II 

Calendar No. 50 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1229 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 12, 2011 

Received; read the first time 

MAY 16, 2011 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 

AN ACT 

To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to facilitate the safe and timely production of American energy 

resources from the Gulf of Mexico, to require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct certain offshore oil 

and gas lease sales, 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 title may be cited as the ‘‘Putting the Gulf of 

5 Mexico Back to Work Act’’. 


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1 TITLE I—AMENDMENT TO THE 

2 OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF 

3 LANDS ACT 

4 SEC. 101. AMENDMENT TO OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF 

5 LANDS ACT. 

6 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 11(d) of the Outer Conti7 nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1340(d)) is amended 

8 to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(d) DRILLING PERMITS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall by reg11 ulation require that any lessee operating under an 

12 approved exploration plan— 

13 ‘‘(A) must obtain a permit before drilling 

14 any well in accordance with such plan; and 

15 ‘‘(B) must obtain a new permit before 

16 drilling any well of a design that is significantly 

17 different than the design for which an existing 

18 permit was issued. 

19 ‘‘(2) SAFETY REVIEW REQUIRED.—The Sec20 retary shall not issue a permit under paragraph (1) 

21 without ensuring that the proposed drilling oper22 ations meet all— 

23 ‘‘(A) critical safety system requirements, 

24 including blowout prevention; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) oil spill response and containment re2 quirements. 

3 ‘‘(3) TIMELINE.— 

4 ‘‘(A) The Secretary shall decide whether to 

5 issue a permit under paragraph (1) within 30 

6 days after receiving an application for the per7 mit. The Secretary may extend such period for 

8 up to two periods of 15 days each, if the Sec9 retary has given written notice of the delay to 

10 the applicant. The notice shall be in the form 

11 of a letter from the Secretary or a designee of 

12 the Secretary, and shall include the names and 

13 titles of the persons processing the application, 

14 the specific reasons for the delay, and a specific 

15 date a final decision on the application is ex16 pected. 

17 ‘‘(B) If the application is denied, the Sec18 retary shall provide the applicant— 

19 ‘‘(i) in writing, clear and comprehen20 sive reasons why the application was not 

21 accepted and detailed information con22 cerning any deficiencies, and 

23 ‘‘(ii) an opportunity to remedy any de24 ficiencies. 


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1 ‘‘(C) If the Secretary has not made a deci2 sion on the application by the end of the 60-day 

3 period beginning on the date the application is 

4 received by the Secretary, the application is 

5 deemed approved.’’. 

6 (b) DEADLINE FOR CERTAIN PERMIT APPLICATIONS

7 UNDER EXISTING LEASES.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the amend9 ment made by subsection (a), a lease under which a 

10 covered application is submitted to the Secretary of 

11 the Interior shall be considered to be in directed sus12 pension during the period beginning May 27, 2010, 

13 and ending on the date the Secretary issues a final 

14 decision on the application, if the Secretary does not 

15 issue a final decision on the application— 

16 (A) before the end of the 30-day period be17 ginning on the date of enactment of this Act, 

18 in the case of a covered application submitted 

19 before such date of enactment; or 

20 (B) before the end of the 30-day period be21 ginning on the date the application is received 

22 by the Secretary, in the case of a covered appli23 cation submitted on or after such date of enact24 ment. 


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1 (2) COVERED APPLICATION.—In this subsection 

2 the term ‘‘covered application’’ means an application 

3 for a permit to drill under an oil and gas lease under 

4 the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act in effect on 

5 the date of enactment of this Act, that— 

6 (A) represents a resubmission of an ap7 proved permit to drill (including an application 

8 for a permit to sidetrack) that was approved by 

9 the Secretary before May 27, 2010; and 

10 (B) is received by the Secretary after Octo11 ber 12, 2010, and before the end of the 30-day 

12 period beginning on the date of enactment of 

13 this Act. 

14 SEC. 102. EXTENSION OF CERTAIN OUTER CONTINENTAL 

15 SHELF LEASES. 

16 (a) DEFINITION OF COVERED LEASE.—In this sec17 tion, the term ‘‘covered lease’’ means each oil and gas 

18 lease for the Gulf of Mexico outer Continental Shelf region 

19 issued under section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf 

20 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337) that— 

21 (1)(A) was not producing as of April 30, 2010; 

22 or 

23 (B) was suspended from operations, permit 

24 processing, or consideration, in accordance with the 

25 moratorium set forth in the Minerals Management 


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1 Service Notice to Lessees and Operators No. 2010– 

2 N04, dated May 30, 2010, or the decision memo3 randum of the Secretary of the Interior entitled 

4 ‘‘Decision memorandum regarding the suspension of 

5 certain offshore permitting and drilling activities on 

6 the Outer Continental Shelf’’ and dated July 12, 

7 2010; and 

8 (2) by its terms would expire on or before De9 cember 31, 2011. 

10 (b) EXTENSION OF COVERED LEASES.—The Sec11 retary of the Interior shall extend the term of a covered 

12 lease by 1 year. 

13 (c) EFFECT ON SUSPENSIONS OF OPERATIONS OR

14 PRODUCTION.—The extension of covered leases under this 

15 section is in addition to any suspension of operations or 

16 suspension of production granted by the Minerals Manage17 ment Service or Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, 

18 Regulation and Enforcement after May 1, 2010. 

19 TITLE II—JUDICIAL REVIEW OF 

20 AGENCY ACTIONS RELATING 

21 TO OUTER CONTINENTAL 

22 SHELF ACTIVITIES IN THE 

23 GULF OF MEXICO 

24 SEC. 201. DEFINITIONS FOR TITLE. 

25 In this title— 


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1 (1) the term ‘‘covered civil action’’ means a civil 

2 action containing a claim under section 702 of title 

3 5, United States Code, regarding agency action (as 

4 defined for the purposes of that section) affecting a 

5 covered energy project in the Gulf of Mexico; and 

6 (2) the term ‘‘covered energy project’’ means 

7 the leasing of Federal lands of the Outer Conti8 nental Shelf (including submerged lands) for the ex9 ploration, development, production, processing, or 

10 transmission of oil, natural gas, wind, or any other 

11 source of energy in the Gulf of Mexico, and any ac12 tion under such a lease, except that the term does 

13 not include any disputes between the parties to a 

14 lease regarding the obligations under such lease, in15 cluding regarding any alleged breach of the lease. 

16 SEC. 202. EXCLUSIVE VENUE FOR CERTAIN CIVIL ACTIONS 

17 RELATING TO COVERED ENERGY PROJECTS 

18 IN THE GULF OF MEXICO. 

19 Venue for any covered civil action shall not lie in any 

20 district court not within the 5th circuit unless there is no 

21 proper venue in any court within that circuit. 

22 SEC. 203. TIME LIMITATION ON FILING. 

23 A covered civil action is barred unless filed no later 

24 than the end of the 60-day period beginning on the date 

25 of the final Federal agency action to which it relates. 


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1 SEC. 204. EXPEDITION IN HEARING AND DETERMINING THE 

2 ACTION. 

3 The court shall endeavor to hear and determine any 

4 covered civil action as expeditiously as possible. 

5 SEC. 205. STANDARD OF REVIEW. 

6 In any judicial review of a covered civil action, admin7 istrative findings and conclusions relating to the chal8 lenged Federal action or decision shall be presumed to be 

9 correct, and the presumption may be rebutted only by the 

10 preponderance of the evidence contained in the adminis11 trative record. 

12 SEC. 206. LIMITATION ON PROSPECTIVE RELIEF. 

13 In a covered civil action, the court shall not grant 

14 or approve any prospective relief unless the court finds 

15 that such relief is narrowly drawn, extends no further than 

16 necessary to correct the violation of a legal requirement, 

17 and is the least intrusive means necessary to correct that 

18 violation. 

19 SEC. 207. LIMITATION ON ATTORNEYS’ FEES. 

20 Sections 504 of title 5, United States Code, and 2412 

21 of title 28, United States Code (together commonly called 

22 the Equal Access to Justice Act) do not apply to a covered 

23 civil action, nor shall any party in such a covered civil ac24 tion receive payment from the Federal Government for 

25 their attorneys’ fees, expenses, and other court costs. 


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1 TITLE III—RESTARTING AMER2 ICAN OFFSHORE LEASING 

3 NOW ACT 

4 SEC. 301. SHORT TITLE. 

5 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Restarting American 

6 Offshore Leasing Now Act’’. 

7 SEC. 302. REQUIREMENT TO CONDUCT PROPOSED OIL AND 

8 GAS LEASE SALE 216 IN THE CENTRAL GULF 

9 OF MEXICO. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior shall 

11 conduct offshore oil and gas Lease Sale 216 under section 

12 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (33 U.S.C. 

13 1337) as soon as practicable, but not later than 4 months 

14 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

15 (b) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.—For the purposes of 

16 that lease sale, the Environmental Impact Statement for 

17 the 2007–2012 5-Year OCS Plan and the Multi-Sale Envi18 ronmental Impact Statement are deemed to satisfy the re19 quirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 

20 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

21 SEC. 303. REQUIREMENT TO CONDUCT PROPOSED OIL AND 

22 GAS LEASE SALE 218 IN THE WESTERN GULF 

23 OF MEXICO. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior shall 

25 conduct offshore oil and gas Lease Sale 218 under section 


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1 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (33 U.S.C. 

2 1337) as soon as practicable, but not later than 8 months 

3 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

4 (b) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.—For the purposes of 

5 that lease sale, the Environmental Impact Statement for 

6 the 2007–2012 5-Year OCS Plan and the Multi-Sale Envi7 ronmental Impact Statement are deemed to satisfy the re8 quirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 

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

10 SEC. 304. REQUIREMENT TO CONDUCT PROPOSED OIL AND 

11 GAS LEASE SALE 220 ON THE OUTER CONTI12 NENTAL SHELF OFFSHORE VIRGINIA. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior shall 

14 conduct offshore oil and gas Lease Sale 220 under section 

15 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (33 U.S.C. 

16 1337) as soon as practicable, but not later than one year 

17 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

18 (b) PROHIBITION ON CONFLICTS WITH MILITARY

19 OPERATIONS.—The Secretary shall not make any tract 

20 available for leasing under this section if the President, 

21 through the Secretary of Defense, determines that drilling 

22 activity on that tract would create an unreasonable con23 flict with military operations. 


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1 SEC. 305. REQUIREMENT TO CONDUCT PROPOSED OIL AND 

2 GAS LEASE SALE 222 IN THE CENTRAL GULF 

3 OF MEXICO. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior shall 

5 conduct offshore oil and gas Lease Sale 222 under section 

6 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (33 U.S.C. 

7 1337) as soon as practicable, but not later than June 1, 

8 2012. 

9 (b) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.—For the purposes of 

10 that lease sale, the Environmental Impact Statement for 

11 the 2007–2012 5-Year OCS Plan and the Multi-Sale Envi12 ronmental Impact Statement are deemed to satisfy the re13 quirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 

14 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

15 SEC. 306. DEFINITIONS. 

16 In this title: 

17 (1) The term ‘‘Environmental Impact State18 ment for the 2007–2012 5 Year OCS Plan’’ means 

19 the Final Environmental Impact Statement for 

20 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Pro21 gram: 2007–2012 (April 2007) prepared by the Sec22 retary of the Interior. 

23 (2) The term ‘‘Multi-Sale Environmental Im24 pact Statement’’ means the Environmental Impact 

25 Statement for Proposed Western Gulf of Mexico 

26 OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales 204, 207, 210, 215, 


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1 and 218, and Proposed Central Gulf of Mexico OCS 

2 Oil and Gas Lease Sales 205, 206, 208, 213, 216, 

3 and 222 (September 2008) prepared by the Sec4 retary of the Interior. 

Passed the House of Representatives May 11, 2011. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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Calendar No. 50 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1229 

AN ACT 

To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

and for other purposes. conduct certain offshore oil and gas lease sales, ico, to require the Secretary of the Interior to American energy resources from the Gulf of Mexto facilitate the safe and timely production of 

MAY 16, 2011 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 


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