II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1700 

To require certain issuers to disclose payments to foreign governments for 

the commercial development of oil, natural gas, and minerals, to express 

the sense of Congress that the President should disclose any payment 

relating to the commercial development of oil, natural gas, and minerals 

on Federal land, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 23, 2009 

Mr. LUGAR (for himself, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. WICKER, Mr. FEINGOLD, and Mr. WHITEHOUSE) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To require certain issuers to disclose payments to foreign 

governments for the commercial development of oil, natural gas, and minerals, to express the sense of Congress 

that the President should disclose any payment relating 

to the commercial development of oil, natural gas, and 

minerals on Federal land, 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 ‘‘Energy Security 

5 Through Transparency Act of 2009’’. 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1700 IS

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) It is in the interest of the United States to 

4 promote good governance in the extractive industries 

5 sector because good governance strengthens the na6 tional security and foreign policy of the United 

7 States, contributes to a better investment climate for 

8 businesses in the United States, increases the reli9 ability of commodity supplies upon which businesses 

10 and people in the United States rely, and promotes 

11 greater energy security. 

12 (2) Developing countries that derive a signifi13 cant portion of revenues from natural resource ex14 traction tend to have higher poverty rates, weaker 

15 governance, higher rates of conflict, and poorer de16 velopment records than countries that do not rely on 

17 resource revenues. The consequences of what is 

18 known as the ‘‘resource curse’’ including the erosion 

19 of civil society, a rise in internal conflicts and re20 gional violence, and the proliferation of terrorism are 

21 likely to pose a long-term threat to the national se22 curity, foreign policy, and economic interests of the 

23 United States. 

24 (3) Transparency in revenue payments to gov25 ernments enables citizens to hold their leaders more 

26 accountable. 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1700 IS

1 (4) There is a growing consensus among oil, 

2 gas, and mining companies that transparency in rev3 enue payments is good for business, since it im4 proves the business climate in which they work and 

5 fosters good governance and accountability. 

6 (5) Transparency in revenue payments benefits 

7 shareholders of corporations that make such pay8 ments because such shareholders have a desire to 

9 know the amount of such payments in order to as10 sess financial risk, compare payments from country 

11 to country, and assess whether such payments help 

12 to create a more stable investment climate. Undis13 closed payments may be perceived as corrupt and as 

14 decreasing the value of the corporation. 

15 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO TRANS16 PARENCY FOR EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES. 

17 It is the sense of Congress that— 

18 (1) the President should work with foreign gov19 ernments, including members of the Group of 8 and 

20 the Group of 20, to establish domestic requirements 

21 that companies under the jurisdiction of each gov22 ernment publicly disclose any payments made to a 

23 government relating to the commercial development 

24 of oil, natural gas, and minerals; and 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1700 IS

1 (2) the United States Government should com2 mit to global leadership of transparency in extractive 

3 industries by supporting— 

4 (A) multilateral pro-transparency efforts, 

5 such as the Extractive Industries Transparency 

6 Initiative, in revenue collection, budgeting, ex7 penditure, and wealth management; 

8 (B) bilateral efforts to promote good gov9 ernance in the extractive industries through 

10 United States missions and activities abroad; 

11 (C) the implementation of extractive indus12 tries reporting requirements for companies 

13 under the jurisdiction of the United States 

14 similar to the requirements established under 

15 section 6 of this Act; and 

16 (D) efforts to persuade other members of 

17 the Organization for Economic Cooperation and 

18 Development and Asia-Pacific Economic Co19 operation to adopt uniform legislation to ensure 

20 a coordinated regulatory approach. 

21 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO THE EXTRAC22 TIVE INDUSTRY TRANSPARENCY INITIATIVE. 

23 It is the sense of Congress that the President should 

24 commit the United States to become a Candidate Country 

25 of the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative. 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1700 IS

1 SEC. 5. DISCLOSURE OF PAYMENTS TO THE UNITED 

2 STATES. 

3 The Secretary of the Interior shall disclose to the 

4 public any payment (as that term is defined in section 

5 13(m) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 

6 78m(m)), as added by section 6 of this Act) relating to 

7 the commercial development of oil, natural gas, and min8 erals on Federal land made by any person to the Federal 

9 Government. 

10 SEC. 6. DISCLOSURE OF PAYMENTS BY RESOURCE EXTRAC11 TION ISSUERS. 

12 Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

13 (15 U.S.C. 78m) is amended by adding at the end the 

14 following: 

15 ‘‘(m) DISCLOSURE OF PAYMENT BY RESOURCE EX16 TRACTION ISSUERS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

18 ‘‘(A) the term ‘commercial development of 

19 oil, natural gas, or minerals’ includes the acqui20 sition of a license, exploration, extraction, proc21 essing, export, and other significant actions re22 lating to oil, natural gas, or minerals, as deter23 mined by the Commission; 

24 ‘‘(B) the term ‘foreign government’ means 

25 a foreign government, an officer or employee of 

26 a foreign government, an agent of a foreign 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 1700 IS

1 government, a company owned by a foreign gov2 ernment, or a person who will provide a per3 sonal benefit to an officer of a government if 

4 that person receives a payment, as determined 

5 by the Commission; 

6 ‘‘(C) the term ‘payment’— 

7 ‘‘(i) means a payment that is— 

8 ‘‘(I) made to further the commer9 cial development of oil, natural gas, or 

10 minerals; and 

11 ‘‘(II) not de minimis; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) includes taxes, royalties, fees, li13 censes, production entitlements, bonuses, 

14 and other material benefits, as determined 

15 by the Commission; and 

16 ‘‘(D) the term ‘resource extraction issuer’ 

17 means an issuer that— 

18 ‘‘(i) is required to file an annual re19 port with the Commission; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) engages in the commercial devel21 opment of oil, natural gas, or minerals. 

22 ‘‘(2) DISCLOSURE.— 

23 ‘‘(A) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—Not later 

24 than 270 days after the date of enactment of 

25 the Energy Security Through Transparency Act 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 1700 IS

1 of 2009, the Commission shall issue final rules 

2 that require each resource extraction issuer to 

3 include in the annual report of the resource ex4 traction issuer information relating to any pay5 ment made by the resource extraction issuer, a 

6 subsidiary or partner of the resource extraction 

7 issuer, or an entity under the control of the re8 source extraction issuer to a foreign government 

9 for the purpose of the commercial development 

10 of oil, natural gas, or minerals, including— 

11 ‘‘(i) the type and total amount of such 

12 payments made for each project of the re13 source extraction issuer relating to the 

14 commercial development of oil, natural gas, 

15 or minerals; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) the type and total amount of 

17 such payments made to each foreign gov18 ernment. 

19 ‘‘(B) INTERNATIONAL TRANSPARENCY EF20 FORTS.—To the extent practicable, the rules 

21 issued under subparagraph (A) shall support 

22 the commitment of the United States Govern23 ment to international transparency promotion 

24 efforts relating to the commercial development 

25 of oil, natural gas, or minerals. 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 1700 IS

1 ‘‘(C) EFFECTIVE DATE.—With respect to 

2 each resource extraction issuer, the final rules 

3 issued under subparagraph (A) shall take effect 

4 on the date on which the resource extraction 

5 issuer is required to submit an annual report 

6 relating to the fiscal year of the resource ex7 traction issuer that ends not earlier than 1 year 

8 after the date on which the Commission issues 

9 final rules under subparagraph (A). 

10 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To the extent prac12 ticable, the Commission shall make available 

13 online, to the public, a compilation of the infor14 mation required to be submitted under the rules 

15 issued under paragraph (2)(A). 

16 ‘‘(B) OTHER INFORMATION.—Nothing in 

17 this paragraph shall require the Commission to 

18 make available online information other than 

19 the information required to be submitted under 

20 the rules issued under paragraph (2)(A). 

21 ‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

22 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Com23 mission such sums as may be necessary to carry out 

24 this subsection.’’. 

Æ 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS