II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1517 

To enhance domestic energy security by increasing production from fossilbased resources in the outer Continental Shelf in an economically and 

environmentally responsible manner. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 24, 2009 

Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself and Ms. LANDRIEU) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 

Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To enhance domestic energy security by increasing production from fossil-based resources in the outer Continental 

Shelf in an economically and environmentally responsible 

manner. 

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 ‘‘Domestic Energy Secu5 rity Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MORATORIUM OF OIL AND GAS LEASING IN CER2 TAIN AREAS OF THE GULF OF MEXICO. 

3 (a) MORATORIUM.—Section 104 of the Gulf of Mex4 ico Energy Security Act of 2006 (43 U.S.C. 1331 note; 

5 Public Law 109–432) is amended— 

6 (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

9 (d), effective during the period beginning on the date of 

10 enactment of this Act and ending on June 30, 2022, the 

11 Secretary shall not offer for leasing, preleasing, or any re12 lated activity in the Eastern Planning Area that is within 

13 45 miles of the coastline of the State of Florida.’’; and 

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

15 ‘‘(d) EXCEPTIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

17 ‘‘(A) DESTIN DOME AREA.—The term 

18 ‘Destin Dome Area’ means the area in the Cen19 tral and Eastern Planning Areas of the outer 

20 Continental Shelf identified as ‘Destin Dome 

21 (NH16–08)’ in the document entitled ‘MMS 

22 Gulf of Mexico Region Planning Areas and Ac23 tive Leases’ and dated May 14, 2009. 

24 ‘‘(B) PENSACOLA AREA.—The term ‘Pen25 sacola Area’ means the area in the Central and 

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1 nental Shelf identified as ‘Pensacola (NH16– 

2 05)’ in the document entitled ‘MMS Gulf of 

3 Mexico Region Planning Areas and Active 

4 Leases’ and dated May 14, 2009. 

5 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZED AREAS.—The Secretary may 

6 offer for leasing any area in the Destin Dome Area 

7 or the Pensacola Area.’’. 

8 (b) NATIONAL DEFENSE AREA.—Section 12(d) of 

9 the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 

10 1341(d)) is amended— 

11 (1) by striking ‘‘The United States’’ and insert12 ing the following: 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The United States’’; and 

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

15 ‘‘(2) REVIEW.—Annually, the Secretary of De16 fense shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) review the areas of the outer Conti18 nental Shelf that have been designated as re19 stricted from exploration and operation to de20 termine whether the areas should remain under 

21 restriction; and 

22 ‘‘(B) based on the review under subpara23 graph (A), make recommendations to the Presi24 dent.’’. 

25 (c) LEASING OF MORATORIUM AREAS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after 

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

3 offer for leasing under the Outer Continental Shelf 

4 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.), any areas made 

5 available for leasing as a result of the amendments 

6 made by subsection (a). 

7 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—Notwithstanding the 

8 omission of any areas made available for leasing 

9 under paragraph (1) from the applicable 5-year plan 

10 developed by the Secretary pursuant to section 18 of 

11 the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 

12 1344), the Secretary may, as soon as practicable 

13 after the date of enactment of this Act, amend the 

14 applicable plan to include the areas. 

15 (d) DISPOSITION OF QUALIFIED OUTER CONTI16 NENTAL SHELF REVENUES FROM MORATORIUM

17 AREAS.— 

18 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

19 (A) GULF PRODUCING STATE.—The term 

20 ‘‘Gulf producing State’’ means each of the 

21 States of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mis22 sissippi, and Texas. 

23 (B) QUALIFIED OUTER CONTINENTAL

24 SHELF REVENUES.—The term ‘‘qualified outer 

25 Continental Shelf revenues’’ means all rentals, 


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1 royalties, bonus bids, and other sums due and 

2 payable to the United States from leases en3 tered into on or after the date of enactment of 

4 this Act for any areas made available as a re5 sult of the amendments made by subsection (a). 

6 (2) DISPOSITION.—Notwithstanding section 9 

7 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 

8 U.S.C. 1338) and subject to the other provisions of 

9 his subsection, for each fiscal year, the Secretary of 

10 the Treasury shall deposit 37.5 percent of qualified 

11 outer Continental Shelf revenues in a special account 

12 in the Treasury from which the Secretary shall dis13 burse 100 percent to Gulf producing States in ac14 cordance with paragraph (3). 

15 (3) ALLOCATION.—Effective for fiscal year 

16 2010 and each subsequent fiscal year, the amount 

17 made available under paragraph (2) shall be allo18 cated to each Gulf producing State in amounts 

19 (based on a formula established by the Secretary by 

20 regulation) that are inversely proportional to the re21 spective distances between the point on the coastline 

22 of each Gulf producing State that is closest to the 

23 geographic center of the applicable leased tract and 

24 the geographic center of the leased tract. 


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1 (4) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

2 105(f)(2) of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act 

3 of 2006 (43 U.S.C. 1331 note; Public Law 109– 

4 432) is amended by striking ‘‘from any area’’ and 

5 inserting ‘‘from— 

6 ‘‘(A) any area in the Central and Eastern 

7 Planning Areas of the outer Continental Shelf 

8 identified as ‘2022 Moratoria Area’ in the docu9 ment entitled ‘P.L. 109–432’ and dated Decem10 ber 20, 2006; and 

11 ‘‘(B) any area’’. 

12 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 105 of the 

13 Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related 

14 Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006 (Public Law 109–54; 

15 119 Stat. 521) (as amended by section 103(d) of the Gulf 

16 of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 (43 U.S.C. 1331 

17 note; Public Law 109–432)) is amended by inserting ‘‘and 

18 any other area that the Secretary of the Interior may offer 

19 for leasing, preleasing, or any related activity under sec20 tion 104 of that Act’’ after ‘‘2006)’’. 

21 SEC. 3. REVENUE SHARING FROM OUTER CONTINENTAL 

22 SHELF AREAS IN CERTAIN COASTAL STATES. 

23 Section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

24 (43 U.S.C. 1344) is amended by adding at the end the 

25 following: 


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1 ‘‘(i) REVENUE SHARING FROM OUTER CONTI2 NENTAL SHELF AREAS IN CERTAIN COASTAL STATES.— 

3 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection through 

4 subsection (j): 

5 ‘‘(A) COASTAL POLITICAL SUBDIVISION.— 

6 The term ‘coastal political subdivision’ of a 

7 coastal State means a county-equivalent sub8 division of a coastal State all or part of which— 

9 ‘‘(i) lies within the coastal zone (as 

10 defined in section 304 of the Coastal Zone 

11 Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 

12 1453); and 

13 ‘‘(ii) the closest point of which is not 

14 more than 300 statute miles from the geo15 graphic center of any leased tract. 

16 ‘‘(B) COASTAL STATE.—The term ‘coastal 

17 State’ means a State with a coastal seaward 

18 boundary within 300 statute miles distance of 

19 the geographic center of a leased tract in an 

20 Outer Continental Shelf planning area that— 

21 ‘‘(i) as of January 1, 2000, had no oil 

22 or natural gas production; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) is not a Gulf producing State (as 

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1 ico Energy Security Act of 2006 (43 

2 U.S.C. 1331 note; Public Law 109–432)). 

3 ‘‘(C) DISTANCE.—The terms ‘distance’ and 

4 ‘distances’ mean minimum great circle distance 

5 and distances, respectively. 

6 ‘‘(D) LEASED TRACT.—The term ‘leased 

7 tract’ means a tract leased under this Act for 

8 the purpose of drilling for, developing, and pro9 ducing oil or natural gas resources. 

10 ‘‘(E) OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF

11 AREA.—The term ‘outer Continental Shelf area’ 

12 means— 

13 ‘‘(i) any area withdrawn from disposi14 tion by leasing by the ‘Memorandum on 

15 Withdrawal of Certain Areas of the United 

16 States Outer Continental Shelf from Leas17 ing Disposition’, from 34 Weekly Comp. 

18 Pres. Doc. 1111, dated June 12, 1998; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) any area of the outer Continental 

20 Shelf as to which Congress has denied the 

21 use of appropriated funds or other means 

22 for preleasing, leasing, or related activities. 

23 ‘‘(F) SOUTHEASTERN STATE.—The term 

24 ‘Southeastern State’ means each of the States 


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1 of Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, 

2 and Virginia. 

3 ‘‘(2) POST LEASING REVENUES.—If the Gov4 ernor or the Legislature of a coastal State requests 

5 the Secretary to allow leasing in an outer Conti6 nental Shelf area and the Secretary allows the leas7 ing, in addition to any bonus bids, the coastal State 

8 shall, without further appropriation or action, re9 ceive, from leasing of the area, 37.5 percent of— 

10 ‘‘(A) any lease rental payments; 

11 ‘‘(B) any lease royalty payments; 

12 ‘‘(C) any royalty proceeds from a sale of 

13 royalties taken in kind by the Secretary; and 

14 ‘‘(D) any other revenues from a bidding 

15 system under section 8. 

16 ‘‘(3) ALLOCATION AMONG COASTAL POLITICAL

17 SUBDIVISIONS OF STATES.— 

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

19 pay 20 percent of the allocable share of each 

20 coastal State, as determined under this sub21 section, directly to certain coastal political sub22 divisions of the coastal State. 

23 ‘‘(B) ALLOCATION.— 

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For each leased 

25 tract used to calculate the allocation of a 


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1 coastal State, the Secretary shall pay the 

2 coastal political subdivisions within 300 

3 miles of the geographic center of the leased 

4 tract based on the relative distance of such 

5 coastal political subdivisions from the 

6 leased tract in accordance with this sub7 paragraph. 

8 ‘‘(ii) DISTANCES.—For each coastal 

9 political subdivision described in clause (i), 

10 the Secretary shall determine the distance 

11 between the point on the coastal political 

12 subdivision coastline closest to the geo13 graphic center of the leased tract and the 

14 geographic center of the tract. 

15 ‘‘(iii) PAYMENTS.—The Secretary 

16 shall divide and allocate the qualified 

17 Outer Continental Shelf revenues derived 

18 from the leased tract among coastal polit19 ical subdivisions described in clause (i) in 

20 amounts that are inversely proportional to 

21 the applicable distances determined under 

22 clause (ii). 

23 ‘‘(4) CONSERVATION ROYALTY.—After making 

24 distributions under paragraphs (1) and (2) and sec25 tion 31, the Secretary shall, without further approVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:46 Jul 25, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1517.IS S1517

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1 priation or action, distribute a conservation royalty 

2 equal to 12.5 percent of Federal royalty revenues de3 rived from an area leased under this section from all 

4 areas leased under this section for any year, into the 

5 land and water conservation fund established under 

6 section 2 of the Land and Water Conservation Fund 

7 Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l–5) to provide financial 

8 assistance to States under section 6 of that Act (16 

9 U.S.C. 460l–8). 

10 ‘‘(5) DEFICIT REDUCTION.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—After making distribu12 tions in accordance with paragraphs (1) and (2) 

13 and in accordance with section 31, the Sec14 retary shall, without further appropriation or 

15 action, distribute an amount equal to 50 per16 cent of Federal royalty revenues derived from 

17 all areas leased under this section for any year, 

18 into direct Federal deficit reduction. 

19 ‘‘(B) BUDGETARY TREATMENT.—Any 

20 amounts distributed into direct Federal deficit 

21 reduction under this paragraph shall not be in22 cluded for purposes determining budget levels 

23 under section 201 of S. Con. Res. 21 (110th 

24 Congress).’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. REVENUE SHARING FROM AREAS IN ALASKA ADJA2 CENT ZONE. 

3 Section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

4 (43 U.S.C. 1344) (as amended by section 3) is amended 

5 by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(j) REVENUE SHARING FROM AREAS IN ALASKA

7 ADJACENT ZONE.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para9 graph (2), effective beginning on the date that is 5 

10 years after the date of enactment of this subsection, 

11 revenues from production that derives from an area 

12 in the Alaska Adjacent Zone shall be distributed in 

13 the same proportion and for the same uses as pro14 vided in subsection (i). 

15 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION AMONG REGIONAL CORPORA16 TIONS.— 

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

18 pay 33 percent of any allocable share of the 

19 State of Alaska, as determined under this sec20 tion, directly to certain Regional Corporations 

21 established under section 7(a) of the Alaska 

22 Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 

23 1606(a)). 

24 ‘‘(B) ALLOCATION.— 

25 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For each leased 

26 tract used to calculate the allocation of the 


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1 State of Alaska, the Secretary shall pay 

2 the Regional Corporations, after deter3 mining those Native villages within the re4 gion of the Regional Corporation which are 

5 within 300 miles of the geographic center 

6 of the leased tract based on the relative 

7 distance of such villages from the leased 

8 tract, in accordance with this paragraph. 

9 ‘‘(ii) DISTANCES.—For each such vil10 lage, the Secretary shall determine the dis11 tance between the point in the village clos12 est to the geographic center of the leased 

13 tract and the geographic center of the 

14 tract. 

15 ‘‘(iii) PAYMENTS.—The Secretary 

16 shall divide and allocate the qualified 

17 Outer Continental Shelf revenues derived 

18 from the leased tract among the qualifying 

19 Regional Corporations in amounts that are 

20 inversely proportional to the distances of 

21 all of the Native villages within each quali22 fying region. 

23 ‘‘(iv) REVENUES.—All revenues re24 ceived by each Regional Corporation shall 

25 be— 


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1 ‘‘(I) treated by the Regional Cor2 poration as revenue subject to the dis3 tribution requirements of section 

4 7(i)(1)(A) of the Alaska Native 

5 Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 

6 1606(i)(1)(A)); and 

7 ‘‘(II) divided annually by the Re8 gional Corporation among all 12 Re9 gional Corporations in accordance 

10 with section 7(i) of that Act. 

11 ‘‘(v) FURTHER DISTRIBUTION.—A Re12 gional Corporation receiving revenues 

13 under clause (iv)(II) shall further dis14 tribute 50 percent of the revenues received 

15 in accordance with section 7(j) of the Alas16 ka Native Claims Settlement Act (43 

17 U.S.C. 1606(j).’’. 

18 SEC. 5. PRODUCTION OF OIL FROM CERTAIN ARCTIC OFF19 SHORE LEASES. 

20 Section 5 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

21 (43 U.S.C. 1334) is amended by adding at the end the 

22 following: 

23 ‘‘(k) OIL TRANSPORTATION IN ARCTIC WATERS.— 

24 The Secretary shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) require that oil produced from Federal 

2 leases in Arctic waters in the Chukchi Sea planning 

3 area, Beaufort Sea planning area, or Hope Basin 

4 planning area be transported by pipeline to onshore 

5 facilities; and 

6 ‘‘(2) provide for, and issue appropriate permits 

7 for, the transportation of oil from Federal leases in 

8 Arctic waters in preproduction phases (including ex9 ploration) by means other than pipeline.’’. 

10 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF ACTIVITIES AND EXPORTS IN11 VOLVING HYDROCARBON RESOURCES. 

12 (a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘United 

13 States person’’ means— 

14 (1) any United States citizen or alien lawfully 

15 admitted for permanent residence in the United 

16 States; and 

17 (2) any person other than an individual, if 1 or 

18 more individuals described in paragraph (1) own or 

19 control at least 51 percent of the securities or other 

20 equity interest in the person. 

21 (b) AUTHORIZATION.—Notwithstanding any other 

22 provision of law (including a regulation), United States 

23 persons (including agents and affiliates of those United 

24 States persons) may— 


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1 (1) engage in any transaction necessary for the 

2 exploration for and extraction of hydrocarbon re3 sources from any portion of any foreign exclusive 

4 economic zone that is contiguous to the exclusive 

5 economic zone of the United States; and 

6 (2) export without license authority all equip7 ment necessary for the exploration for or extraction 

8 of hydrocarbon resources described in paragraph (1). 

9 SEC. 7. TRAVEL IN CONNECTION WITH AUTHORIZED HY10 DROCARBON EXPLORATION AND EXTRAC11 TION ACTIVITIES. 

12 Section 910 of the Trade Sanctions Reform and Ex13 port Enhancement Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7209) is 

14 amended by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(c) GENERAL LICENSE AUTHORITY FOR TRAVEL16 RELATED EXPENDITURES BY PERSONS ENGAGING IN

17 HYDROCARBON EXPLORATION AND EXTRACTION ACTIVI18 TIES.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the 

20 Treasury shall authorize under a general license the 

21 travel-related transactions listed in section 

22 515.560(c) of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, 

23 for travel to, from, or within Cuba in connection 

24 with exploration for and the extraction of hydro25 carbon resources in any part of a foreign maritime 


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1 Exclusive Economic Zone that is contiguous to the 

2 United States’ Exclusive Economic Zone. 

3 ‘‘(2) PERSONS AUTHORIZED.—Persons author4 ized to travel to Cuba under this section include full5 time employees, executives, agents, and consultants 

6 of oil and gas producers, distributors, and ship7 pers.’’. 

Æ 


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