112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1229 

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, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Putting the Gulf of 

3 Mexico Back to Work Act’’. 

4 TITLE I—AMENDMENT TO THE 

5 OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF 

6 LANDS ACT 

7 SEC. 101. AMENDMENT TO OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF 

8 LANDS ACT. 

9 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 11(d) of the Outer Conti10 nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1340(d)) is amended 

11 to read as follows: 

12 ‘‘(d) DRILLING PERMITS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall by reg14 ulation require that any lessee operating under an 

15 approved exploration plan— 

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

17 any well in accordance with such plan; and 

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

19 drilling any well of a design that is significantly 

20 different than the design for which an existing 

21 permit was issued. 

22 ‘‘(2) SAFETY REVIEW REQUIRED.—The Sec23 retary shall not issue a permit under paragraph (1) 

24 without ensuring that the proposed drilling oper25 ations meet all— 
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1 ‘‘(A) critical safety system requirements, 

2 including blowout prevention; and 

3 ‘‘(B) oil spill response and containment re4 quirements. 

5 ‘‘(3) TIMELINE.— 

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

7 issue a permit under paragraph (1) within 30 

8 days after receiving an application for the per9 mit. The Secretary may extend such period for 

10 up to two periods of 15 days each, if the Sec11 retary has given written notice of the delay to 

12 the applicant. The notice shall be in the form 

13 of a letter from the Secretary or a designee of 

14 the Secretary, and shall include the names and 

15 titles of the persons processing the application, 

16 the specific reasons for the delay, and a specific 

17 date a final decision on the application is ex18 pected. 

19 ‘‘(B) If the application is denied, the Sec20 retary shall provide the applicant— 

21 ‘‘(i) in writing, clear and comprehen22 sive reasons why the application was not 

23 accepted and detailed information con24 cerning any deficiencies, and 
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1 ‘‘(ii) an opportunity to remedy any de2 ficiencies. 

3 ‘‘(C) If the Secretary has not made a deci4 sion on the application by the end of the 60-day 

5 period beginning on the date the application is 

6 received by the Secretary, the application is 

7 deemed approved.’’. 

8 (b) DEADLINE FOR CERTAIN PERMIT APPLICATIONS

9 UNDER EXISTING LEASES.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the amend11 ment made by subsection (a), a lease under which a 

12 covered application is submitted to the Secretary of 

13 the Interior shall be considered to be in directed sus14 pension during the period beginning May 27, 2010, 

15 and ending on the date the Secretary issues a final 

16 decision on the application, if the Secretary does not 

17 issue a final decision on the application— 

18 (A) before the end of the 30-day period be19 ginning on the date of enactment of this Act, 

20 in the case of a covered application submitted 

21 before such date of enactment; or 

22 (B) before the end of the 30-day period be23 ginning on the date the application is received 

24 by the Secretary, in the case of a covered appli-
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1 cation submitted on or after such date of enact2 ment. 

3 (2) COVERED APPLICATION.—In this subsection 

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

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

6 the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act in effect on 

7 the date of enactment of this Act, that— 

8 (A) represents a resubmission of an ap9 proved permit to drill (including an application 

10 for a permit to sidetrack) that was approved by 

11 the Secretary before May 27, 2010; and 

12 (B) is received by the Secretary after Octo13 ber 12, 2010, and before the end of the 30-day 

14 period beginning on the date of enactment of 

15 this Act. 

16 SEC. 102. EXTENSION OF CERTAIN OUTER CONTINENTAL 

17 SHELF LEASES. 

18 (a) DEFINITION OF COVERED LEASE.—In this sec19 tion, the term ‘‘covered lease’’ means each oil and gas 

20 lease for the Gulf of Mexico outer Continental Shelf region 

21 issued under section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf 

22 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337) that— 

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

24 or 
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1 (B) was suspended from operations, permit 

2 processing, or consideration, in accordance with the 

3 moratorium set forth in the Minerals Management 

4 Service Notice to Lessees and Operators No. 2010– 

5 N04, dated May 30, 2010, or the decision memo6 randum of the Secretary of the Interior entitled 

7 ‘‘Decision memorandum regarding the suspension of 

8 certain offshore permitting and drilling activities on 

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

10 2010; and 

11 (2) by its terms would expire on or before De12 cember 31, 2011. 

13 (b) EXTENSION OF COVERED LEASES.—The Sec14 retary of the Interior shall extend the term of a covered 

15 lease by 1 year. 

16 (c) EFFECT ON SUSPENSIONS OF OPERATIONS OR

17 PRODUCTION.—The extension of covered leases under this 

18 section is in addition to any suspension of operations or 

19 suspension of production granted by the Minerals Manage20 ment Service or Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, 

21 Regulation and Enforcement after May 1, 2010. 
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1 TITLE II—JUDICIAL REVIEW OF 

2 AGENCY ACTIONS RELATING 

3 TO OUTER CONTINENTAL 

4 SHELF ACTIVITIES IN THE 

5 GULF OF MEXICO 

6 SEC. 201. DEFINITIONS FOR TITLE. 

7 In this title— 

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

9 action containing a claim under section 702 of title 

10 5, United States Code, regarding agency action (as 

11 defined for the purposes of that section) affecting a 

12 covered energy project in the Gulf of Mexico; and 

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

14 the leasing of Federal lands of the Outer Conti15 nental Shelf (including submerged lands) for the ex16 ploration, development, production, processing, or 

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

18 source of energy in the Gulf of Mexico, and any ac19 tion under such a lease, except that the term does 

20 not include any disputes between the parties to a 

21 lease regarding the obligations under such lease, in22 cluding regarding any alleged breach of the lease. 
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1 SEC. 202. EXCLUSIVE VENUE FOR CERTAIN CIVIL ACTIONS 

2 RELATING TO COVERED ENERGY PROJECTS 

3 IN THE GULF OF MEXICO. 

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

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

6 proper venue in any court within that circuit. 

7 SEC. 203. TIME LIMITATION ON FILING. 

8 A covered civil action is barred unless filed no later 

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

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

11 SEC. 204. EXPEDITION IN HEARING AND DETERMINING THE 

12 ACTION. 

13 The court shall endeavor to hear and determine any 

14 covered civil action as expeditiously as possible. 

15 SEC. 205. STANDARD OF REVIEW. 

16 In any judicial review of a covered civil action, admin17 istrative findings and conclusions relating to the chal18 lenged Federal action or decision shall be presumed to be 

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

20 preponderance of the evidence contained in the adminis21 trative record. 

22 SEC. 206. LIMITATION ON PROSPECTIVE RELIEF. 

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

24 or approve any prospective relief unless the court finds 

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

26 necessary to correct the violation of a legal requirement, 
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1 and is the least intrusive means necessary to correct that 

2 violation. 

3 SEC. 207. LIMITATION ON ATTORNEYS’ FEES. 

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

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

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

7 civil action, nor shall any party in such a covered civil ac8 tion receive payment from the Federal Government for 

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

10 TITLE III—RESTARTING AMER11 ICAN OFFSHORE LEASING 

12 NOW ACT 

13 SEC. 301. SHORT TITLE. 

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

15 Offshore Leasing Now Act’’. 

16 SEC. 302. REQUIREMENT TO CONDUCT PROPOSED OIL AND 

17 GAS LEASE SALE 216 IN THE CENTRAL GULF 

18 OF MEXICO. 

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

20 conduct offshore oil and gas Lease Sale 216 under section 

21 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (33 U.S.C. 

22 1337) as soon as practicable, but not later than 4 months 

23 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

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

25 that lease sale, the Environmental Impact Statement for 
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1 the 2007–2012 5-Year OCS Plan and the Multi-Sale Envi2 ronmental Impact Statement are deemed to satisfy the re3 quirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 

4 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

5 SEC. 303. REQUIREMENT TO CONDUCT PROPOSED OIL AND 

6 GAS LEASE SALE 218 IN THE WESTERN GULF 

7 OF MEXICO. 

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

9 conduct offshore oil and gas Lease Sale 218 under section 

10 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (33 U.S.C. 

11 1337) as soon as practicable, but not later than 8 months 

12 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

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

14 that lease sale, the Environmental Impact Statement for 

15 the 2007–2012 5-Year OCS Plan and the Multi-Sale Envi16 ronmental Impact Statement are deemed to satisfy the re17 quirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 

18 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

19 SEC. 304. REQUIREMENT TO CONDUCT PROPOSED OIL AND 

20 GAS LEASE SALE 220 ON THE OUTER CONTI21 NENTAL SHELF OFFSHORE VIRGINIA. 

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

23 conduct offshore oil and gas Lease Sale 220 under section 

24 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (33 U.S.C. 
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1 1337) as soon as practicable, but not later than one year 

2 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

3 (b) PROHIBITION ON CONFLICTS WITH MILITARY

4 OPERATIONS.—The Secretary shall not make any tract 

5 available for leasing under this section if the President, 

6 through the Secretary of Defense, determines that drilling 

7 activity on that tract would create an unreasonable con8 flict with military operations. 

9 SEC. 305. REQUIREMENT TO CONDUCT PROPOSED OIL AND 

10 GAS LEASE SALE 222 IN THE CENTRAL GULF 

11 OF MEXICO. 

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

13 conduct offshore oil and gas Lease Sale 222 under section 

14 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (33 U.S.C. 

15 1337) as soon as practicable, but not later than June 1, 

16 2012. 

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

18 that lease sale, the Environmental Impact Statement for 

19 the 2007–2012 5-Year OCS Plan and the Multi-Sale Envi20 ronmental Impact Statement are deemed to satisfy the re21 quirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 

22 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

23 SEC. 306. DEFINITIONS. 

24 In this title: 
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1 (1) The term ‘‘Environmental Impact State2 ment for the 2007–2012 5 Year OCS Plan’’ means 

3 the Final Environmental Impact Statement for 

4 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Pro5 gram: 2007–2012 (April 2007) prepared by the Sec6 retary of the Interior. 

7 (2) The term ‘‘Multi-Sale Environmental Im8 pact Statement’’ means the Environmental Impact 

9 Statement for Proposed Western Gulf of Mexico 

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

11 and 218, and Proposed Central Gulf of Mexico OCS 

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

13 and 222 (September 2008) prepared by the Sec14 retary of the Interior. 

Passed the House of Representatives May 11, 2011. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

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