I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 866 

To achieve domestic energy independence by empowering States to control 

the development and production of all forms of energy on all available 

Federal land. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 11, 2015 

Mrs. BLACK (for herself, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. FINCHER, Mr. 

FLEISCHMANN, Mr. DESJARLAIS, Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee, Mr. ROE

of Tennessee, Mr. PITTENGER, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. ZINKE, Mr. 

GRAVES of Missouri, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. FARENTHOLD, Mr. STEWART, 

Mr. DUNCAN of South Carolina, Mr. SMITH of Missouri, Mr. CHAFFETZ, 

Mr. TIPTON, Mr. SALMON, Mr. POMPEO, Mr. CRAMER, and Mr. 

HUELSKAMP) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To achieve domestic energy independence by empowering 

States to control the development and production of all 

forms of energy on all available Federal land. 

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 ‘‘Federal Land Freedom 

5 Act of 2015’’. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 866 IH

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that— 

3 (1) as of the date of enactment of this Act— 

4 (A) 113,000,000 acres of onshore Federal 

5 land are open and accessible for oil and gas de6 velopment; and 

7 (B) approximately 166,000,000 acres of 

8 onshore Federal land are off-limits or inacces9 sible for oil and gas development; 

10 (2) despite the recent oil and gas boom in the 

11 United States, the number of acres of Federal land 

12 leased for oil and gas exploration has decreased by 

13 24 percent since 2008; 

14 (3) in 2013, the Federal Government leased 

15 only 36,000,000 acres of Federal land, in contrast to 

16 the 131,000,000 acres that were leased in 1984; 

17 (4) the reduction in leasing of Federal land 

18 harms economic growth and Federal revenues; 

19 (5) in 2013, it took 197 days to process appli20 cations for permits to drill on Federal land; and 

21 (6) the States have extensive and sufficient reg22 ulatory frameworks for permitting oil and gas devel23 opment. 

24 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

25 In this Act: 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 866 IH

1 (1) AVAILABLE FEDERAL LAND.—The term 

2 ‘‘available Federal land’’ means any Federal land 

3 that, as of May 31, 2013— 

4 (A) is located within the boundaries of a 

5 State; 

6 (B) is not held by the United States in 

7 trust for the benefit of a federally recognized 

8 Indian tribe; 

9 (C) is not a unit of the National Park Sys10 tem; 

11 (D) is not a unit of the National Wildlife 

12 Refuge System; and 

13 (E) is not a congressionally designated wil14 derness area. 

15 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 

16 (A) a State; and 

17 (B) the District of Columbia. 

18 (3) STATE LEASING, PERMITTING, AND REGU19 LATORY PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘State leasing, per20 mitting, and regulatory program’’ means a program 

21 established pursuant to State law that regulates oil 

22 and gas exploration and development on land located 

23 in the State. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 866 IH

1 SEC. 4. STATE CONTROL OF ENERGY DEVELOPMENT AND 

2 PRODUCTION ON ALL AVAILABLE FEDERAL 

3 LAND. 

4 (a) STATE LEASING, PERMITTING, AND REGU5 LATORY PROGRAMS.—Any State that has established a 

6 State leasing, permitting, and regulatory program may— 

7 (1) submit to the Secretaries of the Interior, 

8 Agriculture, and Energy a declaration that a State 

9 leasing, permitting, and regulatory program has 

10 been established or amended; and 

11 (2) seek to transfer responsibility for leasing, 

12 permitting, and regulating oil and gas development 

13 from the Federal Government to the State. 

14 (b) STATE ACTION AUTHORIZED.—Notwithstanding 

15 any other provision of law, on submission of a declaration 

16 under subsection (a)(1), the State submitting the declara17 tion may lease, permit, and regulate oil and gas explo18 ration and development on Federal land located in the 

19 State in lieu of the Federal Government. 

20 (c) EFFECT OF STATE ACTION.—Any action by a 

21 State to lease, permit, or regulate oil and gas exploration 

22 and development pursuant to subsection (b) shall not be 

23 subject to, or considered a Federal action, Federal permit, 

24 or Federal license under— 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 866 IH

1 (1) subchapter II of chapter 5, and chapter 7, 

2 of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as 

3 the ‘‘Administrative Procedure Act’’); 

4 (2) the National Historic Preservation Act (16 

5 U.S.C. 470 et seq.); 

6 (3) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 

7 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); or 

8 (4) the National Environmental Policy Act of 

9 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

10 SEC. 5. NO EFFECT ON FEDERAL REVENUES. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any lease or permit issued by a 

12 State pursuant to section 4 shall include provisions for 

13 the collection of royalties or other revenues in an amount 

14 equal to the amount of royalties or revenues that would 

15 have been collected if the lease or permit had been issued 

16 by the Federal Government. 

17 (b) DISPOSITION OF REVENUES.—Any revenues col18 lected by a State from leasing or permitting on Federal 

19 land pursuant to section 4 shall be deposited in the same 

20 Federal account in which the revenues would have been 

21 deposited if the lease or permit had been issued by the 

22 Federal Government. 

23 (c) EFFECT ON STATE PROCESSING FEES.—Nothing 

24 in this Act prohibits a State from collecting and retaining 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 866 IH

1 a fee from an applicant to cover the administrative costs 

2 of processing an application for a lease or permit. 

Æ 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS