II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1560 

To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to provide for the sharing 

of certain outer Continental Shelf revenues from areas in the Alaska 

Adjacent Zone. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 3, 2009 

Mr. BEGICH 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 provide 

for the sharing of certain outer Continental Shelf revenues from areas in the Alaska Adjacent Zone. 

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 ‘‘Alaska Adjacent Zone 

5 Revenue Sharing Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the United States is an Arctic nation 

9 with— 


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1 (A) an approximately 700-mile border with 

2 the Arctic Ocean; 

3 (B) more than 100,000,000 acres of land 

4 above the Arctic Circle; and 

5 (C) an even broader area defined as Arctic 

6 by temperature, which includes the Bering Sea 

7 and Aleutian Islands; 

8 (2) the Arctic region of the United States— 

9 (A) is home to an indigenous population 

10 that has subsisted for millennia on the abun11 dance of marine mammals, fish, and wildlife in 

12 the Arctic region, many of which are unique to 

13 the region; 

14 (B) is known to the indigenous population 

15 as Inuvikput or the ‘‘place where we live’’; and 

16 (C) has produced more than 

17 16,000,000,000 barrels of oil and, according to 

18 the United States Geological Survey, may hold 

19 an additional 30,000,000,000 barrels of oil and 

20 220,000,000,000,000 cubic feet of natural gas, 

21 making the region of fundamental importance 

22 to the national interest of the United States; 

23 (3) temperatures in the United States Arctic re24 gion have warmed by 3 to 4 degrees Celsius over the 


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1 past half-century, a rate of increase that is twice the 

2 global average; 

3 (4) the Arctic ice pack is rapidly diminishing 

4 and thinning, and the National Oceanic and Atmos5 pheric Administration estimates the Arctic Ocean 

6 may be ice-free during summer months in as few as 

7 30 years; 

8 (5) those changes to the Arctic region are hav9 ing a significant impact on the indigenous people of 

10 the Arctic, the communities and ecosystems of the 

11 people, as well as the marine mammals, fish, and 

12 wildlife on which the people depend; and 

13 (6) those changes are opening new portions of 

14 the United States Arctic continental shelf to possible 

15 development for offshore oil and gas, commercial 

16 fishing, marine shipping, and tourism. 

17 SEC. 3. REVENUE SHARING FROM AREAS IN ALASKA ADJA18 CENT ZONE. 

19 Section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

20 (43 U.S.C. 1344) is amended by adding at the end the 

21 following: 

22 ‘‘(i) REVENUE SHARING FROM AREAS IN ALASKA

23 ADJACENT ZONE.— 

24 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(A) COASTAL POLITICAL SUBDIVISION.— 

2 The term ‘coastal political subdivision’ means a 

3 county-equivalent subdivision of the State all or 

4 part of which— 

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

6 defined in section 304 of the Coastal Zone 

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

8 1453)); and 

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

10 more than 300 statute miles from the geo11 graphical center of any leased tract. 

12 ‘‘(B) DISTANCE.—The terms ‘distance’ 

13 means minimum great circle distance. 

14 ‘‘(C) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian 

15 tribe’ means an Alaska Native entity recognized 

16 and eligible to receive services from the Bureau 

17 of Indian Affairs, the headquarters of which is 

18 located within 300 miles of the geographical 

19 center of a leased tract. 

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

21 tract’ means a tract leased under this Act for 

22 the purpose of drilling for, developing, and pro23 ducing oil or natural gas resources. 

24 ‘‘(E) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means the 

25 State of Alaska. 


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1 ‘‘(2) BONUS BIDS.—Subject to paragraphs (4), 

2 (5), and (6), effective beginning on the date that is 

3 5 years after the date of enactment of this sub4 section, the State shall, without further appropria5 tion or action, receive 37.5 percent of any bonus bid 

6 paid for leasing rights for any area in the Alaska 

7 Adjacent Zone. 

8 ‘‘(3) POST LEASING REVENUES.—Subject to 

9 paragraphs (4), (5), and (6), in addition to bonus 

10 bids under paragraph (1), the State shall receive, 

11 from leasing of the area, 37.5 percent of— 

12 ‘‘(A) any lease rental payments; 

13 ‘‘(B) any lease royalty payments; 

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

15 royalties taken in kind by the Secretary; and 

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

17 system under section 8. 

18 ‘‘(4) ALLOCATION AMONG COASTAL POLITICAL

19 SUBDIVISIONS OF THE STATE.— 

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

21 pay 20 percent of any allocable share of the 

22 State, as determined under paragraphs (2) and 

23 (3), directly to coastal political subdivisions. 

24 ‘‘(B) ALLOCATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For each leased 

2 tract used to calculate the allocation of the 

3 State, the Secretary shall pay the coastal 

4 political subdivisions within 300 miles of 

5 the geographical center of the leased tract 

6 based on the relative distance of the coast7 al political subdivisions from the leased 

8 tract in accordance with this subpara9 graph. 

10 ‘‘(ii) DISTANCES.—For each coastal 

11 political subdivision, the Secretary shall de12 termine the distance between the point on 

13 the coastal political subdivision coastline 

14 closest to the geographical center of the 

15 leased tract and the geographical center of 

16 the tract. 

17 ‘‘(iii) PAYMENTS.—The Secretary 

18 shall divide and allocate the qualified outer 

19 Continental Shelf revenues derived from 

20 the leased tract among coastal political 

21 subdivisions in amounts that are inversely 

22 proportional to the applicable distances de23 termined under clause (ii). 

24 ‘‘(5) ALLOCATION AMONG REGIONAL CORPORA25 TIONS.— 


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

2 pay 33 percent of any allocable share of the 

3 State, as determined under this subsection, di4 rectly to certain Regional Corporations estab5 lished under section 7(a) of the Alaska Native 

6 Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1606(a)). 

7 ‘‘(B) ALLOCATION.— 

8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For each leased 

9 tract used to calculate the allocation of the 

10 State, the Secretary shall pay the Regional 

11 Corporations, after determining those Na12 tive villages within the region of the Re13 gional Corporation which are within 300 

14 miles of the geographical center of the 

15 leased tract based on the relative distance 

16 of such villages from the leased tract, in 

17 accordance with this paragraph. 

18 ‘‘(ii) DISTANCES.—For each such vil19 lage, the Secretary shall determine the dis20 tance between the point in the village clos21 est to the geographical center of the leased 

22 tract and the geographical center of the 

23 tract. 

24 ‘‘(iii) PAYMENTS.—The Secretary 

25 shall divide and allocate the qualified outer 


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1 Continental Shelf revenues derived from 

2 the leased tract among the qualifying Re3 gional Corporations in amounts that are 

4 inversely proportional to the distances of 

5 all of the Native villages within each quali6 fying region. 

7 ‘‘(iv) REVENUES.—All revenues re8 ceived by each Regional Corporation shall 

9 be— 

10 ‘‘(I) treated by the Regional Cor11 poration as revenue subject to the dis12 tribution requirements of section 

13 7(i)(1)(A) of the Alaska Native 

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

15 1606(i)(1)(A)); and 

16 ‘‘(II) divided annually by the Re17 gional Corporation among all 12 Re18 gional Corporations in accordance 

19 with section 7(i) of that Act. 

20 ‘‘(v) FURTHER DISTRIBUTION.—A Re21 gional Corporation receiving revenues 

22 under clause (iv)(II) shall further dis23 tribute 50 percent of the revenues received 

24 in accordance with section 7(j) of the AlasVerDate Nov 24 2008 22:48 Aug 04, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1560.IS S1560

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1 ka Native Claims Settlement Act (43 

2 U.S.C. 1606(j)). 

3 ‘‘(6) ALLOCATION AMONG INDIAN TRIBES.— 

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

5 pay 7 percent of any allocable share of the 

6 State, as determined under this subsection, di7 rectly to Indian tribes. 

8 ‘‘(B) ALLOCATION.— 

9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For each leased 

10 tract used to calculate the allocation of the 

11 State, the Secretary shall pay Indian tribes 

12 based on the relative distance of the head13 quarters of the Indian tribes from the 

14 leased tract, in accordance with this sub15 paragraph. 

16 ‘‘(ii) DISTANCES.—For each Indian 

17 tribe, the Secretary shall determine the 

18 distance between the location of the head19 quarters of the Indian tribe and the geo20 graphical center of the tract. 

21 ‘‘(iii) PAYMENTS.—The Secretary 

22 shall divide and allocate the qualified outer 

23 Continental Shelf revenues derived from 

24 the leased tract among the Indian tribes in 


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1 amounts that are inversely proportional to 

2 the distances described in clause (ii). 

3 ‘‘(7) CONSERVATION ROYALTY.—After making 

4 distributions under paragraphs (2) and (3) and sec5 tion 31, the Secretary shall, without further appro6 priation or action, distribute a conservation royalty 

7 equal to 6.25 percent of Federal royalty revenues de8 rived from an area leased under this subsection from 

9 all areas leased under this subsection for any year, 

10 into the land and water conservation fund estab11 lished under section 2 of the Land and Water Con12 servation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l–5) to 

13 provide financial assistance to States under section 

14 6 of that Act (16 U.S.C. 460l–8). 

15 ‘‘(8) DEFICIT REDUCTION.—After making dis16 tributions in accordance with paragraphs (2) and (3) 

17 and in accordance with section 31, the Secretary 

18 shall, without further appropriation or action, dis19 tribute an amount equal to 6.25 percent of Federal 

20 royalty revenues derived from an area leased under 

21 this subsection from all areas leased under this sub22 section for any year, into direct Federal deficit re23 duction.’’. 

Æ 


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