I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1689 

To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to apply to territories 

of the United States, to establish offshore wind lease sale requirements, 

to provide dedicated funding for coral reef conservation, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 9, 2021 

Miss GONZA ́LEZ-COLO ́N (for herself, Mr. SABLAN, Mrs. RADEWAGEN, Ms. 

PLASKETT, Mr. SOTO, and Miss RICE of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to apply 

to territories of the United States, to establish offshore 

wind lease sale requirements, to provide dedicated funding for coral reef conservation, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Offshore Wind for Ter5 ritories Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF 

2 LANDS ACT WITH RESPECT TO TERRITORIES 

3 OF THE UNITED STATES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2 of the Outer Conti5 nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331) is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (a)— 

7 (A) by inserting after ‘‘control’’ the fol8 lowing: ‘‘or lying within the exclusive economic 

9 zone of the United States and the outer Conti10 nental Shelf adjacent to any territory or posses11 sion of the United States’’; and 

12 (B) by adding at the end before the semi13 colon the following: ‘‘, except that such term 

14 shall not include any area conveyed by Congress 

15 to a territorial government for administration’’; 

16 (2) in paragraph (p), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

17 the semicolon at the end; 

18 (3) in paragraph (q), by striking the period at 

19 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

20 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(r) The term ‘State’ means the several States, the 

22 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, 

23 the United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth 

24 of the Northern Mariana Islands.’’. 


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1 (b) EXCLUSIONS.—Section 18 of the Outer Conti2 nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344) is amended by 

3 adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(i) This section shall not apply to the scheduling of 

5 lease sales in the outer Continental Shelf adjacent to the 

6 territories and possessions of the United States.’’. 

7 SEC. 3. DISPOSITION OF REVENUES WITH RESPECT TO 

8 TERRITORIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 

9 Section 9 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

10 (43 U.S.C. 1338) is amended— 

11 (1) by striking ‘‘All rentals’’ and inserting the 

12 following: 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided in 

14 law, all rentals’’; and 

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

16 ‘‘(b) DISPOSITION OF REVENUES TO TERRITORIES

17 OF THE UNITED STATES.—Of the bonuses, rentals, royal18 ties, and other sums paid to the Secretary under this Act 

19 from a lease for an area of land on the outer Continental 

20 Shelf adjacent to a territory and lying within the exclusive 

21 economic zone of the United States pertaining to such ter22 ritory, and not otherwise obligated or appropriated— 

23 ‘‘(1) 50 percent shall be deposited in the Treas24 ury and credited to miscellaneous receipts; 


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1 ‘‘(2) 12.5 percent shall be deposited in the 

2 Coral Reef Conservation Fund established under 

3 section 211 of the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 

4 2000; and 

5 ‘‘(3) 37.5 percent shall be disbursed to terri6 tories of the United States in an amount for each 

7 territory (based on a formula established by the Sec8 retary by regulation) that is inversely proportional to 

9 the respective distance between the point on the 

10 coastline of the territory that is closest to the geo11 graphic center of the applicable leased tract and the 

12 geographic center of the leased tract.’’. 

13 SEC. 4. WIND LEASE SALES FOR AREAS OF OUTER CONTI14 NENTAL SHELF. 

15 (a) CONDITIONAL WIND LEASE SALES IN TERRI16 TORIES OF THE UNITED STATES.—The Outer Continental 

17 Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) is amended by 

18 adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 33. WIND LEASE SALES FOR AREAS OF OUTER CONTI20 NENTAL SHELF. 

21 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary may conduct 

22 wind lease sales on the outer Continental Shelf. 

23 ‘‘(b) WIND LEASE SALE PROCEDURE.—Any wind 

24 lease sale conducted under this section shall be considered 

25 a lease under section 8(p). 


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1 ‘‘(c) WIND LEASE SALES OFF COASTS OF TERRI2 TORIES OF THE UNITED STATES.— 

3 ‘‘(1) STUDY ON FEASIBILITY OF CONDUCTING

4 WIND LEASE SALES.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

6 conduct a study on the feasibility, including the 

7 technological and long-term economic feasibility, 

8 of conducting wind lease sales on an area of the 

9 outer Continental Shelf within the territorial ju10 risdiction of American Samoa, Guam, the Com11 monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 

12 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the 

13 United States Virgin Islands. 

14 ‘‘(B) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the 

15 study required in paragraph (A), the Secretary 

16 shall consult— 

17 ‘‘(i) the National Laboratories, as 

18 that term is defined in section 2(3) of the 

19 Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 

20 15801(3)); 

21 ‘‘(ii) the Governor of each of Amer22 ican Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of 

23 the Northern Mariana Islands, the Com24 monwealth of Puerto Rico, and the United 

25 States Virgin Islands; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the National Oceanic and At2 mospheric Administration, including the 

3 Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and 

4 the National Marine Fisheries Service. 

5 ‘‘(C) PUBLICATION.—The study required 

6 in subparagraph (A) shall be published in the 

7 Federal Register for public comment for not 

8 fewer than 60 days. 

9 ‘‘(D) SUBMISSION OF RESULTS.—Not later 

10 than 18 months after the date of the enactment 

11 of this section, the Secretary shall submit the 

12 results of the study conducted under subpara13 graph (A) to: 

14 ‘‘(i) the Committee on Energy and 

15 Natural Resources of the Senate; 

16 ‘‘(ii) the Committee on Natural Re17 sources of the House of Representatives; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(iii) each of the delegates or resident 

20 commissioner to the House of Representa21 tives from American Samoa, Guam, the 

22 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

23 Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto 

24 Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands, 

25 respectively. 


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1 ‘‘(E) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The study 

2 required under subparagraph (A) and results 

3 submitted under subparagraph (C) shall be 

4 made readily available on a public website. 

5 ‘‘(2) CALL FOR INFORMATION AND NOMINA6 TIONS.—The Secretary shall issue a call for informa7 tion and nominations for proposed wind lease sales 

8 for areas determined to be feasible under the study 

9 conducted under paragraph (1). 

10 ‘‘(3) CONDITIONAL WIND LEASE SALES.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For each territory, 

12 the Secretary shall conduct not less than 1 wind 

13 lease sale on an area of the outer Continental 

14 Shelf within the territorial jurisdiction of such 

15 territory that meets each of the following cri16 teria: 

17 ‘‘(i) The study required under para18 graph (1)(A) concluded that a wind lease 

19 sale on the area is feasible. 

20 ‘‘(ii) The Secretary has determined 

21 that the call for information has generated 

22 sufficient interest for the area. 

23 ‘‘(iii) The Secretary has consulted 

24 with the Secretary of Defense regarding 

25 such a sale. 


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1 ‘‘(iv) The Secretary has consulted 

2 with the Governor of the territory regard3 ing the suitability of the area for wind en4 ergy development. 

5 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—If no area of the outer 

6 Continental Shelf within the territorial jurisdic7 tion of a territory meets each of the criteria in 

8 clauses (i) through (iii) of subparagraph (A), 

9 the requirement under subparagraph (A) shall 

10 not apply to such territory.’’. 

11 SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF CORAL REEF CONSERVATION 

12 FUND. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Coral Reef Conservation Act 

14 of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 6401 et seq.) is amended by adding 

15 at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 211. CORAL REEF CONSERVATION FUND. 

17 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

18 Treasury the Coral Reef Conservation Fund, hereafter re19 ferred to as the Fund. 

20 ‘‘(b) DEPOSITS.—For each fiscal year, there shall be 

21 deposited in the Fund the portion of such revenues due 

22 and payable to the United States under subsection (b)(2) 

23 of section 9 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 

24 U.S.C. 1338). 


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1 ‘‘(c) USES.—Amounts deposited in the Fund under 

2 this section and appropriated to the Secretary of Com3 merce under subsection (f) shall be used by the Secretary 

4 of Commerce to carry out the Coral Reef Conservation Act 

5 of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 6401 et seq.), with priority given to 

6 carrying out sections 204 and 206 of such Act (16 U.S.C. 

7 6403 and 6405). 

8 ‘‘(d) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts deposited in the Fund 

9 shall remain in the Fund until appropriated by Congress. 

10 ‘‘(e) REPORTING.—The President shall include with 

11 the proposed budget for the United States Government 

12 submitted to Congress for a fiscal year a comprehensive 

13 statement of deposits into the Fund during the previous 

14 fiscal year and estimated requirements during the fol15 lowing fiscal year for appropriations from the Fund. 

16 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

17 are authorized to be appropriated from the Fund to the 

18 Secretary of Commerce, an amount equal to the amount 

19 deposited in the Fund in the previous fiscal year. 

20 ‘‘(g) NO LIMITATION.—Appropriations from the 

21 Fund pursuant to this section may be made without fiscal 

22 year limitation.’’. 

23 (b) RENAMING OF EXISTING FUND.—Section 205 of 

24 the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 6404) 

25 is amended— 


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1 (1) in the heading, by striking ‘‘CORAL REEF

2 CONSERVATION FUND’’ and inserting ‘‘CORAL

3 REEF PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP’’; 

4 (2) in subsection (a)— 

5 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

6 ‘‘FUND’’ and inserting ‘‘PUBLIC-PRIVATE

7 PARTNERSHIP’’; and 

8 (B) by striking ‘‘, hereafter referred to as 

9 the Fund,’’; and 

10 (3) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘Fund’’ and 

11 inserting ‘‘separate interest bearing account’’. 

Æ 


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