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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 296

To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 5, 1993

Mr. PANETTA introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the

Committee on Natural Resources and Merchant Marine and Fisheries

A BILL

To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.

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

3 SECTION 1. CONGRESSIONAL DECLARATION OF POLICY.

4 Section 3(3) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands

5 Act (43 U.S.C. 1332(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘expedi6 tious and’’.

7 SEC. 2. ADMINISTRATION OF LEASING.

8 Section 5(a)(2) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands

9 Act (43 U.S.C. 1334(a)(2)) is amended—

10 (1) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as

11 follows:
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1 ‘‘(A) that such cancellation shall occur if the

2 Secretary determines, after a hearing, that—

3 ‘‘(i) activity pursuant to such lease or per4 mit has resulted in serious harm or damage or

5 poses a serious threat of serious harm or dam6 age to life (including fish and other aquatic

7 life), to property, to any mineral (in areas

8 leased or not leased), to the national security or

9 defense, or to the marine, coastal, or human en10 vironment; and

11 ‘‘(ii) the environmental or other resources

12 harmed or placed at risk as described in clause

13 (i) are of substantial value;’’;

14 (2) in subparagraph (B) by—

15 (A) inserting ‘‘or pursuant to an Act of

16 Congress’’ after ‘‘Secretary’’; and

17 (B) striking ‘‘five years’’ and inserting

18 ‘‘one year’’; and

19 (3) in subparagraph (C) by striking ‘‘such com20 pensation as he shows’’ and inserting ‘‘such com21 pensation (in the form of currency, forgiveness of

22 the lessee’s obligation to pay rents or royalties on

23 another lease issued pursuant to this Act, or credits

24 against bonus payments for future lease purchases

25 pursuant to this Act) as the lessee shows’’.
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1 SEC. 3. OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF LEASING PROGRAM.

2 Section 18(c)(2) of the Outer Continental Shelf

3 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344(c)(2)) is amended in the third

4 sentence by striking ‘‘reply in writing’’ and all that follows

5 through the end of the sentence and inserting ‘‘in writing

6 grant the request or, if the Secretary finds, on the record

7 after notice and an opportunity for a hearing, that the

8 request was based on a material error of fact or that the

9 Governor acted arbitrarily and capriciously in making the

10 request, deny the request in whole or in part or grant the

11 request in such modified form as the Secretary finds to

12 be necessary to conform to the policy stated in section 3

13 of this Act.’’.

14 SEC. 4. COORDINATION AND CONSULTATION WITH AF15 FECTED STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.

16 (a) DETERMINATION OF NATIONAL INTEREST.—The

17 second sentence of section 19(c) of the Outer Continental

18 Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1345(c)) is amended to read

19 as follows: ‘‘For purposes of this subsection, the national

20 interest shall be determined by application of a balancing

21 process that gives equal weight to obtaining oil and gas

22 supplies and to protection of the environment, and that

23 permits the consideration of other factors.’’.

24 (b) FINALITY OF ACCEPTANCE OR REJECTION OF

25 RECOMMENDATIONS.—Section 19(d) of the Outer Con-
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1 tinental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1345(d)) is amended

2 to read as follows:

3 ‘‘(d) The Secretary shall accept a Governor’s rec4 ommendations as providing a reasonable balance between

5 the national interest and the well-being of the citizens of

6 the affected State unless the Secretary finds, on the record

7 after notice and opportunity for a hearing, that the rec8 ommendations were based on a material error of fact or

9 that the Governor acted arbitrarily and capriciously in

10 making the recommendations.’’.

11 SEC. 5. ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES.

12 Section 20(a)(2) of the Outer Continental Shelf

13 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1346(a)(2)) is amended by adding

14 at the end thereof the following new sentence: ‘‘Each study

15 required by paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be com16 pleted, subjected to peer review by at least 3 qualified sci17 entists not employed or compensated by the Secretary or

18 any other interested party, and published, not later than

19 180 days before the date on which the lease sale is an20 nounced.’’.

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