II 

Calendar No. 601 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 12, 2014 

Received 

NOVEMBER 13, 2014 

Read the first time 

NOVEMBER 17, 2014 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 

AN ACT 

To remove Federal Government obstacles to the production 

of more domestic energy; to ensure transport of that 

energy reliably to businesses, consumers, and other end 

users; to lower the cost of energy to consumers; to enable 

manufacturers and other businesses to access domestically produced energy affordably and reliably in order 

to create and sustain more secure and well-paying American jobs; 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘American Energy Solutions for Lower Costs and More 

4 American Jobs Act’’. 

5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

6 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

DIVISION A—ENERGY AND COMMERCE 

TITLE I—MODERNIZING INFRASTRUCTURE 

Subtitle A—Northern Route Approval 

Sec. 101. Short title. 

Sec. 102. Findings. 

Sec. 103. Keystone XL permit approval. 

Sec. 104. Judicial review. 

Sec. 105. American burying beetle. 

Sec. 106. Right-of-way and temporary use permit. 

Sec. 107. Permits for activities in navigable waters. 

Sec. 108. Migratory Bird Treaty Act permit. 

Sec. 109. Oil spill response plan disclosure. 

Subtitle B—Natural Gas Pipeline Permitting Reform 

Sec. 121. Short title. 

Sec. 122. Regulatory approval of natural gas pipeline projects. 

Subtitle C—North American Energy Infrastructure 

Sec. 131. Short title. 

Sec. 132. Finding. 

Sec. 133. Authorization of certain energy infrastructure projects at the national 

boundary of the United States. 

Sec. 134. Importation or exportation of natural gas to Canada and Mexico. 

Sec. 135. Transmission of electric energy to Canada and Mexico. 

Sec. 136. No Presidential permit required. 

Sec. 137. Modifications to existing projects. 

Sec. 138. Effective date; rulemaking deadlines. 

Sec. 139. Definitions. 

TITLE II—MAINTAINING DIVERSE ELECTRICITY GENERATION 

AND AFFORDABILITY 

Subtitle A—Energy Consumers Relief 

Sec. 201. Short title. 

Sec. 202. Prohibition against finalizing certain energy-related rules that will 

cause significant adverse effects to the economy. 


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Sec. 203. Reports and determinations prior to promulgating as final certain energy-related rules. 

Sec. 204. Definitions. 

Sec. 205. Prohibition on use of social cost of carbon in analysis. 

Subtitle B—Electricity Security and Affordability 

Sec. 211. Short title. 

Sec. 212. Standards of performance for new fossil fuel-fired electric utility generating units. 

Sec. 213. Congress To set effective date for standards of performance for existing, modified, and reconstructed fossil fuel-fired electric utility 

generating units. 

Sec. 214. Repeal of earlier rules and guidelines. 

Sec. 215. Definitions. 

Subtitle C—Report on Energy and Water Savings Potential From Thermal 

Insulation 

Sec. 221. Report on energy and water savings potential from thermal insulation. 

TITLE III—UNLEASHING ENERGY DIPLOMACY 

Sec. 301. Short title. 

Sec. 302. Action on applications. 

Sec. 303. Public disclosure of export destinations. 

DIVISION B—NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE 

Sec. 201. References. 

SUBDIVISION A—LOWERING GASOLINE PRICES TO FUEL AN AMERICA THAT

WORKS ACT OF 2014 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

TITLE I—OFFSHORE ENERGY AND JOBS 

Subtitle A—Outer Continental Shelf Leasing Program Reforms 

Sec. 10101. Outer Continental Shelf leasing program reforms. 

Sec. 10102. Domestic oil and natural gas production goal. 

Sec. 10103. Development and submittal of new 5-year oil and gas leasing program. 

Sec. 10104. Rule of construction. 

Sec. 10105. Addition of lease sales after finalization of 5-year plan. 

Subtitle B—Directing the President To Conduct New OCS Sales 

Sec. 10201. Requirement to conduct proposed oil and gas Lease Sale 220 on 

the Outer Continental Shelf offshore Virginia. 

Sec. 10202. South Carolina lease sale. 

Sec. 10203. Southern California existing infrastructure lease sale. 

Sec. 10204. Environmental impact statement requirement. 

Sec. 10205. National defense. 

Sec. 10206. Eastern Gulf of Mexico not included. 

Subtitle C—Equitable Sharing of Outer Continental Shelf Revenues 


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Sec. 10301. Disposition of Outer Continental Shelf revenues to coastal States. 

Subtitle D—Reorganization of Minerals Management Agencies of the 

Department of the Interior 

Sec. 10401. Establishment of Under Secretary for Energy, Lands, and Minerals and Assistant Secretary of Ocean Energy and Safety. 

Sec. 10402. Bureau of Ocean Energy. 

Sec. 10403. Ocean Energy Safety Service. 

Sec. 10404. Office of Natural Resources revenue. 

Sec. 10405. Ethics and drug testing. 

Sec. 10406. Abolishment of Minerals Management Service. 

Sec. 10407. Conforming amendments to Executive Schedule pay rates. 

Sec. 10408. Outer Continental Shelf Energy Safety Advisory Board. 

Sec. 10409. Outer Continental Shelf inspection fees. 

Sec. 10410. Prohibition on action based on National Ocean Policy developed 

under Executive Order No. 13547. 

Subtitle E—United States Territories 

Sec. 10501. Application of Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act with respect to 

territories of the United States. 

Subtitle F—Miscellaneous Provisions 

Sec. 10601. Rules regarding distribution of revenues under Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006. 

Sec. 10602. Amount of distributed qualified outer Continental Shelf revenues. 

Sec. 10603. South Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf Planning Area defined. 

Sec. 10604. Enhancing geological and geophysical information for America’s 

energy future. 

Subtitle G—Judicial Review 

Sec. 10701. Time for filing complaint. 

Sec. 10702. District court deadline. 

Sec. 10703. Ability to seek appellate review. 

Sec. 10704. Limitation on scope of review and relief. 

Sec. 10705. Legal fees. 

Sec. 10706. Exclusion. 

Sec. 10707. Definitions. 

TITLE II—ONSHORE FEDERAL LANDS AND ENERGY SECURITY 

Subtitle A—Federal Lands Jobs and Energy Security 

Sec. 21001. Short title. 

Sec. 21002. Policies regarding buying, building, and working for America. 

CHAPTER 1—ONSHORE OIL AND GAS PERMIT STREAMLINING

Sec. 21101. Short title. 

SUBCHAPTER A—APPLICATION FOR PERMITS TO DRILL PROCESS REFORM

Sec. 21111. Permit to drill application timeline. 

SUBCHAPTER B—ADMINISTRATIVE PROTEST DOCUMENTATION REFORM


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Sec. 21121. Administrative protest documentation reform. 

SUBCHAPTER C—PERMIT STREAMLINING

Sec. 21131. Making pilot offices permanent to improve energy permitting on 

Federal lands. 

Sec. 21132. Administration of current law. 

SUBCHAPTER D—JUDICIAL REVIEW

Sec. 21141. Definitions. 

Sec. 21142. Exclusive venue for certain civil actions relating to covered energy 

projects. 

Sec. 21143. Timely filing. 

Sec. 21144. Expedition in hearing and determining the action. 

Sec. 21145. Standard of review. 

Sec. 21146. Limitation on injunction and prospective relief. 

Sec. 21147. Limitation on attorneys’ fees. 

Sec. 21148. Legal standing. 

SUBCHAPTER E—KNOWING AMERICA’S OIL AND GAS RESOURCES

Sec. 21151. Funding oil and gas resource assessments. 

CHAPTER 2—OIL AND GAS LEASING CERTAINTY

Sec. 21201. Short title. 

Sec. 21202. Minimum acreage requirement for onshore lease sales. 

Sec. 21203. Leasing certainty. 

Sec. 21204. Leasing consistency. 

Sec. 21205. Reduce redundant policies. 

Sec. 21206. Streamlined congressional notification. 

CHAPTER 3—OIL SHALE

Sec. 21301. Short title. 

Sec. 21302. Effectiveness of oil shale regulations, amendments to resource 

management plans, and record of decision. 

Sec. 21303. Oil shale leasing. 

CHAPTER 4—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

Sec. 21401. Rule of construction. 

Subtitle B—Planning for American Energy 

Sec. 22001. Short title. 

Sec. 22002. Onshore domestic energy production strategic plan. 

Subtitle C—National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Access 

Sec. 23001. Short title. 

Sec. 23002. Sense of Congress and reaffirming national policy for the National 

Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. 

Sec. 23003. National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska: lease sales. 

Sec. 23004. National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska: planning and permitting 

pipeline and road construction. 

Sec. 23005. Issuance of a new integrated activity plan and environmental impact statement. 


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Sec. 23006. Departmental accountability for development. 

Sec. 23007. Deadlines under new proposed integrated activity plan. 

Sec. 23008. Updated resource assessment. 

Subtitle D—BLM Live Internet Auctions 

Sec. 24001. Short title. 

Sec. 24002. Internet-based onshore oil and gas lease sales. 

Subtitle E—Native American Energy 

Sec. 25001. Short title. 

Sec. 25002. Appraisals. 

Sec. 25003. Standardization. 

Sec. 25004. Environmental reviews of major Federal actions on Indian lands. 

Sec. 25005. Judicial review. 

Sec. 25006. Tribal biomass demonstration project. 

Sec. 25007. Tribal resource management plans. 

Sec. 25008. Leases of restricted lands for the Navajo Nation. 

Sec. 25009. Nonapplicability of certain rules. 

TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 

Sec. 30101. Establishment of Office of Energy Employment and Training. 

SUBDIVISION B—BUREAU OF RECLAMATION CONDUIT HYDROPOWER

DEVELOPMENT EQUITY AND JOBS ACT

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Amendment. 

SUBDIVISION C—CENTRAL OREGON JOBS AND WATER SECURITY ACT

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Wild and Scenic River; Crooked, Oregon. 

Sec. 3. City of Prineville Water Supply. 

Sec. 4. First fill protection. 

Sec. 5. Ochoco Irrigation District. 

SUBDIVISION D—STATE AUTHORITY FOR HYDRAULIC FRACTURING

REGULATION; EPA HYDRAULIC FRACTURING RESEARCH

TITLE I—STATE AUTHORITY FOR HYDRAULIC FRACTURING 

REGULATION 

Sec. 101. Short title. 

Sec. 102. State authority for hydraulic fracturing regulation. 

Sec. 103. Government Accountability Office study. 

Sec. 104. Tribal authority on trust land. 

TITLE II—EPA HYDRAULIC FRACTURING RESEARCH 

Sec. 201. Short title. 

Sec. 202. EPA hydraulic fracturing research. 

TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 

Sec. 301. Review of State activities. 


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SUBDIVISION E—PREVENTING GOVERNMENT WASTE AND PROTECTING COAL

MINING JOBS IN AMERICA

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Incorporation of surface mining stream buffer zone rule into State programs. 

DIVISION C—JUDICIARY 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Coordination of agency administrative operations for efficient decisionmaking. 

1 DIVISION A—ENERGY AND 

2 COMMERCE 

3 TITLE I—MODERNIZING 

4 INFRASTRUCTURE 

5 Subtitle A—Northern Route 

6 Approval 

7 SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE. 

8 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Northern Route 

9 Approval Act’’. 

10 SEC. 102. FINDINGS. 

11 The Congress finds the following: 

12 (1) To maintain our Nation’s competitive edge 

13 and ensure an economy built to last, the United 

14 States must have fast, reliable, resilient, and envi15 ronmentally sound means of moving energy. In a 

16 global economy, we will compete for the world’s in17 vestments based in significant part on the quality of 

18 our infrastructure. Investing in the Nation’s infra19 structure provides immediate and long-term ecoVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:47 Nov 17, 2014 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2.PCS H2

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1 nomic benefits for local communities and the Nation 

2 as a whole. 

3 (2) The delivery of oil from Canada, a close ally 

4 not only in proximity but in shared values and 

5 ideals, to domestic markets is in the national inter6 est because of the need to lessen dependence upon 

7 insecure foreign sources. 

8 (3) The Keystone XL pipeline would provide 

9 both short-term and long-term employment opportu10 nities and related labor income benefits, such as gov11 ernment revenues associated with taxes. 

12 (4) The State of Nebraska has thoroughly re13 viewed and approved the proposed Keystone XL 

14 pipeline reroute, concluding that the concerns of Ne15 braskans have had a major influence on the pipeline 

16 reroute and that the reroute will have minimal envi17 ronmental impacts. 

18 (5) The Keystone XL is in much the same posi19 tion today as the Alaska Pipeline in 1973 prior to 

20 congressional action. Once again, the Federal regu21 latory process remains an insurmountable obstacle 

22 to a project that is likely to reduce oil imports from 

23 insecure foreign sources. 


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1 SEC. 103. KEYSTONE XL PERMIT APPROVAL. 

2 Notwithstanding Executive Order No. 13337 (3 

3 U.S.C. 301 note), Executive Order No. 11423 (3 U.S.C. 

4 301 note), section 301 of title 3, United States Code, and 

5 any other Executive order or provision of law, no Presi6 dential permit shall be required for the pipeline described 

7 in the application filed on May 4, 2012, by TransCanada 

8 Keystone Pipeline, L.P. to the Department of State for 

9 the Keystone XL pipeline, as supplemented to include the 

10 Nebraska reroute evaluated in the Final Evaluation Re11 port issued by the Nebraska Department of Environ12 mental Quality in January 2013 and approved by the Ne13 braska governor. The final environmental impact state14 ment issued by the Secretary of State on January 31, 

15 2014, coupled with the Final Evaluation Report described 

16 in the previous sentence, shall be considered to satisfy all 

17 requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 

18 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and of the National His19 toric Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.). 

20 SEC. 104. JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

21 (a) EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION.—Except for review by 

22 the Supreme Court on writ of certiorari, the United States 

23 Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit shall 

24 have original and exclusive jurisdiction to determine— 

25 (1) the validity of any final order or action (in26 cluding a failure to act) of any Federal agency or ofVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:47 Nov 17, 2014 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2.PCS H2

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1 ficer with respect to issuance of a permit relating to 

2 the construction or maintenance of the Keystone XL 

3 pipeline, including any final order or action deemed 

4 to be taken, made, granted, or issued; 

5 (2) the constitutionality of any provision of this 

6 subtitle, or any decision or action taken, made, 

7 granted, or issued, or deemed to be taken, made, 

8 granted, or issued under this subtitle; or 

9 (3) the adequacy of any environmental impact 

10 statement prepared under the National Environ11 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), 

12 or of any analysis under any other Act, with respect 

13 to any action taken, made, granted, or issued, or 

14 deemed to be taken, made, granted, or issued under 

15 this subtitle. 

16 (b) DEADLINE FOR FILING CLAIM.—A claim arising 

17 under this subtitle may be brought not later than 60 days 

18 after the date of the decision or action giving rise to the 

19 claim. 

20 (c) EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION.—The United 

21 States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Cir22 cuit shall set any action brought under subsection (a) for 

23 expedited consideration, taking into account the national 

24 interest of enhancing national energy security by providing 


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1 access to the significant oil reserves in Canada that are 

2 needed to meet the demand for oil. 

3 SEC. 105. AMERICAN BURYING BEETLE. 

4 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that— 

5 (1) environmental reviews performed for the 

6 Keystone XL pipeline project satisfy the require7 ments of section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 

8 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536(a)(2)) in its entirety; and 

9 (2) for purposes of that Act, the Keystone XL 

10 pipeline project will not jeopardize the continued ex11 istence of the American burying beetle or destroy or 

12 adversely modify American burying beetle critical 

13 habitat. 

14 (b) BIOLOGICAL OPINION.—The Secretary of the In15 terior is deemed to have issued a written statement setting 

16 forth the Secretary’s opinion containing such findings 

17 under section 7(b)(1)(A) of the Endangered Species Act 

18 of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536(b)(1)(A)) and any taking of the 

19 American burying beetle that is incidental to the construc20 tion or operation and maintenance of the Keystone XL 

21 pipeline as it may be ultimately defined in its entirety, 

22 shall not be considered a prohibited taking of such species 

23 under such Act. 


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1 SEC. 106. RIGHT-OF-WAY AND TEMPORARY USE PERMIT. 

2 The Secretary of the Interior is deemed to have 

3 granted or issued a grant of right-of-way and temporary 

4 use permit under section 28 of the Mineral Leasing Act 

5 (30 U.S.C. 185) and the Federal Land Policy and Man6 agement Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), as set forth 

7 in the application tendered to the Bureau of Land Man8 agement for the Keystone XL pipeline. 

9 SEC. 107. PERMITS FOR ACTIVITIES IN NAVIGABLE 

10 WATERS. 

11 (a) ISSUANCE OF PERMITS.—The Secretary of the 

12 Army, not later than 90 days after receipt of an applica13 tion therefor, shall issue all permits under section 404 of 

14 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344) 

15 and section 10 of the Act of March 3, 1899 (33 U.S.C. 

16 403; commonly known as the Rivers and Harbors Appro17 priations Act of 1899), necessary for the construction, op18 eration, and maintenance of the pipeline described in the 

19 May 4, 2012, application referred to in section 103, as 

20 supplemented by the Nebraska reroute. The application 

21 shall be based on the administrative record for the pipeline 

22 as of the date of enactment of this Act, which shall be 

23 considered complete. 

24 (b) WAIVER OF PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS.—The 

25 Secretary may waive any procedural requirement of law 


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1 or regulation that the Secretary considers desirable to 

2 waive in order to accomplish the purposes of this section. 

3 (c) ISSUANCE IN ABSENCE OF ACTION BY THE SEC4 RETARY.—If the Secretary has not issued a permit de5 scribed in subsection (a) on or before the last day of the 

6 90-day period referred to in subsection (a), the permit 

7 shall be deemed issued under section 404 of the Federal 

8 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344) or section 

9 10 of the Act of March 3, 1899 (33 U.S.C. 403), as appro10 priate, on the day following such last day. 

11 (d) LIMITATION.—The Administrator of the Environ12 mental Protection Agency may not prohibit or restrict an 

13 activity or use of an area that is authorized under this 

14 section. 

15 SEC. 108. MIGRATORY BIRD TREATY ACT PERMIT. 

16 The Secretary of the Interior is deemed to have 

17 issued a special purpose permit under the Migratory Bird 

18 Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 703 et seq.), as described in the 

19 application filed with the United States Fish and Wildlife 

20 Service for the Keystone XL pipeline on January 11, 

21 2013. 

22 SEC. 109. OIL SPILL RESPONSE PLAN DISCLOSURE. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any pipeline owner or operator 

24 required under Federal law to develop an oil spill response 

25 plan for the Keystone XL pipeline shall make such plan 


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1 available to the Governor of each State in which such pipe2 line operates to assist with emergency response prepared3 ness. 

4 (b) UPDATES.—A pipeline owner or operator required 

5 to make available to a Governor a plan under subsection 

6 (a) shall make available to such Governor any update of 

7 such plan not later than 7 days after the date on which 

8 such update is made. 

9 Subtitle B—Natural Gas Pipeline 

10 Permitting Reform 

11 SEC. 121. SHORT TITLE. 

12 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Natural Gas Pipe13 line Permitting Reform Act’’. 

14 SEC. 122. REGULATORY APPROVAL OF NATURAL GAS PIPE15 LINE PROJECTS. 

16 Section 7 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717f) 

17 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub18 section: 

19 ‘‘(i)(1) The Commission shall approve or deny an ap20 plication for a certificate of public convenience and neces21 sity for a prefiled project not later than 12 months after 

22 receiving a complete application that is ready to be proc23 essed, as defined by the Commission by regulation. 

24 ‘‘(2) The agency responsible for issuing any license, 

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1 tion with a prefiled project for which a certificate of public 

2 convenience and necessity is sought under this Act shall 

3 approve or deny the issuance of the license, permit, or ap4 proval not later than 90 days after the Commission issues 

5 its final environmental document relating to the project. 

6 ‘‘(3) The Commission may extend the time period 

7 under paragraph (2) by 30 days if an agency demonstrates 

8 that it cannot otherwise complete the process required to 

9 approve or deny the license, permit, or approval, and 

10 therefor will be compelled to deny the license, permit, or 

11 approval. In granting an extension under this paragraph, 

12 the Commission may offer technical assistance to the 

13 agency as necessary to address conditions preventing the 

14 completion of the review of the application for the license, 

15 permit, or approval. 

16 ‘‘(4) If an agency described in paragraph (2) does 

17 not approve or deny the issuance of the license, permit, 

18 or approval within the time period specified under para19 graph (2) or (3), as applicable, such license, permit, or 

20 approval shall take effect upon the expiration of 30 days 

21 after the end of such period. The Commission shall incor22 porate into the terms of such license, permit, or approval 

23 any conditions proffered by the agency described in para24 graph (2) that the Commission does not find are incon25 sistent with the final environmental document. 


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1 ‘‘(5) For purposes of this subsection, the term 

2 ‘prefiled project’ means a project for the siting, construc3 tion, expansion, or operation of a natural gas pipeline with 

4 respect to which a prefiling docket number has been as5 signed by the Commission pursuant to a prefiling process 

6 established by the Commission for the purpose of facili7 tating the formal application process for obtaining a cer8 tificate of public convenience and necessity.’’. 

9 Subtitle C—North American 

10 Energy Infrastructure 

11 SEC. 131. SHORT TITLE. 

12 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘North American 

13 Energy Infrastructure Act’’. 

14 SEC. 132. FINDING. 

15 Congress finds that the United States should estab16 lish a more uniform, transparent, and modern process for 

17 the construction, connection, operation, and maintenance 

18 of oil and natural gas pipelines and electric transmission 

19 facilities for the import and export of oil and natural gas 

20 and the transmission of electricity to and from Canada 

21 and Mexico, in pursuit of a more secure and efficient 

22 North American energy market. 


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1 SEC. 133. AUTHORIZATION OF CERTAIN ENERGY INFRA2 STRUCTURE PROJECTS AT THE NATIONAL 

3 BOUNDARY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

4 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—Except as provided in sub5 section (c) and section 137, no person may construct, con6 nect, operate, or maintain a cross-border segment of an 

7 oil pipeline or electric transmission facility for the import 

8 or export of oil or the transmission of electricity to or from 

9 Canada or Mexico without obtaining a certificate of cross10 ing for the construction, connection, operation, or mainte11 nance of the cross-border segment under this section. 

12 (b) CERTIFICATE OF CROSSING.— 

13 (1) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 120 days 

14 after final action is taken under the National Envi15 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 

16 seq.) with respect to a cross-border segment for 

17 which a request is received under this section, the 

18 relevant official identified under paragraph (2), in 

19 consultation with appropriate Federal agencies, shall 

20 issue a certificate of crossing for the cross-border 

21 segment unless the relevant official finds that the 

22 construction, connection, operation, or maintenance 

23 of the cross-border segment is not in the public in24 terest of the United States. 

25 (2) RELEVANT OFFICIAL.—The relevant official 

26 referred to in paragraph (1) is— 


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1 (A) the Secretary of State with respect to 

2 oil pipelines; and 

3 (B) the Secretary of Energy with respect 

4 to electric transmission facilities. 

5 (3) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT FOR ELECTRIC

6 TRANSMISSION FACILITIES.—In the case of a request 

7 for a certificate of crossing for the construction, con8 nection, operation, or maintenance of a cross-border 

9 segment of an electric transmission facility, the Sec10 retary of Energy shall require, as a condition of 

11 issuing the certificate of crossing for the request 

12 under paragraph (1), that the cross-border segment 

13 of the electric transmission facility be constructed, 

14 connected, operated, or maintained consistent with 

15 all applicable policies and standards of— 

16 (A) the Electric Reliability Organization 

17 and the applicable regional entity; and 

18 (B) any Regional Transmission Organiza19 tion or Independent System Operator with 

20 operational or functional control over the cross21 border segment of the electric transmission fa22 cility. 

23 (c) EXCLUSIONS.—This section shall not apply to any 

24 construction, connection, operation, or maintenance of a 

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1 mission facility for the import or export of oil or the trans2 mission of electricity to or from Canada or Mexico— 

3 (1) if the cross-border segment is operating for 

4 such import, export, or transmission as of the date 

5 of enactment of this Act; 

6 (2) if a permit described in section 136 for such 

7 construction, connection, operation, or maintenance 

8 has been issued; 

9 (3) if a certificate of crossing for such construc10 tion, connection, operation, or maintenance has pre11 viously been issued under this section; or 

12 (4) if an application for a permit described in 

13 section 136 for such construction, connection, oper14 ation, or maintenance is pending on the date of en15 actment of this Act, until the earlier of— 

16 (A) the date on which such application is 

17 denied; or 

18 (B) July 1, 2016. 

19 (d) EFFECT OF OTHER LAWS.— 

20 (1) APPLICATION TO PROJECTS.—Nothing in 

21 this section or section 137 shall affect the applica22 tion of any other Federal statute to a project for 

23 which a certificate of crossing for the construction, 

24 connection, operation, or maintenance of a cross-bor25 der segment is sought under this section. 


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1 (2) NATURAL GAS ACT.—Nothing in this sec2 tion or section 137 shall affect the requirement to 

3 obtain approval or authorization under sections 3 

4 and 7 of the Natural Gas Act for the siting, con5 struction, or operation of any facility to import or 

6 export natural gas. 

7 (3) ENERGY POLICY AND CONSERVATION

8 ACT.—Nothing in this section or section 137 shall 

9 affect the authority of the President under section 

10 103(a) of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. 

11 SEC. 134. IMPORTATION OR EXPORTATION OF NATURAL 

12 GAS TO CANADA AND MEXICO. 

13 Section 3(c) of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 

14 717b(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘No order is required under subsection (a) to authorize 

16 the export or import of any natural gas to or from Canada 

17 or Mexico.’’. 

18 SEC. 135. TRANSMISSION OF ELECTRIC ENERGY TO CAN19 ADA AND MEXICO. 

20 (a) REPEAL OF REQUIREMENT TO SECURE

21 ORDER.—Section 202(e) of the Federal Power Act (16 

22 U.S.C. 824a(e)) is repealed. 

23 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

24 (1) STATE REGULATIONS.—Section 202(f) of 

25 the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824a(f)) is 


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1 amended by striking ‘‘insofar as such State regula2 tion does not conflict with the exercise of the Com3 mission’s powers under or relating to subsection 

4 202(e)’’. 

5 (2) SEASONAL DIVERSITY ELECTRICITY EX6 CHANGE.—Section 602(b) of the Public Utility Reg7 ulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 824a–4(b)) 

8 is amended by striking ‘‘the Commission has con9 ducted hearings and made the findings required 

10 under section 202(e) of the Federal Power Act’’ and 

11 all that follows through the period at the end and 

12 inserting ‘‘the Secretary has conducted hearings and 

13 finds that the proposed transmission facilities would 

14 not impair the sufficiency of electric supply within 

15 the United States or would not impede or tend to 

16 impede the coordination in the public interest of fa17 cilities subject to the jurisdiction of the Secretary.’’. 

18 SEC. 136. NO PRESIDENTIAL PERMIT REQUIRED. 

19 No Presidential permit (or similar permit) required 

20 under Executive Order No. 13337 (3 U.S.C. 301 note), 

21 Executive Order No. 11423 (3 U.S.C. 301 note), section 

22 301 of title 3, United States Code, Executive Order No. 

23 12038, Executive Order No. 10485, or any other Execu24 tive order shall be necessary for the construction, connec25 tion, operation, or maintenance of an oil or natural gas 


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1 pipeline or electric transmission facility, or any cross-bor2 der segment thereof. 

3 SEC. 137. MODIFICATIONS TO EXISTING PROJECTS. 

4 No certificate of crossing under section 133, or per5 mit described in section 136, shall be required for a modi6 fication to the construction, connection, operation, or 

7 maintenance of an oil or natural gas pipeline or electric 

8 transmission facility— 

9 (1) that is operating for the import or export 

10 of oil or natural gas or the transmission of elec11 tricity to or from Canada or Mexico as of the date 

12 of enactment of the Act; 

13 (2) for which a permit described in section 136 

14 for such construction, connection, operation, or 

15 maintenance has been issued; or 

16 (3) for which a certificate of crossing for the 

17 cross-border segment of the pipeline or facility has 

18 previously been issued under section 133. 

19 SEC. 138. EFFECTIVE DATE; RULEMAKING DEADLINES. 

20 (a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Sections 133 through 137, 

21 and the amendments made by such sections, shall take ef22 fect on July 1, 2015. 

23 (b) RULEMAKING DEADLINES.—Each relevant offi24 cial described in section 133(b)(2) shall— 


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1 (1) not later than 180 days after the date of 

2 enactment of this Act, publish in the Federal Reg3 ister notice of a proposed rulemaking to carry out 

4 the applicable requirements of section 133; and 

5 (2) not later than 1 year after the date of en6 actment of this Act, publish in the Federal Register 

7 a final rule to carry out the applicable requirements 

8 of section 133. 

9 SEC. 139. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this subtitle— 

11 (1) the term ‘‘cross-border segment’’ means the 

12 portion of an oil or natural gas pipeline or electric 

13 transmission facility that is located at the national 

14 boundary of the United States with either Canada or 

15 Mexico; 

16 (2) the term ‘‘modification’’ includes a reversal 

17 of flow direction, change in ownership, volume ex18 pansion, downstream or upstream interconnection, 

19 or adjustment to maintain flow (such as a reduction 

20 or increase in the number of pump or compressor 

21 stations); 

22 (3) the term ‘‘natural gas’’ has the meaning 

23 given that term in section 2 of the Natural Gas Act 

24 (15 U.S.C. 717a); 


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1 (4) the term ‘‘oil’’ means petroleum or a petro2 leum product; 

3 (5) the terms ‘‘Electric Reliability Organiza4 tion’’ and ‘‘regional entity’’ have the meanings given 

5 those terms in section 215 of the Federal Power Act 

6 (16 U.S.C. 824o); and 

7 (6) the terms ‘‘Independent System Operator’’ 

8 and ‘‘Regional Transmission Organization’’ have the 

9 meanings given those terms in section 3 of the Fed10 eral Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796). 

11 TITLE II—MAINTAINING DI12 VERSE ELECTRICITY GEN13 ERATION AND AFFORD14 ABILITY 

15 Subtitle A—Energy Consumers 

16 Relief 

17 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE. 

18 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Energy Consumers 

19 Relief Act of 2014’’. 

20 SEC. 202. PROHIBITION AGAINST FINALIZING CERTAIN EN21 ERGY-RELATED RULES THAT WILL CAUSE 

22 SIGNIFICANT ADVERSE EFFECTS TO THE 

23 ECONOMY. 

24 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Ad25 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency may 


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1 not promulgate as final an energy-related rule that is esti2 mated to cost more than $1 billion if the Secretary of En3 ergy determines under section 203(3) that the rule will 

4 cause significant adverse effects to the economy. 

5 SEC. 203. REPORTS AND DETERMINATIONS PRIOR TO PRO6 MULGATING AS FINAL CERTAIN ENERGY-RE7 LATED RULES. 

8 Before promulgating as final any energy-related rule 

9 that is estimated to cost more than $1 billion: 

10 (1) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Administrator 

11 of the Environmental Protection Agency shall sub12 mit to Congress a report (and transmit a copy to the 

13 Secretary of Energy) containing— 

14 (A) a copy of the rule; 

15 (B) a concise general statement relating to 

16 the rule; 

17 (C) an estimate of the total costs of the 

18 rule, including the direct costs and indirect 

19 costs of the rule; 

20 (D)(i) an estimate of the total benefits of 

21 the rule and when such benefits are expected to 

22 be realized; 

23 (ii) a description of the modeling, the cal24 culations, the assumptions, and the limitations 

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1 mation associated with the estimates under this 

2 subparagraph; and 

3 (iii) a certification that all data and docu4 ments relied upon by the Agency in developing 

5 such estimates— 

6 (I) have been preserved; and 

7 (II) are available for review by the 

8 public on the Agency’s Web site, except to 

9 the extent to which publication of such 

10 data and documents would constitute dis11 closure of confidential information in viola12 tion of applicable Federal law; 

13 (E) an estimate of the increases in energy 

14 prices, including potential increases in gasoline 

15 or electricity prices for consumers, that may re16 sult from implementation or enforcement of the 

17 rule; and 

18 (F) a detailed description of the employ19 ment effects, including potential job losses and 

20 shifts in employment, that may result from im21 plementation or enforcement of the rule. 

22 (2) INITIAL DETERMINATION ON INCREASES

23 AND IMPACTS.—The Secretary of Energy, in con24 sultation with the Federal Energy Regulatory Com25 mission and the Administrator of the Energy InforVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:47 Nov 17, 2014 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2.PCS H2

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1 mation Administration, shall prepare an independent 

2 analysis to determine whether the rule will cause— 

3 (A) any increase in energy prices for con4 sumers, including low-income households, small 

5 businesses, and manufacturers; 

6 (B) any impact on fuel diversity of the Na7 tion’s electricity generation portfolio or on na8 tional, regional, or local electric reliability; 

9 (C) any adverse effect on energy supply, 

10 distribution, or use due to the economic or tech11 nical infeasibility of implementing the rule; or 

12 (D) any other adverse effect on energy 

13 supply, distribution, or use (including a short14 fall in supply and increased use of foreign sup15 plies). 

16 (3) SUBSEQUENT DETERMINATION ON ADVERSE

17 EFFECTS TO THE ECONOMY.—If the Secretary of 

18 Energy determines, under paragraph (2), that the 

19 rule will cause an increase, impact, or effect de20 scribed in such paragraph, then the Secretary, in 

21 consultation with the Administrator of the Environ22 mental Protection Agency, the Secretary of Com23 merce, the Secretary of Labor, and the Adminis24 trator of the Small Business Administration, shall— 


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1 (A) determine whether the rule will cause 

2 significant adverse effects to the economy, tak3 ing into consideration— 

4 (i) the costs and benefits of the rule 

5 and limitations in calculating such costs 

6 and benefits due to uncertainty, specula7 tion, or lack of information; and 

8 (ii) the positive and negative impacts 

9 of the rule on economic indicators, includ10 ing those related to gross domestic prod11 uct, unemployment, wages, consumer 

12 prices, and business and manufacturing ac13 tivity; and 

14 (B) publish the results of such determina15 tion in the Federal Register. 

16 SEC. 204. DEFINITIONS. 

17 In this subtitle: 

18 (1) The terms ‘‘direct costs’’ and ‘‘indirect 

19 costs’’ have the meanings given such terms in chap20 ter 8 of the Environmental Protection Agency’s 

21 ‘‘Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses’’ 

22 dated December 17, 2010. 

23 (2) The term ‘‘energy-related rule that is esti24 mated to cost more than $1 billion’’ means a rule of 

25 the Environmental Protection Agency that— 


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1 (A) regulates any aspect of the production, 

2 supply, distribution, or use of energy or pro3 vides for such regulation by States or other gov4 ernmental entities; and 

5 (B) is estimated by the Administrator of 

6 the Environmental Protection Agency or the 

7 Director of the Office of Management and 

8 Budget to impose direct costs and indirect 

9 costs, in the aggregate, of more than 

10 $1,000,000,000. 

11 (3) The term ‘‘rule’’ has the meaning given to 

12 such term in section 551 of title 5, United States 

13 Code. 

14 SEC. 205. PROHIBITION ON USE OF SOCIAL COST OF CAR15 BON IN ANALYSIS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi17 sion of law or any executive order, the Administrator of 

18 the Environmental Protection Agency may not use the so19 cial cost of carbon in order to incorporate social benefits 

20 of reducing carbon dioxide emissions, or for any other rea21 son, in any cost-benefit analysis relating to an energy-re22 lated rule that is estimated to cost more than $1 billion 

23 unless and until a Federal law is enacted authorizing such 

24 use. 


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1 (b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘social 

2 cost of carbon’’ means the social cost of carbon as de3 scribed in the technical support document entitled ‘‘Tech4 nical Support Document: Technical Update of the Social 

5 Cost of Carbon for Regulatory Impact Analysis Under Ex6 ecutive Order 12866’’, published by the Interagency 

7 Working Group on Social Cost of Carbon, United States 

8 Government, in May 2013, or any successor or substan9 tially related document, or any other estimate of the mone10 tized damages associated with an incremental increase in 

11 carbon dioxide emissions in a given year. 

12 Subtitle B—Electricity Security 

13 and Affordability 

14 SEC. 211. SHORT TITLE. 

15 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Electricity Security 

16 and Affordability Act’’. 

17 SEC. 212. STANDARDS OF PERFORMANCE FOR NEW FOSSIL 

18 FUEL-FIRED ELECTRIC UTILITY GENERATING 

19 UNITS. 

20 (a) LIMITATION.—The Administrator of the Environ21 mental Protection Agency may not issue, implement, or 

22 enforce any proposed or final rule under section 111 of 

23 the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7411) that establishes a 

24 standard of performance for emissions of any greenhouse 

25 gas from any new source that is a fossil fuel-fired electric 


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1 utility generating unit unless such rule meets the require2 ments under subsections (b) and (c). 

3 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—In issuing any rule under sec4 tion 111 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7411) estab5 lishing standards of performance for emissions of any 

6 greenhouse gas from new sources that are fossil fuel-fired 

7 electric utility generating units, the Administrator of the 

8 Environmental Protection Agency (for purposes of estab9 lishing such standards)— 

10 (1) shall separate sources fueled with coal and 

11 natural gas into separate categories; and 

12 (2) shall not set a standard based on the best 

13 system of emission reduction for new sources within 

14 a fossil-fuel category unless— 

15 (A) such standard has been achieved on 

16 average for at least one continuous 12-month 

17 period (excluding planned outages) by each of 

18 at least 6 units within such category— 

19 (i) each of which is located at a dif20 ferent electric generating station in the 

21 United States; 

22 (ii) which, collectively, are representa23 tive of the operating characteristics of elec24 tric generation at different locations in the 

25 United States; and 


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1 (iii) each of which is operated for the 

2 entire 12-month period on a full commer3 cial basis; and 

4 (B) no results obtained from any dem5 onstration project are used in setting such 

6 standard. 

7 (c) COAL HAVING A HEAT CONTENT OF 8300 OR

8 LESS BRITISH THERMAL UNITS PER POUND.— 

9 (1) SEPARATE SUBCATEGORY.—In carrying out 

10 subsection (b)(1), the Administrator of the Environ11 mental Protection Agency shall establish a separate 

12 subcategory for new sources that are fossil fuel-fired 

13 electric utility generating units using coal with an 

14 average heat content of 8300 or less British Ther15 mal Units per pound. 

16 (2) STANDARD.—Notwithstanding subsection 

17 (b)(2), in issuing any rule under section 111 of the 

18 Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7411) establishing stand19 ards of performance for emissions of any greenhouse 

20 gas from new sources in such subcategory, the Ad21 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 

22 shall not set a standard based on the best system of 

23 emission reduction unless— 

24 (A) such standard has been achieved on 

25 average for at least one continuous 12-month 


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1 period (excluding planned outages) by each of 

2 at least 3 units within such subcategory— 

3 (i) each of which is located at a dif4 ferent electric generating station in the 

5 United States; 

6 (ii) which, collectively, are representa7 tive of the operating characteristics of elec8 tric generation at different locations in the 

9 United States; and 

10 (iii) each of which is operated for the 

11 entire 12-month period on a full commer12 cial basis; and 

13 (B) no results obtained from any dem14 onstration project are used in setting such 

15 standard. 

16 (d) TECHNOLOGIES.—Nothing in this section shall be 

17 construed to preclude the issuance, implementation, or en18 forcement of a standard of performance that— 

19 (1) is based on the use of one or more tech20 nologies that are developed in a foreign country, but 

21 has been demonstrated to be achievable at fossil 

22 fuel-fired electric utility generating units in the 

23 United States; and 

24 (2) meets the requirements of subsection (b) 

25 and (c), as applicable. 


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1 SEC. 213. CONGRESS TO SET EFFECTIVE DATE FOR STAND2 ARDS OF PERFORMANCE FOR EXISTING, 

3 MODIFIED, AND RECONSTRUCTED FOSSIL 

4 FUEL-FIRED ELECTRIC UTILITY GENERATING 

5 UNITS. 

6 (a) APPLICABILITY.—This section applies with re7 spect to any rule or guidelines issued by the Administrator 

8 of the Environmental Protection Agency under section 

9 111 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7411) that— 

10 (1) establish any standard of performance for 

11 emissions of any greenhouse gas from any modified 

12 or reconstructed source that is a fossil fuel-fired 

13 electric utility generating unit; or 

14 (2) apply to the emissions of any greenhouse 

15 gas from an existing source that is a fossil fuel-fired 

16 electric utility generating unit. 

17 (b) CONGRESS TO SET EFFECTIVE DATE.—A rule 

18 or guidelines described in subsection (a) shall not take ef19 fect unless a Federal law is enacted specifying such rule’s 

20 or guidelines’ effective date. 

21 (c) REPORTING.—A rule or guidelines described in 

22 subsection (a) shall not take effect unless the Adminis23 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency has sub24 mitted to Congress a report containing each of the fol25 lowing: 

26 (1) The text of such rule or guidelines. 


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1 (2) The economic impacts of such rule or guide2 lines, including the potential effects on— 

3 (A) economic growth, competitiveness, and 

4 jobs in the United States; 

5 (B) electricity ratepayers, including low-in6 come ratepayers in affected States; 

7 (C) required capital investments and pro8 jected costs for operation and maintenance of 

9 new equipment required to be installed; and 

10 (D) the global economic competitiveness of 

11 the United States. 

12 (3) The amount of greenhouse gas emissions 

13 that such rule or guidelines are projected to reduce 

14 as compared to overall global greenhouse gas emis15 sions. 

16 (d) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out subsection (c), 

17 the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agen18 cy shall consult with the Administrator of the Energy In19 formation Administration, the Comptroller General of the 

20 United States, the Director of the National Energy Tech21 nology Laboratory, and the Under Secretary of Commerce 

22 for Standards and Technology. 


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1 SEC. 214. REPEAL OF EARLIER RULES AND GUIDELINES. 

2 The following rules and guidelines shall be of no force 

3 or effect, and shall be treated as though such rules and 

4 guidelines had never been issued: 

5 (1) The proposed rule— 

6 (A) entitled ‘‘Standards of Performance 

7 for Greenhouse Gas Emissions for New Sta8 tionary Sources: Electric Utility Generating 

9 Units’’, published at 77 Fed. Reg. 22392 (April 

10 13, 2012); and 

11 (B) withdrawn pursuant to the notice enti12 tled ‘‘Withdrawal of Proposed Standards of 

13 Performance for Greenhouse Gas Emissions 

14 From New Stationary Sources: Electric Utility 

15 Generating Units’’, published at 79 Fed. Reg. 

16 1352 (January 8, 2014). 

17 (2) The proposed rule entitled ‘‘Standards of 

18 Performance for Greenhouse Gas Emissions From 

19 New Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating 

20 Units’’, published at 79 Fed. Reg. 1430 (January 8, 

21 2014). 

22 (3) With respect to the proposed rules described 

23 in paragraphs (1) and (2), any successor or substan24 tially similar proposed or final rule that— 

25 (A) is issued prior to the date of the enact26 ment of this Act; 


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1 (B) is applicable to any new source that is 

2 a fossil fuel-fired electric utility generating unit; 

3 and 

4 (C) does not meet the requirements under 

5 subsections (b) and (c) of section 212. 

6 (4) The proposed rule entitled ‘‘Carbon Pollu7 tion Emission Guidelines for Existing Stationary 

8 Sources: Electric Utility Generating Units’’, pub9 lished at 79 Fed. Reg. 34830 (June 18, 2014). 

10 (5) The proposed rule entitled ‘‘Carbon Pollu11 tion Standards for Modified and Reconstructed Sta12 tionary Sources: Electric Utility Generating Units’’, 

13 published at 79 Fed. Reg. 34960 (June 18, 2014). 

14 (6) With respect to the proposed rules described 

15 in paragraphs (4) and (5), any successor or substan16 tially similar proposed or final rule that— 

17 (A) is issued prior to the date of the enact18 ment of this Act; and 

19 (B) is applicable to any existing, modified, 

20 or reconstructed source that is a fossil fuel-fired 

21 electric utility generating unit. 

22 SEC. 215. DEFINITIONS. 

23 In this subtitle: 

24 (1) DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.—The term 

25 ‘‘demonstration project’’ means a project to test or 


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1 demonstrate the feasibility of carbon capture and 

2 storage technologies that has received Federal Gov3 ernment funding or financial assistance. 

4 (2) EXISTING SOURCE.—The term ‘‘existing 

5 source’’ has the meaning given such term in section 

6 111(a) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7411(a)), 

7 except such term shall not include any modified 

8 source. 

9 (3) GREENHOUSE GAS.—The term ‘‘greenhouse 

10 gas’’ means any of the following: 

11 (A) Carbon dioxide. 

12 (B) Methane. 

13 (C) Nitrous oxide. 

14 (D) Sulfur hexafluoride. 

15 (E) Hydrofluorocarbons. 

16 (F) Perfluorocarbons. 

17 (4) MODIFICATION.—The term ‘‘modification’’ 

18 has the meaning given such term in section 111(a) 

19 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7411(a)). 

20 (5) MODIFIED SOURCE.—The term ‘‘modified 

21 source’’ means any stationary source, the modifica22 tion of which is commenced after the date of the en23 actment of this Act. 

24 (6) NEW SOURCE.—The term ‘‘new source’’ has 

25 the meaning given such term in section 111(a) of 


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1 the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7411(a)), except that 

2 such term shall not include any modified source. 

3 Subtitle C—Report on Energy and 

4 Water Savings Potential From 

5 Thermal Insulation 

6 SEC. 221. REPORT ON ENERGY AND WATER SAVINGS PO7 TENTIAL FROM THERMAL INSULATION. 

8 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

9 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy, in con10 sultation with appropriate Federal agencies and relevant 

11 stakeholders, shall submit to the Committee on Energy 

12 and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee 

13 on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives 

14 a report on the impact of thermal insulation on both en15 ergy and water use systems for potable hot and chilled 

16 water in Federal buildings, and the return on investment 

17 of installing such insulation. 

18 (b) CONTENTS.—The report shall include— 

19 (1) an analysis based on the cost of municipal 

20 or regional water for delivered water and the avoided 

21 cost of new water; and 

22 (2) a summary of energy and water savings, in23 cluding short term and long term (20 years) projec24 tions of such savings. 


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1 TITLE III—UNLEASHING ENERGY 

2 DIPLOMACY 

3 SEC. 301. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Domestic Prosperity 

5 and Global Freedom Act’’. 

6 SEC. 302. ACTION ON APPLICATIONS. 

7 (a) DECISION DEADLINE.—For proposals that must 

8 also obtain authorization from the Federal Energy Regu9 latory Commission or the United States Maritime Admin10 istration to site, construct, expand, or operate LNG export 

11 facilities, the Department of Energy shall issue a final de12 cision on any application for the authorization to export 

13 natural gas under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (15 

14 U.S.C. 717b) not later than 30 days after the later of— 

15 (1) the conclusion of the review to site, con16 struct, expand, or operate the LNG facilities re17 quired by the National Environmental Policy Act of 

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

19 (2) the date of enactment of this Act. 

20 (b) CONCLUSION OF REVIEW.—For purposes of sub21 section (a), review required by the National Environ22 mental Policy Act of 1969 shall be considered concluded— 

23 (1) for a project requiring an Environmental 

24 Impact Statement, 30 days after publication of a 

25 Final Environmental Impact Statement; 


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1 (2) for a project for which an Environmental 

2 Assessment has been prepared, 30 days after publi3 cation by the Department of Energy of a Finding of 

4 No Significant Impact; and 

5 (3) upon a determination by the lead agency 

6 that an application is eligible for a categorical exclu7 sion pursuant National Environmental Policy Act of 

8 1969 implementing regulations. 

9 (c) JUDICIAL ACTION.—(1) The United States Court 

10 of Appeals for the circuit in which the export facility will 

11 be located pursuant to an application described in sub12 section (a) shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction 

13 over any civil action for the review of— 

14 (A) an order issued by the Department of En15 ergy with respect to such application; or 

16 (B) the Department of Energy’s failure to issue 

17 a final decision on such application. 

18 (2) If the Court in a civil action described in para19 graph (1) finds that the Department of Energy has failed 

20 to issue a final decision on the application as required 

21 under subsection (a), the Court shall order the Depart22 ment of Energy to issue such final decision not later than 

23 30 days after the Court’s order. 

24 (3) The Court shall set any civil action brought under 

25 this subsection for expedited consideration and shall set 


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1 the matter on the docket as soon as practical after the 

2 filing date of the initial pleading. 

3 SEC. 303. PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF EXPORT DESTINATIONS. 

4 Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) 

5 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(g) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF LNG EXPORT DES7 TINATIONS.—As a condition for approval of any authoriza8 tion to export LNG, the Secretary of Energy shall require 

9 the applicant to publicly disclose the specific destination 

10 or destinations of any such authorized LNG exports.’’. 

11 DIVISION B—NATURAL 

12 RESOURCES COMMITTEE 

13 SEC. 201. REFERENCES. 

14 Except as expressly provided otherwise, any reference 

15 to ‘‘this Act’’ in any subdivision of this division shall be 

16 treated as referring only to the provisions of that subdivi17 sion. 

18 SUBDIVISION A—LOWERING 

19 GASOLINE PRICES TO FUEL 

20 AN AMERICA THAT WORKS 

21 ACT OF 2014 

22 SEC. 1. SHORT TITLE. 

23 This subdivision may be cited as the ‘‘Lowering Gaso24 line Prices to Fuel an America That Works Act of 2014’’. 


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1 TITLE I—OFFSHORE ENERGY 

2 AND JOBS 

3 Subtitle A—Outer Continental 

4 Shelf Leasing Program Reforms 

5 SEC. 10101. OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF LEASING PRO6 GRAM REFORMS. 

7 Section 18(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 

8 Act (43 U.S.C. 1344(a)) is amended by adding at the end 

9 the following: 

10 ‘‘(5)(A) In each oil and gas leasing program 

11 under this section, the Secretary shall make avail12 able for leasing and conduct lease sales including at 

13 least 50 percent of the available unleased acreage 

14 within each outer Continental Shelf planning area 

15 considered to have the largest undiscovered, tech16 nically recoverable oil and gas resources (on a total 

17 btu basis) based upon the most recent national geo18 logic assessment of the outer Continental Shelf, with 

19 an emphasis on offering the most geologically pro20 spective parts of the planning area. 

21 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall include in each pro22 posed oil and gas leasing program under this section 

23 any State subdivision of an outer Continental Shelf 

24 planning area that the Governor of the State that 

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1 able for leasing. The Secretary may not remove such 

2 a subdivision from the program until publication of 

3 the final program, and shall include and consider all 

4 such subdivisions in any environmental review con5 ducted and statement prepared for such program 

6 under section 102(2) of the National Environmental 

7 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)). 

8 ‘‘(C) In this paragraph the term ‘available un9 leased acreage’ means that portion of the outer Con10 tinental Shelf that is not under lease at the time of 

11 a proposed lease sale, and that has not otherwise 

12 been made unavailable for leasing by law. 

13 ‘‘(6)(A) In the 5-year oil and gas leasing pro14 gram, the Secretary shall make available for leasing 

15 any outer Continental Shelf planning areas that— 

16 ‘‘(i) are estimated to contain more than 

17 2,500,000,000 barrels of oil; or 

18 ‘‘(ii) are estimated to contain more than 

19 7,500,000,000,000 cubic feet of natural gas. 

20 ‘‘(B) To determine the planning areas described 

21 in subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall use the 

22 document entitled ‘Minerals Management Service 

23 Assessment of Undiscovered Technically Recoverable 

24 Oil and Gas Resources of the Nation’s Outer Conti25 nental Shelf, 2006’.’’. 


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1 SEC. 10102. DOMESTIC OIL AND NATURAL GAS PRODUC2 TION GOAL. 

3 Section 18(b) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 

4 Act (43 U.S.C. 1344(b)) is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(b) DOMESTIC OIL AND NATURAL GAS PRODUC6 TION GOAL.—– 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In developing a 5-year oil 

8 and gas leasing program, and subject to paragraph 

9 (2), the Secretary shall determine a domestic stra10 tegic production goal for the development of oil and 

11 natural gas as a result of that program. Such goal 

12 shall be— 

13 ‘‘(A) the best estimate of the possible in14 crease in domestic production of oil and natural 

15 gas from the outer Continental Shelf; 

16 ‘‘(B) focused on meeting domestic demand 

17 for oil and natural gas and reducing the de18 pendence of the United States on foreign en19 ergy; and 

20 ‘‘(C) focused on the production increases 

21 achieved by the leasing program at the end of 

22 the 15-year period beginning on the effective 

23 date of the program. 

24 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM GOAL.—For purposes of the 5- 

25 year oil and gas leasing program, the production 


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1 goal referred to in paragraph (1) shall be an in2 crease by 2032 of— 

3 ‘‘(A) no less than 3,000,000 barrels in the 

4 amount of oil produced per day; and 

5 ‘‘(B) no less than 10,000,000,000 cubic 

6 feet in the amount of natural gas produced per 

7 day. 

8 ‘‘(3) REPORTING.—The Secretary shall report 

9 annually, beginning at the end of the 5-year period 

10 for which the program applies, to the Committee on 

11 Natural Resources of the House of Representatives 

12 and the Committee on Energy and Natural Re13 sources of the Senate on the progress of the pro14 gram in meeting the production goal. The Secretary 

15 shall identify in the report projections for production 

16 and any problems with leasing, permitting, or pro17 duction that will prevent meeting the goal.’’. 

18 SEC. 10103. DEVELOPMENT AND SUBMITTAL OF NEW 5- 

19 YEAR OIL AND GAS LEASING PROGRAM. 

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

21 shall— 

22 (1) by not later than July 15, 2015, publish 

23 and submit to Congress a new proposed oil and gas 

24 leasing program under section 18 of the Outer Con25 tinental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344) for the 


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1 5-year period beginning on such date and ending 

2 July 15, 2021; and 

3 (2) by not later than July 15, 2016, approve a 

4 final oil and gas leasing program under such section 

5 for such period. 

6 (b) CONSIDERATION OF ALL AREAS.—In preparing 

7 such program the Secretary shall include consideration of 

8 areas of the Continental Shelf off the coasts of all States 

9 (as such term is defined in section 2 of that Act, as 

10 amended by this title), that are subject to leasing under 

11 this title. 

12 (c) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Section 18(d)(3) of 

13 the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 

14 1344(d)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘or after eighteen 

15 months following the date of enactment of this section, 

16 whichever first occurs,’’. 

17 SEC. 10104. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

18 Nothing in this title shall be construed to authorize 

19 the issuance of a lease under the Outer Continental Shelf 

20 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) to any person des21 ignated for the imposition of sanctions pursuant to— 

22 (1) the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 (50 U.S.C. 

23 1701 note), the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Ac24 countability and Divestiture Act of 2010 (22 U.S.C. 

25 8501 et seq.), the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria 


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1 Human Rights Act of 2012 (22 U.S.C. 8701 et 

2 seq.), section 1245 of the National Defense Author3 ization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (22 U.S.C. 8513a), 

4 or the Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act 

5 of 2012 (22 U.S.C. 8801 et seq.); 

6 (2) Executive Order No. 13622 (July 30, 

7 2012), Executive Order No. 13628 (October 9, 

8 2012), or Executive Order No. 13645 (June 3, 

9 2013); 

10 (3) Executive Order No. 13224 (September 23, 

11 2001) or Executive Order No. 13338 (May 11, 

12 2004); or 

13 (4) the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sov14 ereignty Restoration Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 2151 

15 note). 

16 SEC. 10105. ADDITION OF LEASE SALES AFTER FINALIZA17 TION OF 5-YEAR PLAN. 

18 Section 18(d) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 

19 Act (43 U.S.C.1344(d)) is amended— 

20 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘After’’ and 

21 inserting ‘‘Except as provided in paragraph (4), 

22 after’’; and 

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

24 ‘‘(4) The Secretary may add to the areas included 

25 in an approved leasing program additional areas to be 


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1 made available for leasing under the program, if all review 

2 and documents required under section 102 of the National 

3 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332) have 

4 been completed with respect to leasing of each such addi5 tional area within the 5-year period preceding such addi6 tion.’’. 

7 Subtitle B—Directing the President 

8 To Conduct New OCS Sales 

9 SEC. 10201. REQUIREMENT TO CONDUCT PROPOSED OIL 

10 AND GAS LEASE SALE 220 ON THE OUTER 

11 CONTINENTAL SHELF OFFSHORE VIRGINIA. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the exclusion of 

13 Lease Sale 220 in the Final Outer Continental Shelf Oil 

14 & Gas Leasing Program 2012–2017, the Secretary of the 

15 Interior shall conduct offshore oil and gas Lease Sale 220 

16 under section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

17 (43 U.S.C. 1337) as soon as practicable, but not later 

18 than one year after the date of enactment of this Act. 

19 (b) REQUIREMENT TO MAKE REPLACEMENT LEASE

20 BLOCKS AVAILABLE.—For each lease block in a proposed 

21 lease sale under this section for which the Secretary of 

22 Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, 

23 under the Memorandum of Agreement referred to in sec24 tion 10205(b), issues a statement proposing deferral from 

25 a lease offering due to defense-related activities that are 


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1 irreconcilable with mineral exploration and development, 

2 the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Sec3 retary of Defense, shall make available in the same lease 

4 sale one other lease block in the Virginia lease sale plan5 ning area that is acceptable for oil and gas exploration 

6 and production in order to mitigate conflict. 

7 (c) BALANCING MILITARY AND ENERGY PRODUC8 TION GOALS.—In recognition that the Outer Continental 

9 Shelf oil and gas leasing program and the domestic energy 

10 resources produced therefrom are integral to national se11 curity, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of 

12 Defense shall work jointly in implementing this section in 

13 order to ensure achievement of the following common 

14 goals: 

15 (1) Preserving the ability of the Armed Forces 

16 of the United States to maintain an optimum state 

17 of readiness through their continued use of the 

18 Outer Continental Shelf. 

19 (2) Allowing effective exploration, development, 

20 and production of our Nation’s oil, gas, and renew21 able energy resources. 

22 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 (1) LEASE SALE 220.—The term ‘‘Lease Sale 

24 220’’ means such lease sale referred to in the Re25 quest for Comments on the Draft Proposed 5-Year 


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1 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing 

2 Program for 2010–2015 and Notice of Intent To 

3 Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 

4 for the Proposed 5-Year Program published January 

5 21, 2009 (74 Fed. Reg. 3631). 

6 (2) VIRGINIA LEASE SALE PLANNING AREA.— 

7 The term ‘‘Virginia lease sale planning area’’ means 

8 the area of the outer Continental Shelf (as that term 

9 is defined in the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

10 (33 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.)) that is bounded by— 

11 (A) a northern boundary consisting of a 

12 straight line extending from the northernmost 

13 point of Virginia’s seaward boundary to the 

14 point on the seaward boundary of the United 

15 States exclusive economic zone located at 37 de16 grees 17 minutes 1 second North latitude, 71 

17 degrees 5 minutes 16 seconds West longitude; 

18 and 

19 (B) a southern boundary consisting of a 

20 straight line extending from the southernmost 

21 point of Virginia’s seaward boundary to the 

22 point on the seaward boundary of the United 

23 States exclusive economic zone located at 36 de24 grees 31 minutes 58 seconds North latitude, 71 

25 degrees 30 minutes 1 second West longitude. 


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1 SEC. 10202. SOUTH CAROLINA LEASE SALE. 

2 Notwithstanding exclusion of the South Atlantic 

3 Outer Continental Shelf Planning Area from the Final 

4 Outer Continental Shelf Oil & Gas Leasing Program 

5 2012–2017, the Secretary of the Interior shall conduct a 

6 lease sale not later than 2 years after the date of the en7 actment of this Act for areas off the coast of South Caro8 lina determined by the Secretary to have the most geologi9 cally promising hydrocarbon resources and constituting 

10 not less than 25 percent of the leasable area within the 

11 South Carolina offshore administrative boundaries de12 picted in the notice entitled ‘‘Federal Outer Continental 

13 Shelf (OCS) Administrative Boundaries Extending from 

14 the Submerged Lands Act Boundary seaward to the Limit 

15 of the United States Outer Continental Shelf’’, published 

16 January 3, 2006 (71 Fed. Reg. 127). 

17 SEC. 10203. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EXISTING INFRA18 STRUCTURE LEASE SALE. 

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

20 offer for sale leases of tracts in the Santa Maria and 

21 Santa Barbara/Ventura Basins of the Southern California 

22 OCS Planning Area as soon as practicable, but not later 

23 than December 31, 2015. 

24 (b) USE OF EXISTING STRUCTURES OR ONSHORE25 BASED DRILLING.—The Secretary of the Interior shall in26 clude in leases offered for sale under this lease sale such 


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1 terms and conditions as are necessary to require that de2 velopment and production may occur only from offshore 

3 infrastructure in existence on the date of the enactment 

4 of this Act or from onshore-based, extended-reach drilling. 

5 SEC. 10204. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT RE6 QUIREMENT. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of this title, the 

8 Secretary of the Interior shall prepare a multisale environ9 mental impact statement under section 102 of the Na10 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332) 

11 for all lease sales required under this subtitle. 

12 (b) ACTIONS TO BE CONSIDERED.—Notwithstanding 

13 section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 

14 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332), in such statement— 

15 (1) the Secretary is not required to identify 

16 nonleasing alternative courses of action or to analyze 

17 the environmental effects of such alternative courses 

18 of action; and 

19 (2) the Secretary shall only— 

20 (A) identify a preferred action for leasing 

21 and not more than one alternative leasing pro22 posal; and 

23 (B) analyze the environmental effects and 

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1 ferred action and such alternative leasing pro2 posal. 

3 SEC. 10205. NATIONAL DEFENSE. 

4 (a) NATIONAL DEFENSE AREAS.—This title does not 

5 affect the existing authority of the Secretary of Defense, 

6 with the approval of the President, to designate national 

7 defense areas on the Outer Continental Shelf pursuant to 

8 section 12(d) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

9 (43 U.S.C. 1341(d)). 

10 (b) PROHIBITION ON CONFLICTS WITH MILITARY

11 OPERATIONS.—No person may engage in any exploration, 

12 development, or production of oil or natural gas on the 

13 Outer Continental Shelf under a lease issued under this 

14 title that would conflict with any military operation, as 

15 determined in accordance with the Memorandum of Agree16 ment between the Department of Defense and the Depart17 ment of the Interior on Mutual Concerns on the Outer 

18 Continental Shelf signed July 20, 1983, and any revision 

19 or replacement for that agreement that is agreed to by 

20 the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of the Interior 

21 after that date but before the date of issuance of the lease 

22 under which such exploration, development, or production 

23 is conducted. 


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1 SEC. 10206. EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO NOT INCLUDED. 

2 Nothing in this title affects restrictions on oil and gas 

3 leasing under the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 

4 2006 (title I of division C of Public Law 109–432; 43 

5 U.S.C. 1331 note). 

6 Subtitle C—Equitable Sharing of 

7 Outer Continental Shelf Revenues 

8 SEC. 10301. DISPOSITION OF OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF 

9 REVENUES TO COASTAL STATES. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9 of the Outer Conti11 nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1338) is amended— 

12 (1) in the existing text— 

13 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘All 

14 rentals,’’ and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(c) DISPOSITION OF REVENUE UNDER OLD

16 LEASES.—All rentals,’’; and 

17 (B) in subsection (c) (as designated by the 

18 amendment made by subparagraph (A) of this 

19 paragraph), by striking ‘‘for the period from 

20 June 5, 1950, to date, and thereafter’’ and in21 serting ‘‘in the period beginning June 5, 1950, 

22 and ending on the date of enactment of the 

23 Lowering Gasoline Prices to Fuel an America 

24 That Works Act of 2014’’; 

25 (2) by adding after subsection (c) (as so des26 ignated) the following: 


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1 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 ‘‘(1) COASTAL STATE.—The term ‘coastal 

3 State’ includes a territory of the United States. 

4 ‘‘(2) NEW LEASING REVENUES.—The term ‘new 

5 leasing revenues’— 

6 ‘‘(A) means amounts received by the 

7 United States as bonuses, rents, and royalties 

8 under leases for oil and gas, wind, tidal, or 

9 other energy exploration, development, and pro10 duction on new areas of the outer Continental 

11 Shelf that are authorized to be made available 

12 for leasing as a result of enactment of the Low13 ering Gasoline Prices to Fuel an America That 

14 Works Act of 2014 and leasing under that Act; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(B) does not include amounts received by 

17 the United States under any lease of an area lo18 cated in the boundaries of the Central Gulf of 

19 Mexico and Western Gulf of Mexico Outer Con20 tinental Shelf Planning Areas on the date of en21 actment of the Lowering Gasoline Prices to 

22 Fuel an America That Works Act of 2014, in23 cluding a lease issued before, on, or after such 

24 date of enactment.’’; and 


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1 (3) by inserting before subsection (c) (as so 

2 designated) the following: 

3 ‘‘(a) PAYMENT OF NEW LEASING REVENUES TO

4 COASTAL STATES.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para6 graph (2), of the amount of new leasing revenues re7 ceived by the United States each fiscal year, 37.5 

8 percent shall be allocated and paid in accordance 

9 with subsection (b) to coastal States that are af10 fected States with respect to the leases under which 

11 those revenues are received by the United States. 

12 ‘‘(2) PHASE-IN.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

14 subparagraph (B), paragraph (1) shall be ap15 plied— 

16 ‘‘(i) with respect to new leasing reve17 nues under leases awarded under the first 

18 leasing program under section 18(a) that 

19 takes effect after the date of enactment of 

20 the Lowering Gasoline Prices to Fuel an 

21 America That Works Act of 2014, by sub22 stituting ‘12.5 percent’ for ‘37.5 percent’; 

23 and 

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1 ond leasing program under section 18(a) 

2 that takes effect after the date of enact3 ment of the Lowering Gasoline Prices to 

4 Fuel an America That Works Act of 2014, 

5 by substituting ‘25 percent’ for ‘37.5 per6 cent’. 

7 ‘‘(B) EXEMPTED LEASE SALES.—This 

8 paragraph shall not apply with respect to any 

9 lease issued under subtitle B of the Lowering 

10 Gasoline Prices to Fuel an America That 

11 Works Act of 2014. 

12 ‘‘(b) ALLOCATION OF PAYMENTS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The amount of new leasing 

14 revenues received by the United States with respect 

15 to a leased tract that are required to be paid to 

16 coastal States in accordance with this subsection 

17 each fiscal year shall be allocated among and paid 

18 to coastal States that are within 200 miles of the 

19 leased tract, in amounts that are inversely propor20 tional to the respective distances between the point 

21 on the coastline of each such State that is closest to 

22 the geographic center of the lease tract, as deter23 mined by the Secretary. 

24 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM ALLOCATION.— 

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1 graph (1) each fiscal year with respect to a leased 

2 tract shall be— 

3 ‘‘(A) in the case of a coastal State that is 

4 the nearest State to the geographic center of 

5 the leased tract, not less than 25 percent of the 

6 total amounts allocated with respect to the 

7 leased tract; 

8 ‘‘(B) in the case of any other coastal State, 

9 not less than 10 percent, and not more than 15 

10 percent, of the total amounts allocated with re11 spect to the leased tract; and 

12 ‘‘(C) in the case of a coastal State that is 

13 the only coastal State within 200 miles of a 

14 leased tract, 100 percent of the total amounts 

15 allocated with respect to the leased tract. 

16 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATION.—Amounts allocated to 

17 a coastal State under this subsection— 

18 ‘‘(A) shall be available to the coastal State 

19 without further appropriation; 

20 ‘‘(B) shall remain available until expended; 

21 ‘‘(C) shall be in addition to any other 

22 amounts available to the coastal State under 

23 this Act; and 

24 ‘‘(D) shall be distributed in the fiscal year 

25 following receipt. 


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1 ‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

3 subparagraph (B), a coastal State may use 

4 funds allocated and paid to it under this sub5 section for any purpose as determined by the 

6 laws of that State. 

7 ‘‘(B) RESTRICTION ON USE FOR MATCH8 ING.—Funds allocated and paid to a coastal 

9 State under this subsection may not be used as 

10 matching funds for any other Federal pro11 gram.’’. 

12 (b) LIMITATION ON APPLICATION.—This section and 

13 the amendment made by this section shall not affect the 

14 application of section 105 of the Gulf of Mexico Energy 

15 Security Act of 2006 (title I of division C of Public Law 

16 109–432; (43 U.S.C. 1331 note)), as in effect before the 

17 enactment of this Act, with respect to revenues received 

18 by the United States under oil and gas leases issued for 

19 tracts located in the Western and Central Gulf of Mexico 

20 Outer Continental Shelf Planning Areas, including such 

21 leases issued on or after the date of the enactment of this 

22 Act. 


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1 Subtitle D—Reorganization of Min2 erals Management Agencies of 

3 the Department of the Interior 

4 SEC. 10401. ESTABLISHMENT OF UNDER SECRETARY FOR 

5 ENERGY, LANDS, AND MINERALS AND ASSIST6 ANT SECRETARY OF OCEAN ENERGY AND 

7 SAFETY. 

8 There shall be in the Department of the Interior— 

9 (1) an Under Secretary for Energy, Lands, and 

10 Minerals, who shall— 

11 (A) be appointed by the President, by and 

12 with the advise and consent of the Senate; 

13 (B) report to the Secretary of the Interior 

14 or, if directed by the Secretary, to the Deputy 

15 Secretary of the Interior; 

16 (C) be paid at the rate payable for level III 

17 of the Executive Schedule; and 

18 (D) be responsible for— 

19 (i) the safe and responsible develop20 ment of our energy and mineral resources 

21 on Federal lands in appropriate accordance 

22 with United States energy demands; and 

23 (ii) ensuring multiple-use missions of 

24 the Department of the Interior that pro25 mote the safe and sustained development 


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1 of energy and minerals resources on public 

2 lands (as that term is defined in the Fed3 eral Land Policy and Management Act of 

4 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)); 

5 (2) an Assistant Secretary of Ocean Energy 

6 and Safety, who shall— 

7 (A) be appointed by the President, by and 

8 with the advise and consent of the Senate; 

9 (B) report to the Under Secretary for En10 ergy, Lands, and Minerals; 

11 (C) be paid at the rate payable for level IV 

12 of the Executive Schedule; and 

13 (D) be responsible for ensuring safe and 

14 efficient development of energy and minerals on 

15 the Outer Continental Shelf of the United 

16 States; and 

17 (3) an Assistant Secretary of Land and Min18 erals Management, who shall— 

19 (A) be appointed by the President, by and 

20 with the advise and consent of the Senate; 

21 (B) report to the Under Secretary for En22 ergy, Lands, and Minerals; 

23 (C) be paid at the rate payable for level IV 

24 of the Executive Schedule; and 


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1 (D) be responsible for ensuring safe and 

2 efficient development of energy and minerals on 

3 public lands and other Federal onshore lands 

4 under the jurisdiction of the Department of the 

5 Interior, including implementation of the Min6 eral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) and 

7 the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation 

8 Act (30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.) and administra9 tion of the Office of Surface Mining. 

10 SEC. 10402. BUREAU OF OCEAN ENERGY. 

11 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

12 Department of the Interior a Bureau of Ocean Energy (re13 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Bureau’’), which shall— 

14 (1) be headed by a Director of Ocean Energy 

15 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Director’’); and 

16 (2) be administered under the direction of the 

17 Assistant Secretary of Ocean Energy and Safety. 

18 (b) DIRECTOR.— 

19 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Director shall be ap20 pointed by the Secretary of the Interior. 

21 (2) COMPENSATION.—The Director shall be 

22 compensated at the rate provided for level V of the 

23 Executive Schedule under section 5316 of title 5, 

24 United States Code. 

25 (c) DUTIES.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte2 rior shall carry out through the Bureau all func3 tions, powers, and duties vested in the Secretary re4 lating to the administration of a comprehensive pro5 gram of offshore mineral and renewable energy re6 sources management. 

7 (2) SPECIFIC AUTHORITIES.—The Director 

8 shall promulgate and implement regulations— 

9 (A) for the proper issuance of leases for 

10 the exploration, development, and production of 

11 nonrenewable and renewable energy and min12 eral resources on the Outer Continental Shelf; 

13 (B) relating to resource identification, ac14 cess, evaluation, and utilization; 

15 (C) for development of leasing plans, lease 

16 sales, and issuance of leases for such resources; 

17 and 

18 (D) regarding issuance of environmental 

19 impact statements related to leasing and post 

20 leasing activities including exploration, develop21 ment, and production, and the use of third 

22 party contracting for necessary environmental 

23 analysis for the development of such resources. 


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1 (3) LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall not carry 

2 out through the Bureau any function, power, or duty 

3 that is— 

4 (A) required by section 10403 to be car5 ried out through the Ocean Energy Safety Serv6 ice; or 

7 (B) required by section 10404 to be car8 ried out through the Office of Natural Re9 sources Revenue. 

10 (d) RESPONSIBILITIES OF LAND MANAGEMENT

11 AGENCIES.—Nothing in this section shall affect the au12 thorities of the Bureau of Land Management under the 

13 Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 

14 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) or of the Forest Service under the 

15 National Forest Management Act of 1976 (Public Law 

16 94–588). 

17 SEC. 10403. OCEAN ENERGY SAFETY SERVICE. 

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

19 Department of the Interior an Ocean Energy Safety Serv20 ice (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Service’’), which 

21 shall— 

22 (1) be headed by a Director of Energy Safety 

23 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Director’’); and 

24 (2) be administered under the direction of the 

25 Assistant Secretary of Ocean Energy and Safety. 


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1 (b) DIRECTOR.— 

2 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Director shall be ap3 pointed by the Secretary of the Interior. 

4 (2) COMPENSATION.—The Director shall be 

5 compensated at the rate provided for level V of the 

6 Executive Schedule under section 5316 of title 5, 

7 United States Code. 

8 (c) DUTIES.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte10 rior shall carry out through the Service all functions, 

11 powers, and duties vested in the Secretary relating 

12 to the administration of safety and environmental 

13 enforcement activities related to offshore mineral 

14 and renewable energy resources on the Outer Conti15 nental Shelf pursuant to the Outer Continental Shelf 

16 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) including the 

17 authority to develop, promulgate, and enforce regu18 lations to ensure the safe and sound exploration, de19 velopment, and production of mineral and renewable 

20 energy resources on the Outer Continental Shelf in 

21 a timely fashion. 

22 (2) SPECIFIC AUTHORITIES.—The Director 

23 shall be responsible for all safety activities related to 

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1 eral resources on the Outer Continental Shelf, in2 cluding— 

3 (A) exploration, development, production, 

4 and ongoing inspections of infrastructure; 

5 (B) the suspending or prohibiting, on a 

6 temporary basis, any operation or activity, in7 cluding production under leases held on the 

8 Outer Continental Shelf, in accordance with 

9 section 5(a)(1) of the Outer Continental Shelf 

10 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1334(a)(1)); 

11 (C) cancelling any lease, permit, or right12 of-way on the Outer Continental Shelf, in ac13 cordance with section 5(a)(2) of the Outer Con14 tinental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 

15 1334(a)(2)); 

16 (D) compelling compliance with applicable 

17 Federal laws and regulations relating to worker 

18 safety and other matters; 

19 (E) requiring comprehensive safety and en20 vironmental management programs for persons 

21 engaged in activities connected with the explo22 ration, development, and production of mineral 

23 or renewable energy resources; 

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1 spection or investigation to ascertain compli2 ance with applicable regulations, including 

3 health, safety, or environmental regulations; 

4 (G) implementing the Offshore Technology 

5 Research and Risk Assessment Program under 

6 section 21 of the Outer Continental Shelf 

7 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1347); 

8 (H) summoning witnesses and directing 

9 the production of evidence; 

10 (I) levying fines and penalties and disquali11 fying operators; 

12 (J) carrying out any safety, response, and 

13 removal preparedness functions; and 

14 (K) the processing of permits, exploration 

15 plans, development plans. 

16 (d) EMPLOYEES.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ensure 

18 that the inspection force of the Bureau consists of 

19 qualified, trained employees who meet qualification 

20 requirements and adhere to the highest professional 

21 and ethical standards. 

22 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The qualification re23 quirements referred to in paragraph (1)— 

24 (A) shall be determined by the Secretary, 

25 subject to subparagraph (B); and 


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1 (B) shall include— 

2 (i) 3 years of practical experience in 

3 oil and gas exploration, development, or 

4 production; or 

5 (ii) a degree in an appropriate field of 

6 engineering from an accredited institution 

7 of higher learning. 

8 (3) ASSIGNMENT.—In assigning oil and gas in9 spectors to the inspection and investigation of indi10 vidual operations, the Secretary shall give due con11 sideration to the extent possible to their previous ex12 perience in the particular type of oil and gas oper13 ation in which such inspections are to be made. 

14 (4) BACKGROUND CHECKS.—The Director shall 

15 require that an individual to be hired as an inspec16 tion officer undergo an employment investigation 

17 (including a criminal history record check). 

18 (5) LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS.—Individuals 

19 hired as inspectors must be able to read, speak, and 

20 write English well enough to— 

21 (A) carry out written and oral instructions 

22 regarding the proper performance of inspection 

23 duties; and 

24 (B) write inspection reports and state25 ments and log entries in the English language. 


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1 (6) VETERANS PREFERENCE.—The Director 

2 shall provide a preference for the hiring of an indi3 vidual as a inspection officer if the individual is a 

4 member or former member of the Armed Forces and 

5 is entitled, under statute, to retired, retirement, or 

6 retainer pay on account of service as a member of 

7 the Armed Forces. 

8 (7) ANNUAL PROFICIENCY REVIEW.— 

9 (A) ANNUAL PROFICIENCY REVIEW.—The 

10 Director shall provide that an annual evaluation 

11 of each individual assigned inspection duties is 

12 conducted and documented. 

13 (B) CONTINUATION OF EMPLOYMENT.—An 

14 individual employed as an inspector may not 

15 continue to be employed in that capacity unless 

16 the evaluation demonstrates that the indi17 vidual— 

18 (i) continues to meet all qualifications 

19 and standards; 

20 (ii) has a satisfactory record of per21 formance and attention to duty based on 

22 the standards and requirements in the in23 spection program; and 

24 (iii) demonstrates the current knowl25 edge and skills necessary to courteously, 


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1 vigilantly, and effectively perform inspec2 tion functions. 

3 (8) LIMITATION ON RIGHT TO STRIKE.—Any 

4 individual that conducts permitting or inspections 

5 under this section may not participate in a strike, or 

6 assert the right to strike. 

7 (9) PERSONNEL AUTHORITY.—Notwithstanding 

8 any other provision of law, the Director may employ, 

9 appoint, discipline and terminate for cause, and fix 

10 the compensation, terms, and conditions of employ11 ment of Federal service for individuals as the em12 ployees of the Service in order to restore and main13 tain the trust of the people of the United States in 

14 the accountability of the management of our Na15 tion’s energy safety program. 

16 (10) TRAINING ACADEMY.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall es18 tablish and maintain a National Offshore En19 ergy Safety Academy (referred to in this para20 graph as the ‘‘Academy’’) as an agency of the 

21 Ocean Energy Safety Service. 

22 (B) FUNCTIONS OF ACADEMY.—The Sec23 retary, through the Academy, shall be respon24 sible for— 


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1 (i) the initial and continued training 

2 of both newly hired and experienced off3 shore oil and gas inspectors in all aspects 

4 of health, safety, environmental, and oper5 ational inspections; 

6 (ii) the training of technical support 

7 personnel of the Bureau; 

8 (iii) any other training programs for 

9 offshore oil and gas inspectors, Bureau 

10 personnel, Department personnel, or other 

11 persons as the Secretary shall designate; 

12 and 

13 (iv) certification of the successful 

14 completion of training programs for newly 

15 hired and experienced offshore oil and gas 

16 inspectors. 

17 (C) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.— 

18 (i) IN GENERAL.—In performing func19 tions under this paragraph, and subject to 

20 clause (ii), the Secretary may enter into 

21 cooperative educational and training agree22 ments with educational institutions, related 

23 Federal academies, other Federal agencies, 

24 State governments, safety training firms, 


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1 and oil and gas operators and related in2 dustries. 

3 (ii) TRAINING REQUIREMENT.—Such 

4 training shall be conducted by the Acad5 emy in accordance with curriculum needs 

6 and assignment of instructional personnel 

7 established by the Secretary. 

8 (11) USE OF DEPARTMENT PERSONNEL.—In 

9 performing functions under this subsection, the Sec10 retary shall use, to the extent practicable, the facili11 ties and personnel of the Department of the Interior. 

12 The Secretary may appoint or assign to the Acad13 emy such officers and employees as the Secretary 

14 considers necessary for the performance of the du15 ties and functions of the Academy. 

16 (12) ADDITIONAL TRAINING PROGRAMS.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

18 work with appropriate educational institutions, 

19 operators, and representatives of oil and gas 

20 workers to develop and maintain adequate pro21 grams with educational institutions and oil and 

22 gas operators that are designed— 

23 (i) to enable persons to qualify for po24 sitions in the administration of this title; 

25 and 


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1 (ii) to provide for the continuing edu2 cation of inspectors or other appropriate 

3 Department of the Interior personnel. 

4 (B) FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL ASSIST5 ANCE.—The Secretary may provide financial 

6 and technical assistance to educational institu7 tions in carrying out this paragraph. 

8 (e) LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall not carry out 

9 through the Service any function, power, or duty that is— 

10 (1) required by section 10402 to be carried out 

11 through Bureau of Ocean Energy; or 

12 (2) required by section 10404 to be carried out 

13 through the Office of Natural Resources Revenue. 

14 SEC. 10404. OFFICE OF NATURAL RESOURCES REVENUE. 

15 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

16 Department of the Interior an Office of Natural Resources 

17 Revenue (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Office’’) to 

18 be headed by a Director of Natural Resources Revenue 

19 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Director’’). 

20 (b) APPOINTMENT AND COMPENSATION.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall be ap22 pointed by the Secretary of the Interior. 

23 (2) COMPENSATION.—The Director shall be 

24 compensated at the rate provided for Level V of the 


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1 Executive Schedule under section 5316 of title 5, 

2 United States Code. 

3 (c) DUTIES.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte5 rior shall carry out, through the Office, all functions, 

6 powers, and duties vested in the Secretary and relat7 ing to the administration of offshore royalty and rev8 enue management functions. 

9 (2) SPECIFIC AUTHORITIES.—The Secretary 

10 shall carry out, through the Office, all functions, 

11 powers, and duties previously assigned to the Min12 erals Management Service (including the authority 

13 to develop, promulgate, and enforce regulations) re14 garding offshore royalty and revenue collection; roy15 alty and revenue distribution; auditing and compli16 ance; investigation and enforcement of royalty and 

17 revenue regulations; and asset management for on18 shore and offshore activities. 

19 (d) LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall not carry out 

20 through the Office any function, power, or duty that is— 

21 (1) required by section 10402 to be carried out 

22 through Bureau of Ocean Energy; or 

23 (2) required by section 10403 to be carried out 

24 through the Ocean Energy Safety Service. 


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1 SEC. 10405. ETHICS AND DRUG TESTING. 

2 (a) CERTIFICATION.—The Secretary of the Interior 

3 shall certify annually that all Department of the Interior 

4 officers and employees having regular, direct contact with 

5 lessees, contractors, concessionaires, and other businesses 

6 interested before the Government as a function of their 

7 official duties, or conducting investigations, issuing per8 mits, or responsible for oversight of energy programs, are 

9 in full compliance with all Federal employee ethics laws 

10 and regulations under the Ethics in Government Act of 

11 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) and part 2635 of title 5, Code of 

12 Federal Regulations, and all guidance issued under sub13 section (c). 

14 (b) DRUG TESTING.—The Secretary shall conduct a 

15 random drug testing program of all Department of the 

16 Interior personnel referred to in subsection (a). 

17 (c) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 90 days after the 

18 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue 

19 supplementary ethics and drug testing guidance for the 

20 employees for which certification is required under sub21 section (a). The Secretary shall update the supplementary 

22 ethics guidance not less than once every 3 years there23 after. 


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1 SEC. 10406. ABOLISHMENT OF MINERALS MANAGEMENT 

2 SERVICE. 

3 (a) ABOLISHMENT.—The Minerals Management 

4 Service is abolished. 

5 (b) COMPLETED ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Completed administrative 

7 actions of the Minerals Management Service shall 

8 not be affected by the enactment of this Act, but 

9 shall continue in effect according to their terms until 

10 amended, modified, superseded, terminated, set 

11 aside, or revoked in accordance with law by an offi12 cer of the United States or a court of competent ju13 risdiction, or by operation of law. 

14 (2) COMPLETED ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION DE15 FINED.—For purposes of paragraph (1), the term 

16 ‘‘completed administrative action’’ includes orders, 

17 determinations, memoranda of understanding, 

18 memoranda of agreements, rules, regulations, per19 sonnel actions, permits, agreements, grants, con20 tracts, certificates, licenses, registrations, and privi21 leges. 

22 (c) PENDING PROCEEDINGS.—Subject to the author23 ity of the Secretary of the Interior and the officers of the 

24 Department of the Interior under this title— 

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1 making, and applications for licenses, permits, cer2 tificates, grants, and financial assistance, shall con3 tinue, notwithstanding the enactment of this Act or 

4 the vesting of functions of the Service in another 

5 agency, unless discontinued or modified under the 

6 same terms and conditions and to the same extent 

7 that such discontinuance or modification could have 

8 occurred if this title had not been enacted; and 

9 (2) orders issued in such proceedings, and ap10 peals therefrom, and payments made pursuant to 

11 such orders, shall issue in the same manner and on 

12 the same terms as if this title had not been enacted, 

13 and any such orders shall continue in effect until 

14 amended, modified, superseded, terminated, set 

15 aside, or revoked by an officer of the United States 

16 or a court of competent jurisdiction, or by operation 

17 of law. 

18 (d) PENDING CIVIL ACTIONS.—Subject to the au19 thority of the Secretary of the Interior or any officer of 

20 the Department of the Interior under this title, pending 

21 civil actions shall continue notwithstanding the enactment 

22 of this Act, and in such civil actions, proceedings shall be 

23 had, appeals taken, and judgments rendered and enforced 

24 in the same manner and with the same effect as if such 

25 enactment had not occurred. 


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1 (e) REFERENCES.—References relating to the Min2 erals Management Service in statutes, Executive orders, 

3 rules, regulations, directives, or delegations of authority 

4 that precede the effective date of this Act are deemed to 

5 refer, as appropriate, to the Department, to its officers, 

6 employees, or agents, or to its corresponding organiza7 tional units or functions. Statutory reporting requirements 

8 that applied in relation to the Minerals Management Serv9 ice immediately before the effective date of this title shall 

10 continue to apply. 

11 SEC. 10407. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO EXECUTIVE 

12 SCHEDULE PAY RATES. 

13 (a) UNDER SECRETARY FOR ENERGY, LANDS, AND

14 MINERALS.—Section 5314 of title 5, United States Code, 

15 is amended by inserting after the item relating to ‘‘Under 

16 Secretaries of the Treasury (3).’’ the following: 

17 ‘‘Under Secretary for Energy, Lands, and Min18 erals, Department of the Interior.’’. 

19 (b) ASSISTANT SECRETARIES.—Section 5315 of title 

20 5, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Assistant 

21 Secretaries of the Interior (6).’’ and inserting the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘Assistant Secretaries, Department of the Inte24 rior (7).’’. 


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1 (c) DIRECTORS.—Section 5316 of title 5, United 

2 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Director, Bureau of 

3 Mines, Department of the Interior.’’ and inserting the fol4 lowing new items: 

5 ‘‘Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy, Depart6 ment of the Interior. 

7 ‘‘Director, Ocean Energy Safety Service, De8 partment of the Interior. 

9 ‘‘Director, Office of Natural Resources Rev10 enue, Department of the Interior.’’. 

11 SEC. 10408. OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF ENERGY SAFETY 

12 ADVISORY BOARD. 

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of the Interior 

14 shall establish, under the Federal Advisory Committee 

15 Act, an Outer Continental Shelf Energy Safety Advisory 

16 Board (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Board’’)— 

17 (1) to provide the Secretary and the Directors 

18 established by this title with independent scientific 

19 and technical advice on safe, responsible, and timely 

20 mineral and renewable energy exploration, develop21 ment, and production activities; and 

22 (2) to review operations of the National Off23 shore Energy Health and Safety Academy estab24 lished under section 10403(d), including submitting 

25 to the Secretary recommendations of curriculum to 


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1 ensure training scientific and technical advance2 ments. 

3 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

4 (1) SIZE.—The Board shall consist of not more 

5 than 11 members, who— 

6 (A) shall be appointed by the Secretary 

7 based on their expertise in oil and gas drilling, 

8 well design, operations, well containment and 

9 oil spill response; and 

10 (B) must have significant scientific, engi11 neering, management, and other credentials and 

12 a history of working in the field related to safe 

13 energy exploration, development, and produc14 tion activities. 

15 (2) CONSULTATION AND NOMINATIONS.—The 

16 Secretary shall consult with the National Academy 

17 of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineer18 ing to identify potential candidates for the Board 

19 and shall take nominations from the public. 

20 (3) TERM.—The Secretary shall appoint Board 

21 members to staggered terms of not more than 4 

22 years, and shall not appoint a member for more 

23 than 2 consecutive terms. 


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1 (4) BALANCE.—In appointing members to the 

2 Board, the Secretary shall ensure a balanced rep3 resentation of industry and research interests. 

4 (c) CHAIR.—The Secretary shall appoint the Chair 

5 for the Board from among its members. 

6 (d) MEETINGS.—The Board shall meet not less than 

7 3 times per year and shall host, at least once per year, 

8 a public forum to review and assess the overall energy 

9 safety performance of Outer Continental Shelf mineral 

10 and renewable energy resource activities. 

11 (e) OFFSHORE DRILLING SAFETY ASSESSMENTS

12 AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—As part of its duties under 

13 this section, the Board shall, by not later than 180 days 

14 after the date of enactment of this section and every 5 

15 years thereafter, submit to the Secretary a report that— 

16 (1) assesses offshore oil and gas well control 

17 technologies, practices, voluntary standards, and 

18 regulations in the United States and elsewhere; and 

19 (2) as appropriate, recommends modifications 

20 to the regulations issued under this title to ensure 

21 adequate protection of safety and the environment, 

22 including recommendations on how to reduce regula23 tions and administrative actions that are duplicative 

24 or unnecessary. 


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1 (f) REPORTS.—Reports of the Board shall be sub2 mitted by the Board to the Committee on Natural Re3 sources of the House or Representatives and the Com4 mittee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate 

5 and made available to the public in electronically acces6 sible form. 

7 (g) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Members of the Board, 

8 other than full-time employees of the Federal Government, 

9 while attending meeting of the Board or while otherwise 

10 serving at the request of the Secretary or the Director 

11 while serving away from their homes or regular places of 

12 business, may be allowed travel expenses, including per 

13 diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by section 5703 

14 of title 5, United States Code, for individuals in the Gov15 ernment serving without pay. 

16 SEC. 10409. OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF INSPECTION 

17 FEES. 

18 Section 22 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

19 (43 U.S.C. 1348) is amended by adding at the end of the 

20 section the following: 

21 ‘‘(g) INSPECTION FEES.— 

22 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of the 

23 Interior shall collect from the operators of facilities 

24 subject to inspection under subsection (c) non-re25 fundable fees for such inspections— 


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1 ‘‘(A) at an aggregate level equal to the 

2 amount necessary to offset the annual expenses 

3 of inspections of outer Continental Shelf facili4 ties (including mobile offshore drilling units) by 

5 the Department of the Interior; and 

6 ‘‘(B) using a schedule that reflects the dif7 ferences in complexity among the classes of fa8 cilities to be inspected. 

9 ‘‘(2) OCEAN ENERGY SAFETY FUND.—There is 

10 established in the Treasury a fund, to be known as 

11 the ‘Ocean Energy Enforcement Fund’ (referred to 

12 in this subsection as the ‘Fund’), into which shall be 

13 deposited all amounts collected as fees under para14 graph (1) and which shall be available as provided 

15 under paragraph (3). 

16 ‘‘(3) AVAILABILITY OF FEES.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sec18 tion 3302 of title 31, United States Code, all 

19 amounts deposited in the Fund— 

20 ‘‘(i) shall be credited as offsetting col21 lections; 

22 ‘‘(ii) shall be available for expenditure 

23 for purposes of carrying out inspections of 

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1 ministration of the inspection program 

2 under this section; 

3 ‘‘(iii) shall be available only to the ex4 tent provided for in advance in an appro5 priations Act; and 

6 ‘‘(iv) shall remain available until ex7 pended. 

8 ‘‘(B) USE FOR FIELD OFFICES.—Not less 

9 than 75 percent of amounts in the Fund may 

10 be appropriated for use only for the respective 

11 Department of the Interior field offices where 

12 the amounts were originally assessed as fees. 

13 ‘‘(4) INITIAL FEES.—Fees shall be established 

14 under this subsection for the fiscal year in which 

15 this subsection takes effect and the subsequent 10 

16 years, and shall not be raised without advise and 

17 consent of the Congress, except as determined by the 

18 Secretary to be appropriate as an adjustment equal 

19 to the percentage by which the Consumer Price 

20 Index for the month of June of the calendar year 

21 preceding the adjustment exceeds the Consumer 

22 Price Index for the month of June of the calendar 

23 year in which the claim was determined or last ad24 justed. 


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1 ‘‘(5) ANNUAL FEES.—Annual fees shall be col2 lected under this subsection for facilities that are 

3 above the waterline, excluding drilling rigs, and are 

4 in place at the start of the fiscal year. Fees for fiscal 

5 year 2013 shall be— 

6 ‘‘(A) $10,500 for facilities with no wells, 

7 but with processing equipment or gathering 

8 lines; 

9 ‘‘(B) $17,000 for facilities with 1 to 10 

10 wells, with any combination of active or inactive 

11 wells; and 

12 ‘‘(C) $31,500 for facilities with more than 

13 10 wells, with any combination of active or in14 active wells. 

15 ‘‘(6) FEES FOR DRILLING RIGS.—Fees for drill16 ing rigs shall be assessed under this subsection for 

17 all inspections completed in fiscal years 2015 

18 through 2024. Fees for fiscal year 2015 shall be— 

19 ‘‘(A) $30,500 per inspection for rigs oper20 ating in water depths of 1,000 feet or more; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(B) $16,700 per inspection for rigs oper23 ating in water depths of less than 1,000 feet. 

24 ‘‘(7) BILLING.—The Secretary shall bill des25 ignated operators under paragraph (5) within 60 


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1 days after the date of the inspection, with payment 

2 required within 30 days of billing. The Secretary 

3 shall bill designated operators under paragraph (6) 

4 within 30 days of the end of the month in which the 

5 inspection occurred, with payment required within 

6 30 days after billing. 

7 ‘‘(8) SUNSET.—No fee may be collected under 

8 this subsection for any fiscal year after fiscal year 

9 2024. 

10 ‘‘(9) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 

12 days after the end of each fiscal year beginning 

13 with fiscal year 2015, the Secretary shall sub14 mit to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

15 Resources of the Senate and the Committee on 

16 Natural Resources of the House of Representa17 tives a report on the operation of the Fund dur18 ing the fiscal year. 

19 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—Each report shall in20 clude, for the fiscal year covered by the report, 

21 the following: 

22 ‘‘(i) A statement of the amounts de23 posited into the Fund. 

24 ‘‘(ii) A description of the expenditures 

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1 cluding the purpose of the expenditures 

2 and the additional hiring of personnel. 

3 ‘‘(iii) A statement of the balance re4 maining in the Fund at the end of the fis5 cal year. 

6 ‘‘(iv) An accounting of pace of permit 

7 approvals. 

8 ‘‘(v) If fee increases are proposed 

9 after the initial 10-year period referred to 

10 in paragraph (5), a proper accounting of 

11 the potential adverse economic impacts 

12 such fee increases will have on offshore 

13 economic activity and overall production, 

14 conducted by the Secretary. 

15 ‘‘(vi) Recommendations to increase 

16 the efficacy and efficiency of offshore in17 spections. 

18 ‘‘(vii) Any corrective actions levied 

19 upon offshore inspectors as a result of any 

20 form of misconduct.’’. 

21 SEC. 10410. PROHIBITION ON ACTION BASED ON NATIONAL 

22 OCEAN POLICY DEVELOPED UNDER EXECU23 TIVE ORDER NO. 13547. 

24 (a) PROHIBITION.—The Bureau of Ocean Energy 

25 and the Ocean Energy Safety Service may not develop, 


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1 propose, finalize, administer, or implement, any limitation 

2 on activities under their jurisdiction as a result of the 

3 coastal and marine spatial planning component of the Na4 tional Ocean Policy developed under Executive Order No. 

5 13547. 

6 (b) REPORT ON EXPENDITURES.—Not later than 60 

7 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the President 

8 shall submit a report to the Committee on Natural Re9 sources of the House of Representatives and the Com10 mittee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate 

11 identifying all Federal expenditures in fiscal years 2011, 

12 2012, 2013, and 2014 by the Bureau of Ocean Energy 

13 and the Ocean Energy Safety Service and their prede14 cessor agencies, by agency, account, and any pertinent 

15 subaccounts, for the development, administration, or im16 plementation of the coastal and marine spatial planning 

17 component of the National Ocean Policy developed under 

18 Executive Order No. 13547, including staff time, travel, 

19 and other related expenses. 


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1 Subtitle E—United States 

2 Territories 

3 SEC. 10501. APPLICATION OF OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF 

4 LANDS ACT WITH RESPECT TO TERRITORIES 

5 OF THE UNITED STATES. 

6 Section 2 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

7 (43 U.S.C. 1331) is amended— 

8 (1) in paragraph (a), by inserting after ‘‘con9 trol’’ the following: ‘‘or lying within the United 

10 States exclusive economic zone and the Continental 

11 Shelf adjacent to any territory of the United 

12 States’’; 

13 (2) in paragraph (p), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

14 the semicolon at the end; 

15 (3) in paragraph (q), by striking the period at 

16 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

17 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(r) The term ‘State’ includes each territory of the 

19 United States.’’. 


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1 Subtitle F—Miscellaneous 

2 Provisions 

3 SEC. 10601. RULES REGARDING DISTRIBUTION OF REVE4 NUES UNDER GULF OF MEXICO ENERGY SE5 CURITY ACT OF 2006. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 

7 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior 

8 shall issue rules to provide more clarity, certainty, and sta9 bility to the revenue streams contemplated by the Gulf of 

10 Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 (43 U.S.C. 1331 

11 note). 

12 (b) CONTENTS.—The rules shall include clarification 

13 of the timing and methods of disbursements of funds 

14 under section 105(b)(2) of such Act. 

15 SEC. 10602. AMOUNT OF DISTRIBUTED QUALIFIED OUTER 

16 CONTINENTAL SHELF REVENUES. 

17 Section 105(f)(1) of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Secu18 rity Act of 2006 (title I of division C of Public Law 109– 

19 432; 43 U.S.C. 1331 note) shall be applied by substituting 

20 ‘‘2024, and shall not exceed $999,999,999 for each of fis21 cal years 2025 through 2055’’ for ‘‘2055’’. 

22 SEC. 10603. SOUTH ATLANTIC OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF 

23 PLANNING AREA DEFINED. 

24 For the purposes of this Act, the Outer Continental 

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1 tions or 5-year plan issued under that Act, the term 

2 ‘‘South Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf Planning Area’’ 

3 means the area of the outer Continental Shelf (as defined 

4 in section 2 of that Act (43 U.S.C. 1331)) that is located 

5 between the northern lateral seaward administrative 

6 boundary of the State of Virginia and the southernmost 

7 lateral seaward administrative boundary of the State of 

8 Georgia. 

9 SEC. 10604. ENHANCING GEOLOGICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL 

10 INFORMATION FOR AMERICA’S ENERGY FU11 TURE. 

12 Section 11 of the Outer Continental Shelf lands Act 

13 (43 U.S.C. 1340) is amended by adding at the end the 

14 following: 

15 ‘‘(i) ENHANCING GEOLOGICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL

16 INFORMATION FOR AMERICA’S ENERGY FUTURE.— 

17 ‘‘(1) The Secretary, acting through the Director 

18 of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, shall 

19 facilitate and support the practical study of geology 

20 and geophysics to better understand the oil, gas, and 

21 other hydrocarbon potential in the South Atlantic 

22 Outer Continental Shelf Planning Area by entering 

23 into partnerships to conduct geological and geo24 physical activities on the outer Continental Shelf. 


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1 ‘‘(2)(A) No later than 180 days after the date 

2 of enactment of the Lowering Gasoline Prices to 

3 Fuel an America That Works Act of 2014, the Gov4 ernors of the States of Georgia, South Carolina, 

5 North Carolina, and Virginia may each nominate for 

6 participation in the partnerships— 

7 ‘‘(i) one institution of higher education lo8 cated within the Governor’s State; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) one institution of higher education 

10 within the Governor’s State that is a histori11 cally black college or university, as defined in 

12 section 631(a) of the Higher Education Act of 

13 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1132(a)). 

14 ‘‘(B) In making nominations, the Governors 

15 shall give preference to those institutions of higher 

16 education that demonstrate a vigorous rate of ad17 mission of veterans of the Armed Forces of the 

18 United States. 

19 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall only select as a part20 ner a nominee that the Secretary determines dem21 onstrates excellence in geophysical sciences cur22 riculum, engineering curriculum, or information 

23 technology or other technical studies relating to seis24 mic research (including data processing). 


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1 ‘‘(4) Notwithstanding subsection (d), nominees 

2 selected as partners by the Secretary may conduct 

3 geological and geophysical activities under this sec4 tion after filing a notice with the Secretary 30-days 

5 prior to commencement of the activity without any 

6 further authorization by the Secretary except those 

7 activities that use solid or liquid explosives shall re8 quire a permit. The Secretary may not charge any 

9 fee for the provision of data or other information 

10 collected under this authority, other than the cost of 

11 duplicating any data or information provided. Nomi12 nees selected as partners under this section shall 

13 provide to the Secretary any data or other informa14 tion collected under this subsection within 60 days 

15 after completion of an initial analysis of the data or 

16 other information collected, if so requested by the 

17 Secretary. 

18 ‘‘(5) Data or other information produced as a 

19 result of activities conducted by nominees selected as 

20 partners under this subsection shall not be used or 

21 shared for commercial purposes by the nominee, may 

22 not be produced for proprietary use or sale, and 

23 shall be made available by the Secretary to the pub24 lic. 


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1 ‘‘(6) The Secretary shall submit to the Com2 mittee on Natural Resources of the House of Rep3 resentatives and the Committee on Energy and Nat4 ural Resources of the Senate reports on the data or 

5 other information produced under the partnerships 

6 under this section. Such reports shall be made no 

7 less frequently than every 180 days following the 

8 conduct of the first geological and geophysical activi9 ties under this section. 

10 ‘‘(7) In this subsection the term ‘geological and 

11 geophysical activities’ means any oil- or gas-related 

12 investigation conducted on the outer Continental 

13 Shelf, including geophysical surveys where magnetic, 

14 gravity, seismic, or other systems are used to detect 

15 or imply the presence of oil or gas.’’. 

16 Subtitle G—Judicial Review 

17 SEC. 10701. TIME FOR FILING COMPLAINT. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any cause of action that arises 

19 from a covered energy decision must be filed not later than 

20 the end of the 60-day period beginning on the date of the 

21 covered energy decision. Any cause of action not filed with22 in this time period shall be barred. 

23 (b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to 

24 a cause of action brought by a party to a covered energy 

25 lease. 


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1 SEC. 10702. DISTRICT COURT DEADLINE. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—All proceedings that are subject 

3 to section 10701— 

4 (1) shall be brought in the United States dis5 trict court for the district in which the Federal prop6 erty for which a covered energy lease is issued is lo7 cated or the United States District Court of the Dis8 trict of Columbia; 

9 (2) shall be resolved as expeditiously as pos10 sible, and in any event not more than 180 days after 

11 such cause or claim is filed; and 

12 (3) shall take precedence over all other pending 

13 matters before the district court. 

14 (b) FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH DEADLINE.—If an 

15 interlocutory or final judgment, decree, or order has not 

16 been issued by the district court by the deadline described 

17 under this section, the cause or claim shall be dismissed 

18 with prejudice and all rights relating to such cause or 

19 claim shall be terminated. 

20 SEC. 10703. ABILITY TO SEEK APPELLATE REVIEW. 

21 An interlocutory or final judgment, decree, or order 

22 of the district court in a proceeding that is subject to sec23 tion 10701 may be reviewed by the U.S. Court of Appeals 

24 for the District of Columbia Circuit. The D.C. Circuit 

25 shall resolve any such appeal as expeditiously as possible 

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1 terlocutory or final judgment, decree, or order of the dis2 trict court was issued. 

3 SEC. 10704. LIMITATION ON SCOPE OF REVIEW AND RE4 LIEF. 

5 (a) ADMINISTRATIVE FINDINGS AND CONCLU6 SIONS.—In any judicial review of any Federal action under 

7 this subtitle, any administrative findings and conclusions 

8 relating to the challenged Federal action shall be pre9 sumed to be correct unless shown otherwise by clear and 

10 convincing evidence contained in the administrative 

11 record. 

12 (b) LIMITATION ON PROSPECTIVE RELIEF.—In any 

13 judicial review of any action, or failure to act, under this 

14 subtitle, the Court shall not grant or approve any prospec15 tive relief unless the Court finds that such relief is nar16 rowly drawn, extends no further than necessary to correct 

17 the violation of a Federal law requirement, and is the least 

18 intrusive means necessary to correct the violation con19 cerned. 

20 SEC. 10705. LEGAL FEES. 

21 Any person filing a petition seeking judicial review 

22 of any action, or failure to act, under this subtitle who 

23 is not a prevailing party shall pay to the prevailing parties 

24 (including intervening parties), other than the United 

25 States, fees and other expenses incurred by that party in 


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1 connection with the judicial review, unless the Court finds 

2 that the position of the person was substantially justified 

3 or that special circumstances make an award unjust. 

4 SEC. 10706. EXCLUSION. 

5 This subtitle shall not apply with respect to disputes 

6 between the parties to a lease issued pursuant to an au7 thorizing leasing statute regarding the obligations of such 

8 lease or the alleged breach thereof. 

9 SEC. 10707. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this subtitle, the following definitions apply: 

11 (1) COVERED ENERGY DECISION.—The term 

12 ‘‘covered energy decision’’ means any action or deci13 sion by a Federal official regarding the issuance of 

14 a covered energy lease. 

15 (2) COVERED ENERGY LEASE.—The term ‘‘cov16 ered energy lease’’ means any lease under this title 

17 or under an oil and gas leasing program under this 

18 title. 

19 TITLE II—ONSHORE FEDERAL 

20 LANDS AND ENERGY SECURITY 

21 Subtitle A—Federal Lands Jobs 

22 and Energy Security 

23 SEC. 21001. SHORT TITLE. 

24 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Lands 

25 Jobs and Energy Security Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 21002. POLICIES REGARDING BUYING, BUILDING, AND 

2 WORKING FOR AMERICA. 

3 (a) CONGRESSIONAL INTENT.—It is the intent of the 

4 Congress that— 

5 (1) this subtitle will support a healthy and 

6 growing United States domestic energy sector that, 

7 in turn, helps to reinvigorate American manufac8 turing, transportation, and service sectors by em9 ploying the vast talents of United States workers to 

10 assist in the development of energy from domestic 

11 sources; 

12 (2) to ensure a robust onshore energy produc13 tion industry and ensure that the benefits of devel14 opment support local communities, under this sub15 title, the Secretary shall make every effort to pro16 mote the development of onshore American energy, 

17 and shall take into consideration the socioeconomic 

18 impacts, infrastructure requirements, and fiscal sta19 bility for local communities located within areas con20 taining onshore energy resources; and 

21 (3) the Congress will monitor the deployment of 

22 personnel and material onshore to encourage the de23 velopment of American manufacturing to enable 

24 United States workers to benefit from this subtitle 

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1 lishment of important industrial facilities to support 

2 expanded access to American resources. 

3 (b) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary of the Interior 

4 shall when possible, and practicable, encourage the use of 

5 United States workers and equipment manufactured in 

6 the United States in all construction related to mineral 

7 resource development under this subtitle. 

8 CHAPTER 1—ONSHORE OIL AND GAS 

9 PERMIT STREAMLINING 

10 SEC. 21101. SHORT TITLE. 

11 This chapter may be cited as the ‘‘Streamlining Per12 mitting of American Energy Act of 2014’’. 

13 Subchapter A—Application for Permits to 

14 Drill Process Reform 

15 SEC. 21111. PERMIT TO DRILL APPLICATION TIMELINE. 

16 Section 17(p)(2) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 

17 U.S.C. 226(p)(2)) is amended to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘(2) APPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO DRILL RE19 FORM AND PROCESS.— 

20 ‘‘(A) TIMELINE.—The Secretary shall de21 cide whether to issue a permit to drill within 30 

22 days after receiving an application for the per23 mit. The Secretary may extend such period for 

24 up to 2 periods of 15 days each, if the Sec25 retary has given written notice of the delay to 


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1 the applicant. The notice shall be in the form 

2 of a letter from the Secretary or a designee of 

3 the Secretary, and shall include the names and 

4 titles of the persons processing the application, 

5 the specific reasons for the delay, and a specific 

6 date a final decision on the application is ex7 pected. 

8 ‘‘(B) NOTICE OF REASONS FOR DENIAL.— 

9 If the application is denied, the Secretary shall 

10 provide the applicant— 

11 ‘‘(i) in writing, clear and comprehen12 sive reasons why the application was not 

13 accepted and detailed information con14 cerning any deficiencies; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) an opportunity to remedy any de16 ficiencies. 

17 ‘‘(C) APPLICATION DEEMED APPROVED.— 

18 If the Secretary has not made a decision on the 

19 application by the end of the 60-day period be20 ginning on the date the application is received 

21 by the Secretary, the application is deemed ap22 proved, except in cases in which existing reviews 

23 under the National Environmental Policy Act of 

24 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) or Endangered 


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1 Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) 

2 are incomplete. 

3 ‘‘(D) DENIAL OF PERMIT.—If the Sec4 retary decides not to issue a permit to drill in 

5 accordance with subparagraph (A), the Sec6 retary shall— 

7 ‘‘(i) provide to the applicant a descrip8 tion of the reasons for the denial of the 

9 permit; 

10 ‘‘(ii) allow the applicant to resubmit 

11 an application for a permit to drill during 

12 the 10-day period beginning on the date 

13 the applicant receives the description of 

14 the denial from the Secretary; and 

15 ‘‘(iii) issue or deny any resubmitted 

16 application not later than 10 days after the 

17 date the application is submitted to the 

18 Secretary. 

19 ‘‘(E) FEE.— 

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding 

21 any other law, the Secretary shall collect a 

22 single $6,500 permit processing fee per ap23 plication from each applicant at the time 

24 the final decision is made whether to issue 

25 a permit under subparagraph (A). This fee 


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1 shall not apply to any resubmitted applica2 tion. 

3 ‘‘(ii) TREATMENT OF PERMIT PROC4 ESSING FEE.—Of all fees collected under 

5 this paragraph, 50 percent shall be trans6 ferred to the field office where they are col7 lected and used to process protests, leases, 

8 and permits under this Act subject to ap9 propriation.’’. 

10 Subchapter B—Administrative Protest 

11 Documentation Reform 

12 SEC. 21121. ADMINISTRATIVE PROTEST DOCUMENTATION 

13 REFORM. 

14 Section 17(p) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

15 226(p)) is further amended by adding at the end the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(4) PROTEST FEE.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

19 collect a $5,000 documentation fee to accom20 pany each protest for a lease, right of way, or 

21 application for permit to drill. 

22 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF FEES.—Of all fees 

23 collected under this paragraph, 50 percent shall 

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1 lected and used to process protests subject to 

2 appropriation.’’. 

3 Subchapter C—Permit Streamlining 

4 SEC. 21131. MAKING PILOT OFFICES PERMANENT TO IM5 PROVE ENERGY PERMITTING ON FEDERAL 

6 LANDS. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of the Interior 

8 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall estab9 lish a Federal Permit Streamlining Project (referred to 

10 in this section as the ‘‘Project’’) in every Bureau of Land 

11 Management field office with responsibility for permitting 

12 energy projects on Federal land. 

13 (b) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

15 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

16 shall enter into a memorandum of understanding for 

17 purposes of this section with— 

18 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture; 

19 (B) the Administrator of the Environ20 mental Protection Agency; and 

21 (C) the Chief of the Army Corps of Engi22 neers. 

23 (2) STATE PARTICIPATION.—The Secretary 

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1 ergy projects on Federal lands to be a signatory to 

2 the memorandum of understanding. 

3 (c) DESIGNATION OF QUALIFIED STAFF.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 

5 the date of the signing of the memorandum of un6 derstanding under subsection (b), all Federal signa7 tory parties shall, if appropriate, assign to each of 

8 the Bureau of Land Management field offices an 

9 employee who has expertise in the regulatory issues 

10 relating to the office in which the employee is em11 ployed, including, as applicable, particular expertise 

12 in— 

13 (A) the consultations and the preparation 

14 of biological opinions under section 7 of the En15 dangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

16 1536); 

17 (B) permits under section 404 of Federal 

18 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344); 

19 (C) regulatory matters under the Clean Air 

20 Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.); 

21 (D) planning under the National Forest 

22 Management Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 472a et 

23 seq.); and 


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1 (E) the preparation of analyses under the 

2 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

3 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

4 (2) DUTIES.—Each employee assigned under 

5 paragraph (1) shall— 

6 (A) not later than 90 days after the date 

7 of assignment, report to the Bureau of Land 

8 Management Field Managers in the office to 

9 which the employee is assigned; 

10 (B) be responsible for all issues relating to 

11 the energy projects that arise under the au12 thorities of the employee’s home agency; and 

13 (C) participate as part of the team of per14 sonnel working on proposed energy projects, 

15 planning, and environmental analyses on Fed16 eral lands. 

17 (d) ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL.—The Secretary shall 

18 assign to each Bureau of Land Management field office 

19 identified in subsection (a) any additional personnel that 

20 are necessary to ensure the effective approval and imple21 mentation of energy projects administered by the Bureau 

22 of Land Management field offices, including inspection 

23 and enforcement relating to energy development on Fed24 eral land, in accordance with the multiple use mandate 


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1 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 

2 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.). 

3 (e) FUNDING.—Funding for the additional personnel 

4 shall come from the Department of the Interior reforms 

5 identified in sections 21111 and 21121. 

6 (f) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this section af7 fects— 

8 (1) the operation of any Federal or State law; 

9 or 

10 (2) any delegation of authority made by the 

11 head of a Federal agency whose employees are par12 ticipating in the Project. 

13 (g) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section the 

14 term ‘‘energy projects’’ includes oil, natural gas, and other 

15 energy projects as defined by the Secretary. 

16 SEC. 21132. ADMINISTRATION OF CURRENT LAW. 

17 Notwithstanding any other law, the Secretary of the 

18 Interior shall not require a finding of extraordinary cir19 cumstances in administering section 390 of the Energy 

20 Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15942). 

21 Subchapter D—Judicial Review 

22 SEC. 21141. DEFINITIONS. 

23 In this subchapter— 

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

25 action containing a claim under section 702 of title 


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1 5, United States Code, regarding agency action (as 

2 defined for the purposes of that section) affecting a 

3 covered energy project on Federal lands of the 

4 United States; and 

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

6 the leasing of Federal lands of the United States for 

7 the exploration, development, production, processing, 

8 or transmission of oil, natural gas, or any other 

9 source of energy, and any action under such a lease, 

10 except that the term does not include any disputes 

11 between the parties to a lease regarding the obliga12 tions under such lease, including regarding any al13 leged breach of the lease. 

14 SEC. 21142. EXCLUSIVE VENUE FOR CERTAIN CIVIL AC15 TIONS RELATING TO COVERED ENERGY 

16 PROJECTS. 

17 Venue for any covered civil action shall lie in the dis18 trict court where the project or leases exist or are pro19 posed. 

20 SEC. 21143. TIMELY FILING. 

21 To ensure timely redress by the courts, a covered civil 

22 action must be filed no later than the end of the 90-day 

23 period beginning on the date of the final Federal agency 

24 action to which it relates. 


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1 SEC. 21144. EXPEDITION IN HEARING AND DETERMINING 

2 THE ACTION. 

3 The court shall endeavor to hear and determine any 

4 covered civil action as expeditiously as possible. 

5 SEC. 21145. 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. 21146. LIMITATION ON INJUNCTION AND PROSPEC13 TIVE RELIEF. 

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

15 or approve any prospective relief unless the court finds 

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

17 necessary to correct the violation of a legal requirement, 

18 and is the least intrusive means necessary to correct that 

19 violation. In addition, courts shall limit the duration of 

20 preliminary injunctions to halt covered energy projects to 

21 no more than 60 days, unless the court finds clear reasons 

22 to extend the injunction. In such cases of extensions, such 

23 extensions shall only be in 30-day increments and shall 

24 require action by the court to renew the injunction. 


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1 SEC. 21147. LIMITATION ON ATTORNEYS’ FEES. 

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

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

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

5 civil action, nor shall any party in such a covered civil ac6 tion receive payment from the Federal Government for 

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

8 SEC. 21148. LEGAL STANDING. 

9 Challengers filing appeals with the Department of the 

10 Interior Board of Land Appeals shall meet the same 

11 standing requirements as challengers before a United 

12 States district court. 

13 Subchapter E—Knowing America’s Oil and 

14 Gas Resources 

15 SEC. 21151. FUNDING OIL AND GAS RESOURCE ASSESS16 MENTS. 

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

18 provide matching funding for joint projects with States to 

19 conduct oil and gas resource assessments on Federal lands 

20 with significant oil and gas potential. 

21 (b) COST SHARING.—The Federal share of the cost 

22 of activities under this section shall not exceed 50 percent. 

23 (c) RESOURCE ASSESSMENT.—Any resource assess24 ment under this section shall be conducted by a State, in 

25 consultation with the United States Geological Survey. 


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1 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

2 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

3 out this section a total of $50,000,000 for fiscal years 

4 2015 through 2018. 

5 CHAPTER 2—OIL AND GAS LEASING 

6 CERTAINTY 

7 SEC. 21201. SHORT TITLE. 

8 This chapter may be cited as the ‘‘Providing Leasing 

9 Certainty for American Energy Act of 2014’’. 

10 SEC. 21202. MINIMUM ACREAGE REQUIREMENT FOR ON11 SHORE LEASE SALES. 

12 In conducting lease sales as required by section 17(a) 

13 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(a)), each year 

14 the Secretary of the Interior shall perform the following: 

15 (1) The Secretary shall offer for sale no less 

16 than 25 percent of the annual nominated acreage 

17 not previously made available for lease. Acreage of18 fered for lease pursuant to this paragraph shall not 

19 be subject to protest and shall be eligible for cat20 egorical exclusions under section 390 of the Energy 

21 Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15942), except that 

22 it shall not be subject to the test of extraordinary 

23 circumstances. 

24 (2) In administering this section, the Secretary 

25 shall only consider leasing of Federal lands that are 


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1 available for leasing at the time the lease sale oc2 curs. 

3 SEC. 21203. LEASING CERTAINTY. 

4 Section 17(a) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

5 226(a)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘All lands’’, 

6 and by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(2)(A) The Secretary shall not withdraw any cov8 ered energy project issued under this Act without finding 

9 a violation of the terms of the lease by the lessee. 

10 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall not infringe upon lease 

11 rights under leases issued under this Act by indefinitely 

12 delaying issuance of project approvals, drilling and seismic 

13 permits, and rights of way for activities under such a 

14 lease. 

15 ‘‘(C) No later than 18 months after an area is des16 ignated as open under the current land use plan the Sec17 retary shall make available nominated areas for lease 

18 under the criteria in section 2. 

19 ‘‘(D) Notwithstanding any other law, the Secretary 

20 shall issue all leases sold no later than 60 days after the 

21 last payment is made. 

22 ‘‘(E) The Secretary shall not cancel or withdraw any 

23 lease parcel after a competitive lease sale has occurred and 

24 a winning bidder has submitted the last payment for the 

25 parcel. 


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1 ‘‘(F) After the conclusion of the public comment pe2 riod for a planned competitive lease sale, the Secretary 

3 shall not cancel, defer, or withdraw any lease parcel an4 nounced to be auctioned in the lease sale. 

5 ‘‘(G) Not later than 60 days after a lease sale held 

6 under this Act, the Secretary shall adjudicate any lease 

7 protests filed following a lease sale. If after 60 days any 

8 protest is left unsettled, said protest is automatically de9 nied and appeal rights of the protestor begin. 

10 ‘‘(H) No additional lease stipulations may be added 

11 after the parcel is sold without consultation and agree12 ment of the lessee, unless the Secretary deems such stipu13 lations as emergency actions to conserve the resources of 

14 the United States.’’. 

15 SEC. 21204. LEASING CONSISTENCY. 

16 Federal land managers must follow existing resource 

17 management plans and continue to actively lease in areas 

18 designated as open when resource management plans are 

19 being amended or revised, until such time as a new record 

20 of decision is signed. 

21 SEC. 21205. REDUCE REDUNDANT POLICIES. 

22 Bureau of Land Management Instruction Memo23 randum 2010–117 shall have no force or effect. 


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1 SEC. 21206. STREAMLINED CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICA2 TION. 

3 Section 31(e) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

4 188(e)) is amended in the matter following paragraph (4) 

5 by striking ‘‘at least thirty days in advance of the rein6 statement’’ and inserting ‘‘in an annual report’’. 

7 CHAPTER 3—OIL SHALE 

8 SEC. 21301. SHORT TITLE. 

9 This chapter may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Invest10 ment in Oil Shale the Next Generation of Environmental, 

11 Energy, and Resource Security Act’’ or the ‘‘PIONEERS 

12 Act’’. 

13 SEC. 21302. EFFECTIVENESS OF OIL SHALE REGULATIONS, 

14 AMENDMENTS TO RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 

15 PLANS, AND RECORD OF DECISION. 

16 (a) REGULATIONS.—Notwithstanding any other law 

17 or regulation to the contrary, the final regulations regard18 ing oil shale management published by the Bureau of 

19 Land Management on November 18, 2008 (73 Fed. Reg. 

20 69,414) are deemed to satisfy all legal and procedural re21 quirements under any law, including the Federal Land 

22 Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et 

23 seq.), the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

24 1531 et seq.), and the National Environmental Policy Act 

25 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), and the Secretary of 

26 the Interior shall implement those regulations, including 


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1 the oil shale leasing program authorized by the regula2 tions, without any other administrative action necessary. 

3 (b) AMENDMENTS TO RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

4 PLANS AND RECORD OF DECISION.—Notwithstanding 

5 any other law or regulation to the contrary, the November 

6 17, 2008 U.S. Bureau of Land Management Approved Re7 source Management Plan Amendments/Record of Decision 

8 for Oil Shale and Tar Sands Resources to Address Land 

9 Use Allocations in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming and 

10 Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement are 

11 deemed to satisfy all legal and procedural requirements 

12 under any law, including the Federal Land Policy and 

13 Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), the 

14 Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), 

15 and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

16 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), and the Secretary of the Interior 

17 shall implement the oil shale leasing program authorized 

18 by the regulations referred to in subsection (a) in those 

19 areas covered by the resource management plans amended 

20 by such amendments, and covered by such record of deci21 sion, without any other administrative action necessary. 

22 SEC. 21303. OIL SHALE LEASING. 

23 (a) ADDITIONAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

24 LEASE SALES.—The Secretary of the Interior shall hold 

25 a lease sale within 180 days after the date of enactment 


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1 of this Act offering an additional 10 parcels for lease for 

2 research, development, and demonstration of oil shale re3 sources, under the terms offered in the solicitation of bids 

4 for such leases published on January 15, 2009 (74 Fed. 

5 Reg. 10). 

6 (b) COMMERCIAL LEASE SALES.—No later than Jan7 uary 1, 2016, the Secretary of the Interior shall hold no 

8 less than 5 separate commercial lease sales in areas con9 sidered to have the most potential for oil shale develop10 ment, as determined by the Secretary, in areas nominated 

11 through public comment. Each lease sale shall be for an 

12 area of not less than 25,000 acres, and in multiple lease 

13 blocs. 

14 CHAPTER 4—MISCELLANEOUS 

15 PROVISIONS 

16 SEC. 21401. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

17 Nothing in this subtitle shall be construed to author18 ize the issuance of a lease under the Mineral Leasing Act 

19 (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) to any person designated for the 

20 imposition of sanctions pursuant to— 

21 (1) the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 (50 U.S.C. 

22 1701 note), the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Ac23 countability and Divestiture Act of 2010 (22 U.S.C. 

24 8501 et seq.), the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria 

25 Human Rights Act of 2012 (22 U.S.C. 8701 et 


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1 seq.), section 1245 of the National Defense Author2 ization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (22 U.S.C. 8513a), 

3 or the Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act 

4 of 2012 (22 U.S.C. 8801 et seq.); 

5 (2) Executive Order No. 13622 (July 30, 

6 2012), Executive Order No. 13628 (October 9, 

7 2012), or Executive Order No. 13645 (June 3, 

8 2013); 

9 (3) Executive Order No. 13224 (September 23, 

10 2001) or Executive Order No. 13338 (May 11, 

11 2004); or 

12 (4) the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sov13 ereignty Restoration Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 2151 

14 note). 

15 Subtitle B—Planning for American 

16 Energy 

17 SEC. 22001. SHORT TITLE. 

18 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Planning for Amer19 ican Energy Act of 2014’’. 

20 SEC. 22002. ONSHORE DOMESTIC ENERGY PRODUCTION 

21 STRATEGIC PLAN. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Mineral Leasing Act (30 

23 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) is amended by redesignating section 

24 44 as section 45, and by inserting after section 43 the 

25 following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 44. QUADRENNIAL STRATEGIC FEDERAL ONSHORE 

2 ENERGY PRODUCTION STRATEGY. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

4 ‘‘(1) The Secretary of the Interior (hereafter in 

5 this section referred to as ‘Secretary’), in consulta6 tion with the Secretary of Agriculture with regard to 

7 lands administered by the Forest Service, shall de8 velop and publish every 4 years a Quadrennial Fed9 eral Onshore Energy Production Strategy. This 

10 Strategy shall direct Federal land energy develop11 ment and department resource allocation in order to 

12 promote the energy and national security of the 

13 United States in accordance with Bureau of Land 

14 Management’s mission of promoting the multiple use 

15 of Federal lands as set forth in the Federal Land 

16 Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 

17 1701 et seq.). 

18 ‘‘(2) In developing this Strategy, the Secretary 

19 shall consult with the Administrator of the Energy 

20 Information Administration on the projected energy 

21 demands of the United States for the next 30-year 

22 period, and how energy derived from Federal on23 shore lands can put the United States on a trajec24 tory to meet that demand during the next 4-year pe25 riod. The Secretary shall consider how Federal lands 

26 will contribute to ensuring national energy security, 


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1 with a goal for increasing energy independence and 

2 production, during the next 4-year period. 

3 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall determine a domestic 

4 strategic production objective for the development of 

5 energy resources from Federal onshore lands. Such 

6 objective shall be— 

7 ‘‘(A) the best estimate, based upon com8 mercial and scientific data, of the expected in9 crease in domestic production of oil and natural 

10 gas from the Federal onshore mineral estate, 

11 with a focus on lands held by the Bureau of 

12 Land Management and the Forest Service; 

13 ‘‘(B) the best estimate, based upon com14 mercial and scientific data, of the expected in15 crease in domestic coal production from Federal 

16 lands; 

17 ‘‘(C) the best estimate, based upon com18 mercial and scientific data, of the expected in19 crease in domestic production of strategic and 

20 critical energy minerals from the Federal on21 shore mineral estate; 

22 ‘‘(D) the best estimate, based upon com23 mercial and scientific data, of the expected in24 crease in megawatts for electricity production 

25 from each of the following sources: wind, solar, 


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1 biomass, hydropower, and geothermal energy 

2 produced on Federal lands administered by the 

3 Bureau of Land Management and the Forest 

4 Service; 

5 ‘‘(E) the best estimate, based upon com6 mercial and scientific data, of the expected in7 crease in unconventional energy production, 

8 such as oil shale; 

9 ‘‘(F) the best estimate, based upon com10 mercial and scientific data, of the expected in11 crease in domestic production of oil, natural 

12 gas, coal, and other renewable sources from 

13 tribal lands for any federally recognized Indian 

14 tribe that elects to participate in facilitating en15 ergy production on its lands; 

16 ‘‘(G) the best estimate, based upon com17 mercial and scientific data, of the expected in18 crease in production of helium on Federal lands 

19 administered by the Bureau of Land Manage20 ment and the Forest Service; and 

21 ‘‘(H) the best estimate, based upon com22 mercial and scientific data, of the expected in23 crease in domestic production of geothermal, 

24 solar, wind, or other renewable energy sources 

25 from ‘available lands’ (as such term is defined 


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1 in section 203 of the Hawaiian Homes Commis2 sion Act, 1920 (42 Stat. 108 et seq.), and in3 cluding any other lands deemed by the Terri4 tory or State of Hawaii, as the case may be, to 

5 be included within that definition) that the 

6 agency or department of the government of the 

7 State of Hawaii that is responsible for the ad8 ministration of such lands selects to be used for 

9 such energy production. 

10 ‘‘(4) The Secretary shall consult with the Ad11 ministrator of the Energy Information Administra12 tion regarding the methodology used to arrive at its 

13 estimates for purposes of this section. 

14 ‘‘(5) The Secretary has the authority to expand 

15 the energy development plan to include other energy 

16 production technology sources or advancements in 

17 energy on Federal lands. 

18 ‘‘(6) The Secretary shall include in the Strategy 

19 a plan for addressing new demands for transmission 

20 lines and pipelines for distribution of oil and gas 

21 across Federal lands to ensure that energy produced 

22 can be distributed to areas of need. 

23 ‘‘(b) TRIBAL OBJECTIVES.—It is the sense of Con24 gress that federally recognized Indian tribes may elect to 

25 set their own production objectives as part of the Strategy 


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1 under this section. The Secretary shall work in coopera2 tion with any federally recognized Indian tribe that elects 

3 to participate in achieving its own strategic energy objec4 tives designated under this subsection. 

5 ‘‘(c) EXECUTION OF THE STRATEGY.—The relevant 

6 Secretary shall have all necessary authority to make deter7 minations regarding which additional lands will be made 

8 available in order to meet the production objectives estab9 lished by strategies under this section. The Secretary shall 

10 also take all necessary actions to achieve these production 

11 objectives unless the President determines that it is not 

12 in the national security and economic interests of the 

13 United States to increase Federal domestic energy produc14 tion and to further decrease dependence upon foreign 

15 sources of energy. In administering this section, the rel16 evant Secretary shall only consider leasing Federal lands 

17 available for leasing at the time the lease sale occurs. 

18 ‘‘(d) STATE, FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED INDIAN

19 TRIBES, LOCAL GOVERNMENT, AND PUBLIC INPUT.—In 

20 developing each strategy, the Secretary shall solicit the 

21 input of affected States, federally recognized Indian tribes, 

22 local governments, and the public. 

23 ‘‘(e) REPORTING.—The Secretary shall report annu24 ally to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House 

25 of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and 


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1 Natural Resources of the Senate on the progress of meet2 ing the production goals set forth in the strategy. The Sec3 retary shall identify in the report projections for produc4 tion and capacity installations and any problems with leas5 ing, permitting, siting, or production that will prevent 

6 meeting the goal. In addition, the Secretary shall make 

7 suggestions to help meet any shortfalls in meeting the pro8 duction goals. 

9 ‘‘(f) PROGRAMMATIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

10 STATEMENT.—Not later than 12 months after the date 

11 of enactment of this section, in accordance with section 

12 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 

13 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)), the Secretary shall com14 plete a programmatic environmental impact statement. 

15 This programmatic environmental impact statement will 

16 be deemed sufficient to comply with all requirements 

17 under that Act for all necessary resource management and 

18 land use plans associated with the implementation of the 

19 strategy. 

20 ‘‘(g) CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW.—At least 60 days 

21 prior to publishing a proposed strategy under this section, 

22 the Secretary shall submit it to the President and the Con23 gress, together with any comments received from States, 

24 federally recognized Indian tribes, and local governments. 

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1 ommendation of a State, federally recognized Indian tribe, 

2 or local government was not accepted. 

3 ‘‘(h) STRATEGIC AND CRITICAL ENERGY MINERALS

4 DEFINED.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘stra5 tegic and critical energy minerals’ means those that are 

6 necessary for the Nation’s energy infrastructure including 

7 pipelines, refining capacity, electrical power generation 

8 and transmission, and renewable energy production and 

9 those that are necessary to support domestic manufac10 turing, including but not limited to, materials used in en11 ergy generation, production, and transportation.’’. 

12 (b) FIRST QUADRENNIAL STRATEGY.—Not later 

13 than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 

14 the Secretary of the Interior shall submit to Congress the 

15 first Quadrennial Federal Onshore Energy Production 

16 Strategy under the amendment made by subsection (a). 

17 Subtitle C—National Petroleum 

18 Reserve in Alaska Access 

19 SEC. 23001. SHORT TITLE. 

20 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘National Petro21 leum Reserve Alaska Access Act’’. 

22 SEC. 23002. SENSE OF CONGRESS AND REAFFIRMING NA23 TIONAL POLICY FOR THE NATIONAL PETRO24 LEUM RESERVE IN ALASKA. 

25 It is the sense of Congress that— 


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1 (1) the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska 

2 remains explicitly designated, both in name and legal 

3 status, for purposes of providing oil and natural gas 

4 resources to the United States; and 

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

6 advance oil and gas development within the Reserve 

7 by facilitating the expeditious exploration, produc8 tion, and transportation of oil and natural gas from 

9 and through the Reserve. 

10 SEC. 23003. NATIONAL PETROLEUM RESERVE IN ALASKA: 

11 LEASE SALES. 

12 Section 107(a) of the Naval Petroleum Reserves Pro13 duction Act of 1976 (42 U.S.C. 6506a(a)) is amended to 

14 read as follows: 

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

16 expeditious program of competitive leasing of oil and gas 

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

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

19 of the reserve most likely to produce commercial quantities 

20 of oil and natural gas each year in the period 2014 

21 through 2024.’’. 


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1 SEC. 23004. NATIONAL PETROLEUM RESERVE IN ALASKA: 

2 PLANNING AND PERMITTING PIPELINE AND 

3 ROAD CONSTRUCTION. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi5 sion of law, the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation 

6 with other appropriate Federal agencies, shall facilitate 

7 and ensure permits, in a timely and environmentally re8 sponsible manner, for all surface development activities, 

9 including for the construction of pipelines and roads, nec10 essary to— 

11 (1) develop and bring into production any areas 

12 within the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska 

13 that are subject to oil and gas leases; and 

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

15 National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska in the most 

16 direct manner possible to existing transportation or 

17 processing infrastructure on the North Slope of 

18 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 Sep 11 2014 22:47 Nov 17, 2014 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00126 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2.PCS H2

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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. 23005. ISSUANCE OF A NEW INTEGRATED ACTIVITY 

18 PLAN AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATE19 MENT. 

20 (a) ISSUANCE OF NEW INTEGRATED ACTIVITY

21 PLAN.—The Secretary of the Interior shall, within 180 

22 days after the date of enactment of this Act, issue— 

23 (1) a new proposed integrated activity plan 

24 from among the non-adopted alternatives in the Na25 tional Petroleum Reserve Alaska Integrated Activity 


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1 Plan Record of Decision issued by the Secretary of 

2 the Interior and dated February 21, 2013; and 

3 (2) an environmental impact statement under 

4 section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 

5 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)) for 

6 issuance of oil and gas leases in the National Petro7 leum Reserve-Alaska to promote efficient and max8 imum development of oil and natural gas resources 

9 of such reserve. 

10 (b) NULLIFICATION OF EXISTING RECORD OF DECI11 SION, IAP, AND EIS.—Except as provided in subsection 

12 (a), the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska Integrated 

13 Activity Plan Record of Decision issued by the Secretary 

14 of the Interior and dated February 21, 2013, including 

15 the integrated activity plan and environmental impact 

16 statement referred to in that record of decision, shall have 

17 no force or effect. 

18 SEC. 23006. DEPARTMENTAL ACCOUNTABILITY FOR DEVEL19 OPMENT. 

20 The Secretary of the Interior shall issue regulations 

21 not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 

22 this Act that establish clear requirements to ensure that 

23 the Department of the Interior is supporting development 

24 of oil and gas leases in the National Petroleum Reserve25 Alaska. 


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1 SEC. 23007. DEADLINES UNDER NEW PROPOSED INTE2 GRATED ACTIVITY PLAN. 

3 At a minimum, the new proposed integrated activity 

4 plan issued under section 23005(a)(1) shall— 

5 (1) require the Department of the Interior to 

6 respond within 5 business days to a person who sub7 mits an application for a permit for development of 

8 oil and natural gas leases in the National Petroleum 

9 Reserve-Alaska acknowledging receipt of such appli10 cation; and 

11 (2) establish a timeline for the processing of 

12 each such application, that— 

13 (A) specifies deadlines for decisions and 

14 actions on permit applications; and 

15 (B) provide that the period for issuing 

16 each permit after submission of such an appli17 cation shall not exceed 60 days without the con18 currence of the applicant. 

19 SEC. 23008. UPDATED RESOURCE ASSESSMENT. 

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

21 complete a comprehensive assessment of all technically re22 coverable fossil fuel resources within the National Petro23 leum Reserve in Alaska, including all conventional and un24 conventional oil and natural gas. 

25 (b) COOPERATION AND CONSULTATION.—The re26 source assessment required by subsection (a) shall be carVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:47 Nov 17, 2014 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00129 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2.PCS H2

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1 ried out by the United States Geological Survey in co2 operation and consultation with the State of Alaska and 

3 the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. 

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

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

6 date of the enactment of this Act. 

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

8 may, in carrying out the duties under this section, coop9 eratively use resources and funds provided by the State 

10 of Alaska. 

11 Subtitle D—BLM Live Internet 

12 Auctions 

13 SEC. 24001. SHORT TITLE. 

14 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘BLM Live Internet 

15 Auctions Act’’. 

16 SEC. 24002. INTERNET-BASED ONSHORE OIL AND GAS 

17 LEASE SALES. 

18 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—Section 17(b)(1) of the Min19 eral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(b)(1)) is amended— 

20 (1) in subparagraph (A), in the third sentence, 

21 by inserting ‘‘, except as provided in subparagraph 

22 (C)’’ after ‘‘by oral bidding’’; and 

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

24 ‘‘(C) In order to diversify and expand the Nation’s 

25 onshore leasing program to ensure the best return to the 


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1 Federal taxpayer, reduce fraud, and secure the leasing 

2 process, the Secretary may conduct onshore lease sales 

3 through Internet-based bidding methods. Each individual 

4 Internet-based lease sale shall conclude within 7 days.’’. 

5 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the tenth 

6 Internet-based lease sale conducted under the amendment 

7 made by subsection (a), the Secretary of the Interior shall 

8 analyze the first 10 such lease sales and report to Con9 gress the findings of the analysis. The report shall in10 clude— 

11 (1) estimates on increases or decreases in such 

12 lease sales, compared to sales conducted by oral bid13 ding, in— 

14 (A) the number of bidders; 

15 (B) the average amount of bid; 

16 (C) the highest amount bid; and 

17 (D) the lowest bid; 

18 (2) an estimate on the total cost or savings to 

19 the Department of the Interior as a result of such 

20 sales, compared to sales conducted by oral bidding; 

21 and 

22 (3) an evaluation of the demonstrated or ex23 pected effectiveness of different structures for lease 

24 sales which may provide an opportunity to better 

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1 turn to the Federal taxpayers, minimize opportuni2 ties for fraud or collusion, and ensure the security 

3 and integrity of the leasing process. 

4 Subtitle E—Native American 

5 Energy 

6 SEC. 25001. SHORT TITLE. 

7 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Native American 

8 Energy Act’’. 

9 SEC. 25002. APPRAISALS. 

10 (a) AMENDMENT.—Title XXVI of the Energy Policy 

11 Act of 1992 (25 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) is amended by add12 ing at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 2607. APPRAISAL REFORMS. 

14 ‘‘(a) OPTIONS TO INDIAN TRIBES.—With respect to 

15 a transaction involving Indian land or the trust assets of 

16 an Indian tribe that requires the approval of the Sec17 retary, any appraisal relating to fair market value required 

18 to be conducted under applicable law, regulation, or policy 

19 may be completed by— 

20 ‘‘(1) the Secretary; 

21 ‘‘(2) the affected Indian tribe; or 

22 ‘‘(3) a certified, third-party appraiser pursuant 

23 to a contract with the Indian tribe. 

24 ‘‘(b) TIME LIMIT ON SECRETARIAL REVIEW AND AC25 TION.—Not later than 30 days after the date on which 


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1 the Secretary receives an appraisal conducted by or for 

2 an Indian tribe pursuant to paragraphs (2) or (3) of sub3 section (a), the Secretary shall— 

4 ‘‘(1) review the appraisal; and 

5 ‘‘(2) provide to the Indian tribe a written notice 

6 of approval or disapproval of the appraisal. 

7 ‘‘(c) FAILURE OF SECRETARY TO APPROVE OR DIS8 APPROVE.—If, after 60 days, the Secretary has failed to 

9 approve or disapprove any appraisal received, the ap10 praisal shall be deemed approved. 

11 ‘‘(d) OPTION TO INDIAN TRIBES TO WAIVE AP12 PRAISAL.— 

13 ‘‘(1) An Indian tribe wishing to waive the re14 quirements of subsection (a), may do so after it has 

15 satisfied the requirements of subsections (2) and (3) 

16 below. 

17 ‘‘(2) An Indian tribe wishing to forego the ne18 cessity of a waiver pursuant to this section must 

19 provide to the Secretary a written resolution, state20 ment, or other unambiguous indication of tribal in21 tent, duly approved by the governing body of the In22 dian tribe. 

23 ‘‘(3) The unambiguous indication of intent pro24 vided by the Indian tribe to the Secretary under 

25 paragraph (2) must include an express waiver by the 


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1 Indian tribe of any claims for damages it might have 

2 against the United States as a result of the lack of 

3 an appraisal undertaken. 

4 ‘‘(e) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this subsection, 

5 the term ‘appraisal’ includes appraisals and other esti6 mates of value. 

7 ‘‘(f) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall develop 

8 regulations for implementing this section, including stand9 ards the Secretary shall use for approving or disapproving 

10 an appraisal.’’. 

11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con12 tents of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13201 

13 note) is amended by adding at the end of the items relat14 ing to title XXVI the following: 

‘‘Sec. 2607. Appraisal reforms.’’. 

15 SEC. 25003. STANDARDIZATION. 

16 As soon as practicable after the date of the enactment 

17 of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall implement 

18 procedures to ensure that each agency within the Depart19 ment of the Interior that is involved in the review, ap20 proval, and oversight of oil and gas activities on Indian 

21 lands shall use a uniform system of reference numbers and 

22 tracking systems for oil and gas wells. 


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1 SEC. 25004. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS OF MAJOR FED2 ERAL ACTIONS ON INDIAN LANDS. 

3 Section 102 of the National Environmental Policy 

4 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332) is amended by inserting 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before the first sentence, and by 

6 adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(b) REVIEW OF MAJOR FEDERAL ACTIONS ON IN8 DIAN LANDS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For any major Federal ac10 tion on Indian lands of an Indian tribe requiring the 

11 preparation of a statement under subsection 

12 (a)(2)(C), the statement shall only be available for 

13 review and comment by the members of the Indian 

14 tribe and by any other individual residing within the 

15 affected area. 

16 ‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—The Chairman of the 

17 Council on Environmental Quality shall develop reg18 ulations to implement this section, including descrip19 tions of affected areas for specific major Federal ac20 tions, in consultation with Indian tribes. 

21 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, each of 

22 the terms ‘Indian land’ and ‘Indian tribe’ has the 

23 meaning given that term in section 2601 of the En24 ergy Policy Act of 1992 (25 U.S.C. 3501). 

25 ‘‘(4) CLARIFICATION OF AUTHORITY.—Nothing 

26 in the Native American Energy Act, except section 


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1 25006 of that Act, shall give the Secretary any addi2 tional authority over energy projects on Alaska Na3 tive Claims Settlement Act lands.’’. 

4 SEC. 25005. JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

5 (a) TIME FOR FILING COMPLAINT.—Any energy re6 lated action must be filed not later than the end of the 

7 60-day period beginning on the date of the final agency 

8 action. Any energy related action not filed within this time 

9 period shall be barred. 

10 (b) DISTRICT COURT VENUE AND DEADLINE.—All 

11 energy related actions— 

12 (1) shall be brought in the United States Dis13 trict Court for the District of Columbia; and 

14 (2) shall be resolved as expeditiously as pos15 sible, and in any event not more than 180 days after 

16 such cause of action is filed. 

17 (c) APPELLATE REVIEW.—An interlocutory order or 

18 final judgment, decree or order of the district court in an 

19 energy related action may be reviewed by the U.S. Court 

20 of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The D.C. 

21 Circuit Court of Appeals shall resolve such appeal as expe22 ditiously as possible, and in any event not more than 180 

23 days after such interlocutory order or final judgment, de24 cree or order of the district court was issued. 


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1 (d) LIMITATION ON CERTAIN PAYMENTS.—Notwith2 standing section 1304 of title 31, United States Code, no 

3 award may be made under section 504 of title 5, United 

4 States Code, or under section 2412 of title 28, United 

5 States Code, and no amounts may be obligated or ex6 pended from the Claims and Judgment Fund of the 

7 United States Treasury to pay any fees or other expenses 

8 under such sections, to any person or party in an energy 

9 related action. 

10 (e) LEGAL FEES.—In any energy related action in 

11 which the plaintiff does not ultimately prevail, the court 

12 shall award to the defendant (including any intervenor13 defendants), other than the United States, fees and other 

14 expenses incurred by that party in connection with the en15 ergy related action, unless the court finds that the position 

16 of the plaintiff was substantially justified or that special 

17 circumstances make an award unjust. Whether or not the 

18 position of the plaintiff was substantially justified shall be 

19 determined on the basis of the administrative record, as 

20 a whole, which is made in the energy related action for 

21 which fees and other expenses are sought. 

22 (f) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section, 

23 the following definitions apply: 


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1 (1) AGENCY ACTION.—The term ‘‘agency ac2 tion’’ has the same meaning given such term in sec3 tion 551 of title 5, United States Code. 

4 (2) INDIAN LAND.—The term ‘‘Indian Land’’ 

5 has the same meaning given such term in section 

6 203(c)(3) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public 

7 Law 109–58; 25 U.S.C. 3501), including lands 

8 owned by Native Corporations under the Alaska Na9 tive Claims Settlement Act (Public Law 92–203; 43 

10 U.S.C. 1601). 

11 (3) ENERGY RELATED ACTION.—The term ‘‘en12 ergy related action’’ means a cause of action that— 

13 (A) is filed on or after the effective date of 

14 this Act; and 

15 (B) seeks judicial review of a final agency 

16 action to issue a permit, license, or other form 

17 of agency permission allowing: 

18 (i) any person or entity to conduct ac19 tivities on Indian Land, which activities in20 volve the exploration, development, produc21 tion or transportation of oil, gas, coal, 

22 shale gas, oil shale, geothermal resources, 

23 wind or solar resources, underground coal 

24 gasification, biomass, or the generation of 

25 electricity; or 


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1 (ii) any Indian Tribe, or any organiza2 tion of two or more entities, at least one 

3 of which is an Indian tribe, to conduct ac4 tivities involving the exploration, develop5 ment, production or transportation of oil, 

6 gas, coal, shale gas, oil shale, geothermal 

7 resources, wind or solar resources, under8 ground coal gasification, biomass, or the 

9 generation of electricity, regardless of 

10 where such activities are undertaken. 

11 (4) ULTIMATELY PREVAIL.—The phrase ‘‘ulti12 mately prevail’’ means, in a final enforceable judg13 ment, the court rules in the party’s favor on at least 

14 one cause of action which is an underlying rationale 

15 for the preliminary injunction, administrative stay, 

16 or other relief requested by the party, and does not 

17 include circumstances where the final agency action 

18 is modified or amended by the issuing agency unless 

19 such modification or amendment is required pursu20 ant to a final enforceable judgment of the court or 

21 a court-ordered consent decree. 

22 SEC. 25006. TRIBAL BIOMASS DEMONSTRATION PROJECT. 

23 The Tribal Forest Protection Act of 2004 is amended 

24 by inserting after section 2 (25 U.S.C. 3115a) the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 3. TRIBAL BIOMASS DEMONSTRATION PROJECT. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For each of fiscal years 2014 

3 through 2018, the Secretary shall enter into stewardship 

4 contracts or other agreements, other than agreements that 

5 are exclusively direct service contracts, with Indian tribes 

6 to carry out demonstration projects to promote biomass 

7 energy production (including biofuel, heat, and electricity 

8 generation) on Indian forest land and in nearby commu9 nities by providing reliable supplies of woody biomass from 

10 Federal land. 

11 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—The definitions in section 2 

12 shall apply to this section. 

13 ‘‘(c) DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.—In each fiscal 

14 year for which projects are authorized, the Secretary shall 

15 enter into contracts or other agreements described in sub16 section (a) to carry out at least 4 new demonstration 

17 projects that meet the eligibility criteria described in sub18 section (d). 

19 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA.—To be eligible to enter 

20 into a contract or other agreement under this subsection, 

21 an Indian tribe shall submit to the Secretary an applica22 tion— 

23 ‘‘(1) containing such information as the Sec24 retary may require; and 

25 ‘‘(2) that includes a description of— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the Indian forest land or rangeland 

2 under the jurisdiction of the Indian tribe; and 

3 ‘‘(B) the demonstration project proposed 

4 to be carried out by the Indian tribe. 

5 ‘‘(e) SELECTION.—In evaluating the applications 

6 submitted under subsection (c), the Secretary— 

7 ‘‘(1) shall take into consideration the factors set 

8 forth in paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 2(e) of 

9 Public Law 108–278; and whether a proposed dem10 onstration project would— 

11 ‘‘(A) increase the availability or reliability 

12 of local or regional energy; 

13 ‘‘(B) enhance the economic development of 

14 the Indian tribe; 

15 ‘‘(C) improve the connection of electric 

16 power transmission facilities serving the Indian 

17 tribe with other electric transmission facilities; 

18 ‘‘(D) improve the forest health or water19 sheds of Federal land or Indian forest land or 

20 rangeland; or 

21 ‘‘(E) otherwise promote the use of woody 

22 biomass; and 

23 ‘‘(2) shall exclude from consideration any mer24 chantable logs that have been identified by the Sec25 retary for commercial sale. 


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1 ‘‘(f) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary shall— 

2 ‘‘(1) ensure that the criteria described in sub3 section (c) are publicly available by not later than 

4 120 days after the date of enactment of this section; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(2) to the maximum extent practicable, consult 

7 with Indian tribes and appropriate intertribal orga8 nizations likely to be affected in developing the ap9 plication and otherwise carrying out this section. 

10 ‘‘(g) REPORT.—Not later than September 20, 2015, 

11 the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report that de12 scribes, with respect to the reporting period— 

13 ‘‘(1) each individual tribal application received 

14 under this section; and 

15 ‘‘(2) each contract and agreement entered into 

16 pursuant to this section. 

17 ‘‘(h) INCORPORATION OF MANAGEMENT PLANS.—In 

18 carrying out a contract or agreement under this section, 

19 on receipt of a request from an Indian tribe, the Secretary 

20 shall incorporate into the contract or agreement, to the 

21 extent practicable, management plans (including forest 

22 management and integrated resource management plans) 

23 in effect on the Indian forest land or rangeland of the re24 spective Indian tribe. 


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1 ‘‘(i) TERM.—A stewardship contract or other agree2 ment entered into under this section— 

3 ‘‘(1) shall be for a term of not more than 20 

4 years; and 

5 ‘‘(2) may be renewed in accordance with this 

6 section for not more than an additional 10 years.’’. 

7 SEC. 25007. TRIBAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLANS. 

8 Unless otherwise explicitly exempted by Federal law 

9 enacted after the date of the enactment of this Act, any 

10 activity conducted or resources harvested or produced pur11 suant to a tribal resource management plan or an inte12 grated resource management plan approved by the Sec13 retary of the Interior under the National Indian Forest 

14 Resources Management Act (25 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.) or 

15 the American Indian Agricultural Resource Management 

16 Act (25 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.), shall be considered a sus17 tainable management practice for purposes of any Federal 

18 standard, benefit, or requirement that requires a dem19 onstration of such sustainability. 

20 SEC. 25008. LEASES OF RESTRICTED LANDS FOR THE NAV21 AJO NATION. 

22 Subsection (e)(1) of the first section of the Act of 

23 August 9, 1955 (25 U.S.C. 415(e)(1); commonly referred 

24 to as the ‘‘Long-Term Leasing Act’’), is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘, except a lease for’’ and insert2 ing ‘‘, including leases for’’; 

3 (2) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘25’’ the 

4 first place it appears and all that follows and insert5 ing ‘‘99 years;’’; 

6 (3) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period 

7 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

8 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(C) in the case of a lease for the exploration, 

10 development, or extraction of mineral resources, in11 cluding geothermal resources, 25 years, except that 

12 any such lease may include an option to renew for 

13 one additional term not to exceed 25 years.’’. 

14 SEC. 25009. NONAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN RULES. 

15 No rule promulgated by the Department of the Inte16 rior regarding hydraulic fracturing used in the develop17 ment or production of oil or gas resources shall have any 

18 effect on any land held in trust or restricted status for 

19 the benefit of Indians except with the express consent of 

20 the beneficiary on whose behalf such land is held in trust 

21 or restricted status. 


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1 TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS 

2 PROVISIONS 

3 SEC. 30101. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF ENERGY EM4 PLOYMENT AND TRAINING. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of the Interior 

6 shall establish an Office of Energy Employment and 

7 Training, which shall oversee the hiring and training ef8 forts of the Department of the Interior’s energy planning, 

9 permitting, and regulatory agencies. 

10 (b) DIRECTOR.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Office shall be under 

12 the direction of a Deputy Assistant Secretary for 

13 Energy Employment and Training, who shall report 

14 directly to the Assistant Secretary for Energy, 

15 Lands and Minerals Management, and shall be fully 

16 employed to carry out the functions of the Office. 

17 (2) DUTIES.—The Deputy Assistant Secretary 

18 for Energy Employment and Training shall perform 

19 the following functions: 

20 (A) Develop and implement systems to 

21 track the Department’s hiring of trained skilled 

22 workers in the energy permitting and inspection 

23 agencies. 

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1 ing the Department’s hiring of women, minori2 ties, and veterans into the Department’s work3 force dealing with energy permitting and in4 spection programs. Such programs and policies 

5 shall include— 

6 (i) recruiting at historically black col7 leges and universities, Hispanic-serving in8 stitutions, women’s colleges, and colleges 

9 that typically serve majority minority pop10 ulations; 

11 (ii) sponsoring and recruiting at job 

12 fairs in urban communities; 

13 (iii) placing employment advertise14 ments in newspapers and magazines ori15 ented toward minorities, veterans, and 

16 women; 

17 (iv) partnering with organizations that 

18 are focused on developing opportunities for 

19 minorities, veterans, and women to be 

20 placed in Departmental internships, sum21 mer employment, and full-time positions 

22 relating to energy; 

23 (v) where feasible, partnering with 

24 inner-city high schools, girls’ high schools, 

25 and high schools with majority minority 


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1 populations to demonstrate career opportu2 nities and the path to those opportunities 

3 available at the Department; 

4 (vi) coordinating with the Department 

5 of Veterans Affairs and the Department of 

6 Defense in the hiring of veterans; and 

7 (vii) any other mass media commu8 nications that the Deputy Assistant Sec9 retary determines necessary to advertise, 

10 promote, or educate about opportunities at 

11 the Department. 

12 (C) Develop standards for— 

13 (i) equal employment opportunity and 

14 the racial, ethnic, and gender diversity of 

15 the workforce and senior management of 

16 the Department; and 

17 (ii) increased participation of minor18 ity-owned, veteran-owned, and women19 owned businesses in the programs and con20 tracts with the Department. 

21 (D) Review and propose for adoption the 

22 best practices of entities regulated by the De23 partment with regards to hiring and diversity 

24 policies, and publish those best practices for 

25 public review. 


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1 (c) REPORTS.—The Secretary shall submit to Con2 gress an annual report regarding the actions taken by the 

3 Department of the Interior agency and the Office pursu4 ant to this section, which shall include— 

5 (1) a statement of the total amounts paid by 

6 the Department to minority contractors; 

7 (2) the successes achieved and challenges faced 

8 by the Department in operating minority, veteran or 

9 service-disabled veteran, and women outreach pro10 grams; 

11 (3) the challenges the Department may face in 

12 hiring minority, veteran, and women employees and 

13 contracting with veteran or service-disabled veteran, 

14 minority-owned, and women-owned businesses; and 

15 (4) any other information, findings, conclusions, 

16 and recommendations for legislative or Department 

17 action, as the Director determines appropriate. 

18 (d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 

19 following definitions shall apply: 

20 (1) MINORITY.—The term ‘‘minority’’ means 

21 United States citizens who are Asian Indian Amer22 ican, Asian Pacific American, Black American, His23 panic American, or Native American. 

24 (2) MINORITY-OWNED BUSINESS.—The term 

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1 prise, regardless of size, physically located in the 

2 United States or its trust territories, that is owned, 

3 operated, and controlled by minority group members. 

4 ‘‘Minority group members’’ are United States citi5 zens who are Asian Indian American, Asian Pacific 

6 American, Black American, Hispanic American, or 

7 Native American (terminology in NMSDC cat8 egories). Ownership by minority individuals means 

9 the business is at least 51 percent owned by such in10 dividuals or, in the case of a publicly owned busi11 ness, at least 51 percent of the stock is owned by 

12 one or more such individuals. Further, the manage13 ment and daily operations are controlled by those 

14 minority group members. For purposes of NMSDC’s 

15 program, a minority group member is an individual 

who is a United States citizen with at least 1 16 ⁄4 or 

17 25 percent minimum (documentation to support 

18 claim of 25 percent required from applicant) of one 

19 or more of the following: 

20 (A) Asian Indian American, which is a 

21 United States citizen whose origins are from 

22 India, Pakistan, or Bangladesh. 

23 (B) Asian Pacific American, which is a 

24 United States citizen whose origins are from 

25 Japan, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, 


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1 Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, the Phil2 ippines, Thailand, Samoa, Guam, the United 

3 States Trust Territories of the Pacific, or the 

4 Northern Marianas. 

5 (C) Black American, which is a United 

6 States citizen having origins in any of the Black 

7 racial groups of Africa. 

8 (D) Hispanic American, which is a United 

9 States citizen of true-born Hispanic heritage, 

10 from any of the Spanish-speaking areas of the 

11 following regions: Mexico, Central America, 

12 South America, and the Caribbean Basin only. 

13 (E) Native American, which means a 

14 United States citizen enrolled to a federally rec15 ognized tribe, or a Native as defined under the 

16 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. 

17 (3) NMSDC.—The term ‘‘NMSDC’’ means the 

18 National Minority Supplier Development Council. 

19 (4) WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESS.—The term 

20 ‘‘women-owned business’’ means a business that can 

21 verify through evidence documentation that 51 per22 cent or more is women-owned, managed, and con23 trolled. The business must be open for at least 6 

24 months. The business owner must be a United 


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1 States citizen or legal resident alien. Evidence must 

2 indicate that— 

3 (A) the contribution of capital or expertise 

4 by the woman business owner is real and sub5 stantial and in proportion to the interest owned; 

6 (B) the woman business owner directs or 

7 causes the direction of management, policy, fis8 cal, and operational matters; and 

9 (C) the woman business owner has the 

10 ability to perform in the area of specialty or ex11 pertise without reliance on either the finances 

12 or resources of a firm that is not owned by a 

13 woman. 

14 (5) SERVICE DISABLED VETERAN.—The term 

15 ‘‘Service Disabled Veteran’’ must have a service-con16 nected disability that has been determined by the 

17 Department of Veterans Affairs or Department of 

18 Defense. The SDVOSBC must be small under the 

19 North American Industry Classification System 

20 (NAICS) code assigned to the procurement; the 

21 SDV must unconditionally own 51 percent of the 

22 SDVOSBC; the SDVO must control the manage23 ment and daily operations of the SDVOSBC; and 

24 the SDV must hold the highest officer position in 

25 the SDVOSBC. 


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1 (6) VETERAN-OWNED BUSINESS.—The term 

2 ‘‘veteran-owned business’’ means a business that can 

3 verify through evidence documentation that 51 per4 cent or more is veteran-owned, managed, and con5 trolled. The business must be open for at least 6 

6 months. The business owner must be a United 

7 States citizen or legal resident alien and honorably 

8 or service-connected disability discharged from serv9 ice. 

10 SUBDIVISION B—BUREAU OF 

11 RECLAMATION CONDUIT HY12 DROPOWER DEVELOPMENT 

13 EQUITY AND JOBS ACT 

14 SEC. 1. SHORT TITLE. 

15 This subdivision may be cited as the ‘‘Bureau of Rec16 lamation Conduit Hydropower Development Equity and 

17 Jobs Act’’. 

18 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT. 

19 Section 9 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act authorizing 

20 construction of water conservation and utilization projects 

21 in the Great Plains and arid semiarid areas of the United 

22 States’’, approved August 11, 1939 (16 U.S.C. 590z–7; 

23 commonly known as the ‘‘Water Conservation and Utiliza24 tion Act’’), is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘In connection with’’ and insert2 ing ‘‘(a) In connection with’’; and 

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

4 ‘‘(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), the Secretary is 

5 authorized to enter into leases of power privileges for elec6 tric power generation in connection with any project con7 structed under this Act, and shall have authority in addi8 tion to and alternative to any authority in existing laws 

9 relating to particular projects, including small conduit hy10 dropower development. 

11 ‘‘(c) When entering into leases of power privileges 

12 under subsection (b), the Secretary shall use the processes 

13 applicable to such leases under section 9(c) of the Rec14 lamation Project Act of 1939 (43 U.S.C. 485h(c)). 

15 ‘‘(d) Lease of power privilege contracts shall be at 

16 such rates as, in the Secretary’s judgment, will produce 

17 revenues at least sufficient to cover the appropriate share 

18 of the annual operation and maintenance cost of the 

19 project and such fixed charges, including interest, as the 

20 Secretary deems proper. Lease of power privilege con21 tracts shall be for periods not to exceed 40 years. 

22 ‘‘(e) No findings under section 3 shall be required 

23 for a lease under subsection (b). 

24 ‘‘(f) All right, title, and interest to installed power 

25 facilities constructed by non-Federal entities pursuant to 


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1 a lease of power privilege, and direct revenues derived 

2 therefrom, shall remain with the lessee unless otherwise 

3 required under subsection (g). 

4 ‘‘(g) Notwithstanding section 8, lease revenues and 

5 fixed charges, if any, shall be covered into the Reclamation 

6 Fund to be credited to the project from which those reve7 nues or charges were derived. 

8 ‘‘(h) When carrying out this section, the Secretary 

9 shall first offer the lease of power privilege to an irrigation 

10 district or water users association operating the applicable 

11 transferred conduit, or to the irrigation district or water 

12 users association receiving water from the applicable re13 served conduit. The Secretary shall determine a reason14 able timeframe for the irrigation district or water users 

15 association to accept or reject a lease of power privilege 

16 offer. If the irrigation district or water users association 

17 elects not to accept a lease of power privilege offer under 

18 subsection (b), the Secretary shall offer the lease of power 

19 privilege to other parties using the processes applicable to 

20 such leases under section 9(c) of the Reclamation Project 

21 Act of 1939 (43 U.S.C. 485h(c)). 

22 ‘‘(i) The Bureau of Reclamation shall apply its cat23 egorical exclusion process under the National Environ24 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) to 

25 small conduit hydropower development under this section, 


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1 excluding siting of associated transmission facilities on 

2 Federal lands. 

3 ‘‘(j) Nothing in this section shall obligate the Western 

4 Area Power Administration or the Bonneville Power Ad5 ministration to purchase or market any of the power pro6 duced by the facilities covered under this section and none 

7 of the costs associated with production or delivery of such 

8 power shall be assigned to project purposes for inclusion 

9 in project rates. 

10 ‘‘(k) Nothing in this section shall alter or impede the 

11 delivery and management of water by Bureau of Reclama12 tion facilities, as water used for conduit hydropower gen13 eration shall be deemed incidental to use of water for the 

14 original project purposes. Lease of power privilege shall 

15 be made only when, in the judgment of the Secretary, the 

16 exercise of the lease will not be incompatible with the pur17 poses of the project or division involved and shall not cre18 ate any unmitigated financial or physical impacts to the 

19 project or division involved. The Secretary shall notify and 

20 consult with the irrigation district or legally organized 

21 water users association operating the transferred conduit 

22 in advance of offering the lease of power privilege and 

23 shall prescribe such terms and conditions necessary to 

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1 eration, maintenance, and other interests of the United 

2 States and the project or division involved. 

3 ‘‘(l) Nothing in this section shall alter or affect any 

4 agreements in effect on the date of the enactment of the 

5 Bureau of Reclamation Conduit Hydropower Development 

6 Equity and Jobs Act for the development of conduit hy7 dropower projects or disposition of revenues. 

8 ‘‘(m) In this section: 

9 ‘‘(1) The term ‘conduit’ means any Bureau of 

10 Reclamation tunnel, canal, pipeline, aqueduct, flume, 

11 ditch, or similar manmade water conveyance that is 

12 operated for the distribution of water for agricul13 tural, municipal, or industrial consumption and not 

14 primarily for the generation of electricity. 

15 ‘‘(2) The term ‘irrigation district’ means any ir16 rigation, water conservation or conservancy, multi17 county water conservation or conservancy district, or 

18 any separate public entity composed of two or more 

19 such districts and jointly exercising powers of its 

20 member districts. 

21 ‘‘(3) The term ‘reserved conduit’ means any 

22 conduit that is included in project works the care, 

23 operation, and maintenance of which has been re24 served by the Secretary, through the Commissioner 

25 of the Bureau of Reclamation. 


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1 ‘‘(4) The term ‘transferred conduit’ means any 

2 conduit that is included in project works the care, 

3 operation, and maintenance of which has been trans4 ferred to a legally organized water users association 

5 or irrigation district. 

6 ‘‘(5) The term ‘small conduit hydropower’ 

7 means a facility capable of producing 5 megawatts 

8 or less of electric capacity.’’. 

9 SUBDIVISION C—CENTRAL OR10 EGON JOBS AND WATER SE11 CURITY ACT 

12 SEC. 1. SHORT TITLE. 

13 This subdivision may be cited as the ‘‘Central Oregon 

14 Jobs and Water Security Act’’. 

15 SEC. 2. WILD AND SCENIC RIVER; CROOKED, OREGON. 

16 Section 3(a)(72) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act 

17 (16 U.S.C. 1274(a)(72)) is amended as follows: 

18 (1) By striking ‘‘15-mile’’ and inserting ‘‘14.75- 

19 mile’’. 

20 (2) In subparagraph (B)— 

21 (A) by striking ‘‘8-mile’’ and all that fol22 lows through ‘‘Bowman Dam’’ and inserting 

23 ‘‘7.75-mile segment from a point one-quarter 

24 mile downstream from the toe of Bowman 

25 Dam’’; and 


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

2 ‘‘The developer for any hydropower develop3 ment, including turbines and appurtenant facili4 ties, at Bowman Dam, in consultation with the 

5 Bureau of Land Management, shall analyze any 

6 impacts to the Outstandingly Remarkable Val7 ues of the Wild and Scenic River that may be 

8 caused by such development, including the fu9 ture need to undertake routine and emergency 

10 repairs, and shall propose mitigation for any 

11 impacts as part of any license application sub12 mitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Com13 mission.’’. 

14 SEC. 3. CITY OF PRINEVILLE WATER SUPPLY. 

15 Section 4 of the Act of August 6, 1956 (70 Stat. 

16 1058), (as amended by the Acts of September 14, 1959 

17 (73 Stat. 554), and September 18, 1964 (78 Stat. 954)) 

18 is further amended as follows: 

19 (1) By striking ‘‘ten cubic feet’’ the first place 

20 it appears and inserting ‘‘17 cubic feet’’. 

21 (2) By striking ‘‘during those months when 

22 there is no other discharge therefrom, but this re23 lease may be reduced for brief temporary periods by 

24 the Secretary whenever he may find that release of 


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1 the full ten cubic feet per second is harmful to the 

2 primary purpose of the project’’. 

3 (3) By adding at the end the following: ‘‘With4 out further action by the Secretary, and as deter5 mined necessary for any given year by the City of 

6 Prineville, up to seven of the 17 cubic feet per sec7 ond minimum release shall also serve as mitigation 

8 for City of Prineville groundwater pumping, pursu9 ant to and in a manner consistent with Oregon State 

10 law, including any shaping of the release of the up 

11 to seven cubic feet per second to coincide with City 

12 of Prineville groundwater pumping as may be re13 quired by the State of Oregon. As such, the Sec14 retary is authorized to make applications to the 

15 State of Oregon in conjunction with the City to pro16 tect these supplies instream. The City shall make 

17 payment to the Secretary for that portion of the 

18 minimum release that actually serves as mitigation 

19 pursuant to Oregon State law for the City in any 

20 given year, with the payment for any given year 

21 equal to the amount of mitigation in acre feet re22 quired to offset actual City groundwater pumping 

23 for that year in accordance with Reclamation ‘Water 

24 and Related Contract and Repayment Principles and 

25 Requirements’, Reclamation Manual Directives and 


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1 Standards PEC 05–01, dated 09/12/2006, and guid2 ed by ‘Economic and Environmental Principles and 

3 Guidelines for Water and Related Land Resources 

4 Implementation Studies’, dated March 10, 1983. 

5 The Secretary is authorized to contract exclusively 

6 with the City for additional amounts in the future 

7 at the request of the City.’’. 

8 SEC. 4. FIRST FILL PROTECTION. 

9 The Act of August 6, 1956 (70 Stat. 1058), as 

10 amended by the Acts of September 14, 1959 (73 Stat. 

11 554), and September 18, 1964 (78 Stat. 954), is further 

12 amended by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 6. Other than the 17 cubic feet per second re14 lease provided for in section 4, and subject to compliance 

15 with the Army Corps of Engineers’ flood curve require16 ments, the Secretary shall, on a ‘first fill’ priority basis, 

17 store in and release from Prineville Reservoir, whether 

18 from carryover, infill, or a combination thereof, the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(1) 68,273 acre feet of water annually to fulfill 

21 all 16 Bureau of Reclamation contracts existing as 

22 of January 1, 2011, and up to 2,740 acre feet of 

23 water annually to supply the McKay Creek lands as 

24 provided for in section 5 of this Act. 


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1 ‘‘(2) Not more than 10,000 acre feet of water 

2 annually, to be made available to the North Unit Ir3 rigation District pursuant to a Temporary Water 

4 Service Contract, upon the request of the North 

5 Unit Irrigation District, consistent with the same 

6 terms and conditions as prior such contracts be7 tween the District and the Bureau of Reclamation. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 7. Except as otherwise provided in this Act, 

9 nothing in this Act— 

10 ‘‘(1) modifies contractual rights that may exist 

11 between contractors and the United States under 

12 Reclamation contracts; 

13 ‘‘(2) amends or reopens contracts referred to in 

14 paragraph (1); or 

15 ‘‘(3) modifies any rights, obligations, or require16 ments that may be provided or governed by Oregon 

17 State law.’’. 

18 SEC. 5. OCHOCO IRRIGATION DISTRICT. 

19 (a) EARLY REPAYMENT.—Notwithstanding section 

20 213 of the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (43 U.S.C. 

21 390mm), any landowner within Ochoco Irrigation District 

22 in Oregon, may repay, at any time, the construction costs 

23 of the project facilities allocated to that landowner’s lands 

24 within the district. Upon discharge, in full, of the obliga25 tion for repayment of the construction costs allocated to 


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1 all lands the landowner owns in the district, those lands 

2 shall not be subject to the ownership and full-cost pricing 

3 limitations of the Act of June 17, 1902 (43 U.S.C. 371 

4 et seq.), and Acts supplemental to and amendatory of that 

5 Act, including the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (43 

6 U.S.C. 390aa et seq.). 

7 (b) CERTIFICATION.—Upon the request of a land8 owner who has repaid, in full, the construction costs of 

9 the project facilities allocated to that landowner’s lands 

10 owned within the district, the Secretary of the Interior 

11 shall provide the certification provided for in subsection 

12 (b)(1) of section 213 of the Reclamation Reform Act of 

13 1982 (43 U.S.C. 390mm(b)(1)). 

14 (c) CONTRACT AMENDMENT.—On approval of the 

15 district directors and notwithstanding project authorizing 

16 legislation to the contrary, the district’s reclamation con17 tracts are modified, without further action by the Sec18 retary of the Interior, to— 

19 (1) authorize the use of water for instream pur20 poses, including fish or wildlife purposes, in order 

21 for the district to engage in, or take advantage of, 

22 conserved water projects and temporary instream 

23 leasing as authorized by Oregon State law; 

24 (2) include within the district boundary ap25 proximately 2,742 acres in the vicinity of McKay 


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1 Creek, resulting in a total of approximately 44,937 

2 acres within the district boundary; 

3 (3) classify as irrigable approximately 685 acres 

4 within the approximately 2,742 acres of included 

5 lands in the vicinity of McKay Creek, where the ap6 proximately 685 acres are authorized to receive irri7 gation water pursuant to water rights issued by the 

8 State of Oregon and have in the past received water 

9 pursuant to such State water rights; and 

10 (4) provide the district with stored water from 

11 Prineville Reservoir for purposes of supplying up to 

12 the approximately 685 acres of lands added within 

13 the district boundary and classified as irrigable 

14 under paragraphs (2) and (3), with such stored 

15 water to be supplied on an acre-per-acre basis con16 tingent on the transfer of existing appurtenant 

17 McKay Creek water rights to instream use and the 

18 State’s issuance of water rights for the use of stored 

19 water. 

20 (d) LIMITATION.—Except as otherwise provided in 

21 subsections (a) and (c), nothing in this section shall be 

22 construed to— 

23 (1) modify contractual rights that may exist be24 tween the district and the United States under the 

25 district’s Reclamation contracts; 


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1 (2) amend or reopen the contracts referred to 

2 in paragraph (1); or 

3 (3) modify any rights, obligations or relation4 ships that may exist between the district and its 

5 landowners as may be provided or governed by Or6 egon State law. 

7 SUBDIVISION D—STATE AU8 THORITY FOR HYDRAULIC 

9 FRACTURING REGULATION; 

10 EPA HYDRAULIC FRAC11 TURING RESEARCH 

12 TITLE I—STATE AUTHORITY FOR 

13 HYDRAULIC FRACTURING 

14 REGULATION 

15 SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE. 

16 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting States’ 

17 Rights to Promote American Energy Security Act’’. 

18 SEC. 102. STATE AUTHORITY FOR HYDRAULIC FRACTURING 

19 REGULATION. 

20 The Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) is 

21 amended by redesignating section 44 as section 45, and 

22 by inserting after section 43 the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 44. STATE AUTHORITY FOR HYDRAULIC FRACTURING 

2 REGULATION. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Department of the Interior 

4 shall not enforce any Federal regulation, guidance, or per5 mit requirement regarding hydraulic fracturing, or any 

6 component of that process, relating to oil, gas, or geo7 thermal production activities on or under any land in any 

8 State that has regulations, guidance, or permit require9 ments for that activity. 

10 ‘‘(b) STATE AUTHORITY.—The Department of the 

11 Interior shall recognize and defer to State regulations, 

12 permitting, and guidance, for all activities related to hy13 draulic fracturing, or any component of that process, re14 lating to oil, gas, or geothermal production activities on 

15 Federal land. 

16 ‘‘(c) TRANSPARENCY OF STATE REGULATIONS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall submit to 

18 the Bureau of Land Management a copy of its regu19 lations that apply to hydraulic fracturing operations 

20 on Federal land. 

21 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary of the In22 terior shall make available to the public State regu23 lations submitted under this subsection. 

24 ‘‘(d) TRANSPARENCY OF STATE DISCLOSURE RE25 QUIREMENTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall submit to 

2 the Bureau of Land Management a copy of any reg3 ulations of the State that require disclosure of 

4 chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations on 

5 Federal land. 

6 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary of the In7 terior shall make available to the public State regu8 lations submitted under this subsection. 

9 ‘‘(e) HYDRAULIC FRACTURING DEFINED.—In this 

10 section the term ‘hydraulic fracturing’ means the process 

11 by which fracturing fluids (or a fracturing fluid system) 

12 are pumped into an underground geologic formation at a 

13 calculated, predetermined rate and pressure to generate 

14 fractures or cracks in the target formation and thereby 

15 increase the permeability of the rock near the wellbore and 

16 improve production of natural gas or oil.’’. 

17 SEC. 103. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE STUDY. 

18 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 

19 States shall conduct a study examining the economic bene20 fits of domestic shale oil and gas production resulting from 

21 the process of hydraulic fracturing. This study will include 

22 identification of— 

23 (1) State and Federal revenue generated as a 

24 result of shale gas production; 


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1 (2) jobs created both directly and indirectly as 

2 a result of shale oil and gas production; and 

3 (3) an estimate of potential energy prices with4 out domestic shale oil and gas production. 

5 (b) REPORT.—The Comptroller General shall submit 

6 a report on the findings of such study to the Committee 

7 on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives 

8 within 30 days after completion of the study. 

9 SEC. 104. TRIBAL AUTHORITY ON TRUST LAND. 

10 The Department of the Interior shall not enforce any 

11 Federal regulation, guidance, or permit requirement re12 garding the process of hydraulic fracturing (as that term 

13 is defined in section 44 of the Mineral Leasing Act, as 

14 amended by section 102 of this Act), or any component 

15 of that process, relating to oil, gas, or geothermal produc16 tion activities on any land held in trust or restricted status 

17 for the benefit of Indians except with the express consent 

18 of the beneficiary on whose behalf such land is held in 

19 trust or restricted status. 

20 TITLE II—EPA HYDRAULIC 

21 FRACTURING RESEARCH 

22 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE. 

23 This title may be cited as the ‘‘EPA Hydraulic Frac24 turing Study Improvement Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 202. EPA HYDRAULIC FRACTURING RESEARCH. 

2 In conducting its study of the potential impacts of 

3 hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources, with re4 spect to which a request for information was issued under 

5 Federal Register Vol. 77, No. 218, the Administrator of 

6 the Environmental Protection Agency shall adhere to the 

7 following requirements: 

8 (1) PEER REVIEW AND INFORMATION QUAL9 ITY.—Prior to issuance and dissemination of any 

10 final report or any interim report summarizing the 

11 Environmental Protection Agency’s research on the 

12 relationship between hydraulic fracturing and drink13 ing water, the Administrator shall— 

14 (A) consider such reports to be Highly In15 fluential Scientific Assessments and require 

16 peer review of such reports in accordance with 

17 guidelines governing such assessments, as de18 scribed in— 

19 (i) the Environmental Protection 

20 Agency’s Peer Review Handbook 3rd Edi21 tion; 

22 (ii) the Environmental Protection 

23 Agency’s Scientific Integrity Policy, as in 

24 effect on the date of enactment of this Act; 

25 and 


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1 (iii) the Office of Management and 

2 Budget’s Peer Review Bulletin, as in effect 

3 on the date of enactment of this Act; and 

4 (B) require such reports to meet the stand5 ards and procedures for the dissemination of in6 fluential scientific, financial, or statistical infor7 mation set forth in the Environmental Protec8 tion Agency’s Guidelines for Ensuring and 

9 Maximizing the Quality, Objectivity, Utility, 

10 and Integrity of Information Disseminated by 

11 the Environmental Protection Agency, devel12 oped in response to guidelines issued by the Of13 fice of Management and Budget under section 

14 515(a) of the Treasury and General Govern15 ment Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2001 

16 (Public Law 106–554). 

17 (2) PROBABILITY, UNCERTAINTY, AND CON18 SEQUENCE.—In order to maximize the quality and 

19 utility of information developed through the study, 

20 the Administrator shall ensure that identification of 

21 the possible impacts of hydraulic fracturing on 

22 drinking water resources included in such reports be 

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1 ment practices of States and industry. Estimates or 

2 descriptions of probability, uncertainty, and con3 sequence shall be as quantitative as possible given 

4 the validity, accuracy, precision, and other quality 

5 attributes of the underlying data and analyses, but 

6 no more quantitative than the data and analyses can 

7 support. 

8 (3) RELEASE OF FINAL REPORT.—The final re9 port shall be publicly released by September 30, 

10 2016. 

11 TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS 

12 PROVISIONS 

13 SEC. 301. REVIEW OF STATE ACTIVITIES. 

14 The Secretary of the Interior shall annually review 

15 and report to Congress on all State activities relating to 

16 hydraulic fracturing. 

17 SUBDIVISION E—PREVENTING 

18 GOVERNMENT WASTE AND 

19 PROTECTING COAL MINING 

20 JOBS IN AMERICA 

21 SEC. 1. SHORT TITLE. 

22 This subdivision may be cited as the ‘‘Preventing 

23 Government Waste and Protecting Coal Mining Jobs in 

24 America’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INCORPORATION OF SURFACE MINING STREAM 

2 BUFFER ZONE RULE INTO STATE PROGRAMS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 503 of the Surface Min4 ing Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 

5 1253) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(e) STREAM BUFFER ZONE MANAGEMENT.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the require8 ments under subsection (a), each State program 

9 shall incorporate the necessary rule regarding excess 

10 spoil, coal mine waste, and buffers for perennial and 

11 intermittent streams published by the Office of Sur12 face Mining Reclamation and Enforcement on De13 cember 12, 2008 (73 Fed. Reg. 75813 et seq.) which 

14 complies with the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

15 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) in view of the 2006 discus16 sions between the Director of the Office of Surface 

17 Mining and the Director of the United States Fish 

18 and Wildlife Service, and the Office of Surface Min19 ing Reclamation and Enforcement’s consideration 

20 and review of comments submitted by the United 

21 States Fish and Wildlife Service during the rule22 making process in 2007. 

23 ‘‘(2) STUDY OF IMPLEMENTATION.—The Sec24 retary shall— 

25 ‘‘(A) at such time as the Secretary deter26 mines all States referred to in subsection (a) 


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1 have fully incorporated the necessary rule re2 ferred to in paragraph (1) of this subsection 

3 into their State programs, publish notice of 

4 such determination; 

5 ‘‘(B) during the 5-year period beginning on 

6 the date of such publication, assess the effec7 tiveness of implementation of such rule by such 

8 States; 

9 ‘‘(C) carry out all required consultation on 

10 the benefits and other impacts of the implemen11 tation of the rule to any threatened species or 

12 endangered species, with the participation of 

13 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and 

14 the United States Geological Survey; and 

15 ‘‘(D) upon the conclusion of such period, 

16 submit a comprehensive report on the impacts 

17 of such rule to the Committee on Natural Re18 sources of the House of Representatives and the 

19 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of 

20 the Senate, including— 

21 ‘‘(i) an evaluation of the effectiveness 

22 of such rule; 

23 ‘‘(ii) an evaluation of any ways in 

24 which the existing rule inhibits energy pro25 duction; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) a description in detail of any 

2 proposed changes that should be made to 

3 the rule, the justification for such changes, 

4 all comments on such changes received by 

5 the Secretary from such States, and the 

6 projected costs and benefits of such 

7 changes. 

8 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION ON NEW REGULATIONS.—The 

9 Secretary may not issue any regulations under this 

10 Act relating to stream buffer zones or stream protec11 tion before the date of the publication of the report 

12 under paragraph (2), other than a rule necessary to 

13 implement paragraph (1).’’. 

14 (b) DEADLINE FOR STATE IMPLEMENTATION.—Not 

15 later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this 

16 Act, a State with a State program approved under section 

17 503 of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act 

18 of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1253) shall submit to the Secretary 

19 of the Interior amendments to such program pursuant to 

20 part 732 of title 30, Code of Federal Regulations, incor21 porating the necessary rule referred to in subsection (e)(1) 

22 of such section, as amended by this section. 


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1 DIVISION C—JUDICIARY 

2 SEC. 1. SHORT TITLE. 

3 This division may be cited as the ‘‘Responsibly And 

4 Professionally Invigorating Development Act of 2014’’ or 

5 as the ‘‘RAPID Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. COORDINATION OF AGENCY ADMINISTRATIVE OP7 ERATIONS FOR EFFICIENT DECISIONMAKING. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 5 of part 1 of title 5, 

9 United States Code, is amended by inserting after sub10 chapter II the following: 

11 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER IIA—INTERAGENCY 

12 COORDINATION REGARDING PERMITTING 

13 ‘‘§ 560. Coordination of agency administrative oper14 ations for efficient decisionmaking 

15 ‘‘(a) CONGRESSIONAL DECLARATION OF PURPOSE.— 

16 The purpose of this subchapter is to establish a framework 

17 and procedures to streamline, increase the efficiency of, 

18 and enhance coordination of agency administration of the 

19 regulatory review, environmental decisionmaking, and per20 mitting process for projects undertaken, reviewed, or fund21 ed by Federal agencies. This subchapter will ensure that 

22 agencies administer the regulatory process in a manner 

23 that is efficient so that citizens are not burdened with reg24 ulatory excuses and time delays. 


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1 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub2 chapter, the term— 

3 ‘‘(1) ‘agency’ means any agency, department, or 

4 other unit of Federal, State, local, or Indian tribal 

5 government; 

6 ‘‘(2) ‘category of projects’ means 2 or more 

7 projects related by project type, potential environ8 mental impacts, geographic location, or another 

9 similar project feature or characteristic; 

10 ‘‘(3) ‘environmental assessment’ means a con11 cise public document for which a Federal agency is 

12 responsible that serves to— 

13 ‘‘(A) briefly provide sufficient evidence and 

14 analysis for determining whether to prepare an 

15 environmental impact statement or a finding of 

16 no significant impact; 

17 ‘‘(B) aid an agency’s compliance with 

18 NEPA when no environmental impact state19 ment is necessary; and 

20 ‘‘(C) facilitate preparation of an environ21 mental impact statement when one is necessary; 

22 ‘‘(4) ‘environmental impact statement’ means 

23 the detailed statement of significant environmental 

24 impacts required to be prepared under NEPA; 


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1 ‘‘(5) ‘environmental review’ means the Federal 

2 agency procedures for preparing an environmental 

3 impact statement, environmental assessment, cat4 egorical exclusion, or other document under NEPA; 

5 ‘‘(6) ‘environmental decisionmaking process’ 

6 means the Federal agency procedures for under7 taking and completion of any environmental permit, 

8 decision, approval, review, or study under any Fed9 eral law other than NEPA for a project subject to 

10 an environmental review; 

11 ‘‘(7) ‘environmental document’ means an envi12 ronmental assessment or environmental impact 

13 statement, and includes any supplemental document 

14 or document prepared pursuant to a court order; 

15 ‘‘(8) ‘finding of no significant impact’ means a 

16 document by a Federal agency briefly presenting the 

17 reasons why a project, not otherwise subject to a 

18 categorical exclusion, will not have a significant ef19 fect on the human environment and for which an en20 vironmental impact statement therefore will not be 

21 prepared; 

22 ‘‘(9) ‘lead agency’ means the Federal agency 

23 preparing or responsible for preparing the environ24 mental document; 


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1 ‘‘(10) ‘NEPA’ means the National Environ2 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 

3 ‘‘(11) ‘project’ means major Federal actions 

4 that are construction activities undertaken with Fed5 eral funds or that are construction activities that re6 quire approval by a permit or regulatory decision 

7 issued by a Federal agency; 

8 ‘‘(12) ‘project sponsor’ means the agency or 

9 other entity, including any private or public-private 

10 entity, that seeks approval for a project or is other11 wise responsible for undertaking a project; and 

12 ‘‘(13) ‘record of decision’ means a document 

13 prepared by a lead agency under NEPA following an 

14 environmental impact statement that states the lead 

15 agency’s decision, identifies the alternatives consid16 ered by the agency in reaching its decision and 

17 states whether all practicable means to avoid or min18 imize environmental harm from the alternative se19 lected have been adopted, and if not, why they were 

20 not adopted. 

21 ‘‘(c) PREPARATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL DOCU22 MENTS.—Upon the request of the lead agency, the project 

23 sponsor shall be authorized to prepare any document for 

24 purposes of an environmental review required in support 

25 of any project or approval by the lead agency if the lead 


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1 agency furnishes oversight in such preparation and inde2 pendently evaluates such document and the document is 

3 approved and adopted by the lead agency prior to taking 

4 any action or making any approval based on such docu5 ment. 

6 ‘‘(d) ADOPTION AND USE OF DOCUMENTS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) DOCUMENTS PREPARED UNDER NEPA.— 

8 ‘‘(A) Not more than 1 environmental im9 pact statement and 1 environmental assessment 

10 shall be prepared under NEPA for a project 

11 (except for supplemental environmental docu12 ments prepared under NEPA or environmental 

13 documents prepared pursuant to a court order), 

14 and, except as otherwise provided by law, the 

15 lead agency shall prepare the environmental im16 pact statement or environmental assessment. 

17 After the lead agency issues a record of deci18 sion, no Federal agency responsible for making 

19 any approval for that project may rely on a doc20 ument other than the environmental document 

21 prepared by the lead agency. 

22 ‘‘(B) Upon the request of a project spon23 sor, a lead agency may adopt, use, or rely upon 

24 secondary and cumulative impact analyses in25 cluded in any environmental document prepared 


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1 under NEPA for projects in the same geo2 graphic area where the secondary and cumu3 lative impact analyses provide information and 

4 data that pertains to the NEPA decision for the 

5 project under review. 

6 ‘‘(2) STATE ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENTS; 

7 SUPPLEMENTAL DOCUMENTS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) Upon the request of a project spon9 sor, a lead agency may adopt a document that 

10 has been prepared for a project under State 

11 laws and procedures as the environmental im12 pact statement or environmental assessment for 

13 the project, provided that the State laws and 

14 procedures under which the document was pre15 pared provide environmental protection and op16 portunities for public involvement that are sub17 stantially equivalent to NEPA. 

18 ‘‘(B) An environmental document adopted 

19 under subparagraph (A) is deemed to satisfy 

20 the lead agency’s obligation under NEPA to 

21 prepare an environmental impact statement or 

22 environmental assessment. 

23 ‘‘(C) In the case of a document described 

24 in subparagraph (A), during the period after 

25 preparation of the document but before its 


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1 adoption by the lead agency, the lead agency 

2 shall prepare and publish a supplement to that 

3 document if the lead agency determines that— 

4 ‘‘(i) a significant change has been 

5 made to the project that is relevant for 

6 purposes of environmental review of the 

7 project; or 

8 ‘‘(ii) there have been significant 

9 changes in circumstances or availability of 

10 information relevant to the environmental 

11 review for the project. 

12 ‘‘(D) If the agency prepares and publishes 

13 a supplemental document under subparagraph 

14 (C), the lead agency may solicit comments from 

15 agencies and the public on the supplemental 

16 document for a period of not more than 45 

17 days beginning on the date of the publication of 

18 the supplement. 

19 ‘‘(E) A lead agency shall issue its record of 

20 decision or finding of no significant impact, as 

21 appropriate, based upon the document adopted 

22 under subparagraph (A), and any supplements 

23 thereto. 

24 ‘‘(3) CONTEMPORANEOUS PROJECTS.—If the 

25 lead agency determines that there is a reasonable 


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1 likelihood that the project will have similar environ2 mental impacts as a similar project in geographical 

3 proximity to the project, and that similar project 

4 was subject to environmental review or similar State 

5 procedures within the 5-year period immediately pre6 ceding the date that the lead agency makes that de7 termination, the lead agency may adopt the environ8 mental document that resulted from that environ9 mental review or similar State procedure. The lead 

10 agency may adopt such an environmental document, 

11 if it is prepared under State laws and procedures 

12 only upon making a favorable determination on such 

13 environmental document pursuant to paragraph 

14 (2)(A). 

15 ‘‘(e) PARTICIPATING AGENCIES.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The lead agency shall be 

17 responsible for inviting and designating participating 

18 agencies in accordance with this subsection. The 

19 lead agency shall provide the invitation or notice of 

20 the designation in writing. 

21 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL PARTICIPATING AGENCIES.—Any 

22 Federal agency that is required to adopt the envi23 ronmental document of the lead agency for a project 

24 shall be designated as a participating agency and 

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1 mental document, unless the Federal agency informs 

2 the lead agency, in writing, by a time specified by 

3 the lead agency in the designation of the Federal 

4 agency that the Federal agency— 

5 ‘‘(A) has no jurisdiction or authority with 

6 respect to the project; 

7 ‘‘(B) has no expertise or information rel8 evant to the project; and 

9 ‘‘(C) does not intend to submit comments 

10 on the project. 

11 ‘‘(3) INVITATION.—The lead agency shall iden12 tify, as early as practicable in the environmental re13 view for a project, any agencies other than an agen14 cy described in paragraph (2) that may have an in15 terest in the project, including, where appropriate, 

16 Governors of affected States, and heads of appro17 priate tribal and local (including county) govern18 ments, and shall invite such identified agencies and 

19 officials to become participating agencies in the envi20 ronmental review for the project. The invitation shall 

21 set a deadline of 30 days for responses to be sub22 mitted, which may only be extended by the lead 

23 agency for good cause shown. Any agency that fails 

24 to respond prior to the deadline shall be deemed to 

25 have declined the invitation. 


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1 ‘‘(4) EFFECT OF DECLINING PARTICIPATING

2 AGENCY INVITATION.—Any agency that declines a 

3 designation or invitation by the lead agency to be a 

4 participating agency shall be precluded from submit5 ting comments on any document prepared under 

6 NEPA for that project or taking any measures to 

7 oppose, based on the environmental review, any per8 mit, license, or approval related to that project. 

9 ‘‘(5) EFFECT OF DESIGNATION.—Designation 

10 as a participating agency under this subsection does 

11 not imply that the participating agency— 

12 ‘‘(A) supports a proposed project; or 

13 ‘‘(B) has any jurisdiction over, or special 

14 expertise with respect to evaluation of, the 

15 project. 

16 ‘‘(6) COOPERATING AGENCY.—A participating 

17 agency may also be designated by a lead agency as 

18 a ‘cooperating agency’ under the regulations con19 tained in part 1500 of title 40, Code of Federal Reg20 ulations, as in effect on January 1, 2011. Designa21 tion as a cooperating agency shall have no effect on 

22 designation as participating agency. No agency that 

23 is not a participating agency may be designated as 

24 a cooperating agency. 


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1 ‘‘(7) CONCURRENT REVIEWS.—Each Federal 

2 agency shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) carry out obligations of the Federal 

4 agency under other applicable law concurrently 

5 and in conjunction with the review required 

6 under NEPA; and 

7 ‘‘(B) in accordance with the rules made by 

8 the Council on Environmental Quality pursuant 

9 to subsection (n)(1), make and carry out such 

10 rules, policies, and procedures as may be rea11 sonably necessary to enable the agency to en12 sure completion of the environmental review 

13 and environmental decisionmaking process in a 

14 timely, coordinated, and environmentally re15 sponsible manner. 

16 ‘‘(8) COMMENTS.—Each participating agency 

17 shall limit its comments on a project to areas that 

18 are within the authority and expertise of such par19 ticipating agency. Each participating agency shall 

20 identify in such comments the statutory authority of 

21 the participating agency pertaining to the subject 

22 matter of its comments. The lead agency shall not 

23 act upon, respond to or include in any document 

24 prepared under NEPA, any comment submitted by 

25 a participating agency that concerns matters that 


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1 are outside of the authority and expertise of the 

2 commenting participating agency. 

3 ‘‘(f) PROJECT INITIATION REQUEST.— 

4 ‘‘(1) NOTICE.—A project sponsor shall provide 

5 the Federal agency responsible for undertaking a 

6 project with notice of the initiation of the project by 

7 providing a description of the proposed project, the 

8 general location of the proposed project, and a state9 ment of any Federal approvals anticipated to be nec10 essary for the proposed project, for the purpose of 

11 informing the Federal agency that the environmental 

12 review should be initiated. 

13 ‘‘(2) LEAD AGENCY INITIATION.—The agency 

14 receiving a project initiation notice under paragraph 

15 (1) shall promptly identify the lead agency for the 

16 project, and the lead agency shall initiate the envi17 ronmental review within a period of 45 days after 

18 receiving the notice required by paragraph (1) by in19 viting or designating agencies to become partici20 pating agencies, or, where the lead agency deter21 mines that no participating agencies are required for 

22 the project, by taking such other actions that are 

23 reasonable and necessary to initiate the environ24 mental review. 

25 ‘‘(g) ALTERNATIVES ANALYSIS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) PARTICIPATION.—As early as practicable 

2 during the environmental review, but no later than 

3 during scoping for a project requiring the prepara4 tion of an environmental impact statement, the lead 

5 agency shall provide an opportunity for involvement 

6 by cooperating agencies in determining the range of 

7 alternatives to be considered for a project. 

8 ‘‘(2) RANGE OF ALTERNATIVES.—Following 

9 participation under paragraph (1), the lead agency 

10 shall determine the range of alternatives for consid11 eration in any document which the lead agency is re12 sponsible for preparing for the project, subject to the 

13 following limitations: 

14 ‘‘(A) NO EVALUATION OF CERTAIN ALTER15 NATIVES.—No Federal agency shall evaluate 

16 any alternative that was identified but not car17 ried forward for detailed evaluation in an envi18 ronmental document or evaluated and not se19 lected in any environmental document prepared 

20 under NEPA for the same project. 

21 ‘‘(B) ONLY FEASIBLE ALTERNATIVES

22 EVALUATED.—Where a project is being con23 structed, managed, funded, or undertaken by a 

24 project sponsor that is not a Federal agency, 

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1 ate alternatives that the project sponsor could 

2 feasibly undertake, consistent with the purpose 

3 of and the need for the project, including alter4 natives that can be undertaken by the project 

5 sponsor and that are technically and economi6 cally feasible. 

7 ‘‘(3) METHODOLOGIES.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The lead agency shall 

9 determine, in collaboration with cooperating 

10 agencies at appropriate times during the envi11 ronmental review, the methodologies to be used 

12 and the level of detail required in the analysis 

13 of each alternative for a project. The lead agen14 cy shall include in the environmental document 

15 a description of the methodologies used and 

16 how the methodologies were selected. 

17 ‘‘(B) NO EVALUATION OF INAPPROPRIATE

18 ALTERNATIVES.—When a lead agency deter19 mines that an alternative does not meet the 

20 purpose and need for a project, that alternative 

21 is not required to be evaluated in detail in an 

22 environmental document. 

23 ‘‘(4) PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE.—At the dis24 cretion of the lead agency, the preferred alternative 

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1 oped to a higher level of detail than other alter2 natives in order to facilitate the development of miti3 gation measures or concurrent compliance with other 

4 applicable laws if the lead agency determines that 

5 the development of such higher level of detail will 

6 not prevent the lead agency from making an impar7 tial decision as to whether to accept another alter8 native which is being considered in the environ9 mental review. 

10 ‘‘(5) EMPLOYMENT ANALYSIS.—The evaluation 

11 of each alternative in an environmental impact state12 ment or an environmental assessment shall identify 

13 the potential effects of the alternative on employ14 ment, including potential short-term and long-term 

15 employment increases and reductions and shifts in 

16 employment. 

17 ‘‘(h) COORDINATION AND SCHEDULING.— 

18 ‘‘(1) COORDINATION PLAN.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The lead agency shall 

20 establish and implement a plan for coordinating 

21 public and agency participation in and comment 

22 on the environmental review for a project or 

23 category of projects to facilitate the expeditious 

24 resolution of the environmental review. 

25 ‘‘(B) SCHEDULE.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The lead agency 

2 shall establish as part of the coordination 

3 plan for a project, after consultation with 

4 each participating agency and, where appli5 cable, the project sponsor, a schedule for 

6 completion of the environmental review. 

7 The schedule shall include deadlines, con8 sistent with subsection (i), for decisions 

9 under any other Federal laws (including 

10 the issuance or denial of a permit or li11 cense) relating to the project that is cov12 ered by the schedule. 

13 ‘‘(ii) FACTORS FOR CONSIDER14 ATION.—In establishing the schedule, the 

15 lead agency shall consider factors such 

16 as— 

17 ‘‘(I) the responsibilities of par18 ticipating agencies under applicable 

19 laws; 

20 ‘‘(II) resources available to the 

21 participating agencies; 

22 ‘‘(III) overall size and complexity 

23 of the project; 

24 ‘‘(IV) overall schedule for and 

25 cost of the project; 


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1 ‘‘(V) the sensitivity of the natural 

2 and historic resources that could be 

3 affected by the project; and 

4 ‘‘(VI) the extent to which similar 

5 projects in geographic proximity were 

6 recently subject to environmental re7 view or similar State procedures. 

8 ‘‘(iii) COMPLIANCE WITH THE SCHED9 ULE.— 

10 ‘‘(I) All participating agencies 

11 shall comply with the time periods es12 tablished in the schedule or with any 

13 modified time periods, where the lead 

14 agency modifies the schedule pursuant 

15 to subparagraph (D). 

16 ‘‘(II) The lead agency shall dis17 regard and shall not respond to or in18 clude in any document prepared under 

19 NEPA, any comment or information 

20 submitted or any finding made by a 

21 participating agency that is outside of 

22 the time period established in the 

23 schedule or modification pursuant to 

24 subparagraph (D) for that agency’s 

25 comment, submission or finding. 


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1 ‘‘(III) If a participating agency 

2 fails to object in writing to a lead 

3 agency decision, finding or request for 

4 concurrence within the time period es5 tablished under law or by the lead 

6 agency, the agency shall be deemed to 

7 have concurred in the decision, finding 

8 or request. 

9 ‘‘(C) CONSISTENCY WITH OTHER TIME PE10 RIODS.—A schedule under subparagraph (B) 

11 shall be consistent with any other relevant time 

12 periods established under Federal law. 

13 ‘‘(D) MODIFICATION.—The lead agency 

14 may— 

15 ‘‘(i) lengthen a schedule established 

16 under subparagraph (B) for good cause; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(ii) shorten a schedule only with the 

19 concurrence of the cooperating agencies. 

20 ‘‘(E) DISSEMINATION.—A copy of a sched21 ule under subparagraph (B), and of any modi22 fications to the schedule, shall be— 

23 ‘‘(i) provided within 15 days of com24 pletion or modification of such schedule to 


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1 all participating agencies and to the 

2 project sponsor; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) made available to the public. 

4 ‘‘(F) ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITY OF

5 LEAD AGENCY.—With respect to the environ6 mental review for any project, the lead agency 

7 shall have authority and responsibility to take 

8 such actions as are necessary and proper, with9 in the authority of the lead agency, to facilitate 

10 the expeditious resolution of the environmental 

11 review for the project. 

12 ‘‘(i) DEADLINES.—The following deadlines shall 

13 apply to any project subject to review under NEPA and 

14 any decision under any Federal law relating to such 

15 project (including the issuance or denial of a permit or 

16 license or any required finding): 

17 ‘‘(1) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW DEADLINES.— 

18 The lead agency shall complete the environmental 

19 review within the following deadlines: 

20 ‘‘(A) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATE21 MENT PROJECTS.—For projects requiring prep22 aration of an environmental impact statement— 

23 ‘‘(i) the lead agency shall issue an en24 vironmental impact statement within 2 

25 years after the earlier of the date the lead 


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1 agency receives the project initiation re2 quest or a Notice of Intent to Prepare an 

3 Environmental Impact Statement is pub4 lished in the Federal Register; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) in circumstances where the lead 

6 agency has prepared an environmental as7 sessment and determined that an environ8 mental impact statement will be required, 

9 the lead agency shall issue the environ10 mental impact statement within 2 years 

11 after the date of publication of the Notice 

12 of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Im13 pact Statement in the Federal Register. 

14 ‘‘(B) ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT

15 PROJECTS.—For projects requiring preparation 

16 of an environmental assessment, the lead agen17 cy shall issue a finding of no significant impact 

18 or publish a Notice of Intent to Prepare an En19 vironmental Impact Statement in the Federal 

20 Register within 1 year after the earlier of the 

21 date the lead agency receives the project initi22 ation request, makes a decision to prepare an 

23 environmental assessment, or sends out partici24 pating agency invitations. 

25 ‘‘(2) EXTENSIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENTS.—The environmental 

2 review deadlines may be extended only if— 

3 ‘‘(i) a different deadline is established 

4 by agreement of the lead agency, the 

5 project sponsor, and all participating agen6 cies; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) the deadline is extended by the 

8 lead agency for good cause. 

9 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The environmental re10 view shall not be extended by more than 1 year 

11 for a project requiring preparation of an envi12 ronmental impact statement or by more than 

13 180 days for a project requiring preparation of 

14 an environmental assessment. 

15 ‘‘(3) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW COMMENTS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) COMMENTS ON DRAFT ENVIRON17 MENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT.—For comments 

18 by agencies and the public on a draft environ19 mental impact statement, the lead agency shall 

20 establish a comment period of not more than 60 

21 days after publication in the Federal Register 

22 of notice of the date of public availability of 

23 such document, unless— 

24 ‘‘(i) a different deadline is established 

25 by agreement of the lead agency, the 


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1 project sponsor, and all participating agen2 cies; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) the deadline is extended by the 

4 lead agency for good cause. 

5 ‘‘(B) OTHER COMMENTS.—For all other 

6 comment periods for agency or public comments 

7 in the environmental review process, the lead 

8 agency shall establish a comment period of no 

9 more than 30 days from availability of the ma10 terials on which comment is requested, unless— 

11 ‘‘(i) a different deadline is established 

12 by agreement of the lead agency, the 

13 project sponsor, and all participating agen14 cies; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) the deadline is extended by the 

16 lead agency for good cause. 

17 ‘‘(4) DEADLINES FOR DECISIONS UNDER

18 OTHER LAWS.—Notwithstanding any other provision 

19 of law, in any case in which a decision under any 

20 other Federal law relating to the undertaking of a 

21 project being reviewed under NEPA (including the 

22 issuance or denial of a permit or license) is required 

23 to be made, the following deadlines shall apply: 

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1 PACT.—If a Federal agency is required to ap2 prove, or otherwise to act upon, a permit, li3 cense, or other similar application for approval 

4 related to a project prior to the record of deci5 sion or finding of no significant impact, such 

6 Federal agency shall approve or otherwise act 

7 not later than the end of a 90-day period begin8 ning— 

9 ‘‘(i) after all other relevant agency re10 view related to the project is complete; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) after the lead agency publishes a 

12 notice of the availability of the final envi13 ronmental impact statement or issuance of 

14 other final environmental documents, or no 

15 later than such other date that is otherwise 

16 required by law, whichever event occurs 

17 first. 

18 ‘‘(B) OTHER DECISIONS.—With regard to 

19 any approval or other action related to a project 

20 by a Federal agency that is not subject to sub21 paragraph (A), each Federal agency shall ap22 prove or otherwise act not later than the end of 

23 a period of 180 days beginning— 

24 ‘‘(i) after all other relevant agency re25 view related to the project is complete; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) after the lead agency issues the 

2 record of decision or finding of no signifi3 cant impact, unless a different deadline is 

4 established by agreement of the Federal 

5 agency, lead agency, and the project spon6 sor, where applicable, or the deadline is ex7 tended by the Federal agency for good 

8 cause, provided that such extension shall 

9 not extend beyond a period that is 1 year 

10 after the lead agency issues the record of 

11 decision or finding of no significant im12 pact. 

13 ‘‘(C) FAILURE TO ACT.—In the event that 

14 any Federal agency fails to approve, or other15 wise to act upon, a permit, license, or other 

16 similar application for approval related to a 

17 project within the applicable deadline described 

18 in subparagraph (A) or (B), the permit, license, 

19 or other similar application shall be deemed ap20 proved by such agency and the agency shall 

21 take action in accordance with such approval 

22 within 30 days of the applicable deadline de23 scribed in subparagraph (A) or (B). 

24 ‘‘(D) FINAL AGENCY ACTION.—Any ap25 proval under subparagraph (C) is deemed to be 


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1 final agency action, and may not be reversed by 

2 any agency. In any action under chapter 7 seek3 ing review of such a final agency action, the 

4 court may not set aside such agency action by 

5 reason of that agency action having occurred 

6 under this paragraph. 

7 ‘‘(j) ISSUE IDENTIFICATION AND RESOLUTION.— 

8 ‘‘(1) COOPERATION.—The lead agency and the 

9 participating agencies shall work cooperatively in ac10 cordance with this section to identify and resolve 

11 issues that could delay completion of the environ12 mental review or could result in denial of any ap13 provals required for the project under applicable 

14 laws. 

15 ‘‘(2) LEAD AGENCY RESPONSIBILITIES.—The 

16 lead agency shall make information available to the 

17 participating agencies as early as practicable in the 

18 environmental review regarding the environmental, 

19 historic, and socioeconomic resources located within 

20 the project area and the general locations of the al21 ternatives under consideration. Such information 

22 may be based on existing data sources, including ge23 ographic information systems mapping. 

24 ‘‘(3) PARTICIPATING AGENCY RESPONSIBIL25 ITIES.—Based on information received from the lead 


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1 agency, participating agencies shall identify, as early 

2 as practicable, any issues of concern regarding the 

3 project’s potential environmental, historic, or socio4 economic impacts. In this paragraph, issues of con5 cern include any issues that could substantially delay 

6 or prevent an agency from granting a permit or 

7 other approval that is needed for the project. 

8 ‘‘(4) ISSUE RESOLUTION.— 

9 ‘‘(A) MEETING OF PARTICIPATING AGEN10 CIES.—At any time upon request of a project 

11 sponsor, the lead agency shall promptly convene 

12 a meeting with the relevant participating agen13 cies and the project sponsor, to resolve issues 

14 that could delay completion of the environ15 mental review or could result in denial of any 

16 approvals required for the project under appli17 cable laws. 

18 ‘‘(B) NOTICE THAT RESOLUTION CANNOT

19 BE ACHIEVED.—If a resolution cannot be 

20 achieved within 30 days following such a meet21 ing and a determination by the lead agency that 

22 all information necessary to resolve the issue 

23 has been obtained, the lead agency shall notify 

24 the heads of all participating agencies, the 

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1 mental Quality for further proceedings in ac2 cordance with section 204 of NEPA, and shall 

3 publish such notification in the Federal Reg4 ister. 

5 ‘‘(k) LIMITATION ON USE OF SOCIAL COST OF CAR6 BON.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any environ8 mental review or environmental decisionmaking 

9 process, a lead agency may not use the social cost 

10 of carbon. 

11 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

12 ‘social cost of carbon’ means the social cost of car13 bon as described in the technical support document 

14 entitled ‘Technical Support Document: Technical 

15 Update of the Social Cost of Carbon for Regulatory 

16 Impact Analysis Under Executive Order No. 12866’, 

17 published by the Interagency Working Group on So18 cial Cost of Carbon, United States Government, in 

19 May 2013, revised in November 2013, or any suc20 cessor thereto or substantially related document, or 

21 any other estimate of the monetized damages associ22 ated with an incremental increase in carbon dioxide 

23 emissions in a given year. 

24 ‘‘(l) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The head of each Fed25 eral agency shall report annually to Congress— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the projects for which the agency initiated 

2 preparation of an environmental impact statement or 

3 environmental assessment; 

4 ‘‘(2) the projects for which the agency issued a 

5 record of decision or finding of no significant impact 

6 and the length of time it took the agency to com7 plete the environmental review for each such project; 

8 ‘‘(3) the filing of any lawsuits against the agen9 cy seeking judicial review of a permit, license, or ap10 proval issued by the agency for an action subject to 

11 NEPA, including the date the complaint was filed, 

12 the court in which the complaint was filed, and a 

13 summary of the claims for which judicial review was 

14 sought; and 

15 ‘‘(4) the resolution of any lawsuits against the 

16 agency that sought judicial review of a permit, li17 cense, or approval issued by the agency for an action 

18 subject to NEPA. 

19 ‘‘(m) LIMITATIONS ON CLAIMS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

21 provision of law, a claim arising under Federal law 

22 seeking judicial review of a permit, license, or ap23 proval issued by a Federal agency for an action sub24 ject to NEPA shall be barred unless— 


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1 ‘‘(A) in the case of a claim pertaining to 

2 a project for which an environmental review 

3 was conducted and an opportunity for comment 

4 was provided, the claim is filed by a party that 

5 submitted a comment during the environmental 

6 review on the issue on which the party seeks ju7 dicial review, and such comment was suffi8 ciently detailed to put the lead agency on notice 

9 of the issue upon which the party seeks judicial 

10 review; and 

11 ‘‘(B) filed within 180 days after publica12 tion of a notice in the Federal Register an13 nouncing that the permit, license, or approval is 

14 final pursuant to the law under which the agen15 cy action is taken, unless a shorter time is spec16 ified in the Federal law pursuant to which judi17 cial review is allowed. 

18 ‘‘(2) NEW INFORMATION.—The preparation of 

19 a supplemental environmental impact statement, 

20 when required, is deemed a separate final agency ac21 tion and the deadline for filing a claim for judicial 

22 review of such action shall be 180 days after the 

23 date of publication of a notice in the Federal Reg24 ister announcing the record of decision for such ac25 tion. Any claim challenging agency action on the 


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1 basis of information in a supplemental environ2 mental impact statement shall be limited to chal3 lenges on the basis of that information. 

4 ‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

5 this subsection shall be construed to create a right 

6 to judicial review or place any limit on filing a claim 

7 that a person has violated the terms of a permit, li8 cense, or approval. 

9 ‘‘(n) CATEGORIES OF PROJECTS.—The authorities 

10 granted under this subchapter may be exercised for an in11 dividual project or a category of projects. 

12 ‘‘(o) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirements of this 

13 subchapter shall apply only to environmental reviews and 

14 environmental decisionmaking processes initiated after the 

15 date of enactment of this subchapter. In the case of a 

16 project for which an environmental review or environ17 mental decisionmaking process was initiated prior to the 

18 date of enactment of this subchapter, the provisions of 

19 subsection (i) shall apply, except that, notwithstanding 

20 any other provision of this section, in determining a dead21 line under such subsection, any applicable period of time 

22 shall be calculated as beginning from the date of enact23 ment of this subchapter. 

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1 sions thereof, to all projects for which a Federal agency 

2 is required to undertake an environmental review or make 

3 a decision under an environmental law for a project for 

4 which a Federal agency is undertaking an environmental 

5 review. 

6 ‘‘(q) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this section shall 

7 be construed to supersede, amend, or modify sections 134, 

8 135, 139, 325, 326, and 327 of title 23, sections 5303 

9 and 5304 of title 49, or subtitle C of title I of division 

10 A of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century 

11 Act and the amendments made by such subtitle (Public 

12 Law 112–141).’’. 

13 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

14 for chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, is amended 

15 by inserting after the items relating to subchapter II the 

16 following: 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER IIA—INTERAGENCY COORDINATION REGARDING PERMITTING

‘‘560. Coordination of agency administrative operations for efficient decisionmaking.’’. 

17 (c) REGULATIONS.— 

18 (1) COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY.— 

19 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

20 of this division, the Council on Environmental Qual21 ity shall amend the regulations contained in part 

22 1500 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, to im23 plement the provisions of this division and the 


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1 amendments made by this division, and shall by rule 

2 designate States with laws and procedures that sat3 isfy the criteria under section 560(d)(2)(A) of title 

4 5, United States Code. 

5 (2) FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Not later than 120 

6 days after the date that the Council on Environ7 mental Quality amends the regulations contained in 

8 part 1500 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, 

9 to implement the provisions of this division and the 

10 amendments made by this division, each Federal 

11 agency with regulations implementing the National 

12 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 

13 et seq.) shall amend such regulations to implement 

14 the provisions of this division. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 18, 

2014. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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Calendar No. 601 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2 

AN ACT 

To remove Federal Government obstacles to the 

American jobs; and for other purposes. create and sustain more secure and well-paying duced energy affordably and reliably in order to and other businesses to access domestically proof energy to consumers; to enable manufacturers consumers, and other end users; to lower the cost transport of that energy reliably to businesses, production of more domestic energy; to ensure 

NOVEMBER 17, 2014 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 


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