II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1810 

To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to allow certain coastal 

States to share in qualified outer Continental Shelf revenues. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 3, 2005 

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

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to allow 

certain coastal States to share in qualified outer Continental Shelf revenues. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Outer Continental 

5 Shelf Revenue Sharing Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF REVENUE SHARING. 

7 Section 31 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

8 (43 U.S.C. 1356a) is amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (a)— 

10 (A) by striking paragraph (7); 
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1 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (8), (9), 

2 and (10) as paragraphs (7), (8), and (9), re3 spectively; 

4 (C) in paragraph (8) (as redesignated by 

5 subparagraph (B)), by striking subparagraph 

6 (B) and inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘producing 

8 State’ includes any State that begins production 

9 on a leased tract on or after the date of enact10 ment of the Outer Continental Shelf Revenue 

11 Sharing Act of 2005, regardless of whether the 

12 leased tract was on any date subject to a leas13 ing moratorium.’’; and 

14 (D) in paragraph (9) (as redesignated by 

15 subparagraph (B)), by striking subparagraph 

16 (C); and 

17 (2) in subsection (b)(4), by striking subpara18 graph (E). 

19 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF SEAWARD LATERAL BOUND20 ARIES FOR COASTAL STATES. 

21 Section 4(a)(2)(A) of the Outer Continental Shelf 

22 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1333(a)(2)(A)) is amended— 

23 (1) by inserting ‘‘(i)’’ after ‘‘(A)’’; 

24 (2) in the first sentence— 
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘President shall’’ and in2 serting ‘‘Secretary shall by regulation’’; and 

3 (B) by inserting before the period at the 

4 end the following: ‘‘not later than 180 days 

5 after the date of enactment of the Outer Conti6 nental Shelf Revenue Sharing Act of 2005’’; 

7 and 

8 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(ii)(I) For purposes of this Act (including deter10 mining boundaries to authorize leasing and preleasing ac11 tivities and any attributing revenues under this Act and 

12 calculating payments to producing States and coastal po13 litical subdivisions under section 31), the Secretary shall 

14 delineate the lateral boundaries between coastal States in 

15 areas of the Outer Continental shelf under exclusive Fed16 eral jurisdiction, to the extent of the exclusive economic 

17 zone of the United States, in accordance with article 15 

18 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 

19 of December 10, 1982. 

20 ‘‘(II) This clause shall not affect any right or title 

21 to Federal submerged land on the outer Continental 

22 Shelf.’’. 
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1 SEC. 4. OPTION TO PETITION FOR LEASING WITHIN CER2 TAIN AREAS ON THE OUTER CONTINENTAL 

3 SHELF. 

4 Section 12 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

5 (43 U.S.C. 1341) is amended by adding at the end the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(g) LEASING WITHIN THE SEAWARD LATERAL

8 BOUNDARIES OF COASTAL STATES.— 

9 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF AFFECTED AREA.—In this 

10 subsection, the term ‘affected area’ means any area 

11 located— 

12 ‘‘(A) in the areas of northern, central, and 

13 southern California and the areas of Oregon 

14 and Washington; 

15 ‘‘(B) in the north, middle, or south plan16 ning area of the Atlantic Ocean; 

17 ‘‘(C) in the eastern Gulf of Mexico plan18 ning area and lying— 

19 ‘‘(i) south of 26 degrees north lati20 tude; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) east of 86 degrees west lon22 gitude; or 

23 ‘‘(D) in the Straits of Florida. 

24 ‘‘(2) RESTRICTIONS ON LEASING.—The Sec25 retary shall not offer for offshore leasing, preleasing, 

26 or any related activity— 
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1 ‘‘(A) any area located on the outer Conti2 nental Shelf that, as of the date of enactment 

3 of this subsection, is designated as a marine 

4 sanctuary under the Marine Protection, Re5 search, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (33 U.S.C. 

6 1401 et seq.); or 

7 ‘‘(B) except as provided in paragraphs (3) 

8 and (4), during the period beginning on the 

9 date of enactment of this subsection and ending 

10 on June 30, 2012, any affected area. 

11 ‘‘(3) RESOURCE ASSESSMENTS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date 

13 on which the Secretary delineates seaward lat14 eral boundaries under section 4(a)(2)(A)(ii), a 

15 Governor of a State in which an affected area 

16 is located, with the consent of the legislature of 

17 the State, may submit to the Secretary a peti18 tion requesting a resource assessment of any 

19 area within the seaward lateral boundary of the 

20 State. 

21 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE RESOURCES.—A petition 

22 for a resource assessment under subparagraph 

23 (A) may be for— 

24 ‘‘(i) oil and gas leasing; 

25 ‘‘(ii) gas-only leasing; or 
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1 ‘‘(iii) any other energy source leasing, 

2 including renewable energy leasing. 

3 ‘‘(C) ACTION BY SECRETARY.—Not later 

4 than 90 days after receipt of a petition under 

5 subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall approve 

6 the petition, unless the Secretary determines 

7 that a resource assessment of the area would 

8 create an unreasonable risk of harm to the ma9 rine, human, or coastal environment of the 

10 State. 

11 ‘‘(D) FAILURE TO ACT.—If the Secretary 

12 fails to approve or deny a petition in accordance 

13 with subparagraph (C)— 

14 ‘‘(i) the petition shall be considered to 

15 be approved; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) a resource assessment of any ap17 propriate area shall be carried out as soon 

18 as practicable. 

19 ‘‘(E) SUBMISSION TO STATE.—As soon as 

20 practicable after the date on which a petition is 

21 approved under subparagraph (C) or (D), the 

22 Secretary shall— 

23 ‘‘(i) complete the resource assessment 

24 for the area; and 
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1 ‘‘(ii) submit the completed resource 

2 assessment to the State. 

3 ‘‘(4) PETITION FOR LEASING.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—On receipt of a re5 source assessment under paragraph (3)(E)(ii), 

6 the Governor of a State in which an affected 

7 area is located, with the consent of the legisla8 ture of the State, may submit to the Secretary 

9 a petition requesting that the Secretary make 

10 available any land that is within the seaward 

11 lateral boundaries of the State (as established 

12 under section 4(a)(2)(A)(ii)) and that is greater 

13 than 20 miles from the coastline of the State 

14 for the conduct of offshore leasing, pre-leasing, 

15 or related activities with respect to— 

16 ‘‘(i) oil and gas leasing; 

17 ‘‘(ii) gas-only leasing; or 

18 ‘‘(iii) any other energy source leasing, 

19 including renewable energy leasing. 

20 ‘‘(B) ACTION BY SECRETARY.—Not later 

21 than 90 days after receipt of a petition under 

22 subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall approve 

23 the petition, unless the Secretary determines 

24 that leasing the area would create an unreason-
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1 able risk of harm to the marine, human, or 

2 coastal environment of the State. 

3 ‘‘(C) FAILURE TO ACT.—If the Secretary 

4 fails to approve or deny a petition in accordance 

5 with subparagraph (B)— 

6 ‘‘(i) the petition shall be considered to 

7 be approved; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) any appropriate area shall be 

9 made available for oil and gas leasing, gas10 only leasing, or any other energy source 

11 leasing, including renewable energy leasing. 

12 ‘‘(5) REVENUE SHARING.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date 

14 on which production begins in an area under 

15 this subsection, the State shall, without further 

16 appropriation, share in any qualified outer Con17 tinental Shelf revenues of the production under 

18 section 31. 

19 ‘‘(B) APPLICABLE LAW.— 

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro21 vided in clause (ii), a State shall not be re22 quired to comply with subsections (c) and 

23 (d) of section 31 to share in qualified outer 

24 Continental Shelf revenues under subpara25 graph (A). 
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1 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—Of any qualified 

2 outer Continental Shelf revenues received 

3 by a State (including a political subdivision 

4 of a State) under subparagraph (A), at 

5 least 25 percent shall be used for 1 or 

6 more of the purposes described in section 

7 31(d)(1). 

8 ‘‘(6) EFFECT.—Nothing in this subsection af9 fects any right relating to an area described in para10 graph (1) or (2) under a lease that was in existence 

11 on the day before the date of enactment of this sub12 section.’’. 

13 SEC. 5. REGULATIONS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior shall 

15 issue such regulations as are necessary to carry out this 

16 Act and the amendments made by this Act, including reg17 ulations establishing procedures for entering into gas-only 

18 leases. 

19 (b) GAS-ONLY LEASES.—In issuing regulations es20 tablishing procedures for entering into gas-only leases, the 

21 Secretary shall— 

22 (1) ensure that gas-only leases under the Outer 

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

24 seq.) are not available in a State that (as of the day 

25 before the date of enactment of this Act) did not 
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1 contain an affected area (as defined in section 

2 12(g)(1) of that Act (as added by section 4)); and 

3 (2) define ‘‘natural gas’’ as— 

4 (A) unmixed natural gas; or 

5 (B) any mixture of natural or artificial gas 

6 (including compressed or liquefied petroleum 

7 gas) and condensate recovered from natural 

8 gas. 

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