II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 575

To provide Outer Continental Shelf Impact Assistance to State and local

governments, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 16, 1995

Mr. STEVENS (for himself, Mr. MURKOWSKI, Mr. JOHNSTON, and Mr.

BREAUX) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To provide Outer Continental Shelf Impact Assistance to

State and local governments, 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. DEFINITIONS.

4 For purposes of this Act only, the term—

5 (1) ‘‘coastline’’ has the same meaning that it

6 has in the Submerged Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1301

7 et seq.);

8 (2) ‘‘county’’ means a unit of general govern9 ment constituting the local jurisdiction immediately

10 below the level of State government. This term in-
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1 cludes, but is not limited to, counties, parishes, vil2 lages and tribal governments which function in lieu

3 of and are not within a county, and in Alaska, bor4 ough governments. If State law recognizes an entity

5 of general government that functions in lieu of and

6 is not within a county, the Secretary may recognize

7 such other entities of general government as coun8 ties;

9 (3) ‘‘coastline State’’ means any State of the

10 United States bordering on the Atlantic Ocean, the

11 Pacific Ocean, the Arctic Ocean, the Bering Sea or

12 the Gulf of Mexico;

13 (4) ‘‘distance’’ means minimum great circle dis14 tance, measured in statute miles;

15 (5) ‘‘leased tract’’ means a tract, leased under

16 section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act

17 (43 U.S.C. 1337) for the purpose of drilling for, de18 veloping and producing oil or natural gas resources,

19 which is a unit consisting of either a block, a portion

20 of a block, a combination of blocks and/or portions

21 of blocks, as specified in the lease, and as depicted

22 on an Outer Continental Shelf Official Protraction

23 Diagram;

24 (6) ‘‘new revenues’’ means monies received by

25 the United States as royalties (including payments
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1 for royalty taken in kind and sold pursuant to sec2 tion 27 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act

3 (43 U.S.C. 1353)), net profit share payments, and

4 related late-payment interest from natural gas and

5 oil leases issued pursuant to the Outer Continental

6 Shelf Lands Act, but only from leased tracts from

7 which such revenues are first received by the United

8 States after the date of enactment of this Act;

9 (7) ‘‘Outer Continental Shelf’’ means all sub10 merged lands lying seaward and outside of the area

11 of ‘‘lands beneath navigable waters’’ as defined in

12 section 2(a) of the Submerged Lands Act 43 U.S.C.

13 1301(a)), and of which the subsoil and seabed ap14 pertain to the United States and are subject to its

15 jurisdiction and control; and

16 (8) ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of the In17 terior or the Secretary’s designee.

18 SEC. 2. IMPACT ASSISTANCE FORMULA AND PAYMENTS.

19 (a) There is established a fund in the Treasury of

20 the United States, which shall be known as the ‘‘Outer

21 Continental Shelf Impact Assistance Fund’’ (hereinafter

22 referred to in this Act as ‘‘the Fund’’). Allocable new reve23 nues determined under subsection (c) shall be deposited

24 in the Fund.
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1 (b) The Secretary of the Treasury shall invest excess

2 monies in the Fund, at the written request of the Sec3 retary, in public debt securities with maturities suitable

4 to the needs of the Fund, as determined by the Secretary,

5 and bearing interest at rates determined by the Secretary

6 of the Treasury, taking into consideration current market

7 yields on outstanding marketable obligations of the United

8 States of comparable maturity.

9 (c) Notwithstanding section 9 of the Outer Continen10 tal Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1338), amounts in the

11 Fund, together with interest earned from investment

12 thereof, shall be paid at the direction of the Secretary as

13 follows:

14 (1) The Secretary shall determine the new reve15 nues from any leased tract or portion of a leased

16 tract lying seaward of the zone defined and governed

17 by section 8(g) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands

18 Act (43 U.S.C. 1337(g)), or lying within such zone

19 but to which section 8(g) does not apply, the geo20 graphic center of which lies within a distance of 200

21 miles from any part of the coastline of any coastal

22 State (hereinafter referred to as an ‘‘eligible coastal

23 State’’).
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1 (2) The Secretary shall determine the allocable

2 share of new revenues determined under paragraph

3 (1) by multiplying such revenues by 27 percent.

4 (3) The Secretary shall determine the portion of

5 the allocable share of new revenues attributable to

6 each eligible coastal State (hereinafter referred to as

7 the ‘‘eligible coastal State’s attributable share’’)

8 based on a fraction which is inversely proportional to

9 the distance between the nearest point on the coast10 line of the eligible coastal State and the geographic

11 center of the leased tract or portion of the leased

12 tract (to the nearest whole mile). Further, the ratio

13 of an eligible State’s attributable share to any other

14 eligible State’s attributable share shall be equal to

15 the inverse of the ratio of the distances between the

16 geographic center of the leased tract or portion of

17 the leased tract and the coastlines of the respective

18 eligible coastal States. The sum of the eligible coast19 al States’ attributable shares shall be equal to the

20 allocable share of new revenues determined under

21 paragraph (2).

22 (4) The Secretary shall pay from the Fund 50

23 percent of each eligible coastal State’s attributable

24 share, together with the portion of interest earned
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1 from investment of the funds which corresponds to

2 that amount, to that State.

3 (5) Within 60 days of enactment of this Act,

4 the Governor of each eligible coastal State shall pro5 vide the Secretary with a list of all counties, as de6 fined herein, that are to be considered for eligibility

7 to receive impact assistance payments. This list

8 must include all counties with borders along the

9 State’s coastline and may also include counties

10 which are at the closest point no more than 60 miles

11 from the State’s coastline and which are certified by

12 the Governor to have significant impacts from Outer

13 Continental Shelf-related activities. For any such

14 county that does not have a border along the coast15 line, the Governor shall designate the coastline of

16 the nearest county that does have a border along the

17 coastline to serve as the former county’s coastline

18 for the purposes of this section. The Governor of

19 any eligible coastal State may modify this list when20 ever significant changes in Outer Continental Shelf

21 activities require a change, but no more frequently

22 than once a year.

23 (6) The Secretary shall determine, for each

24 county within the eligible coastal State identified by

25 the Governor according to paragraph (5) for which
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1 any part of the county’s coastline lies within a dis2 tance of 200 miles of the geographic center of the

3 leased tract or portion of the leased tract (herein4 after referred to as an ‘‘eligible county’’) 50 percent

5 of the eligible coastal State’s attributable share

6 which is attributable to such county (hereinafter re7 ferred to as the ‘‘eligible county’s attributable

8 share’’) based on a fraction which is inversely pro9 portional to the distance between the nearest point

10 on the coastline of the eligible county and the geo11 graphic center of the leased tract or portion of the

12 leased tract (to the nearest whole mile). Further, the

13 ratio of any eligible county’s attributable share to

14 any other eligible county’s attributable share shall be

15 equal to the inverse of the ratio of the distances be16 tween the geographic center of the leased tract or

17 portion of the leased tract and the coastlines of the

18 respective eligible counties. The sum of the eligible

19 counties’ attributable shares for all eligible counties

20 within each State shall be equal to 50 percent of the

21 eligible coastal State’s attributable share determined

22 under paragraph (3).

23 (7) The Secretary shall pay from the Fund the

24 eligible county’s attributable share, together with the

25 portion of interest earned from investment of the
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1 Fund which corresponds to that amount, to that

2 county.

3 (8) Payments to eligible coastal States and eli4 gible counties under this section shall be made not

5 later than December 31 of each year from new reve6 nues received and interest earned thereon during the

7 immediately preceding fiscal year, but not earlier

8 than one year following the date of enactment of this

9 Act.

10 (9) The remainder of new revenues and interest

11 earned in the Fund not paid to an eligible State or

12 an eligible county under this section shall be dis13 posed of according to the law otherwise applicable

14 to receipts from leases on the Outer Continental

15 Shelf.

16 SEC. 3. USES OF FUNDS.

17 Funds received pursuant to this Act shall be used by

18 the eligible coastal States and eligible counties for projects

19 and activities related to all impacts of Outer Continental

20 Shelf-related activities including but not limited to—

21 (1) air quality, water quality, fish and wildlife,

22 wetlands, or other coastal resources;

23 (2) other activities of such State or county, au24 thorized by the Coastal Zone Management Act of

25 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.), the provisions of
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1 subtitle B of title IV of the Oil Pollution Act of

2 1990 (104 Stat. 523), or the Federal Water Pollu3 tion Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.); and

4 (3) administrative costs of complying with the

5 provisions of this subtitle.

6 SEC. 4. OBLIGATIONS OF ELIGIBLE COUNTIES AND STATES.

7 (a) PROJECT SUBMISSION.—Prior to the receipt of

8 funds pursuant to this Act for any fiscal year, an eligible

9 county must submit to the Governor of the State in which

10 it is located a plan setting forth the projects and activities

11 for which the eligible county proposes to expend such

12 funds. Such plan shall state the amounts proposed to be

13 expended for each project or activity during the upcoming

14 fiscal year.

15 (b) PROJECT APPROVAL.—Prior to the payment of

16 funds pursuant to this Act to any eligible county for any

17 fiscal year, the Governor must approve the plan submitted

18 by the eligible county pursuant to subsection (a) and no19 tify the Secretary of such approval. State approval of any

20 such plan shall be consistent with all applicable State and

21 federal law. In the event the Governor disapproves any

22 such plan, the funds that would otherwise be paid to the

23 eligible county shall be placed in escrow by the Secretary

24 pending modification and approval of such plan, at which
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1 time such funds together with interest thereon shall be

2 paid to the eligible county.

3 (c) CERTIFICATION.—No later than 60 days after the

4 end of the fiscal year, any eligible county receiving funds

5 under this Act must certify to the Governor—

6 (1) the amount of such funds expended by the

7 county during the previous fiscal year;

8 (2) the amounts expended on each project or

9 activity; and

10 (3) the status of each project or activity.

11 SEC. 5. ANNUAL REPORT, REFUNDS.

12 (a) On June 15 of each fiscal year, the Governor of

13 each State receiving monies from the Fund shall account

14 for all monies so received for the previous fiscal year in

15 a written report to Congress.

16 (b) In those instances where through judicial deci17 sion, administrative review, arbitration or other means

18 there are royalty refunds owed to entities generating new

19 revenues under this Act, repayment of such refunds in the

20 same proportion as monies were received under section 2

21 shall be the responsibility of the governmental entities re22 ceiving distributions under the Fund.

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