I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2150 

To amend the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976 to direct 

the Secretary of the Interior to conduct an expeditious program of 

competitive leasing of oil and gas in the National Petroleum Reserve 

in Alaska, including at least one lease sale in the Reserve each year 

in the period 2011 through 2021, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 13, 2011 

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington (for himself, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. BROUN of Georgia, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. FLORES, Mr. JOHNSON

of Ohio, Mr. FLEMING, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. FLEISCHMANN, Mr. 

BISHOP of Utah, and Mr. SOUTHERLAND) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act 

of 1976 to direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct 

an expeditious program of competitive leasing of oil and 

gas in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, including at least one lease sale in the Reserve each year 

in the period 2011 through 2021, 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 bill shall be called the ‘‘National Petroleum Re3 serve Alaska Access Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS AND REAFFIRMING NATIONAL 

5 POLICY FOR THE NATIONAL PETROLEUM RE6 SERVE IN ALASKA. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that— 

8 (1) the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska 

9 remains explicitly designated, both in name and legal 

10 status, for purposes of providing oil and natural gas 

11 resources to the United States; and 

12 (2) accordingly, the national policy is to actively 

13 advance oil and gas development within the Reserve 

14 by facilitating the expeditious exploration, produc15 tion, and transportation of oil and natural gas from 

16 and through the Reserve. 

17 SEC. 3. NATIONAL PETROLEUM RESERVE IN ALASKA: 

18 LEASE SALES. 

19 Section 107(a) of the Naval Petroleum Reserves Pro20 duction Act of 1976 (42 U.S.C. 6506a(a)) is amended to 

21 read as follows: 

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct an 

23 expeditious program of competitive leasing of oil and gas 

24 in the reserve in accordance with this Act. Such program 

25 shall include at least one lease sale annually in those areas 

26 of the reserve most likely to produce commercial quantities 


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1 of oil and natural gas each year in the period 2011 

2 through 2021.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. NATIONAL PETROLEUM RESERVE IN ALASKA: PLAN4 NING AND PERMITTING PIPELINE AND ROAD 

5 CONSTRUCTION. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi7 sion of law, the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation 

8 with the Secretary of Transportation, shall facilitate and 

9 ensure permits, in an environmentally responsible manner, 

10 for all surface development activities, including for the 

11 construction of pipelines and roads, necessary to— 

12 (1) develop and bring into production any areas 

13 within the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska 

14 that are subject to oil and gas leases; and 

15 (2) transport oil and gas from and through the 

16 National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska to existing 

17 transportation or processing infrastructure on the 

18 North Slope of Alaska. 

19 (b) TIMELINE.—The Secretary shall ensure that any 

20 Federal permitting agency shall issue permits in accord21 ance with the following timeline: 

22 (1) Permits for such construction for transpor23 tation of oil and natural gas produced under existing 

24 Federal oil and gas leases with respect to which the 

25 Secretary has issued a permit to drill shall be apVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:39 Jun 14, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2150.IH H2150

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1 proved within 60 days after the date of enactment 

2 of this Act. 

3 (2) Permits for such construction for transpor4 tation of oil and natural gas produced under Federal 

5 oil and gas leases shall be approved within 6 months 

6 after the submission to the Secretary of a request 

7 for a permit to drill. 

8 (c) PLAN.—To ensure timely future development of 

9 the Reserve, within 270 days after the date of the enact10 ment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall submit 

11 to Congress a plan for approved rights-of-way for a plan 

12 for pipeline, road, and any other surface infrastructure 

13 that may be necessary infrastructure that will ensure that 

14 all leasable tracts in the Reserve are within 25 miles of 

15 an approved road and pipeline right-of-way that can serve 

16 future development of the Reserve. 

17 SEC. 5. DEPARTMENTAL ACCOUNTABILITY FOR DEVELOP18 MENT. 

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

20 issue regulations within 180 days after the date of enact21 ment of this Act that establish clear requirements to en22 sure that the Department of the Interior is supporting de23 velopment of oil and gas leases in the National Petroleum 

24 Reserve in Alaska. 


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1 (b) DEADLINES.—At a minimum, the regulations 

2 shall— 

3 (1) require the Department to respond within 5 

4 business days acknowledging receipt of any permit 

5 application for such development; and 

6 (2) establish a timeline for the processing of 

7 each such application, that— 

8 (A) specifies deadlines for decisions and 

9 actions on permit applications; and 

10 (B) provide that the period for issuing 

11 each permit after submission of such an appli12 cation shall not exceed 60 days without the con13 currence of the applicant. 

14 (c) ACTIONS REQUIRED FOR FAILURE TO COMPLY

15 WITH DEADLINES.—If the Department fails to comply 

16 with any deadline under subsection (b) with respect to a 

17 permit application, the Secretary shall notify the applicant 

18 every 5 days with specific information regarding the rea19 sons for the permit delay, the name of the specific Depart20 ment office or offices responsible for issuing the permit 

21 and for monitoring the permit delay, and an estimate of 

22 the time that the permit will be issued. 

23 SEC. 6. UPDATED RESOURCE ASSESSMENT. 

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

25 complete a comprehensive assessment of all technically reVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:39 Jun 14, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2150.IH H2150

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1 coverable fossil fuel resources within the National Petro2 leum Reserve in Alaska, including all conventional and un3 conventional oil and natural gas. 

4 (b) COOPERATION AND CONSULTATION.—The re5 source assessment required by subsection (a) shall be car6 ried out by the United States Geological Survey in co7 operation and consultation with the State of Alaska and 

8 the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. 

9 (c) TIMING.—The resource assessment required by 

10 subsection (a) shall be completed within 24 months of the 

11 date of the enactment of this Act. 

12 (d) FUNDING.—The United States Geological Survey 

13 may, in carrying out the duties under this section, coop14 eratively use resources and funds provided by the State 

15 of Alaska. 

Æ 


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