

19 (A) issue a license for geological and geo20 physical surveys; 

21 (B) issue a permit to drill; and 

22 (C) issue, extend, or suspend an oil and 

23 gas lease; 

24 (9) when determinations described in paragraph 

25 (8) are sent to the national office of the Bureau of 


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1 Land Management, the Bureau of Ocean Energy 

2 Management, or the Bureau of Safety and Environ3 mental Enforcement for final approval; 

4 (10) the degree to which Bureau of Land Man5 agement, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, 

6 and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforce7 ment field, State, and regional offices exercise dis8 cretion on such final approval; 

9 (11) during the period of 365 days that ends on 

10 the date on which the report is submitted, the num11 ber of auctioned leases receiving accepted bids that 

12 have not been issued to winning bidders and the 

13 number of days such leases have not been issued; 

14 and 

15 (12) a description of the uses of application for 

16 permit to drill fees paid by permit holders during 

17 the 5-year period ending on the date on which the 

18 report is submitted. 

19 (b) PENDING APPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO

20 DRILL.—Not later than 30 days after the date of enact21 ment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall— 

22 (1) complete all requirements under the Na23 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

24 4321 et seq.) and other applicable law that must be 


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1 met before issuance of a permit to drill described in 

2 paragraph (2); and 

3 (2) issue a permit for all completed applications 

4 to drill that are pending on the date of enactment 

5 of this Act. 

6 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF DATA.— 

7 (1) MINERAL LEASING ACT.—Section 17 of the 

8 Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) (as amended 

9 by section 20105) is further amended by adding at 

10 the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(t) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF DATA.— 

12 ‘‘(1) EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST.—Not later 

13 than 30 days after the date of enactment of this 

14 subsection, and each month thereafter, the Secretary 

15 shall publish on the website of the Department of 

16 the Interior the number of pending, approved, and 

17 not approved expressions of interest in nominated 

18 parcels for future onshore oil and gas lease sales in 

19 the preceding month. 

20 ‘‘(2) APPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO DRILL.— 

21 Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment 

22 of this subsection, and each month thereafter, the 

23 Secretary shall publish on the website of the Depart24 ment of the Interior the number of pending and apVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:53 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00064 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S947.IS S947

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1 proved applications for permits to drill in the pre2 ceding month in each State office. 

3 ‘‘(3) PAST DATA.—Not later than 30 days after 

4 the date of enactment of this subsection, the Sec5 retary shall publish on the website of the Depart6 ment of the Interior, with respect to each month 

7 during the 5-year period ending on the date of en8 actment of this subsection— 

9 ‘‘(A) the number of approved and not ap10 proved expressions of interest for onshore oil 

11 and gas lease sales during such 5-year period; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(B) the number of approved and not ap14 proved applications for permits to drill during 

15 such 5-year period.’’. 

16 (2) OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF LANDS ACT.— 

17 Section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

18 (43 U.S.C. 1337) is amended by adding at the end 

19 the following: 

20 ‘‘(q) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF DATA.— 

21 ‘‘(1) OFFSHORE GEOLOGICAL AND GEO22 PHYSICAL SURVEY LICENSES.—Not later than 30 

23 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, 

24 and each month thereafter, the Secretary shall pub25 lish on the website of the Department of the Interior 


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1 the number of pending and approved applications for 

2 licenses for offshore geological and geophysical sur3 veys in the preceding month. 

4 ‘‘(2) APPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO DRILL.— 

5 Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment 

6 of this subsection, and each month thereafter, the 

7 Secretary shall publish on the website of the Depart8 ment of the Interior the number of pending and ap9 proved applications for permits to drill on the outer 

10 Continental Shelf in the preceding month in each re11 gional office. 

12 ‘‘(3) PAST DATA.—Not later than 30 days after 

13 the date of enactment of this subsection, the Sec14 retary shall publish on the website of the Depart15 ment of the Interior, with respect each month during 

16 the 5-year period ending on the date of enactment 

17 of this subsection— 

18 ‘‘(A) the number of approved applications 

19 for licenses for offshore geological and geo20 physical surveys; and 

21 ‘‘(B) the number of approved applications 

22 for permits to drill on the outer Continental 

23 Shelf.’’. 

24 (d) REQUIREMENT TO SUBMIT DOCUMENTS AND

25 COMMUNICATIONS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

3 of the Interior shall submit to the Committee on En4 ergy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the 

5 Committee on Natural Resources of the House of 

6 Representatives all documents and communications 

7 relating to the comprehensive review of Federal oil 

8 and gas permitting and leasing practices required 

9 under section 208 of Executive Order 14008 (42 

10 U.S.C. 4321 note; relating to tackling the climate 

11 crisis at home and abroad). 

12 (2) INCLUSIONS.—The submission under para13 graph (1) shall include all documents and commu14 nications submitted to the Secretary of the Interior 

15 by members of the public in response to any public 

16 meeting or forum relating to the comprehensive re17 view described in that paragraph. 

18 SEC. 20107. OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASING. 

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

20 lease sales described in the 2017–2022 Outer Continental 

21 Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Final Program (No22 vember 2016) that have not been conducted as of the date 

23 of enactment of this Act by not later than September 30, 

24 2023. 


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1 (b) GULF OF MEXICO REGION ANNUAL LEASE

2 SALES.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and 

3 except within areas subject to existing oil and gas leasing 

4 moratoria beginning in fiscal year 2023, the Secretary of 

5 the Interior shall annually conduct a minimum of 2 re6 gion-wide oil and gas lease sales in the following planning 

7 areas of the Gulf of Mexico region, as described in the 

8 2017–2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing 

9 Proposed Final Program (November 2016): 

10 (1) The Central Gulf of Mexico Planning Area. 

11 (2) The Western Gulf of Mexico Planning Area. 

12 (c) ALASKA REGION ANNUAL LEASE SALES.—Not13 withstanding any other provision of law, beginning in fis14 cal year 2023, the Secretary of the Interior shall annually 

15 conduct a minimum of 2 region-wide oil and gas lease 

16 sales in the Alaska region of the outer Continental Shelf, 

17 as described in the 2017–2022 Outer Continental Shelf 

18 Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Final Program (November 

19 2016). 

20 (d) REQUIREMENTS.—In conducting lease sales 

21 under subsections (b) and (c), the Secretary of the Interior 

22 shall— 

23 (1) issue such leases in accordance with the 

24 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1332 

25 et seq.); and 


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1 (2) include in each such lease sale all unleased 

2 areas that are not subject to a moratorium as of the 

3 date of the lease sale. 

4 SEC. 20108. FIVE-YEAR PLAN FOR OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS 

5 LEASING. 

6 Section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

7 (43 U.S.C. 1344) is amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (a)— 

9 (A) by striking ‘‘subsections (c) and (d) of 

10 this section, shall prepare and periodically re11 vise,’’ and inserting ‘‘this section, shall issue 

12 every five years’’; 

13 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(5) Each five-year program shall include at 

15 least 2 Gulf of Mexico region-wide lease sales per 

16 year.’’; and 

17 (C) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘domes18 tic energy security,’’ after ‘‘between’’; 

19 (2) by redesignating subsections (f) through (i) 

20 as subsections (h) through (k), respectively; and 

21 (3) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(f) FIVE-YEAR PROGRAM FOR 2023–2028.—The 

24 Secretary shall issue the five-year oil and gas leasing pro25 gram for 2023 through 2028 and issue the Record of DeVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:53 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00069 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S947.IS S947

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1 cision on the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact 

2 Statement by not later than July 1, 2023. 

3 ‘‘(g) SUBSEQUENT LEASING PROGRAMS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 36 months 

5 after conducting the first lease sale under an oil and 

6 gas leasing program prepared pursuant to this sec7 tion, the Secretary shall begin preparing the subse8 quent oil and gas leasing program under this sec9 tion. 

10 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—Each subsequent oil and 

11 gas leasing program under this section shall be ap12 proved by not later than 180 days before the expira13 tion of the previous oil and gas leasing program.’’. 

14 SEC. 20109. GEOTHERMAL LEASING. 

15 (a) ANNUAL LEASING.—Section 4(b) of the Geo16 thermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1003(b)) is amend17 ed— 

18 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘2 years’’ and 

19 inserting ‘‘year’’; 

20 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and (4) as 

21 paragraphs (5) and (6), respectively; and 

22 (3) after paragraph (2), by inserting the fol23 lowing: 

24 ‘‘(3) REPLACEMENT SALES.—If a lease sale 

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1 layed, the Secretary of the Interior shall conduct a 

2 replacement sale during the same year. 

3 ‘‘(4) REQUIREMENT.—In conducting a lease 

4 sale under paragraph (2) in a State described in 

5 that paragraph, the Secretary of the Interior shall 

6 offer all nominated parcels eligible for geothermal 

7 development and utilization under the resource man8 agement plan in effect for the State.’’. 

9 (b) DEADLINES FOR CONSIDERATION OF GEO10 THERMAL DRILLING PERMITS.—Section 4 of the Geo11 thermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1003) is amended 

12 by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(h) DEADLINES FOR CONSIDERATION OF GEO14 THERMAL DRILLING PERMITS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) NOTICE.—Not later than 30 days after the 

16 date on which the Secretary receives an application 

17 for any geothermal drilling permit, the Secretary 

18 shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) provide written notice to the appli20 cant that the application is complete; or 

21 ‘‘(B) notify the applicant that information 

22 is missing and specify any information that is 

23 required to be submitted for the application to 

24 be complete. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ISSUANCE OF DECISION.—If the Secretary 

2 determines that an application for a geothermal 

3 drilling permit is complete under paragraph (1)(A), 

4 the Secretary shall issue a final decision on the ap5 plication not later than 30 days after the Secretary 

6 notifies the applicant that the application is com7 plete.’’. 

8 SEC. 20110. LEASING FOR CERTAIN QUALIFIED COAL AP9 PLICATIONS. 

10 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 (1) COAL LEASE.—The term ‘‘coal lease’’ 

12 means a lease entered into by the United States as 

13 lessor, through the Bureau of Land Management, 

14 and the applicant on Bureau of Land Management 

15 Form 3400–012. 

16 (2) QUALIFIED APPLICATION.—The term 

17 ‘‘qualified application’’ means any application pend18 ing under the lease by application program adminis19 tered by the Bureau of Land Management pursuant 

20 to the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) 

21 and subpart 3425 of title 43, Code of Federal Regu22 lations (as in effect on the date of enactment of this 

23 Act), for which the environmental review process 

24 under the National Environmental Policy Act of 

25 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) has commenced. 


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1 (b) MANDATORY LEASING AND OTHER REQUIRED

2 APPROVALS.—As soon as practicable after the date of en3 actment of this Act, the Secretary shall promptly— 

4 (1) with respect to each qualified application— 

5 (A) if not previously published for public 

6 comment, publish a draft environmental assess7 ment, as required under the National Environ8 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 

9 seq.) and any applicable implementing regula10 tions; 

11 (B) finalize the fair market value of the 

12 coal tract for which a lease by application is 

13 pending; 

14 (C) take all intermediate actions necessary 

15 to grant the qualified application; and 

16 (D) grant the qualified application; and 

17 (2) with respect to previously awarded coal 

18 leases, grant any additional approvals of the Depart19 ment of the Interior or any bureau, agency, or divi20 sion of the Department of the Interior required for 

21 mining activities to commence. 

22 SEC. 20111. FUTURE COAL LEASING. 

23 Notwithstanding any judicial decision to the contrary 

24 or a departmental review of the Federal coal leasing pro25 gram, Secretarial Order 3338, issued by the Secretary of 


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1 the Interior on January 15, 2016, shall have no force or 

2 effect. 

3 SEC. 20112. STAFF PLANNING REPORT. 

4 The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of 

5 Agriculture shall each annually submit to the Committee 

6 on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and 

7 the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 

8 Senate a report on the staffing capacity of each respective 

9 agency with respect to issuing oil, gas, hardrock mining, 

10 coal, and renewable energy leases, rights-of-way, claims, 

11 easements, and permits. Each such report shall include— 

12 (1) the number of staff assigned to process and 

13 issue oil, gas, hardrock mining, coal, and renewable 

14 energy leases, rights-of-way, claims, easements, and 

15 permits; 

16 (2) a description of how many staff are needed 

17 to meet statutory requirements for such oil, gas, 

18 hardrock mining, coal, and renewable energy leases, 

19 rights-of-way, claims, easements, and permits; and 

20 (3) how, as applicable, the Department of the 

21 Interior or the Department of Agriculture plans to 

22 address staffing shortfalls and turnover to ensure 

23 adequate staffing to process and issue such oil, gas, 

24 hardrock mining, coal, and renewable energy leases, 

25 rights-of-way, claims, easements, and permits. 


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1 SEC. 20113. PROHIBITION ON CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY 

2 OWNERSHIP INTEREST. 

3 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Com4 munist Party of China (or a person acting on behalf of 

5 the Community Party of China) may not acquire any in6 terest with respect to lands leased for oil or gas under 

7 the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) or the 

8 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et 

9 seq.). 

10 SEC. 20114. EFFECT ON OTHER LAW. 

11 Nothing in this division, or any amendments made 

12 by this division, shall affect— 

13 (1) the Presidential memorandum entitled 

14 ‘‘Memorandum on Withdrawal of Certain Areas of 

15 the United States Outer Continental Shelf From 

16 Leasing Disposition’’ and dated September 8, 2020; 

17 (2) the Presidential memorandum entitled 

18 ‘‘Memorandum on Withdrawal of Certain Areas of 

19 the United States Outer Continental Shelf From 

20 Leasing Disposition’’ and dated September 25, 

21 2020; 

22 (3) the Presidential memorandum entitled 

23 ‘‘Memorandum on Withdrawal of Certain Areas off 

24 the Atlantic Coast on the Outer Continental Shelf 

25 From Leasing Disposition’’ and dated December 20, 

26 2016; or 


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1 (4) the ban on oil and gas development in the 

2 Great Lakes described in section 386 of the Energy 

3 Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15941). 

4 TITLE II—PERMITTING 

5 STREAMLINING 

6 SEC. 20201. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this title: 

8 (1) ENERGY FACILITY.—The term ‘‘energy fa9 cility’’ means a facility the primary purpose of which 

10 is the exploration for, or the development, produc11 tion, conversion, gathering, storage, transfer, proc12 essing, or transportation of, any energy resource. 

13 (2) ENERGY STORAGE DEVICE.—The term ‘‘en14 ergy storage device’’— 

15 (A) means any equipment that stores en16 ergy, including electricity, compressed air, 

17 pumped water, heat, and hydrogen, which may 

18 be converted into, or used to produce, elec19 tricity; and 

20 (B) includes a battery, regenerative fuel 

21 cell, flywheel, capacitor, superconducting mag22 net, and any other equipment the Secretary 

23 concerned determines may be used to store en24 ergy which may be converted into, or used to 

25 produce, electricity. 


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1 (3) PUBLIC LANDS.—The term ‘‘public lands’’ 

2 means any land and interest in land owned by the 

3 United States within the several States and adminis4 tered by the Secretary of the Interior or the Sec5 retary of Agriculture without regard to how the 

6 United States acquired ownership, except— 

7 (A) lands located on the outer Continental 

8 Shelf; and 

9 (B) lands held in trust by the United 

10 States for the benefit of Indians, Indian Tribes, 

11 Aleuts, and Eskimos. 

12 (4) RIGHT-OF-WAY.—The term ‘‘right-of-way’’ 

13 means— 

14 (A) a right-of-way issued, granted, or re15 newed under section 501 of the Federal Land 

16 Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 

17 1761); or 

18 (B) a right-of-way granted under section 

19 28 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 185). 

20 (5) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec21 retary concerned’’ means— 

22 (A) with respect to public lands, the Sec23 retary of the Interior; and 

24 (B) with respect to National Forest Sys25 tem lands, the Secretary of Agriculture. 


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1 (6) LAND USE PLAN.—The term ‘‘land use 

2 plan’’ means— 

3 (A) a land and resource management plan 

4 prepared by the Forest Service for a unit of the 

5 National Forest System pursuant to section 6 

6 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Re7 sources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 

8 1604); 

9 (B) a Land Management Plan developed 

10 by the Bureau of Land Management under the 

11 Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 

12 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); or 

13 (C) a comprehensive conservation plan de14 veloped by the United States Fish and Wildlife 

15 Service under section 4(e)(1)(A) of the National 

16 Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 

17 1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd(e)(1)(A)). 

18 SEC. 20202. BUILDER ACT. 

19 (a) PARAGRAPH (2) OF SECTION 102.—Section 

20 102(2) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

21 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)) is amended— 

22 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘insure’’ 

23 and inserting ‘‘ensure’’; 

24 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘insure’’ 

25 and inserting ‘‘ensure’’; 


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1 (3) in subparagraph (C)— 

2 (A) by inserting ‘‘consistent with the provi3 sions of this Act and except as provided by 

4 other provisions of law,’’ before ‘‘include in 

5 every’’; 

6 (B) by striking clauses (i) through (v) and 

7 inserting the following: 

8 ‘‘(i) reasonably foreseeable environmental 

9 effects with a reasonably close causal relation10 ship to the proposed agency action; 

11 ‘‘(ii) any reasonably foreseeable adverse en12 vironmental effects which cannot be avoided 

13 should the proposal be implemented; 

14 ‘‘(iii) a reasonable number of alternatives 

15 to the proposed agency action, including an 

16 analysis of any negative environmental impacts 

17 of not implementing the proposed agency action 

18 in the case of a no action alternative, that are 

19 technically and economically feasible, are within 

20 the jurisdiction of the agency, meet the purpose 

21 and need of the proposal, and, where applicable, 

22 meet the goals of the applicant; 

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1 tenance and enhancement of long-term produc2 tivity; and 

3 ‘‘(v) any irreversible and irretrievable com4 mitments of Federal resources which would be 

5 involved in the proposed agency action should it 

6 be implemented.’’; and 

7 (C) in the undesignated matter following 

8 clause (v) (as so amended), by striking ‘‘the re9 sponsible Federal official’’ and inserting ‘‘the 

10 head of the lead agency’’; 

11 (4) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘Any’’ 

12 and inserting ‘‘any’’; 

13 (5) by redesignating subparagraphs (D) 

14 through (I) as subparagraphs (F) through (K), re15 spectively; 

16 (6) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(D) ensure the professional integrity, including 

19 scientific integrity, of the discussion and analysis in 

20 an environmental document; 

21 ‘‘(E) make use of reliable existing data and re22 sources in carrying out this Act;’’; 

23 (7) by amending subparagraph (G), as redesig24 nated, to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(G) consistent with the provisions of this Act, 

2 study, develop, and describe technically and economi3 cally feasible alternatives within the jurisdiction and 

4 authority of the agency;’’; and 

5 (8) in subparagraph (H), as redesignated, by 

6 inserting ‘‘consistent with the provisions of this 

7 Act,’’ before ‘‘recognize’’. 

8 (b) NEW SECTIONS.—Title I of the National Envi9 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.) 

10 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 106. PROCEDURE FOR DETERMINATION OF LEVEL OF 

12 REVIEW. 

13 ‘‘(a) THRESHOLD DETERMINATIONS.—An agency is 

14 not required to prepare an environmental document with 

15 respect to a proposed agency action if— 

16 ‘‘(1) the proposed agency action is not a final 

17 agency action within the meaning of such term in 

18 chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code; 

19 ‘‘(2) the proposed agency action is covered by 

20 a categorical exclusion established by the agency, an21 other Federal agency, or another provision of law; 

22 ‘‘(3) the preparation of such document would 

23 clearly and fundamentally conflict with the require24 ments of another provision of law; 


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1 ‘‘(4) the proposed agency action is, in whole or 

2 in part, a nondiscretionary action with respect to 

3 which such agency does not have authority to take 

4 environmental factors into consideration in deter5 mining whether to take the proposed action; 

6 ‘‘(5) the proposed agency action is a rulemaking 

7 that is subject to section 553 of title 5, United 

8 States Code; or 

9 ‘‘(6) the proposed agency action is an action for 

10 which such agency’s compliance with another stat11 ute’s requirements serve the same or similar func12 tion as the requirements of this Act with respect to 

13 such action. 

14 ‘‘(b) LEVELS OF REVIEW.— 

15 ‘‘(1) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT.— 

16 An agency shall issue an environmental impact 

17 statement with respect to a proposed agency action 

18 that has a significant effect on the quality of the 

19 human environment. 

20 ‘‘(2) ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT.—An agen21 cy shall prepare an environmental assessment with 

22 respect to a proposed agency action that is not likely 

23 to have a significant effect on the quality of the 

24 human environment, or if the significance of such ef25 fect is unknown, unless the agency finds that a catVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:53 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00082 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S947.IS S947

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1 egorical exclusion established by the agency, another 

2 Federal agency, or another provision of law applies. 

3 Such environmental assessment shall be a concise 

4 public document prepared by a Federal agency to set 

5 forth the basis of such agency’s finding of no signifi6 cant impact. 

7 ‘‘(3) SOURCES OF INFORMATION.—In making a 

8 determination under this subsection, an agency— 

9 ‘‘(A) may make use of any reliable data 

10 source; and 

11 ‘‘(B) is not required to undertake new sci12 entific or technical research. 

13 ‘‘SEC. 107. TIMELY AND UNIFIED FEDERAL REVIEWS. 

14 ‘‘(a) LEAD AGENCY.— 

15 ‘‘(1) DESIGNATION.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If there are 2 or more 

17 involved Federal agencies, such agencies shall 

18 determine, by letter or memorandum, which 

19 agency shall be the lead agency based on con20 sideration of the following factors: 

21 ‘‘(i) Magnitude of agency’s involve22 ment. 

23 ‘‘(ii) Project approval or disapproval 

24 authority. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) Expertise concerning the ac2 tion’s environmental effects. 

3 ‘‘(iv) Duration of agency’s involve4 ment. 

5 ‘‘(v) Sequence of agency’s involve6 ment. 

7 ‘‘(B) JOINT LEAD AGENCIES.—In making 

8 a determination under subparagraph (A), the 

9 involved Federal agencies may, in addition to a 

10 Federal agency, appoint such Federal, State, 

11 Tribal, or local agencies as joint lead agencies 

12 as the involved Federal agencies shall determine 

13 appropriate. Joint lead agencies shall jointly 

14 fulfill the role described in paragraph (2). 

15 ‘‘(C) MINERAL PROJECTS.—This para16 graph shall not apply with respect to a mineral 

17 exploration or mine permit. 

18 ‘‘(2) ROLE.—A lead agency shall, with respect 

19 to a proposed agency action— 

20 ‘‘(A) supervise the preparation of an envi21 ronmental document if, with respect to such 

22 proposed agency action, there is more than 1 

23 involved Federal agency; 


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1 ‘‘(B) request the participation of each co2 operating agency at the earliest practicable 

3 time; 

4 ‘‘(C) in preparing an environmental docu5 ment, give consideration to any analysis or pro6 posal created by a cooperating agency with ju7 risdiction by law or a cooperating agency with 

8 special expertise; 

9 ‘‘(D) develop a schedule, in consultation 

10 with each involved cooperating agency, the ap11 plicant, and such other entities as the lead 

12 agency determines appropriate, for completion 

13 of any environmental review, permit, or author14 ization required to carry out the proposed agen15 cy action; 

16 ‘‘(E) if the lead agency determines that a 

17 review, permit, or authorization will not be com18 pleted in accordance with the schedule devel19 oped under subparagraph (D), notify the agen20 cy responsible for issuing such review, permit, 

21 or authorization of the discrepancy and request 

22 that such agency take such measures as such 

23 agency determines appropriate to comply with 

24 such schedule; and 


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1 ‘‘(F) meet with a cooperating agency that 

2 requests such a meeting. 

3 ‘‘(3) COOPERATING AGENCY.—The lead agency 

4 may, with respect to a proposed agency action, des5 ignate any involved Federal agency or a State, Trib6 al, or local agency as a cooperating agency. A co7 operating agency may, not later than a date speci8 fied by the lead agency, submit comments to the 

9 lead agency. Such comments shall be limited to mat10 ters relating to the proposed agency action with re11 spect to which such agency has special expertise or 

12 jurisdiction by law with respect to an environmental 

13 issue. 

14 ‘‘(4) REQUEST FOR DESIGNATION.—Any Fed15 eral, State, Tribal, or local agency or person that is 

16 substantially affected by the lack of a designation of 

17 a lead agency with respect to a proposed agency ac18 tion under paragraph (1) may submit a written re19 quest for such a designation to an involved Federal 

20 agency. An agency that receives a request under this 

21 paragraph shall transmit such request to each in22 volved Federal agency and to the Council. 

23 ‘‘(5) COUNCIL DESIGNATION.— 

24 ‘‘(A) REQUEST.—Not earlier than 45 days 

25 after the date on which a request is submitted 


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1 under paragraph (4), if no designation has been 

2 made under paragraph (1), a Federal, State, 

3 Tribal, or local agency or person that is sub4 stantially affected by the lack of a designation 

5 of a lead agency may request that the Council 

6 designate a lead agency. Such request shall con7 sist of— 

8 ‘‘(i) a precise description of the nature 

9 and extent of the proposed agency action; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(ii) a detailed statement with respect 

12 to each involved Federal agency and each 

13 factor listed in paragraph (1) regarding 

14 which agency should serve as lead agency. 

15 ‘‘(B) TRANSMISSION.—The Council shall 

16 transmit a request received under subparagraph 

17 (A) to each involved Federal agency. 

18 ‘‘(C) RESPONSE.—An involved Federal 

19 agency may, not later than 20 days after the 

20 date of the submission of a request under sub21 paragraph (A), submit to the Council a re22 sponse to such request. 

23 ‘‘(D) DESIGNATION.—Not later than 40 

24 days after the date of the submission of a re25 quest under subparagraph (A), the Council 


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1 shall designate the lead agency with respect to 

2 the relevant proposed agency action. 

3 ‘‘(b) ONE DOCUMENT.— 

4 ‘‘(1) DOCUMENT.—To the extent practicable, if 

5 there are 2 or more involved Federal agencies with 

6 respect to a proposed agency action and the lead 

7 agency has determined that an environmental docu8 ment is required, such requirement shall be deemed 

9 satisfied with respect to all involved Federal agencies 

10 if the lead agency issues such an environmental doc11 ument. 

12 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATION TIMING.—In developing 

13 an environmental document for a proposed agency 

14 action, no involved Federal agency shall be required 

15 to consider any information that becomes available 

16 after the sooner of, as applicable— 

17 ‘‘(A) receipt of a complete application with 

18 respect to such proposed agency action; or 

19 ‘‘(B) publication of a notice of intent or 

20 decision to prepare an environmental impact 

21 statement for such proposed agency action. 

22 ‘‘(3) SCOPE OF REVIEW.—In developing an en23 vironmental document for a proposed agency action, 

24 the lead agency and any other involved Federal 


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1 agencies shall only consider the effects of the pro2 posed agency action that— 

3 ‘‘(A) occur on Federal land; or 

4 ‘‘(B) are subject to Federal control and re5 sponsibility. 

6 ‘‘(c) REQUEST FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.—Each notice 

7 of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement 

8 under section 102 shall include a request for public com9 ment on alternatives or impacts and on relevant informa10 tion, studies, or analyses with respect to the proposed 

11 agency action. 

12 ‘‘(d) STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND NEED.—Each 

13 environmental impact statement shall include a statement 

14 of purpose and need that briefly summarizes the under15 lying purpose and need for the proposed agency action. 

16 ‘‘(e) ESTIMATED TOTAL COST.—The cover sheet for 

17 each environmental impact statement shall include a state18 ment of the estimated total cost of preparing such environ19 mental impact statement, including the costs of agency 

20 full-time equivalent personnel hours, contractor costs, and 

21 other direct costs. 

22 ‘‘(f) PAGE LIMITS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENTS.— 

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

25 subparagraph (B), an environmental impact 


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1 statement shall not exceed 150 pages, not in2 cluding any citations or appendices. 

3 ‘‘(B) EXTRAORDINARY COMPLEXITY.—An 

4 environmental impact statement for a proposed 

5 agency action of extraordinary complexity shall 

6 not exceed 300 pages, not including any cita7 tions or appendices. 

8 ‘‘(2) ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTS.—An en9 vironmental assessment shall not exceed 75 pages, 

10 not including any citations or appendices. 

11 ‘‘(g) SPONSOR PREPARATION.—A lead agency shall 

12 allow a project sponsor to prepare an environmental as13 sessment or an environmental impact statement upon re14 quest of the project sponsor. Such agency may provide 

15 such sponsor with appropriate guidance and assist in the 

16 preparation. The lead agency shall independently evaluate 

17 the environmental document and shall take responsibility 

18 for the contents upon adoption. 

19 ‘‘(h) DEADLINES.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para21 graph (2), with respect to a proposed agency action, 

22 a lead agency shall complete, as applicable— 

23 ‘‘(A) the environmental impact statement 

24 not later than the date that is 2 years after the 

25 sooner of, as applicable— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the date on which such agency 

2 determines that section 102(2)(C) requires 

3 the issuance of an environmental impact 

4 statement with respect to such action; 

5 ‘‘(ii) the date on which such agency 

6 notifies the applicant that the application 

7 to establish a right-of-way for such action 

8 is complete; and 

9 ‘‘(iii) the date on which such agency 

10 issues a notice of intent to prepare the en11 vironmental impact statement for such ac12 tion; and 

13 ‘‘(B) the environmental assessment not 

14 later than the date that is 1 year after the 

15 sooner of, as applicable— 

16 ‘‘(i) the date on which such agency 

17 determines that section 106(b)(2) requires 

18 the preparation of an environmental as19 sessment with respect to such action; 

20 ‘‘(ii) the date on which such agency 

21 notifies the applicant that the application 

22 to establish a right-of-way for such action 

23 is complete; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the date on which such agency 

2 issues a notice of intent to prepare the en3 vironmental assessment for such action. 

4 ‘‘(2) DELAY.—A lead agency that determines it 

5 is not able to meet the deadline described in para6 graph (1) may extend such deadline with the ap7 proval of the applicant. If the applicant approves 

8 such an extension, the lead agency shall establish a 

9 new deadline that provides only so much additional 

10 time as is necessary to complete such environmental 

11 impact statement or environmental assessment. 

12 ‘‘(3) EXPENDITURES FOR DELAY.—If a lead 

13 agency is unable to meet the deadline described in 

14 paragraph (1) or extended under paragraph (2), the 

15 lead agency shall pay $100 per day, to the extent 

16 funding is provided in advance in an appropriations 

17 Act, out of the office of the head of the department 

18 of the lead agency to the applicant starting on the 

19 first day immediately following the deadline de20 scribed in paragraph (1) or extended under para21 graph (2) up until the date that an applicant ap22 proves a new deadline. This paragraph does not 

23 apply when the lead agency misses a deadline solely 

24 due to delays caused by litigation. 

25 ‘‘(i) REPORT.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The head of each lead 

2 agency shall annually submit to the Committee on 

3 Natural Resources of the House of Representatives 

4 and the Committee on Environment and Public 

5 Works of the Senate a report that— 

6 ‘‘(A) identifies any environmental assess7 ment and environmental impact statement that 

8 such lead agency did not complete by the dead9 line described in subsection (h); and 

10 ‘‘(B) provides an explanation for any fail11 ure to meet such deadline. 

12 ‘‘(2) INCLUSIONS.—Each report submitted 

13 under paragraph (1) shall identify, as applicable— 

14 ‘‘(A) the office, bureau, division, unit, or 

15 other entity within the Federal agency respon16 sible for each such environmental assessment 

17 and environmental impact statement; 

18 ‘‘(B) the date on which— 

19 ‘‘(i) such lead agency notified the ap20 plicant that the application to establish a 

21 right-of-way for the major Federal action 

22 is complete; 

23 ‘‘(ii) such lead agency began the 

24 scoping for the major Federal action; or 


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1 ‘‘(iii) such lead agency issued a notice 

2 of intent to prepare the environmental as3 sessment or environmental impact state4 ment for the major Federal action; and 

5 ‘‘(C) when such environmental assessment 

6 and environmental impact statement is expected 

7 to be complete. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 108. JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

9 ‘‘(a) LIMITATIONS ON CLAIMS.—Notwithstanding 

10 any other provision of law, a claim arising under Federal 

11 law seeking judicial review of compliance with this Act, 

12 of a determination made under this Act, or of Federal ac13 tion resulting from a determination made under this Act, 

14 shall be barred unless— 

15 ‘‘(1) in the case of a claim pertaining to a pro16 posed agency action for which an environmental doc17 ument was prepared and an opportunity for com18 ment was provided, the claim is— 

19 ‘‘(A) filed by a party that participated in 

20 the administrative proceedings regarding such 

21 environmental document; or 

22 ‘‘(B)(i) filed by a party that submitted a 

23 comment during the public comment period for 

24 such administrative proceedings and such com25 ment was sufficiently detailed to put the lead 


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1 agency on notice of the issue upon which the 

2 party seeks judicial review; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) related to such comment; 

4 ‘‘(2) except as provided in subsection (b), such 

5 claim is filed not later than 120 days after the date 

6 of publication of a notice in the Federal Register of 

7 agency intent to carry out the proposed agency ac8 tion; 

9 ‘‘(3) such claim is filed after the issuance of a 

10 record of decision or other final agency action with 

11 respect to the relevant proposed agency action; 

12 ‘‘(4) such claim does not challenge the estab13 lishment or use of a categorical exclusion under sec14 tion 102; and 

15 ‘‘(5) such claim concerns— 

16 ‘‘(A) an alternative included in the envi17 ronmental document; or 

18 ‘‘(B) an environmental effect considered in 

19 the environmental document. 

20 ‘‘(b) SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

21 STATEMENT.— 

22 ‘‘(1) SEPARATE FINAL AGENCY ACTION.—The 

23 issuance of a Federal action resulting from a final 

24 supplemental environmental impact statement shall 

25 be considered a final agency action for the purposes 


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1 of chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, separate 

2 from the issuance of any previous environmental im3 pact statement with respect to the same proposed 

4 agency action. 

5 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE FOR FILING A CLAIM.—A claim 

6 seeking judicial review of a Federal action resulting 

7 from a final supplemental environmental review 

8 issued under section 102(2)(C) shall be barred un9 less— 

10 ‘‘(A) such claim is filed within 120 days of 

11 the date on which a notice of the Federal agen12 cy action resulting from a final supplemental 

13 environmental impact statement is issued; and 

14 ‘‘(B) such claim is based on information 

15 contained in such supplemental environmental 

16 impact statement that was not contained in a 

17 previous environmental document pertaining to 

18 the same proposed agency action. 

19 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITION ON INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.—Not20 withstanding any other provision of law, a violation of this 

21 Act shall not constitute the basis for injunctive relief. 

22 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec23 tion shall be construed to create a right of judicial review 

24 or place any limit on filing a claim with respect to the 

25 violation of the terms of a permit, license, or approval. 


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1 ‘‘(e) REMAND.—Notwithstanding any other provision 

2 of law, no proposed agency action for which an environ3 mental document is required shall be vacated or otherwise 

4 limited, delayed, or enjoined unless a court concludes al5 lowing such proposed action will pose a risk of an immi6 nent and substantial environmental harm and there is no 

7 other equitable remedy available as a matter of law. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 109. DEFINITIONS. 

9 ‘‘In this title: 

10 ‘‘(1) CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION.—The term 

11 ‘categorical exclusion’ means a category of actions 

12 that a Federal agency has determined normally does 

13 not significantly affect the quality of the human en14 vironment within the meaning of section 102(2)(C). 

15 ‘‘(2) COOPERATING AGENCY.—The term ‘co16 operating agency’ means any Federal, State, Tribal, 

17 or local agency that has been designated as a co18 operating agency under section 107(a)(3). 

19 ‘‘(3) COUNCIL.—The term ‘Council’ means the 

20 Council on Environmental Quality established in 

21 title II. 

22 ‘‘(4) ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT.—The 

23 term ‘environmental assessment’ means an environ24 mental assessment prepared under section 

25 106(b)(2). 


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1 ‘‘(5) ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENT.—The term 

2 ‘environmental document’ means an environmental 

3 impact statement, an environmental assessment, or 

4 a finding of no significant impact. 

5 ‘‘(6) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT.— 

6 The term ‘environmental impact statement’ means a 

7 detailed written statement that is required by section 

8 102(2)(C). 

9 ‘‘(7) FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT.— 

10 The term ‘finding of no significant impact’ means a 

11 determination by a Federal agency that a proposed 

12 agency action does not require the issuance of an en13 vironmental impact statement. 

14 ‘‘(8) INVOLVED FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term 

15 ‘involved Federal agency’ means an agency that, 

16 with respect to a proposed agency action— 

17 ‘‘(A) proposed such action; or 

18 ‘‘(B) is involved in such action because 

19 such action is directly related, through func20 tional interdependence or geographic proximity, 

21 to an action such agency has taken or has pro22 posed to take. 

23 ‘‘(9) LEAD AGENCY.— 

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

25 subparagraph (B), the term ‘lead agency’ 


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1 means, with respect to a proposed agency ac2 tion— 

3 ‘‘(i) the agency that proposed such ac4 tion; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) if there are 2 or more involved 

6 Federal agencies with respect to such ac7 tion, the agency designated under section 

8 107(a)(1). 

9 ‘‘(B) SPECIFICATION FOR MINERAL EX10 PLORATION OR MINE PERMITS.—With respect 

11 to a proposed mineral exploration or mine per12 mit, the term ‘lead agency’ has the meaning 

13 given such term in section 40206(a) of the In14 frastructure Investment and Jobs Act (30 

15 U.S.C. 1607). 

16 ‘‘(10) MAJOR FEDERAL ACTION.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘major Fed18 eral action’ means an action that the agency 

19 carrying out such action determines is subject 

20 to substantial Federal control and responsi21 bility. 

22 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘major Fed23 eral action’ does not include— 

24 ‘‘(i) a non-Federal action— 


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1 ‘‘(I) with no or minimal Federal 

2 funding; 

3 ‘‘(II) with no or minimal Federal 

4 involvement where a Federal agency 

5 cannot control the outcome of the 

6 project; or 

7 ‘‘(III) that does not include Fed8 eral land; 

9 ‘‘(ii) funding assistance solely in the 

10 form of general revenue sharing funds 

11 which do not provide Federal agency com12 pliance or enforcement responsibility over 

13 the subsequent use of such funds; 

14 ‘‘(iii) loans, loan guarantees, or other 

15 forms of financial assistance where a Fed16 eral agency does not exercise sufficient 

17 control and responsibility over the effect of 

18 the action; 

19 ‘‘(iv) farm ownership and operating 

20 loan guarantees by the Farm Service 

21 Agency pursuant to sections 305 and 311 

22 through 319 of the Consolidated Farm and 

23 Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1925, 

24 1941–1949); 


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1 ‘‘(v) business loan guarantees pro2 vided by the Small Business Administra3 tion pursuant to subsection (a) or (b) of 

4 section 7 of the Small Business Act (15 

5 U.S.C. 636), or title V of the Small Busi6 ness Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 

7 695 et seq.); 

8 ‘‘(vi) bringing judicial or administra9 tive civil or criminal enforcement actions; 

10 or 

11 ‘‘(vii) extraterritorial activities or deci12 sions, which means agency activities or de13 cisions with effects located entirely outside 

14 of the jurisdiction of the United States. 

15 ‘‘(C) ADDITIONAL EXCLUSIONS.—An agen16 cy action may not be determined to be a major 

17 Federal action on the basis of— 

18 ‘‘(i) an interstate effect of the action 

19 or related project; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) the provision of Federal funds 

21 for the action or related project. 

22 ‘‘(11) MINERAL EXPLORATION OR MINE PER23 MIT.—The term ‘mineral exploration or mine permit’ 

24 has the meaning given such term in section 


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1 40206(a) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs 

2 Act (30 U.S.C. 1607). 

3 ‘‘(12) PROPOSAL.—The term ‘proposal’ means 

4 a proposed action at a stage when an agency has a 

5 goal, is actively preparing to make a decision on 1 

6 or more alternative means of accomplishing that 

7 goal, and can meaningfully evaluate its effects. 

8 ‘‘(13) REASONABLY FORESEEABLE.—The term 

9 ‘reasonably foreseeable’ means likely to occur— 

10 ‘‘(A) not later than 10 years after the lead 

11 agency begins preparing the environmental doc12 ument; and 

13 ‘‘(B) in an area directly affected by the 

14 proposed agency action such that an individual 

15 of ordinary prudence would take such occur16 rence into account in reaching a decision. 

17 ‘‘(14) SPECIAL EXPERTISE.—The term ‘special 

18 expertise’ means statutory responsibility, agency 

19 mission, or related program experience.’’. 

20 SEC. 20203. CODIFICATION OF NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL 

21 POLICY ACT REGULATIONS. 

22 The revisions to the Code of Federal Regulations 

23 made pursuant to the final rule of the Council on Environ24 mental Quality entitled ‘‘Update to the Regulations Imple25 menting the Procedural Provisions of the National EnviVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:53 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00102 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S947.IS S947

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1 ronmental Policy Act’’ and published on July 16, 2020 

2 (85 Fed. Reg. 43304), shall have the same force and effect 

3 of law as if enacted by an Act of Congress. 

4 SEC. 20204. NON-MAJOR FEDERAL ACTIONS. 

5 (a) EXEMPTION.—An action by the Secretary con6 cerned with respect to a covered activity shall be not con7 sidered a major Federal action under section 102(2)(C) 

8 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

9 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)). 

10 (b) COVERED ACTIVITY.—In this section, the term 

11 ‘‘covered activity’’ includes— 

12 (1) geotechnical investigations; 

13 (2) off-road travel in an existing right-of-way; 

14 (3) construction of meteorological towers where 

15 the total surface disturbance at the location is less 

16 than 5 acres; 

17 (4) adding a battery or other energy storage de18 vice to an existing or planned energy facility, if that 

19 storage resource is located within the physical foot20 print of the existing or planned energy facility; 

21 (5) drilling temperature gradient wells and 

22 other geothermal exploratory wells, including con23 struction or making improvements for such activi24 ties, where— 


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1 (A) the last cemented casing string is less 

2 than 12 inches in diameter; and 

3 (B) the total unreclaimed surface disturb4 ance at any 1 time within the project area is 

5 less than 5 acres; 

6 (6) any repair, maintenance, upgrade, optimiza7 tion, or minor addition to existing transmission and 

8 distribution infrastructure, including— 

9 (A) operation, maintenance, or repair of 

10 power equipment and structures within existing 

11 substations, switching stations, transmission, 

12 and distribution lines; 

13 (B) the addition, modification, retirement, 

14 or replacement of breakers, transmission tow15 ers, transformers, bushings, or relays; 

16 (C) the voltage uprating, modification, 

17 reconductoring with conventional or advanced 

18 conductors, and clearance resolution of trans19 mission lines; 

20 (D) activities to minimize fire risk, includ21 ing vegetation management, routine fire mitiga22 tion, inspection, and maintenance activities, and 

23 removal of hazard trees and other hazard vege24 tation within or adjacent to an existing right-of25 way; 


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1 (E) improvements to or construction of 

2 structure pads for such infrastructure; and 

3 (F) access and access route maintenance 

4 and repairs associated with any activity de5 scribed in subparagraph (A) through (E); 

6 (7) approval of and activities conducted in ac7 cordance with operating plans or agreements for 

8 transmission and distribution facilities or under a 

9 special use authorization for an electric transmission 

10 and distribution facility right-of-way; and 

11 (8) construction, maintenance, realignment, or 

12 repair of an existing permanent or temporary access 

13 road— 

14 (A) within an existing right-of-way or with15 in a transmission or utility corridor established 

16 by Congress or in a land use plan; 

17 (B) that serves an existing transmission 

18 line, distribution line, or energy facility; or 

19 (C) activities conducted in accordance with 

20 existing onshore oil and gas leases. 

21 SEC. 20205. NO NET LOSS DETERMINATION FOR EXISTING 

22 RIGHTS-OF-WAY. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Upon a determination by the Sec24 retary concerned that there will be no overall long-term 

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1 age and function, resulting from a proposed action, deci2 sion, or activity within an existing right-of-way, within a 

3 right-of-way corridor established in a land use plan, or in 

4 an otherwise designated right-of-way, that action, deci5 sion, or activity shall not be considered a major Federal 

6 action under section 102(2)(C) of the National Environ7 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)). 

8 (b) INCLUSION OF REMEDIATION.—In making a de9 termination under subsection (a), the Secretary concerned 

10 shall consider the effect of any remediation work to be 

11 conducted during the lifetime of the action, decision, or 

12 activity when determining whether there will be any over13 all long-term net loss of vegetation, soil, or habitat. 

14 SEC. 20206. DETERMINATION OF NATIONAL ENVIRON15 MENTAL POLICY ACT ADEQUACY. 

16 The Secretary concerned shall use previously com17 pleted environmental assessments and environmental im18 pact statements to satisfy the requirements of section 102 

19 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

20 U.S.C. 4332) with respect to any major Federal action, 

21 if such Secretary determines that— 

22 (1) the new proposed action is substantially the 

23 same as a previously analyzed proposed action or al24 ternative analyzed in a previous environmental as25 sessment or environmental impact statement; and 


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1 (2) the effects of the proposed action are sub2 stantially the same as the effects analyzed in such 

3 existing environmental assessments or environmental 

4 impact statements. 

5 SEC. 20207. DETERMINATION REGARDING RIGHTS-OF-WAY. 

6 Not later than 60 days after the Secretary concerned 

7 receives an application to grant a right-of-way, the Sec8 retary concerned shall notify the applicant as to whether 

9 the application is complete or deficient. If the Secretary 

10 concerned determines the application is complete, the Sec11 retary concerned may not consider any other application 

12 to grant a right-of-way on the same or any overlapping 

13 parcels of land while such application is pending. 

14 SEC. 20208. TERMS OF RIGHTS-OF-WAY. 

15 (a) FIFTY-YEAR TERMS FOR RIGHTS-OF-WAY.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any right-of-way for pipe17 lines for the transportation or distribution of oil or 

18 gas granted, issued, amended, or renewed under 

19 Federal law may be limited to a term of not more 

20 than 50 years before such right-of-way is subject to 

21 renewal or amendment. 

22 (2) FEDERAL LAND POLICY AND MANAGEMENT

23 ACT OF 1976.—Section 501 of the Federal Land Pol24 icy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1761) 

25 is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(e) Any right-of-way granted, issued, amended, or 

2 renewed under subsection (a)(4) may be limited to a term 

3 of not more than 50 years before such right-of-way is sub4 ject to renewal or amendment.’’. 

5 (b) MINERAL LEASING ACT.—Section 28(n) of the 

6 Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 185(n)) is amended by 

7 striking ‘‘thirty’’ and inserting ‘‘50’’. 

8 SEC. 20209. FUNDING TO PROCESS PERMITS AND DEVELOP 

9 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—In fiscal years 2023 through 

11 2025, the Secretary of Agriculture (acting through the 

12 Forest Service) and the Secretary of the Interior, after 

13 public notice, may accept and expend funds contributed 

14 by non-Federal entities for dedicated staff, information re15 source management, and information technology system 

16 development to expedite the evaluation of permits, biologi17 cal opinions, concurrence letters, environmental surveys 

18 and studies, processing of applications, consultations, and 

19 other activities for the leasing, development, or expansion 

20 of an energy facility under the jurisdiction of the respec21 tive Secretaries. 

22 (b) EFFECT ON PERMITTING.—In carrying out this 

23 section, the Secretary of the Interior shall ensure that the 

24 use of funds accepted under subsection (a) will not impact 


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1 impartial decision making with respect to permits, either 

2 substantively or procedurally. 

3 (c) STATEMENT FOR FAILURE TO ACCEPT OR EX4 PEND FUNDS.—Not later than 60 days after the end of 

5 the applicable fiscal year, if the Secretary of Agriculture 

6 (acting through the Forest Service) or the Secretary of 

7 the Interior does not accept funds contributed under sub8 section (a) or accepts but does not expend such funds, that 

9 Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Natural Re10 sources of the House of Representatives and the Com11 mittee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate 

12 a statement explaining why such funds were not accepted, 

13 were not expended, or both, as the case may be. 

14 SEC. 20210. OFFSHORE GEOLOGICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL 

15 SURVEY LICENSING. 

16 The Secretary of the Interior shall authorize geologi17 cal and geophysical surveys related to oil and gas activities 

18 on the Gulf of Mexico outer Continental Shelf, except 

19 within areas subject to existing oil and gas leasing mora20 toria. Such authorizations shall be issued within 30 days 

21 of receipt of a completed application and shall, as applica22 ble to survey type, comply with the mitigation and moni23 toring measures in subsections (a), (b), (c), (d), (f), and 

24 (g) of section 217.184 of title 50, Code of Federal Regula25 tions (as in effect on January 1, 2022), and section 


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1 217.185 of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations (as in 

2 effect on January 1, 2022). Geological and geophysical 

3 surveys authorized pursuant to this section are deemed to 

4 be in full compliance with the Marine Mammal Protection 

5 Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) and the Endangered 

6 Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and their 

7 implementing regulations. 

8 SEC. 20211. DEFERRAL OF APPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO 

9 DRILL. 

10 Section 17(p)(3) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 

11 U.S.C. 226(p)(3)) is amended by adding at the end the 

12 following: 

13 ‘‘(D) DEFERRAL BASED ON FORMATTING

14 ISSUES.—A decision on an application for a 

15 permit to drill may not be deferred under para16 graph (2)(B) as a result of a formatting issue 

17 with the permit, unless such formatting issue 

18 results in missing information.’’. 

19 SEC. 20212. PROCESSING AND TERMS OF APPLICATIONS 

20 FOR PERMITS TO DRILL. 

21 (a) EFFECT OF PENDING CIVIL ACTIONS.—Section 

22 17(p) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(p)) is 

23 amended by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(4) EFFECT OF PENDING CIVIL ACTION ON

25 PROCESSING APPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO


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1 DRILL.—Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 

2 (2), notwithstanding the existence of any pending 

3 civil actions affecting the application or related 

4 lease, the Secretary shall process an application for 

5 a permit to drill or other authorizations or approvals 

6 under a valid existing lease, unless a United States 

7 Federal court vacated such lease. Nothing in this 

8 paragraph shall be construed as providing authority 

9 to a Federal court to vacate a lease.’’. 

10 (b) TERM OF PERMIT TO DRILL.—Section 17 of the 

11 Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) (as amended by sec12 tion 20106(c)(1)) is further amended by adding at the end 

13 the following: 

14 ‘‘(u) TERM OF PERMIT TO DRILL.—A permit to drill 

15 issued under this section after the date of the enactment 

16 of this subsection shall be valid for 1 4-year term from 

17 the date that the permit is approved, or until the lease 

18 regarding which the permit is issued expires, whichever 

19 occurs first.’’. 

20 SEC. 20213. AMENDMENTS TO THE ENERGY POLICY ACT OF 

21 2005. 

22 Section 390 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

23 U.S.C. 15942) is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 390. NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT RE2 VIEW. 

3 ‘‘(a) NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT RE4 VIEW.—Action by the Secretary of the Interior, in man5 aging the public lands, or the Secretary of Agriculture, 

6 in managing National Forest System lands, with respect 

7 to any of the activities described in subsection (c), shall 

8 not be considered a major Federal action for the purposes 

9 of section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy 

10 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)), if the activity is con11 ducted pursuant to the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

12 181 et seq.) for the purpose of exploration or development 

13 of oil or gas. 

14 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—This section shall not apply to 

15 an action of the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary 

16 of Agriculture on Indian lands or resources managed in 

17 trust for the benefit of Indian Tribes. 

18 ‘‘(c) ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED.—The activities re19 ferred to in subsection (a) are as follows: 

20 ‘‘(1) Reinstating a lease pursuant to section 31 

21 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 188). 

22 ‘‘(2) The following activities, provided that any 

23 new surface disturbance is contiguous with the foot24 print of the original authorization and does not ex25 ceed 20 acres or the acreage has previously been 

26 evaluated in a document previously prepared under 


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

2 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)) with re3 spect to such activity: 

4 ‘‘(A) Drilling an oil or gas well at a well 

5 pad site at which drilling has occurred pre6 viously. 

7 ‘‘(B) Expansion of an existing oil or gas 

8 well pad site to accommodate an additional well. 

9 ‘‘(C) Expansion or modification of an ex10 isting oil or gas well pad site, road, pipeline, fa11 cility, or utility submitted in a sundry notice. 

12 ‘‘(3) Drilling of an oil or gas well at a new well 

13 pad site, provided that the new surface disturbance 

14 does not exceed 20 acres and the acreage evaluated 

15 in a document previously prepared under section 

16 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act 

17 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)) with respect to such 

18 activity, whichever is greater. 

19 ‘‘(4) Construction or realignment of a road, 

20 pipeline, or utility within an existing right-of-way or 

21 within a right-of-way corridor established in a land 

22 use plan. 

23 ‘‘(5) The following activities when conducted 

24 from non-Federal surface into federally owned min25 erals, provided that the operator submits to the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:53 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00113 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S947.IS S947

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1 retary concerned certification of a surface use agree2 ment with the non-Federal landowner: 

3 ‘‘(A) Drilling an oil or gas well at a well 

4 pad site at which drilling has occurred pre5 viously. 

6 ‘‘(B) Expansion of an existing oil or gas 

7 well pad site to accommodate an additional well. 

8 ‘‘(C) Expansion or modification of an ex9 isting oil or gas well pad site, road, pipeline, fa10 cility, or utility submitted in a sundry notice. 

11 ‘‘(6) Drilling of an oil or gas well from non12 Federal surface and non-Federal subsurface into 

13 Federal mineral estate. 

14 ‘‘(7) Construction of up to 1 mile of new road 

15 on Federal or non-Federal surface, not to exceed 2 

16 miles in total. 

17 ‘‘(8) Construction of up to 3 miles of individual 

18 pipelines or utilities, regardless of surface owner19 ship.’’. 

20 SEC. 20214. ACCESS TO FEDERAL ENERGY RESOURCES 

21 FROM NON-FEDERAL SURFACE ESTATE. 

22 (a) OIL AND GAS PERMITS.—Section 17 of the Min23 eral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) (as amended by section 

24 20212(b)) is further amended by adding at the end the 

25 following: 


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1 ‘‘(v) NO FEDERAL PERMIT REQUIRED FOR OIL AND

2 GAS ACTIVITIES ON CERTAIN LAND.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall not re4 quire an operator to obtain a Federal drilling permit 

5 for oil and gas exploration and production activities 

6 conducted on non-Federal surface estate, provided 

7 that— 

8 ‘‘(A) the United States holds an ownership 

9 interest of less than 50 percent of the sub10 surface mineral estate to be accessed by the 

11 proposed action; and 

12 ‘‘(B) the operator submits to the Secretary 

13 a State permit to conduct oil and gas explo14 ration and production activities on the non-Fed15 eral surface estate. 

16 ‘‘(2) NO FEDERAL ACTION.—An oil and gas ex17 ploration and production activity carried out under 

18 paragraph (1)— 

19 ‘‘(A) shall not be considered a major Fed20 eral action for the purposes of section 

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

22 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)); 

23 ‘‘(B) shall require no additional Federal 

24 action; 


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1 ‘‘(C) may commence 30 days after submis2 sion of the State permit to the Secretary; and 

3 ‘‘(D) shall not be subject to— 

4 ‘‘(i) section 306108 of title 54, United 

5 States Code (commonly known as the ‘Na6 tional Historic Preservation Act of 1966’); 

7 or 

8 ‘‘(ii) section 7 of the Endangered Spe9 cies Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536). 

10 ‘‘(3) ROYALTIES AND PRODUCTION ACCOUNT11 ABILITY.—(A) Nothing in this subsection shall affect 

12 the amount of royalties due to the United States 

13 under this Act from the production of oil and gas, 

14 or alter the Secretary’s authority to conduct audits 

15 and collect civil penalties pursuant to the Federal 

16 Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982 (30 

17 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.). 

18 ‘‘(B) The Secretary may conduct onsite reviews 

19 and inspections to ensure proper accountability, 

20 measurement, and reporting of production of Fed21 eral oil and gas, and payment of royalties. 

22 ‘‘(4) EXCEPTIONS.—This subsection shall not 

23 apply to actions on Indian lands or resources man24 aged in trust for the benefit of Indian tribes. 


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1 ‘‘(5) INDIAN LAND.—In this subsection, the 

2 term ‘Indian land’ means— 

3 ‘‘(A) any land located within the bound4 aries of an Indian reservation, pueblo, or 

5 rancheria; and 

6 ‘‘(B) any land not located within the 

7 boundaries of an Indian reservation, pueblo, or 

8 rancheria, the title to which is held— 

9 ‘‘(i) in trust by the United States for 

10 the benefit of an Indian tribe or an indi11 vidual Indian; 

12 ‘‘(ii) by an Indian tribe or an indi13 vidual Indian, subject to restriction against 

14 alienation under laws of the United States; 

15 or 

16 ‘‘(iii) by a dependent Indian commu17 nity.’’. 

18 (b) GEOTHERMAL PERMITS.—The Geothermal 

19 Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) is amended 

20 by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 30. NO FEDERAL PERMIT REQUIRED FOR GEO22 THERMAL ACTIVITIES ON CERTAIN LAND. 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall not require 

24 an operator to obtain a Federal drilling permit for geoVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:53 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00117 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S947.IS S947

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1 thermal exploration and production activities conducted on 

2 a non-Federal surface estate, provided that— 

3 ‘‘(1) the United States holds an ownership in4 terest of less than 50 percent of the subsurface geo5 thermal estate to be accessed by the proposed action; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(2) the operator submits to the Secretary a 

8 State permit to conduct geothermal exploration and 

9 production activities on the non-Federal surface es10 tate. 

11 ‘‘(b) NO FEDERAL ACTION.—A geothermal explo12 ration and production activity carried out under sub13 section (a)— 

14 ‘‘(1) shall not be considered a major Federal 

15 action for the purposes of section 102(2)(C) of the 

16 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

17 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)); 

18 ‘‘(2) shall require no additional Federal action; 

19 ‘‘(3) may commence 30 days after submission 

20 of the State permit to the Secretary; and 

21 ‘‘(4) shall not be subject to— 

22 ‘‘(A) section 306108 of title 54, United 

23 States Code (commonly known as the ‘National 

24 Historic Preservation Act of 1966’); or 


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1 ‘‘(B) section 7 of the Endangered Species 

2 Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536). 

3 ‘‘(c) ROYALTIES AND PRODUCTION ACCOUNT4 ABILITY.—(1) Nothing in this section shall affect the 

5 amount of royalties due to the United States under this 

6 Act from the production of electricity using geothermal re7 sources (other than direct use of geothermal resources) or 

8 the production of any byproducts. 

9 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may conduct onsite reviews and 

10 inspections to ensure proper accountability, measurement, 

11 and reporting of the production described in paragraph 

12 (1), and payment of royalties. 

13 ‘‘(d) EXCEPTIONS.—This section shall not apply to 

14 actions on Indian lands or resources managed in trust for 

15 the benefit of Indian tribes. 

16 ‘‘(e) INDIAN LAND.—In this section, the term ‘Indian 

17 land’ means— 

18 ‘‘(1) any land located within the boundaries of 

19 an Indian reservation, pueblo, or rancheria; and 

20 ‘‘(2) any land not located within the boundaries 

21 of an Indian reservation, pueblo, or rancheria, the 

22 title to which is held— 

23 ‘‘(A) in trust by the United States for the 

24 benefit of an Indian tribe or an individual In25 dian; 


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1 ‘‘(B) by an Indian tribe or an individual 

2 Indian, subject to restriction against alienation 

3 under laws of the United States; or 

4 ‘‘(C) by a dependent Indian community.’’. 

5 SEC. 20215. SCOPE OF ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS FOR OIL 

6 AND GAS LEASES. 

7 An environmental review for an oil and gas lease or 

8 permit prepared pursuant to the requirements of the Na9 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 

10 et seq.) and its implementing regulations— 

11 (1) shall apply only to areas that are within or 

12 immediately adjacent to the lease plot or plots and 

13 that are directly affected by the proposed action; 

14 and 

15 (2) shall not require consideration of down16 stream, indirect effects of oil and gas consumption. 

17 SEC. 20216. EXPEDITING APPROVAL OF GATHERING LINES. 

18 Section 11318(b)(1) of the Infrastructure Investment 

19 and Jobs Act (42 U.S.C. 15943(b)(1)) is amended by 

20 striking ‘‘to be an action that is categorically excluded (as 

21 defined in section 1508.1 of title 40, Code of Federal Reg22 ulations (as in effect on the date of enactment of this 

23 Act))’’ and inserting ‘‘to not be a major Federal action’’. 


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1 SEC. 20217. LEASE SALE LITIGATION. 

2 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any oil 

3 and gas lease sale held under section 17 of the Mineral 

4 Leasing Act (26 U.S.C. 226) or the Outer Continental 

5 Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) shall not be 

6 vacated and activities on leases awarded in the sale shall 

7 not be otherwise limited, delayed, or enjoined unless the 

8 court concludes allowing development of the challenged 

9 lease will pose a risk of an imminent and substantial envi10 ronmental harm and there is no other equitable remedy 

11 available as a matter of law. No court, in response to an 

12 action brought pursuant to the National Environmental 

13 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), may enjoin 

14 or issue any order preventing the award of leases to a bid15 der in a lease sale conducted pursuant to section 17 of 

16 the Mineral Leasing Act (26 U.S.C. 226) or the Outer 

17 Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) if 

18 the Department of the Interior has previously opened bids 

19 for such leases or disclosed the high bidder for any tract 

20 that was included in such lease sale. 

21 SEC. 20218. LIMITATION ON CLAIMS. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi23 sion of law, a claim arising under Federal law seeking ju24 dicial review of a permit, license, or approval issued by 

25 a Federal agency for a mineral project, energy facility, or 

26 energy storage device shall be barred unless— 


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1 (1) the claim is filed within 120 days after pub2 lication of a notice in the Federal Register announc3 ing that the permit, license, or approval is final pur4 suant to the law under which the agency action is 

5 taken, unless a shorter time is specified in the Fed6 eral law pursuant to which judicial review is allowed; 

7 and 

8 (2) the claim is filed by a party that submitted 

9 a comment during the public comment period for 

10 such permit, license, or approval and such comment 

11 was sufficiently detailed to put the agency on notice 

12 of the issue upon which the party seeks judicial re13 view. 

14 (b) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this section shall 

15 create a right to judicial review or place any limit on filing 

16 a claim that a person has violated the terms of a permit, 

17 license, or approval. 

18 (c) TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS.—Subsection (a) 

19 shall not apply to or supersede a claim subject to section 

20 139(l)(1) of title 23, United States Code. 

21 (d) MINERAL PROJECT.—In this section, the term 

22 ‘‘mineral project’’ means a project— 

23 (1) located on— 

24 (A) a mining claim, millsite claim, or tun25 nel site claim for any mineral; 


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1 (B) lands open to mineral entry; or 

2 (C) a Federal mineral lease; and 

3 (2) for the purposes of exploring for or pro4 ducing minerals. 

5 SEC. 20219. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE RE6 PORT ON PERMITS TO DRILL. 

7 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

8 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 

9 United States shall issue a report detailing— 

10 (1) the approval timelines for applications for 

11 permits to drill issued by the Bureau of Land Man12 agement from 2018 through 2022; 

13 (2) the number of applications for permits to 

14 drill that were not issued within 30 days of receipt 

15 of a completed application; and 

16 (3) the causes of delays resulting in applica17 tions for permits to drill pending beyond the 30-day 

18 deadline required under section 17(p)(2) of the Min19 eral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(p)(2)). 

20 (b) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The report issued under 

21 subsection (a) shall include recommendations with respect 

22 to— 

23 (1) actions the Bureau of Land Management 

24 can take to streamline the approval process for ap25 plications for permits to drill to approve applications 


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1 for permits to drill within 30 days of receipt of a 

2 completed application; 

3 (2) aspects of the Federal permitting process 

4 carried out by the Bureau of Land Management to 

5 issue applications for permits to drill that can be 

6 turned over to States to expedite approval of appli7 cations for permits to drill; and 

8 (3) legislative actions that Congress must take 

9 to allow States to administer certain aspects of the 

10 Federal permitting process described in paragraph 

11 (2). 

12 SEC. 20220. E–NEPA. 

13 (a) PERMITTING PORTAL STUDY.—The Council on 

14 Environmental Quality shall conduct a study and submit 

15 a report to Congress within 1 year of the date of enact16 ment of this Act on the potential to create an online per17 mitting portal for permits that require review under sec18 tion 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act 

19 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)) that would— 

20 (1) allow applicants to— 

21 (A) submit required documents or mate22 rials for their application in 1 unified portal; 

23 (B) upload additional documents as re24 quired by the applicable agency; and 


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1 (C) track the progress of individual appli2 cations; 

3 (2) enhance interagency coordination in con4 sultation by— 

5 (A) allowing for comments in 1 unified 

6 portal; 

7 (B) centralizing data necessary for reviews; 

8 and 

9 (C) streamlining communications between 

10 other agencies and the applicant; and 

11 (3) boost transparency in agency decision12 making. 

13 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

14 authorized to be appropriated $500,000 for the Council 

15 of Environmental Quality to carry out the study directed 

16 by this section. 

17 TITLE III—PERMITTING FOR 

18 MINING NEEDS 

19 SEC. 20301. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this title: 

21 (1) BYPRODUCT.—The term ‘‘byproduct’’ has 

22 the meaning given such term in section 7002(a) of 

23 the Energy Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(a)). 

24 (2) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

25 has the meaning given such term in section 4 of the 


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1 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

2 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

3 (3) MINERAL.—The term ‘‘mineral’’ means any 

4 mineral subject to sections 2319 through 2344 of 

5 the Revised Statutes (commonly known as the ‘‘Min6 ing Law of 1872’’) (30 U.S.C. 22 et seq.) and any 

7 mineral located on lands acquired by the United 

8 States (as defined in section 2 of the Mineral Leas9 ing Act for Acquired Lands (30 U.S.C. 351)). 

10 (4) SECRETARY.—Except as otherwise provided, 

11 the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of the In12 terior. 

13 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 

14 (A) a State; 

15 (B) the District of Columbia; 

16 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 

17 (D) Guam; 

18 (E) American Samoa; 

19 (F) the Commonwealth of the Northern 

20 Mariana Islands; and 

21 (G) the United States Virgin Islands. 

22 SEC. 20302. MINERALS SUPPLY CHAIN AND RELIABILITY. 

23 Section 40206 of the Infrastructure Investment and 

24 Jobs Act (30 U.S.C. 1607) is amended— 


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1 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘CRIT2 ICAL MINERALS’’ and inserting ‘‘MINERALS’’; 

3 (2) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol4 lows: 

5 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 ‘‘(1) LEAD AGENCY.—The term ‘lead agency’ 

7 means the Federal agency with primary responsi8 bility for issuing a mineral exploration or mine per9 mit or lease for a mineral project. 

10 ‘‘(2) MINERAL.—The term ‘mineral’ has the 

11 meaning given such term in section 20301 of the 

12 TAPP American Resources Act. 

13 ‘‘(3) MINERAL EXPLORATION OR MINE PER14 MIT.—The term ‘mineral exploration or mine permit’ 

15 means— 

16 ‘‘(A) an authorization of the Bureau of 

17 Land Management or the Forest Service, as ap18 plicable, for exploration for minerals that re19 quires analysis under the National Environ20 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 

21 seq.); 

22 ‘‘(B) a plan of operations for a mineral 

23 project approved by the Bureau of Land Man24 agement or the Forest Service; or 


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1 ‘‘(C) any other Federal permit or author2 ization for a mineral project. 

3 ‘‘(4) MINERAL PROJECT.—The term ‘mineral 

4 project’ means a project— 

5 ‘‘(A) located on— 

6 ‘‘(i) a mining claim, millsite claim, or 

7 tunnel site claim for any mineral; 

8 ‘‘(ii) lands open to mineral entry; or 

9 ‘‘(iii) a Federal mineral lease; and 

10 ‘‘(B) for the purposes of exploring for or 

11 producing minerals.’’; 

12 (3) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘critical’’ each 

13 place such term appears; 

14 (4) in subsection (c)— 

15 (A) by striking ‘‘critical mineral production 

16 on Federal land’’ and inserting ‘‘mineral 

17 projects’’; 

18 (B) by inserting ‘‘, and in accordance with 

19 subsection (h)’’ after ‘‘to the maximum extent 

20 practicable’’; 

21 (C) by striking ‘‘shall complete the’’ and 

22 inserting ‘‘shall complete such’’; 

23 (D) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘critical 

24 mineral-related activities on Federal land’’ and 

25 inserting ‘‘mineral projects’’; 


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1 (E) in paragraph (8), by striking the 

2 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

3 (F) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘proce4 dures.’’ and inserting ‘‘procedures; and’’; and 

5 (G) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(10) deferring to and relying on baseline data, 

7 analyses, and reviews performed by State agencies 

8 with jurisdiction over the environmental or reclama9 tion permits for the proposed mineral project.’’; 

10 (5) in subsection (d)— 

11 (A) by striking ‘‘critical’’ each place such 

12 term appears; and 

13 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘mineral14 related activities on Federal land’’ and inserting 

15 ‘‘mineral projects’’; 

16 (6) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘critical’’; 

17 (7) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘critical’’ each 

18 place such term appears; 

19 (8) in subsection (g), by striking ‘‘critical’’; and 

20 (9) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(h) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT.—For pur23 poses of maximizing efficiency and effectiveness of 

24 the Federal permitting and review processes de25 scribed under subsection (c), the lead agency in the 


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1 Federal permitting and review processes of a min2 eral project shall (in consultation with any other 

3 Federal agency involved in such Federal permitting 

4 and review processes, and upon request of the 

5 project applicant, an affected State government, 

6 local government, or an Indian Tribe, or other entity 

7 such lead agency determines appropriate) enter into 

8 a memorandum of agreement with a project appli9 cant where requested by the applicant to carry out 

10 the activities described in subsection (c). 

11 ‘‘(2) TIMELINES AND SCHEDULES FOR NEPA

12 REVIEWS.— 

13 ‘‘(A) EXTENSION.—A project applicant 

14 may enter into 1 or more agreements with a 

15 lead agency to extend the deadlines described in 

16 subparagraphs (A) and (B) of subsection (h)(1) 

17 of section 107 of title I of the National Envi18 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 by, with respect 

19 to each such agreement, not more than 6 

20 months. 

21 ‘‘(B) ADJUSTMENT OF TIMELINES.—At 

22 the request of a project applicant, the lead 

23 agency and any other entity which is a signa24 tory to a memorandum of agreement under 


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1 paragraph (1) may, by unanimous agreement, 

2 adjust— 

3 ‘‘(i) any deadlines described in sub4 paragraph (A); and 

5 ‘‘(ii) any deadlines extended under 

6 subparagraph (B). 

7 ‘‘(3) EFFECT ON PENDING APPLICATIONS.— 

8 Upon a written request by a project applicant, the 

9 requirements of this subsection shall apply to any 

10 application for a mineral exploration or mine permit 

11 or mineral lease that was submitted before the date 

12 of enactment of the TAPP American Resources 

13 Act.’’. 

14 SEC. 20303. FEDERAL REGISTER PROCESS IMPROVEMENT. 

15 Section 7002(f) of the Energy Act of 2020 (30 

16 U.S.C. 1606(f)) is amended— 

17 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘critical’’ both 

18 places such term appears; and 

19 (2) by striking paragraph (4). 

20 SEC. 20304. DESIGNATION OF MINING AS A COVERED SEC21 TOR FOR FEDERAL PERMITTING IMPROVE22 MENT PURPOSES. 

23 Section 41001(6)(A) of the FAST Act (42 U.S.C. 

24 4370m(6)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘mineral produc25 tion,’’ before ‘‘or any other sector’’. 


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1 SEC. 20305. TREATMENT OF ACTIONS UNDER PRESI2 DENTIAL DETERMINATION 2022–11 FOR FED3 ERAL PERMITTING IMPROVEMENT PUR4 POSES. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided by subsection 

6 (c), an action described in subsection (b) shall be— 

7 (1) treated as a covered project, as defined in 

8 section 41001(6) of the FAST Act (42 U.S.C. 

9 4370m(6)), without regard to the requirements of 

10 that section; and 

11 (2) included in the Permitting Dashboard main12 tained pursuant to section 41003(b) of that Act (42 

13 U.S.C. 4370m–2(b)). 

14 (b) ACTIONS DESCRIBED.—An action described in 

15 this subsection is an action taken by the Secretary of De16 fense pursuant to Presidential Determination 2022–11 

17 (87 Fed. Reg. 19775; relating to certain actions under 

18 section 303 of the Defense Production Act of 1950) or 

19 the Presidential Memorandum of February 27, 2023, enti20 tled ‘‘Presidential Waiver of Statutory Requirements Pur21 suant to Section 303 of the Defense Production Act of 

22 1950, as amended, on Department of Defense Supply 

23 Chains Resilience’’ (88 Fed. Reg. 13015) to create, main24 tain, protect, expand, or restore sustainable and respon25 sible domestic production capabilities through— 


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1 (1) supporting feasibility studies for mature 

2 mining, beneficiation, and value-added processing 

3 projects; 

4 (2) byproduct and co-product production at ex5 isting mining, mine waste reclamation, and other in6 dustrial facilities; 

7 (3) modernization of mining, beneficiation, and 

8 value-added processing to increase productivity, envi9 ronmental sustainability, and workforce safety; or 

10 (4) any other activity authorized under section 

11 303(a)(1) of the Defense Production Act of 1950 15 

12 (50 U.S.C. 4533(a)(1)). 

13 (c) EXCEPTION.—An action described in subsection 

14 (b) may not be treated as a covered project or be included 

15 in the Permitting Dashboard under subsection (a) if the 

16 project sponsor (as defined in section 41001(18) of the 

17 FAST Act (42 U.S.C. 4370m(18))) requests that the ac18 tion not be treated as a covered project. 

19 SEC. 20306. NOTICE FOR MINERAL EXPLORATION ACTIVI20 TIES WITH LIMITED SURFACE DISTURBANCE. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 15 days before 

22 commencing an exploration activity with a surface disturb23 ance of not more than 5 acres of public lands, the operator 

24 of such exploration activity shall submit to the Secretary 

25 concerned a complete notice of such exploration activity. 


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1 (b) INCLUSIONS.—Notice submitted under subsection 

2 (a) shall include such information the Secretary concerned 

3 may require, including the information described in sec4 tion 3809.301 of title 43, Code of Federal Regulations (or 

5 any successor regulation). 

6 (c) REVIEW.—Not later than 15 days after the Sec7 retary concerned receives notice submitted under sub8 section (a), the Secretary concerned shall— 

9 (1) review and determine completeness of the 

10 notice; and 

11 (2) allow exploration activities to proceed if— 

12 (A) the surface disturbance of such explo13 ration activities on such public lands will not 

14 exceed 5 acres; 

15 (B) the Secretary concerned determines 

16 that the notice is complete; and 

17 (C) the operator provides financial assur18 ance that the Secretary concerned determines is 

19 adequate. 

20 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 (1) EXPLORATION ACTIVITY.—The term ‘‘explo22 ration activity’’— 

23 (A) means creating surface disturbance 

24 greater than casual use that includes sampling, 

25 drilling, or developing surface or underground 


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1 workings to evaluate the type, extent, quantity, 

2 or quality of mineral values present; 

3 (B) includes constructing drill roads and 

4 drill pads, drilling, trenching, excavating test 

5 pits, and conducting geotechnical tests and geo6 physical surveys; and 

7 (C) does not include activities where mate8 rial is extracted for commercial use or sale. 

9 (2) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec10 retary concerned’’ means— 

11 (A) with respect to lands administered by 

12 the Secretary, the Secretary; and 

13 (B) with respect to National Forest Sys14 tem lands, the Secretary of Agriculture. 

15 SEC. 20307. USE OF MINING CLAIMS FOR ANCILLARY AC16 TIVITIES. 

17 Section 10101 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation 

18 Act of 1993 (30 U.S.C. 28f) is amended by adding at the 

19 end the following: 

20 ‘‘(e) SECURITY OF TENURE.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A claimant shall have 

23 the right to use, occupy, and conduct operations 

24 on public land, with or without the discovery of 

25 a valuable mineral deposit, if— 


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1 ‘‘(i) such claimant makes a timely 

2 payment of the location fee required by 

3 section 10102 and the claim maintenance 

4 fee required by subsection (a); or 

5 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a claimant who 

6 qualifies for a waiver under subsection (d), 

7 such claimant makes a timely payment of 

8 the location fee and complies with the re9 quired assessment work under the general 

10 mining laws. 

11 ‘‘(B) OPERATIONS DEFINED.—For the 

12 purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘oper13 ations’ means— 

14 ‘‘(i) any activity or work carried out 

15 in connection with prospecting, exploration, 

16 processing, discovery and assessment, de17 velopment, or extraction with respect to a 

18 locatable mineral; 

19 ‘‘(ii) the reclamation of any disturbed 

20 areas; and 

21 ‘‘(iii) any other reasonably incident 

22 uses, whether on a mining claim or not, in23 cluding the construction and maintenance 

24 of facilities, roads, transmission lines, pipe25 lines, and any other necessary infrastrucVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:53 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00136 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S947.IS S947

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1 ture or means of access on public land for 

2 support facilities. 

3 ‘‘(2) FULFILLMENT OF FEDERAL LAND POLICY

4 AND MANAGEMENT ACT.—A claimant that fulfills 

5 the requirements of this section and section 10102 

6 shall be deemed to satisfy the requirements of any 

7 provision of the Federal Land Policy and Manage8 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) that re9 quires the payment of fair market value to the 

10 United States for use of public lands and resources 

11 relating to use of such lands and resources author12 ized by the general mining laws. 

13 ‘‘(3) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this sub14 section may be construed to diminish the rights of 

15 entry, use, and occupancy, or any other right, of a 

16 claimant under the general mining laws.’’. 

17 SEC. 20308. ENSURING CONSIDERATION OF URANIUM AS A 

18 CRITICAL MINERAL. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7002(a)(3)(B)(i) of the 

20 Energy Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(a)(3)(B)(i)) is 

21 amended to read as follows: 

22 ‘‘(i) oil, oil shale, coal, or natural 

23 gas;’’. 

24 (b) UPDATE.—Not later than 60 days after the date 

25 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, acting through 


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1 the Director of the United States Geological Survey, shall 

2 publish in the Federal Register an update to the final list 

3 established in section 7002(c)(3) of the Energy Act of 

4 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(c)(3)) in accordance with the 

5 amendment made by subsection (a) of this section. 

6 SEC. 20309. BARRING FOREIGN BAD ACTORS FROM OPER7 ATING ON FEDERAL LANDS. 

8 A mining claimant shall be barred from the right to 

9 use, occupy, and conduct operations on Federal land if the 

10 Secretary finds the claimant has a foreign parent company 

11 that has (including through a subsidiary)— 

12 (1) a known record of human rights violations; 

13 or 

14 (2) knowingly operated an illegal mine in an15 other country. 

16 TITLE IV—FEDERAL LAND USE 

17 PLANNING 

18 SEC. 20401. FEDERAL LAND USE PLANNING AND WITH19 DRAWALS. 

20 (a) RESOURCE ASSESSMENTS REQUIRED.—Federal 

21 lands and waters may not be withdrawn from entry under 

22 the mining laws or operation of the mineral leasing and 

23 mineral materials laws unless— 

24 (1) a quantitative and qualitative geophysical 

25 and geological mineral resource assessment of the 


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1 impacted area has been completed during the 10- 

2 year period ending on the date of such withdrawal; 

3 (2) the Secretary, in consultation with the Sec4 retary of Commerce, the Secretary of Energy, and 

5 the Secretary of Defense, conducts an assessment of 

6 the economic, energy, strategic, and national secu7 rity value of mineral deposits identified in such min8 eral resource assessment; 

9 (3) the Secretary conducts an assessment of the 

10 reduction in future Federal revenues to the Treas11 ury, States, the Land and Water Conservation 

12 Fund, the Historic Preservation Fund, and the Na13 tional Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration 

14 Fund resulting from the proposed mineral with15 drawal; 

16 (4) the Secretary, in consultation with the Sec17 retary of Defense, conducts an assessment of mili18 tary readiness and training activities in the proposed 

19 withdrawal area; and 

20 (5) the Secretary submits a report to the Com21 mittees on Natural Resources, Agriculture, Energy 

22 and Commerce, and Foreign Affairs of the House of 

23 Representatives and the Committees on Energy and 

24 Natural Resources, Agriculture, Nutrition, and for25 estry, and Foreign Affairs of the Senate, that inVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:53 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00139 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S947.IS S947

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1 cludes the results of the assessments completed pur2 suant to this subsection. 

3 (b) LAND USE PLANS.—Before a resource manage4 ment plan under the Federal Land Policy and Manage5 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) or a forest 

6 management plan under the Forest and Rangeland Re7 newable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1600 

8 et seq.) is updated or completed, the Secretary or Sec9 retary of Agriculture, as applicable, in consultation with 

10 the Director of the United States Geological Survey, 

11 shall— 

12 (1) review any quantitative and qualitative min13 eral resource assessment that was completed or up14 dated during the 10-year period ending on the date 

15 that the applicable land management agency pub16 lishes a notice to prepare, revise, or amend a land 

17 use plan by the Director of the United States Geo18 logical Survey for the geographic area affected by 

19 the applicable management plan; 

20 (2) in consultation with the Secretary of Com21 merce, the Secretary of Energy, and the Secretary 

22 of Defense, conducts an assessment of the economic, 

23 energy, strategic, and national security value of min24 eral deposits identified in such mineral resource as25 sessment; and 


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1 (3) submit a report to the Committees on Nat2 ural Resources, Agriculture, Energy and Commerce, 

3 and Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 

4 and the Committees on Energy and Natural Re5 sources, Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, and 

6 Foreign Affairs of the Senate, that includes the re7 sults of the assessment completed pursuant to this 

8 subsection. 

9 (c) NEW INFORMATION.—The Secretary shall provide 

10 recommendations to the President on appropriate meas11 ures to reduce unnecessary impacts that a withdrawal of 

12 Federal lands or waters from entry under the mining laws 

13 or operation of the mineral leasing and mineral materials 

14 laws may have on mineral exploration, development, and 

15 other mineral activities (including authorizing exploration 

16 and development of such mineral deposits) not later than 

17 180 days after the Secretary has notice that a resource 

18 assessment completed by the Director of the United States 

19 Geological Survey, in coordination with the State geologi20 cal surveys, determines that a previously undiscovered 

21 mineral deposit may be present in an area that has been 

22 withdrawn from entry under the mining laws or operation 

23 of the mineral leasing and mineral materials laws pursu24 ant to— 


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1 (1) section 204 of the Federal Land Policy and 

2 Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1714); or 

3 (2) chapter 3203 of title 54, United States 

4 Code. 

5 SEC. 20402. PROHIBITIONS ON DELAY OF MINERAL DEVEL6 OPMENT OF CERTAIN FEDERAL LAND. 

7 (a) PROHIBITIONS.—Notwithstanding any other pro8 vision of law, the President shall not carry out any action 

9 that would pause, restrict, or delay the process for or 

10 issuance of any of the following on Federal land, unless 

11 such lands are withdrawn from disposition under the min12 eral leasing laws, including by administrative withdrawal: 

13 (1) New oil and gas lease sales, oil and gas 

14 leases, drill permits, or associated approvals or au15 thorizations of any kind associated with oil and gas 

16 leases. 

17 (2) New coal leases (including leases by applica18 tion in process, renewals, modifications, or expan19 sions of existing leases), permits, approvals, or au20 thorizations. 

21 (3) New leases, claims, permits, approvals, or 

22 authorizations for development or exploration of 

23 minerals. 

24 (b) PROHIBITION ON RESCISSION OF LEASES, PER25 MITS, OR CLAIMS.—The President, the Secretary, or SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:53 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00142 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S947.IS S947

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1 retary of Agriculture as applicable, may not rescind any 

2 existing lease, permit, or claim for the extraction and pro3 duction of any mineral under the mining laws or mineral 

4 leasing and mineral materials laws on National Forest 

5 System land or land under the jurisdiction of the Bureau 

6 of Land Management, unless specifically authorized by 

7 Federal statute, or upon the lessee’s, permittee’s, or claim8 ant’s failure to comply with any of the provisions of the 

9 applicable lease, permit, or claim. 

10 (c) MINERAL DEFINED.—In subsection (a)(3), the 

11 term ‘‘mineral’’ means any mineral subject to sections 

12 2319 through 2344 of the Revised Statutes (commonly 

13 known as the ‘‘Mining Law of 1872’’) (30 U.S.C. 22 et 

14 seq.) and any mineral located on lands acquired by the 

15 United States (as defined in section 2 of the Mineral Leas16 ing Act for Acquired Lands (30 U.S.C. 351)). 

17 SEC. 20403. DEFINITIONS. 

18 In this title: 

19 (1) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 

20 means— 

21 (A) National Forest System land; 

22 (B) public lands (as defined in section 103 

23 of the Federal Land Policy and Management 

24 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702)); 


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1 (C) the outer Continental Shelf (as defined 

2 in section 2 of the Outer Continental Shelf 

3 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331)); and 

4 (D) land managed by the Secretary of En5 ergy. 

6 (2) PRESIDENT.—The term ‘‘President’’ 

7 means— 

8 (A) the President; and 

9 (B) any designee of the President, includ10 ing— 

11 (i) the Secretary of Agriculture; 

12 (ii) the Secretary of Commerce; 

13 (iii) the Secretary of Energy; and 

14 (iv) the Secretary. 

15 (3) PREVIOUSLY UNDISCOVERED DEPOSIT.— 

16 The term ‘‘previously undiscovered mineral deposit’’ 

17 means— 

18 (A) a mineral deposit that has been pre19 viously evaluated by the United States Geologi20 cal Survey and found to be of low mineral po21 tential, but upon subsequent evaluation is de22 termined by the United States Geological Sur23 vey to have significant mineral potential; or 


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1 (B) a mineral deposit that has not pre2 viously been evaluated by the United States Ge3 ological Survey. 

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

5 the Secretary of the Interior. 

6 TITLE V—ENSURING COMPETI7 TIVENESS ON FEDERAL 

8 LANDS 

9 SEC. 20501. INCENTIVIZING DOMESTIC PRODUCTION. 

10 (a) OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS ROYALTY RATE.—Sec11 tion 8(a)(1) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 

12 U.S.C. 1337(a)(1)) is amended— 

13 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘not less 

than 162⁄3 percent, but not more than 183 14 ⁄4 percent, 

15 during the 10-year period beginning on the date of 

16 enactment of the Act titled ‘An Act to provide for 

17 reconciliation pursuant to title II of S. Con. Res. 

14’, and not less than 162 18 ⁄3 percent thereafter,’’ and 

19 inserting ‘‘not less than 12.5 percent’’; 

20 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘not less 

than 162⁄3 percent, but not more than 183 21 ⁄4 percent, 

22 during the 10-year period beginning on the date of 

23 enactment of the Act titled ‘An Act to provide for 

24 reconciliation pursuant to title II of S. Con. Res. 


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14’, and not less than 162 1 ⁄3 percent thereafter,’’ and 

2 inserting ‘‘not less than 12.5 percent’’; 

3 (3) in subparagraph (F), by striking ‘‘not less 

than 162⁄3 percent, but not more than 183 4 ⁄4 percent, 

5 during the 10-year period beginning on the date of 

6 enactment of the Act titled ‘An Act to provide for 

7 reconciliation pursuant to title II of S. Con. Res. 

14’, and not less than 162 8 ⁄3 percent thereafter,’’ and 

9 inserting ‘‘not less than 12.5 percent’’; and 

10 (4) in subparagraph (H), by striking ‘‘not less 

than 162⁄3 percent, but not more than 183 11 ⁄4 percent, 

12 during the 10-year period beginning on the date of 

13 enactment of the Act titled ‘An Act to provide for 

14 reconciliation pursuant to title II of S. Con. Res. 

14’, and not less than 162 15 ⁄3 percent thereafter,’’ and 

16 inserting ‘‘not less than 12.5 percent’’. 

17 (b) MINERAL LEASING ACT.— 

18 (1) ONSHORE OIL AND GAS ROYALTY RATES.— 

19 Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

20 226) is amended— 

21 (A) in subsection (b)(1)(A)— 

(i) by striking ‘‘not less than 162 22 ⁄3’’ 

23 and inserting ‘‘not less than 12.5’’; and 

24 (ii) by striking ‘‘or, in the case of a 

25 lease issued during the 10-year period beVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:53 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00146 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S947.IS S947

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1 ginning on the date of enactment of the 

2 Act titled ‘An Act to provide for reconcili3 ation pursuant to title II of S. Con. Res. 

14’, 162 4 ⁄3 percent in amount or value of 

5 the production removed or sold from the 

6 lease’’; and 

(B) by striking ‘‘162 7 ⁄3 percent’’ each place 

8 it appears and inserting ‘‘12.5 percent’’. 

9 (2) OIL AND GAS MINIMUM BID.—Section 17(b) 

10 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(b)) is 

11 amended— 

12 (A) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ‘‘$10 

13 per acre during the 10-year period beginning on 

14 the date of enactment of the Act titled ‘An Act 

15 to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II 

16 of S. Con. Res. 14’.’’ and inserting ‘‘$2 per 

17 acre for a period of 2 years from the date of 

18 enactment of the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas 

19 Leasing Reform Act of 1987.’’; and 

20 (B) in paragraph (2)(C), by striking ‘‘$10 

21 per acre’’ and inserting ‘‘$2 per acre’’. 

22 (3) FOSSIL FUEL RENTAL RATES.—Section 

23 17(d) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

24 226(d)) is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(d) All leases issued under this section, as amended 

2 by the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Reform Act 

3 of 1987, shall be conditioned upon payment by the lessee 

4 of a rental of not less than $1.50 per acre per year for 

5 the first through fifth years of the lease and not less than 

6 $2 per acre per year for each year thereafter. A minimum 

7 royalty in lieu of rental of not less than the rental which 

8 otherwise would be required for that lease year shall be 

9 payable at the expiration of each lease year beginning on 

10 or after a discovery of oil or gas in paying quantities on 

11 the lands leased.’’. 

12 (4) EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FEE.—Section 

13 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) is 

14 further amended by repealing subsection (q). 

15 (5) ELIMINATION OF NONCOMPETITIVE LEAS16 ING.—Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 

17 U.S.C. 226) is further amended— 

18 (A) in subsection (b)— 

19 (i) in paragraph (1)(A)— 

20 (I) in the first sentence, by strik21 ing ‘‘paragraph (2)’’ and inserting 

22 ‘‘paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; and 

23 (II) by adding at the end ‘‘Lands 

24 for which no bids are received or for 

25 which the highest bid is less than the 


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1 national minimum acceptable bid shall 

2 be offered promptly within 30 days 

3 for leasing under subsection (c) of this 

4 section and shall remain available for 

5 leasing for a period of 2 years after 

6 the competitive lease sale.’’; and 

7 (ii) by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(3)(A) If the United States held a vested fu10 ture interest in a mineral estate that, immediately 

11 prior to becoming a vested present interest, was sub12 ject to a lease under which oil or gas was being pro13 duced, or had a well capable of producing, in paying 

14 quantities at an annual average production volume 

15 per well per day of either not more than 15 barrels 

16 per day of oil or condensate, or not more than 

17 60,000 cubic feet of gas, the holder of the lease may 

18 elect to continue the lease as a noncompetitive lease 

19 under subsection (c)(1). 

20 ‘‘(B) An election under this paragraph is effec21 tive— 

22 ‘‘(i) in the case of an interest which vested 

23 after January 1, 1990, and on or before Octo24 ber 24, 1992, if the election is made before the 

25 date that is 1 year after October 24, 1992; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) in the case of an interest which vests 

2 within 1 year after October 24, 1992, if the 

3 election is made before the date that is 2 years 

4 after October 24, 1992; and 

5 ‘‘(iii) in any case other than those de6 scribed in clause (i) or (ii), if the election is 

7 made prior to the interest becoming a vested 

8 present interest.’’; 

9 (B) by striking subsection (c) and insert10 ing the following: 

11 ‘‘(c) LANDS SUBJECT TO LEASING UNDER SUB12 SECTION (B); FIRST QUALIFIED APPLICANT.— 

13 ‘‘(1) If the lands to be leased are not leased 

14 under subsection (b)(1) of this section or are not 

15 subject to competitive leasing under subsection 

16 (b)(2) of this section, the person first making appli17 cation for the lease who is qualified to hold a lease 

18 under this chapter shall be entitled to a lease of 

19 such lands without competitive bidding, upon pay20 ment of a non-refundable application fee of at least 

21 $75. A lease under this subsection shall be condi22 tioned upon the payment of a royalty at a rate of 

23 12.5 percent in amount or value of the production 

24 removed or sold from the lease. Leases shall be 

25 issued within 60 days of the date on which the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:53 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00150 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S947.IS S947

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1 retary identifies the first responsible qualified appli2 cant. 

3 ‘‘(2)(A) Lands (i) which were posted for sale 

4 under subsection (b)(1) of this section but for which 

5 no bids were received or for which the highest bid 

6 was less than the national minimum acceptable bid 

7 and (ii) for which, at the end of the period referred 

8 to in subsection (b)(1) of this section no lease has 

9 been issued and no lease application is pending 

10 under paragraph (1) of this subsection, shall again 

11 be available for leasing only in accordance with sub12 section (b)(1) of this section. 

13 ‘‘(B) The land in any lease which is issued 

14 under paragraph (1) of this subsection or under sub15 section (b)(1) of this section which lease terminates, 

16 expires, is cancelled or is relinquished shall again be 

17 available for leasing only in accordance with sub18 section (b)(1) of this section.’’; and 

19 (C) by striking subsection (e) and inserting 

20 the following: 

21 ‘‘(e) PRIMARY TERM.—Competitive and noncompeti22 tive leases issued under this section shall be for a primary 

23 term of 10 years: Provided, however, That competitive 

24 leases issued in special tar sand areas shall also be for 

25 a primary term of 10 years. Each such lease shall continue 


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1 so long after its primary term as oil or gas is produced 

2 in paying quantities. Any lease issued under this section 

3 for land on which, or for which under an approved cooper4 ative or unit plan of development or operation, actual drill5 ing operations were commenced prior to the end of its pri6 mary term and are being diligently prosecuted at that time 

7 shall be extended for 2 years and so long thereafter as 

8 oil or gas is produced in paying quantities.’’. 

9 (6) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 31 of 

10 the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 188) is amend11 ed— 

12 (A) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘sec13 tion 17(b)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (b) or (c) 

14 of section 17 of this Act’’; 

15 (B) in subsection (e)— 

16 (i) in paragraph (2)— 

17 (I) by inserting ‘‘either’’ after 

18 ‘‘rentals and’’; and 

19 (II) by inserting ‘‘or the inclusion 

20 in a reinstated lease issued pursuant 

21 to the provisions of section 17(c) of 

22 this Act of a requirement that future 

23 rentals shall be at a rate not less than 

24 $5 per acre per year, all’’ before ‘‘as 

25 determined by the Secretary’’; and 


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1 (ii) by amending paragraph (3) to 

2 read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(3)(A) payment of back royalties and the in4 clusion in a reinstated lease issued pursuant to the 

5 provisions of section 17(b) of this Act of a require6 ment for future royalties at a rate of not less than 

162 7 ⁄3 percent computed on a sliding scale based 

8 upon the average production per well per day, at a 

9 rate which shall be not less than 4 percentage points 

10 greater than the competitive royalty schedule then in 

11 force and used for royalty determination for com12 petitive leases issued pursuant to such section as de13 termined by the Secretary: Provided, That royalty on 

14 such reinstated lease shall be paid on all production 

15 removed or sold from such lease subsequent to the 

16 termination of the original lease; 

17 ‘‘(B) payment of back royalties and inclusion in 

18 a reinstated lease issued pursuant to the provisions 

19 of section 17(c) of this Act of a requirement for future royalties at a rate not less than 162 20 ⁄3 percent: 

21 Provided, That royalty on such reinstated lease shall 

22 be paid on all production removed or sold from such 

23 lease subsequent to the cancellation or termination 

24 of the original lease; and’’; 

25 (C) in subsection (f)— 


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1 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘in 

2 the same manner as the original lease 

3 issued pursuant to section 17’’ and insert4 ing ‘‘as a competitive or a noncompetitive 

5 oil and gas lease in the same manner as 

6 the original lease issued pursuant to sub7 section (b) or (c) of section 17 of this 

8 Act’’; 

9 (ii) by redesignating paragraphs (2) 

10 and (3) as paragraph (3) and (4), respec11 tively; and 

12 (iii) by inserting after paragraph (1) 

13 the following: 

14 ‘‘(2) Except as otherwise provided in this sec15 tion, the issuance of a lease in lieu of an abandoned 

16 patented oil placer mining claim shall be treated as 

17 a noncompetitive oil and gas lease issued pursuant 

18 to section 17(c) of this Act.’’; 

19 (D) in subsection (g), by striking ‘‘sub20 section (d)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (d) and 

21 (f)’’; 

22 (E) by amending subsection (h) to read as 

23 follows: 

24 ‘‘(h) ROYALTY REDUCTIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) In acting on a petition to issue a non2 competitive oil and gas lease, under subsection (f) of 

3 this section or in response to a request filed after 

4 issuance of such a lease, or both, the Secretary is 

5 authorized to reduce the royalty on such lease if in 

6 his judgment it is equitable to do so or the cir7 cumstances warrant such relief due to uneconomic 

8 or other circumstances which could cause undue 

9 hardship or premature termination of production. 

10 ‘‘(2) In acting on a petition for reinstatement 

11 pursuant to subsection (d) of this section or in re12 sponse to a request filed after reinstatement, or 

13 both, the Secretary is authorized to reduce the roy14 alty in that reinstated lease on the entire leasehold 

15 or any tract or portion thereof segregated for royalty 

16 purposes if, in his judgment, there are uneconomic 

17 or other circumstances which could cause undue 

18 hardship or premature termination of production; or 

19 because of any written action of the United States, 

20 its agents or employees, which preceded, and was a 

21 major consideration in, the lessee’s expenditure of 

22 funds to develop the property under the lease after 

23 the rent had become due and had not been paid; or 

24 if in the judgment of the Secretary it is equitable to 

25 do so for any reason.’’; 


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1 (F) by redesignating subsections (f) 

2 through (i) as subsections (g) through (j), re3 spectively; and 

4 (G) by inserting after subsection (e) the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(f) ISSUANCE OF NONCOMPETITIVE OIL AND GAS

7 LEASE; CONDITIONS.—Where an unpatented oil placer 

8 mining claim validly located prior to February 24, 1920, 

9 which has been or is currently producing or is capable of 

10 producing oil or gas, has been or is hereafter deemed con11 clusively abandoned for failure to file timely the required 

12 instruments or copies of instruments required by section 

13 314 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 

14 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1744), and it is shown to the satisfaction 

15 of the Secretary that such failure was inadvertent, justifi16 able, or not due to lack of reasonable diligence on the part 

17 of the owner, the Secretary may issue, for the lands cov18 ered by the abandoned unpatented oil placer mining claim, 

19 a noncompetitive oil and gas lease, consistent with the pro20 visions of section 17(e) of this Act, to be effective from 

21 the statutory date the claim was deemed conclusively 

22 abandoned. Issuance of such a lease shall be conditioned 

23 upon— 

24 ‘‘(1) a petition for issuance of a noncompetitive 

25 oil and gas lease, together with the required rental 


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1 and royalty, including back rental and royalty accru2 ing from the statutory date of abandonment of the 

3 oil placer mining claim, being filed with the Sec4 retary (A) with respect to any claim deemed conclu5 sively abandoned on or before January 12, 1983, on 

6 or before the 120th day after January 12, 1983, or 

7 (B) with respect to any claim deemed conclusively 

8 abandoned after January 12, 1983, on or before the 

9 120th day after final notification by the Secretary or 

10 a court of competent jurisdiction of the determina11 tion of the abandonment of the oil placer mining 

12 claim; 

13 ‘‘(2) a valid lease not having been issued affect14 ing any of the lands covered by the abandoned oil 

15 placer mining claim prior to the filing of such peti16 tion: Provided, however, That after the filing of a 

17 petition for issuance of a lease under this subsection, 

18 the Secretary shall not issue any new lease affecting 

19 any of the lands covered by such abandoned oil plac20 er mining claim for a reasonable period, as deter21 mined in accordance with regulations issued by him; 

22 ‘‘(3) a requirement in the lease for payment of 

23 rental, including back rentals accruing from the 

24 statutory date of abandonment of the oil placer min25 ing claim, of not less than $5 per acre per year; 


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1 ‘‘(4) a requirement in the lease for payment of 

2 royalty on production removed or sold from the oil 

3 placer mining claim, including all royalty on produc4 tion made subsequent to the statutory date the claim 

5 was deemed conclusively abandoned, of not less than 

121 6 ⁄2 percent; and 

7 ‘‘(5) compliance with the notice and reimburse8 ment of costs provisions of paragraph (4) of sub9 section (e) but addressed to the petition covering the 

10 conversion of an abandoned unpatented oil placer 

11 mining claim to a noncompetitive oil and gas lease.’’. 

12 TITLE VI—ENERGY REVENUE 

13 SHARING 

14 SEC. 20601. GULF OF MEXICO OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF 

15 REVENUE. 

16 (a) DISTRIBUTION OF OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF

17 REVENUE TO GULF PRODUCING STATES.—Section 105 of 

18 the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 (43 

19 U.S.C. 1331 note; Public Law 109–432) is amended— 

20 (1) in subsection (a)— 

21 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘50’’ and 

22 inserting ‘‘37.5’’; and 

23 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

24 (i) by striking ‘‘50’’ and inserting 

25 ‘‘62.5’’; 


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1 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

2 ‘‘75’’ and inserting ‘‘80’’; and 

3 (iii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

4 ‘‘25’’ and inserting ‘‘20’’; and 

5 (2) by striking subsection (f) and inserting the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(f) TREATMENT OF AMOUNTS.—Amounts disbursed 

8 to a Gulf producing State under this section shall be treat9 ed as revenue sharing and not as a Federal award or grant 

10 for the purposes of part 200 of title 2, Code of Federal 

11 Regulations.’’. 

12 (b) EXEMPTION OF CERTAIN PAYMENTS FROM SE13 QUESTRATION.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 255(g)(1)(A) of the 

15 Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control 

16 Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 905(g)(1)(A)) is amended by 

17 inserting after ‘‘Payments to Social Security Trust 

18 Funds (28–0404–0–1–651).’’ the following: 

19 ‘‘Payments to States pursuant to section 

20 105(a)(2)(A) of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security 

21 Act of 2006 (43 U.S.C. 1331 note; Public Law 109– 

22 432) (014–5535–0–2–302).’’. 

23 (2) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by 

24 this subsection shall apply to any sequestration 

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1 gency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900 et 

2 seq.) on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

3 SEC. 20602. PARITY IN OFFSHORE WIND REVENUE SHAR4 ING. 

5 (a) PAYMENTS AND REVENUES.—Section 8(p)(2) of 

6 the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 

7 1337(p)(2)) is amended— 

8 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘(A) The 

9 Secretary’’ and inserting the following: 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara11 graphs (B) and (C), the Secretary’’; 

12 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘(B) The 

13 Secretary’’ and inserting the following: 

14 ‘‘(B) DISPOSITION OF REVENUES FOR

15 PROJECTS LOCATED WITHIN 3 NAUTICAL MILES

16 SEAWARD OF STATE SUBMERGED LAND.—The 

17 Secretary’’; and 

18 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(C) DISPOSITION OF REVENUES FOR OFF20 SHORE WIND PROJECTS IN CERTAIN AREAS.— 

21 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this subpara22 graph: 

23 ‘‘(I) COVERED OFFSHORE WIND

24 PROJECT.—The term ‘covered off25 shore wind project’ means a wind 


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1 powered electric generation project in 

2 a wind energy area on the outer Con3 tinental Shelf that is not wholly or 

4 partially located within an area sub5 ject to subparagraph (B). 

6 ‘‘(II) ELIGIBLE STATE.—The 

7 term ‘eligible State’ means a State a 

8 point on the coastline of which is lo9 cated within 75 miles of the geo10 graphic center of a covered offshore 

11 wind project. 

12 ‘‘(III) QUALIFIED OUTER CONTI13 NENTAL SHELF REVENUES.—The 

14 term ‘qualified outer Continental 

15 Shelf revenues’ means all royalties, 

16 fees, rentals, bonuses, or other pay17 ments from covered offshore wind 

18 projects carried out pursuant to this 

19 subsection on or after the date of en20 actment of this subparagraph. 

21 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENT.— 

22 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The Sec23 retary of the Treasury shall deposit— 

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1 nues in the general fund of the 

2 Treasury; 

3 ‘‘(bb) 37.5 percent of quali4 fied outer Continental Shelf reve5 nues in the North American Wet6 lands Conservation Fund; and 

7 ‘‘(cc) 50 percent of qualified 

8 outer Continental Shelf revenues 

9 in a special account in the Treas10 ury from which the Secretary 

11 shall disburse to each eligible 

12 State an amount determined pur13 suant to subclause (II). 

14 ‘‘(II) ALLOCATION.— 

15 ‘‘(aa) IN GENERAL.—Sub16 ject to item (bb), for each fiscal 

17 year beginning after the date of 

18 enactment of this subparagraph, 

19 the amount made available under 

20 subclause (I)(cc) shall be allo21 cated to each eligible State in 

22 amounts (based on a formula es23 tablished by the Secretary by 

24 regulation) that are inversely 

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1 tances between the point on the 

2 coastline of each eligible State 

3 that is closest to the geographic 

4 center of the applicable leased 

5 tract and the geographic center 

6 of the leased tract. 

7 ‘‘(bb) MINIMUM ALLOCA8 TION.—The amount allocated to 

9 an eligible State each fiscal year 

10 under item (aa) shall be at least 

11 10 percent of the amounts made 

12 available under subclause (I)(cc). 

13 ‘‘(cc) PAYMENTS TO COAST14 AL POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS.— 

15 ‘‘(AA) IN GENERAL.— 

16 The Secretary shall pay 20 

17 percent of the allocable 

18 share of each eligible State, 

19 as determined pursuant to 

20 item (aa), to the coastal po21 litical subdivisions of the eli22 gible State. 

23 ‘‘(BB) ALLOCATION.— 

24 The amount paid by the 

25 Secretary to coastal political 


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1 subdivisions under subitem 

2 (AA) shall be allocated to 

3 each coastal political sub4 division in accordance with 

5 subparagraphs (B) and (C) 

6 of section 31(b)(4) of this 

7 Act. 

8 ‘‘(iii) TIMING.—The amounts required 

9 to be deposited under subclause (I) of 

10 clause (ii) for the applicable fiscal year 

11 shall be made available in accordance with 

12 such subclause during the fiscal year im13 mediately following the applicable fiscal 

14 year. 

15 ‘‘(iv) AUTHORIZED USES.— 

16 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Subject to 

17 subclause (II), each eligible State 

18 shall use all amounts received under 

19 clause (ii)(II) in accordance with all 

20 applicable Federal and State laws, 

21 only for 1 or more of the following 

22 purposes: 

23 ‘‘(aa) Projects and activities 

24 for the purposes of coastal pro25 tection and resiliency, including 


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1 conservation, coastal restoration, 

2 estuary management, beach 

3 nourishment, hurricane and flood 

4 protection, and infrastructure di5 rectly affected by coastal wetland 

6 losses. 

7 ‘‘(bb) Mitigation of damage 

8 to fish, wildlife, or natural re9 sources, including through fish10 eries science and research. 

11 ‘‘(cc) Implementation of a 

12 federally approved marine, coast13 al, or comprehensive conservation 

14 management plan. 

15 ‘‘(dd) Mitigation of the im16 pact of outer Continental Shelf 

17 activities through the funding of 

18 onshore infrastructure projects. 

19 ‘‘(ee) Planning assistance 

20 and the administrative costs of 

21 complying with this section. 

22 ‘‘(ff) Infrastructure improve23 ments at ports, including modi24 fications to Federal navigation 


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1 channels, to support installation 

2 of offshore wind energy projects. 

3 ‘‘(II) LIMITATION.—Of the 

4 amounts received by an eligible State 

5 under clause (ii)(II), not more than 3 

6 percent shall be used for the purposes 

7 described in subclause (I)(ee). 

8 ‘‘(v) ADMINISTRATION.—Subject to 

9 clause (vi)(III), amounts made available 

10 under items (aa) and (cc) of clause (ii)(I) 

11 shall— 

12 ‘‘(I) be made available, without 

13 further appropriation, in accordance 

14 with this subparagraph; 

15 ‘‘(II) remain available until ex16 pended; and 

17 ‘‘(III) be in addition to any 

18 amount appropriated under any other 

19 Act. 

20 ‘‘(vi) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.— 

21 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Not later 

22 than 180 days after the end of each 

23 fiscal year, the Governor of each eligi24 ble State that receives amounts under 

25 clause (ii)(II) for the applicable fiscal 


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1 year shall submit to the Secretary a 

2 report that describes the use of the 

3 amounts by the eligible State during 

4 the period covered by the report. 

5 ‘‘(II) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—On 

6 receipt of a report submitted under 

7 subclause (I), the Secretary shall 

8 make the report available to the pub9 lic on the website of the Department 

10 of the Interior. 

11 ‘‘(III) LIMITATION.—If the Gov12 ernor of an eligible State that receives 

13 amounts under clause (ii)(II) fails to 

14 submit the report required under sub15 clause (I) by the deadline specified in 

16 that subclause, any amounts that 

17 would otherwise be provided to the eli18 gible State under clause (ii)(II) for 

19 the succeeding fiscal year shall be de20 posited in the Treasury. 

21 ‘‘(vii) TREATMENT OF AMOUNTS.— 

22 Amounts disbursed to an eligible State 

23 under this subsection shall be treated as 

24 revenue sharing and not as a Federal 

25 award or grant for the purposes of part 


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1 200 of title 2, Code of Federal Regula2 tions.’’. 

3 (b) WIND LEASE SALES FOR AREAS OF THE OUTER

4 CONTINENTAL SHELF OFFSHORE OF TERRITORIES OF

5 THE UNITED STATES.—Section 33 of the Outer Conti6 nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1356c) is amended by 

7 adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(b) WIND LEASE SALE PROCEDURE.—Any wind 

9 lease granted pursuant to this section shall be considered 

10 a wind lease granted under section 8(p), including for pur11 poses of the disposition of revenues pursuant to subpara12 graphs (B) and (C) of section 8(p)(2).’’. 

13 (c) EXEMPTION OF CERTAIN PAYMENTS FROM SE14 QUESTRATION.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 255(g)(1)(A) of the 

16 Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control 

17 Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 905(g)(1)(A)) is amended by 

18 inserting after ‘‘Payments to Social Security Trust 

19 Funds (28–0404–0–1–651).’’ the following: 

20 ‘‘Payments to States pursuant to subparagraph 

21 (C)(ii)(I)(cc) of section 8(p)(2) of the Outer Conti22 nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337(p)(2)).’’. 

23 (2) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by 

24 this subsection shall apply to any sequestration 

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1 gency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900 et 

2 seq.) on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

3 SEC. 20603. ELIMINATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE FEE UNDER 

4 THE MINERAL LEASING ACT. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 35 of the Mineral Leasing 

6 Act (30 U.S.C. 191) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a), in the first sentence, by 

8 striking ‘‘and, subject to the provisions of subsection 

9 (b),’’; 

10 (2) by striking subsection (b); 

11 (3) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 

12 subsections (b) and (c), respectively; 

13 (4) in paragraph (3)(B)(ii) of subsection (b) (as 

14 so redesignated), by striking ‘‘subsection (d)’’ and 

15 inserting ‘‘subsection (c)’’; and 

16 (5) in paragraph (3)(A)(ii) of subsection (c) (as 

17 so redesignated), by striking ‘‘subsection (c)(2)(B)’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘subsection (b)(2)(B)’’. 

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

20 (1) Section 6(a) of the Mineral Leasing Act for 

21 Acquired Lands (30 U.S.C. 355(a)) is amended— 

22 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘Sub23 ject to the provisions of section 35(b) of the 

24 Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 191(b)), all’’ 

25 and inserting ‘‘All’’; and 


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1 (B) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘of 

2 the Act of February 25, 1920 (41 Stat. 450; 30 

3 U.S.C. 191),’’ and inserting ‘‘of the Mineral 

4 Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 191)’’. 

5 (2) Section 20(a) of the Geothermal Steam Act 

6 of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1019(a)) is amended, in the sec7 ond sentence of the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

8 by striking ‘‘the provisions of subsection (b) of sec9 tion 35 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

10 191(b)) and section 5(a)(2) of this Act’’ and insert11 ing ‘‘section 5(a)(2)’’. 

12 (3) Section 205(f) of the Federal Oil and Gas 

13 Royalty Management Act of 1982 (30 U.S.C. 

14 1735(f)) is amended— 

15 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘this 

16 Section’’ and inserting ‘‘this section’’; and 

17 (B) by striking the fourth, fifth, and sixth 

18 sentences. 

19 DIVISION C—WATER QUALITY 

20 CERTIFICATION AND ENERGY 

21 PROJECT IMPROVEMENT 

22 SEC. 30001. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

23 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This division may be cited as the 

24 ‘‘Water Quality Certification and Energy Project Improve25 ment Act of 2023’’. 


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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

2 this division is as follows: 

DIVISION C—WATER QUALITY CERTIFICATION AND ENERGY 

PROJECT IMPROVEMENT 

Sec. 30001. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 30002. Certification. 

3 SEC. 30002. CERTIFICATION. 

4 Section 401 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

5 Act (33 U.S.C. 1341) is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (a)— 

7 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

8 (i) in the first sentence, by striking 

9 ‘‘may result’’ and inserting ‘‘may directly 

10 result’’; 

11 (ii) in the second sentence, by striking 

12 ‘‘activity’’ and inserting ‘‘discharge’’; 

13 (iii) in the third sentence, by striking 

14 ‘‘applications’’ each place it appears and 

15 inserting ‘‘requests’’; 

16 (iv) in the fifth sentence, by striking 

17 ‘‘act on’’ and inserting ‘‘grant or deny’’; 

18 and 

19 (v) by inserting after the fourth sen20 tence the following: ‘‘Not later than 30 

21 days after the date of enactment of the 

22 Water Quality Certification and Energy 

23 Project Improvement Act of 2023, each 


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1 State and interstate agency that has au2 thority to give such a certification, and the 

3 Administrator, shall publish requirements 

4 for certification to demonstrate to such 

5 State, such interstate agency, or the Ad6 ministrator, as the case may be, compli7 ance with the applicable provisions of sec8 tions 301, 302, 303, 306, and 307. A deci9 sion to grant or deny a request for certifi10 cation shall be based only on the applicable 

11 provisions of sections 301, 302, 303, 306, 

12 and 307, and the grounds for the decision 

13 shall be set forth in writing and provided 

14 to the applicant. Not later than 90 days 

15 after receipt of a request for certification, 

16 the State, interstate agency, or Adminis17 trator, as the case may be, shall identify in 

18 writing all specific additional materials or 

19 information that are necessary to grant or 

20 deny the request.’’; 

21 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

22 (i) in the second sentence, by striking 

23 ‘‘notice of application for such Federal li24 cense or permit’’ and inserting ‘‘receipt of 

25 a notice under the preceding sentence’’; 


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1 (ii) in the third sentence, by striking 

2 ‘‘any water quality requirement’’ and in3 serting ‘‘any applicable provision of section 

4 301, 302, 303, 306, or 307’’; 

5 (iii) in the fifth sentence, by striking 

6 ‘‘insure compliance with applicable water 

7 quality requirements.’’ and inserting ‘‘en8 sure compliance with the applicable provi9 sions of sections 301, 302, 303, 306, and 

10 307.’’; 

11 (iv) in the final sentence, by striking 

12 ‘‘insure’’ and inserting ‘‘ensure’’; and 

13 (v) by striking the first sentence and 

14 inserting ‘‘On receipt of a request for cer15 tification, the certifying State or interstate 

16 agency, as applicable, shall immediately 

17 notify the Administrator of the request.’’; 

18 (C) in paragraph (3), in the second sen19 tence, by striking ‘‘section’’ and inserting ‘‘any 

20 applicable provision of section’’; 

21 (D) in paragraph (4)— 

22 (i) in the first sentence, by striking 

23 ‘‘assuring that applicable effluent limita24 tions or other limitations or other applica25 ble water quality requirements will not be 


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1 violated’’ and inserting ‘‘ensuring that no 

2 applicable provision of section 301, 302, 

3 303, 306, or 307 will be violated’’; 

4 (ii) in the second sentence, by striking 

5 ‘‘will violate applicable effluent limitations 

6 or other limitations or other water quality 

7 requirements’’ and inserting ‘‘will directly 

8 result in a discharge that violates an appli9 cable provision of section 301, 302, 303, 

10 306, or 307,’’; and 

11 (iii) in the third sentence, by striking 

12 ‘‘such facility or activity will not violate the 

13 applicable provisions’’ and inserting ‘‘oper14 ation of such facility or activity will not di15 rectly result in a discharge that violates 

16 any applicable provision’’; and 

17 (E) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘the ap18 plicable provisions’’ and inserting ‘‘any applica19 ble provision’’; 

20 (2) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘any applica21 ble effluent limitations and other limitations, under 

22 section 301 or 302 of this Act, standard of perform23 ance under section 306 of this Act, or prohibition, 

24 effluent standard, or pretreatment standard under 

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1 priate requirement of State law set forth in such 

2 certification, and’’ and inserting ‘‘the applicable pro3 visions of sections 301, 302, 303, 306, and 307, and 

4 any such limitations or requirements’’; and 

5 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(e) For purposes of this section, the applicable pro7 visions of sections 301, 302, 303, 306, and 307 are any 

8 applicable effluent limitations and other limitations under 

9 section 301 or 302, standard of performance under section 

10 306, prohibition, effluent standard, or pretreatment stand11 ard under section 307, and requirement of State law im12 plementing water quality criteria under section 303 nec13 essary to support the designated use or uses of the receiv14 ing navigable waters.’’. 

Æ 


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