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[Senate Report 113-22]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                        Calendar No. 53
113th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session                                                     113-22

======================================================================

 
                 MODIFICATION OF PILOT PROJECT OFFICES

                                _______
                                

                 April 22, 2013.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

    Mr. Wyden, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 244]

    The committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 244) to amend the Energy Policy Act of 
2005 to modify the Pilot Project offices of the Federal Permit 
Streamlining Pilot Project, having considered the same, reports 
favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the 
bill do pass.

                                Purpose

    The legislation would amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 
to allow the pilot permit processing office currently located 
in Miles City, Montana, to process applications for oil and gas 
use authorizations relating to federal lands in the states of 
North and South Dakota.

                          Background and Need

    Congress enacted section 365 of the Energy Policy Act of 
2005 (Public Law 109-58) to create a pilot project to improve 
the coordination and processing of oil and gas use 
authorizations on federal land. Section 365 established pilot 
offices in seven BLM Field offices. The processing of use 
authorizations on federal land within the jurisdiction of these 
offices is covered by the program. One such pilot office was 
established in the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) field office 
located in Miles City, Montana. Under the program, employees 
from the relevant federal agencies and the state are assigned 
to a particular pilot project office to work together in 
processing the authorization requests.
    Production of unconventional oil in the Bakken formation, 
which stretches from western North Dakota to eastern Montana, 
has increased dramatically in the past few years. This is 
largely due to advances in the technologies of horizontal 
drilling and hydraulic fracturing and the relatively high price 
of oil. Along with this dramatic increase in drilling, the 
workload for processing oil and gas authorizations on federal 
lands has increased. However, the jurisdiction of the Miles 
City, Montana, BLM field office did not extend to the federal 
lands in the Dakotas. S. 244 is needed to afford applications 
for oil and gas authorizations in the Dakotas the benefit of 
the pilot project coordination and processing.

                          Legislative History

    S. 244 was introduced by Senators Hoeven and Heitkamp on 
February 7, 2013. A companion measure, H.R. 767 was introduced 
by Representative Cramer on February 15, 2013. Identical 
legislation during the 112th Congress, was sponsored by 
Senators Hoeven and Conrad. The Senate discharged S. 3563 from 
the Committee and passed it without amendment by unanimous 
consent on December 30, 2012.

                        Committee Recommendation

    The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in 
open business session on March 14, 2013, by voice vote of a 
quorum present recommends that the Senate pass S. 244.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis

    Section 1 of the bill amends section 365 of the Energy 
Policy Act of 2005 to strike the reference to the Miles City, 
Montana, office and to replace it with ``Montana/Dakotas State 
Office, Montana''. The section also makes clarifying changes 
that are self-explanatory.

                   Cost and Budgetary Considerations

    The following estimate of costs of this measure has been 
provided by the Congressional Budget Office:

S. 244--A bill to amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to modify the 
        pilot project offices of the Federal Permit Streamlining Pilot 
        Project

    S. 244 would authorize the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 
to expand a pilot program that aims to accelerate and enhance 
the federal oil and gas permitting process at certain BLM 
offices. Under current law, 50 percent of onshore oil and gas 
rental payments received by BLM (excluding those from Alaska) 
is available to fund the pilot program at seven BLM offices 
through 2015. The bill would allow the Secretary to use those 
funds at additional offices in North Dakota, South Dakota, and 
Montana.
    Because CBO expects that any funds spent in the North 
Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana offices under the bill would 
be spent at other offices under current law, we estimate that 
implementing the legislation would have no significant net 
impact on the federal budget. Enacting S. 244 could affect 
direct spending if expanding the pilot program resulted in BLM 
spending funds faster than it would under current law; 
therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. However, CBO 
estimates that any such impacts would be small over the 2014-
2023 period. Enacting the bill would not affect revenues.
    S. 244 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeff LaFave. The 
estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

                      Regulatory Impact Evaluation

    In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following 
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in 
carrying out S. 244.
    The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of 
imposing Government-established standards or significant 
economic responsibilities on private individuals and 
businesses.
    No personal information would be collected in administering 
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal 
privacy.
    Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the 
enactment of S. 244, as ordered reported.

                   Congressionally Directed Spending

    S. 244, as reported, does not contain any congressionally 
directed spending items, limited tax benefits, or limited 
tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the Standing Rules 
of the Senate.

                        Executive Communications

    Executive Communications were not requested by the 
Committee in the 113th Congress.

                        Changes in Existing Law

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as ordered reported, are shown as follows (existing 
law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new 
material is printed in italic, existing law in which no change 
is proposed is shown in roman):

                       ENERGY POLICY ACT OF 2005

                     Public Law 109-58, as amended

   AN ACT To ensure jobs for our future with secure, affordable, and 
reliable energy.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

          PILOT PROJECT TO IMPROVE FEDERAL PERMIT COORDINATION

    Sec. 365. (a) * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

    [(d) Field Offices.--The following Bureau of Land 
Management Field Offices shall serve as the Pilot Project 
offices:
          (1) Rawlins, Wyoming.
          (2) Buffalo, Wyoming.
          (3) Miles City, Montana.
          (4) Farmington, New Mexico.
          (5) Carlsbad, New Mexico.
          (6) Grand Junction/Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
          (7) Vernal, Utah.]
    (d) Pilot Project Offices.--The following Bureau of Land 
Management Offices shall serve as the Pilot Project offices:
          (1) Rawlins Field Office, Wyoming.
          (2) Buffalo Field Office, Wyoming.
          (3) Montana/Dakotas State Office, Montana.
          (4) Farmington Field Office, New Mexico.
          (5) Carlsbad Field Office, New Mexico.
          (6) Grand Junction/Glenwood Springs Field Office, 
        Colorado.
          (7) Vernal Field Office, Utah

                                  
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