II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 45

To amend the Helium Act to require the Secretary of the Interior to sell

Federal real and personal property held in connection with activities

carried out under the Helium Act, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 4, 1995

Mr. FEINGOLD introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To amend the Helium Act to require the Secretary of the

Interior to sell Federal real and personal property held

in connection with activities carried out under the Helium Act, 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 Helium Reform amd

5 Deficit Reduction Act of 1995.

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT OF HELIUM ACT.

7 Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in

8 this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms
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1 of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi2 sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a

3 section or other provision of the Helium Act (50 U.S.C.

4 167 to 167n).

5 SEC. 3. AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.

6 Sections 3, 4, and 5 are amended to read as follows:

7 ‘‘SEC. 3. AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.

8 ‘‘(a) EXTRACTION AND DISPOSAL OF HELIUM ON

9 FEDERAL LANDS.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may enter

11 into agreements with private parties for the recovery

12 and disposal of helium on Federal lands upon such

13 terms and conditions as he deems fair, reasonable

14 and necessary.

15 ‘‘(2) LEASEHOLD RIGHTS.—The Secretary may

16 grant leasehold rights to any such helium.

17 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may not

18 enter into any agreement by which the Secretary

19 sells such helium other than to a private party with

20 whom the Secretary has an agreement for recovery

21 and disposal of helium.

22 ‘‘(4) REGULATIONS.—Agreements under para23 graph (1) may be subject to such regulations as may

24 be prescribed by the Secretary.
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1 ‘‘(5) EXISTING RIGHTS.—An agreement under

2 paragraph (1) shall be subject to any rights of any

3 affected Federal oil and gas lessee that may be in

4 existence prior to the date of the agreement.

5 ‘‘(6) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—An agreement

6 under paragraph (1) (and any extension or renewal

7 of an agreement) shall contain such terms and con8 ditions as the Secretary may consider appropriate.

9 ‘‘(7) PRIOR AGREEMENTS.—This subsection

10 shall not in any manner affect or diminish the rights

11 and obligations of the Secretary and private parties

12 under agreements to dispose of helium produced

13 from Federal lands in existence on the date of enact14 ment of the Helium Act of 1995 except to the extent

15 that such agreements are renewed or extended after

16 that date.

17 ‘‘(b) STORAGE, TRANSPORTATION AND SALE.—The

18 Secretary may store, transport, and sell helium only in ac19 cordance with this Act.

20 ‘‘(c) MONITORING AND REPORTING.—The Secretary

21 may monitor helium production and helium reserves in the

22 United States and periodically prepare reports regarding

23 the amounts of helium produced and the quantity of crude

24 helium in storage in the United States.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 4. STORAGE AND TRANSPORTATION OF CRUDE HE2 LIUM.

3 ‘‘(a) STORAGE AND TRANSPORTATION.—The Sec4 retary may store and transport crude helium and maintain

5 and operate crude helium storage facilities, in existence

6 on the date of enactment of the Helium Act of 1995 at

7 the Bureau of Mines Cliffside Field, and related helium

8 transportation and withdrawal facilities.

9 ‘‘(b) CESSATION OF PRODUCTION, REFINING, AND

10 MARKETING.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after

12 the date of enactment of the Helium Act of 1995,

13 the Secretary shall cease producing, refining, and

14 marketing refined helium and shall cease carrying

15 out all other activities relating to helium which the

16 Secretary was authorized to carry out under this Act

17 before the date of enactment of the Helium Act of

18 1995, except those activities described in subsection

19 (a).

20 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT OWNED BY THE UNITED

21 STATES.—The amount of helium reserves owned by

22 the United States and stored in the Bureau of Mines

23 Cliffside Field at the date of cessation of activities,

24 less 600,000,000 cubic feet, shall be the helium re25 serves owned by the United States required to be

26 sold pursuant to section 8(b).
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1 ‘‘(c) DISPOSAL OF FACILITIES.—

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (5),

3 not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of

4 the Helium Act of 1995, the Secretary shall dispose

5 of all facilities, equipment, and other real and per6 sonal property, and all interests therein, held by the

7 United States for the purpose of producing, refining

8 and marketing refined helium.

9 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE LAW.—The disposal of such

10 property shall be in accordance with the provisions

11 of law governing the disposal of excess or surplus

12 properties of the United States.

13 ‘‘(3) PROCEEDS.—All proceeds accruing to the

14 United States by reason of the sale or other disposal

15 of such property shall be treated as moneys received

16 under this chapter for purposes of section 6(f).

17 ‘‘(4) COSTS.—All costs associated with such

18 sale and disposal (including costs associated with

19 termination of personnel) and with the cessation of

20 activities under subsection (b) shall be paid from

21 amounts available in the helium production fund es22 tablished under section 6(f).

23 ‘‘(5) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not

24 apply to any facilities, equipment, or other real or

25 personal property, or any interest therein, necessary
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1 for the storage and transportation of crude helium

2 or any equipment needed to maintain the purity,

3 quality control, and quality assurance of helium in

4 the reserve.

5 ‘‘(d) EXISTING CONTRACTS.—

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—All contracts that were en7 tered into by any person with the Secretary for the

8 purchase by the person from the Secretary of refined

9 helium and that are in effect on the date of the en10 actment of the Helium Act of 1995 shall remain in

11 force and effect until the date on which the facilities

12 described in subsection (c) are disposed of.

13 ‘‘(2) COSTS.—Any costs associated with the ter14 mination of contracts described in paragraph (1)

15 shall be paid from the helium production fund estab16 lished under section 6(f).

17 ‘‘SEC. 5. FEES FOR STORAGE, TRANSPORTATION AND WITH18 DRAWAL.

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Whenever the Secretary provides

20 helium storage, withdrawal, or transportation services to

21 any person, the Secretary shall impose a fee on the person

22 to reimburse the Secretary for the full costs of providing

23 such storage, transportation, and withdrawal.
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1 ‘‘(b) TREATMENT.—All fees received by the Secretary

2 under subsection (a) shall be treated as moneys received

3 under this Act for purposes of section 6(f).’’.

4 SEC. 4. SALE OF CRUDE HELIUM.

5 Section 6 is amended—

6 (1) in subsection (a) by striking ‘‘from the Sec7 retary’’ and inserting ‘‘from persons who have en8 tered into enforceable contracts to purchase an

9 equivalent amount of crude helium from the Sec10 retary’’;

11 (2) in subsection (b)—

12 (A) by inserting ‘‘crude’’ before ‘‘helium’’;

13 and

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

15 ‘‘Except as may be required by reason of sub16 section (a), the Secretary shall not make sales

17 of crude helium under this section in such

18 amounts as will disrupt the market price of

19 crude helium.’’;

20 (3) in subsection (c)—

21 (A) by inserting ‘‘crude’’ after ‘‘Sales of’’;

22 and

23 (B) by striking ‘‘together with interest as

24 provided in this subsection’’ and all that follows

25 through the end of such subsection and insert-
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1 ing ‘‘all funds required to be repaid to the

2 United States as of October 1, 1994 under this

3 section (hereinafter referred to as ‘repayable

4 amounts’). The price at which crude helium is

5 sold by the Secretary shall not be less than the

6 amount determined by the Secretary as follows:

7 ‘‘(1) Divide the outstanding amount of such re8 payable amounts by the volume (in mcf) of crude he9 lium owned by the United States and stored in the

10 Bureau of Mines Cliffside Field at the time of the

11 sale concerned.

12 ‘‘(2) Adjust the amount determined under para13 graph (1) by the Consumer Price Index for years be14 ginning after December 31, 1994.’’;

15 (4) by striking subsection (d) and inserting the

16 following:

17 ‘‘(d) EXTRACTION OF HELIUM FROM DEPOSITS ON

18 FEDERAL LANDS.—All moneys received by the Secretary

19 from the sale or disposition of helium on Federal lands

20 shall be paid to the Treasury and credited against the

21 amounts required to be repaid to the Treasury under sub22 section (c).’’;

23 (5) by striking subsection (e); and

24 (6) in subsection (f)—

25 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(f)’’; and
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1 (B) by adding the following at the end:

2 ‘‘(2)(A) Within 7 days after the commencement of

3 each fiscal year after the disposal of the facilities referred

4 to in section 4(c), all amounts in such fund in excess of

5 $2,000,000 (or such lesser sum as the Secretary deems

6 necessary to carry out this Act during such fiscal year)

7 shall be paid to the Treasury and credited as provided in

8 paragraph (1).

9 ‘‘(B) Upon repayment of all amounts referred to in

10 subsection (c), the fund established under this section

11 shall be terminated and all moneys received under this Act

12 shall be deposited in the Treasury as General Revenues.’’.

13 SEC. 5. ELIMINATION OF STOCKPILE.

14 Section 8 is amended to read as follows:

15 ‘‘SEC. 8. ELIMINATION OF STOCKPILE.

16 ‘‘(a) REVIEW OF RESERVES.—The Secretary shall re17 view annually the known helium reserves in the United

18 States and make a determination as to the expected life

19 of the domestic helium reserves (other than federally

20 owned helium stored at the Cliffside Reservoir) at that

21 time.

22 ‘‘(b) STOCKPILE SALES.—

23 ‘‘(1) COMMENCEMENT.—Not later than Janu24 ary 1, 2005, the Secretary shall commence offering

25 for sale crude helium from helium reserves owned by
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1 the United States in such minimum annual amounts

2 as would be necessary to dispose of all such helium

3 reserves in excess of 600,000,000 cubic feet on a

4 straight-line basis between that date and January 1,

5 2015.

6 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM PRICE.—The minimum price for

7 all sales under paragraph (1), as determined by the

8 Secretary in consultation with the helium industry,

9 shall be such price as will ensure repayment of the

10 amounts required to be repaid to the Treasury under

11 section 6(c).

12 ‘‘(3) DEFERMENT.—The minimum annual sales

13 requirement may be deferred only to the extent that

14 the Secretary is unable to arrange sales at the mini15 mum price.

16 ‘‘(4) TIMES OF SALE.—The sales shall be at

17 such times during each year and in such lots as the

18 Secretary determines, in consultation with the he19 lium industry, are necessary to carry out this sub20 section with minimum market disruption.

21 ‘‘(c) DISCOVERY OF ADDITIONAL RESERVES.—The

22 discovery of additional helium reserves shall not affect the

23 duty of the Secretary to make sales of helium under sub24 section (b).’’.
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1 SEC. 6. REPEAL OF AUTHORITY TO BORROW.

2 Sections 12 and 15 are repealed.

3 SEC. 7. REPORTS.

4 Section 16 is amended—

5 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) BY THE SECRETARY.—’’

6 before ‘‘The Secretary’’; and

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

8 ‘‘(b) BY THE INSPECTOR GENERAL.—

9 ‘‘(1) FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.—The Inspector

10 General of the Department of the Interior shall

11 cause to be prepared, not later than March 31 fol12 lowing each fiscal year commencing with the date of

13 enactment of the Helium Act of 1995, annual finan14 cial statements for the helium operations of the Bu15 reau of Mines.

16 ‘‘(2) COOPERATION.—The Director of the Bu17 reau of Mines shall cooperate with the Inspector

18 General in carrying out paragraph (1), and shall

19 provide the Inspector General with such personnel

20 and accounting assistance as may be necessary for

21 that purpose.

22 ‘‘(3) CONTENTS.—

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The financial state24 ments shall be comprised of—

25 ‘‘(i) a balance sheet reflecting the

26 overall financial position of the helium op-
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1 erations, including assets and liabilities

2 thereof;

3 ‘‘(ii) a statement of operations reflect4 ing the fiscal period results of the helium

5 operations;

6 ‘‘(iii) a statement of cash flows or

7 changes in financial position of the helium

8 operations; and

9 ‘‘(iv) a reconciliation of budget reports

10 of the helium operations.

11 ‘‘(B) STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS.—A

12 statement of operations shall include the reve13 nues from, and costs of, sales of crude helium,

14 the storage and transportation of crude helium,

15 the production, refining and marketing of re16 fined helium, and the maintenance and oper17 ation of helium storage facilities at the Bureau

18 of Mines Cliffside Field.

19 ‘‘(C) BALANCE SHEET.—

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The balance sheet

21 shall include—

22 ‘‘(I) on the asset side, the

23 present discounted market value of

24 crude helium reserves; and
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1 ‘‘(II) on the liability side, the ac2 crued liability for principal and inter3 est on debt to the United States.

4 ‘‘(ii) FOR REPORTING PURPOSES.—

5 For financial reporting purposes but not in

6 connection with the determination of sales

7 prices in section 6(c), the balance sheet

8 shall include accrued but unpaid interest

9 on outstanding repayable amounts (as de10 scribed in section 6(c)) through the date of

11 the report, calculated at the same rates as

12 such interest was calculated prior to the

13 date of enactment of the Helium Act of

14 1995.

15 ‘‘(D) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph:

16 ‘‘(i) REVENUES.—The term ‘revenues’

17 does not include—

18 ‘‘(I) royalties paid to the United

19 States for production of helium or

20 other extraction of resources, except

21 to the extent that the helium oper22 ations incur direct costs in connection

23 therewith; or

24 ‘‘(II) proceeds from sales of as25 sets other than inventory.
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1 ‘‘(ii) EXPENSES.—The term ‘ex2 penses’ includes—

3 ‘‘(I) all labor costs of the Bureau

4 of Mines helium operations, and of

5 the Department of the Interior in con6 nection therewith; and

7 ‘‘(II) for financial reporting pur8 poses but not in connection with the

9 determination of sales prices under

10 section 6(c), all current-period interest

11 on outstanding repayable amounts (as

12 described in section 6(c)) calculated at

13 the same rates as such interest was

14 calculated prior to the date of enact15 ment of the Helium Act of 1995.

16 ‘‘(4) AUDITS.—

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The financial state18 ments shall be audited annually by the Comp19 troller General of the United States, who shall

20 submit a report on such audits to the Secretary

21 of the Interior and Congress not later than

22 June 30 following the end of the fiscal year for

23 which they are prepared.

24 ‘‘(B) STANDARDS.—Each audit under sub25 paragraph (A) shall be prepared in accordance
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1 with generally accepted government auditing

2 standards.’’.

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