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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1281

To provide for lease sales on the Outer Continental Shelf under certain

conditions, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 10, 1993

Mr. FIELDS of Texas (for himself, Mr. TAUZIN, and Mr. ORTIZ) introduced

the following bill; which was referred jointly to the Committees on Natural Resources and Merchant Marine and Fisheries

A BILL

To provide for lease sales on the Outer Continental Shelf

under certain conditions, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Energy Secu5 rity Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) the United States consumed an average of

9 17 million barrels of oil per day of petroleum prod10 ucts in 1992 and our consumption is expected to in-
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1 crease to 22.6 million barrels per day in the year

2 2010;

3 (2) the United States produced an average of

4 7.4 million barrels per day of petroleum products in

5 1992;

6 (3) the domestic oil industry’s utilization rate

7 (rig) count is now at an all time low;

8 (4) the domestic oil and gas industry has lost

9 more than 450,000 jobs over the last decade;

10 (5) production from the Federal Outer Con11 tinental Shelf accounted for more than 12 percent of

12 our crude oil and for more than 25 percent of our

13 natural gas requirements in 1992;

14 (6) the Minerals Management Service has esti15 mated that the Outer Continental Shelf contains as

16 much as 25.6 billion barrels of undiscovered, recov17 erable oil, or more than one-third of all such oil in

18 the United States; and 204.8 trillion cubic feet of

19 undiscovered, recoverable natural gas, or more than

20 two-fifths of all such natural gas;

21 (7) Outer Continental Shelf development has

22 contributed over $210,000,000,000, in revenues to

23 the Federal Treasury in rents, royalties, bonus pay24 ments, and taxes;
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1 (8) of the 60 largest oil spills that have oc2 curred in the waters of the United States, only one

3 was the result of Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas

4 activity; the remaining 59 were mainly caused by

5 tanker spills;

6 (9) the National Academy of Sciences found

7 that oil from tankers and other forms of transpor8 tation account for 45 percent of oil pollution in the

9 sea, while oil from offshore production accounts for

10 2 percent;

11 (10) The Department of Interior has spent over

12 $555,000,000 on environmental and socioeconomic

13 studies covering every aspect of offshore leasing,

14 drilling, and production;

15 (11) domestic oil and natural gas production is

16 vital to American quality of life because it creates

17 jobs, enhances national security and contributes to a

18 healthier environment; and

19 (12) it is in the national interest that the ratio

20 of domestic production relative to total domestic con21 sumption of petroleum exceed 50 percent.

22 SEC. 3. NATIONAL ENERGY PRODUCTION AND SECURITY

23 ACTION PLAN.

24 (a) LEASE SALE.—Subject to subsection (b), and

25 notwithstanding any other law, the President may conduct
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1 a lease sale for offshore oil and natural gas resources

2 under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act within an

3 eligible area as soon as it is practicable.

4 (b) CONDITION.—The lease sale conducted under

5 subsection (a) may occur only if the ratio between domes6 tic oil production and domestic oil consumption falls below

7 50 percent for 4 consecutive months, as determined by the

8 Energy Information Agency.

9 (c) DEFINITION.—In this Act, the term ‘‘eligible

10 area’’ means an area of the Outer Continental Shelf

11 which—

12 (1) has undergone sufficient environmental re13 view to comply with the National Environmental

14 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.);

15 (2) contains significant oil or natural gas re16 sources, as determined by the Minerals Management

17 Service; and

18 (3) is located within the North Atlantic Plan19 ning Area, the Mid-Atlantic Planning Area, South

20 Atlantic Planning Area, Eastern Gulf of Mexico

21 Planning Area, Southern California Planning Area,

22 Central California Planning Area, Northern Califor23 nia Planning Area, Washington-Oregon Planning

24 Area, or the North Aleutian Basin Planning Area.
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1 SEC. 4. PRESIDENTIAL REPORT.

2 The President shall prepare and submit an annual

3 report to Congress containing a national oil security pro4 jection which shall contain a forecast of domestic oil de5 mand and production, and imports of crude oil for the sub6 sequent year. The report shall also describe the possible

7 actions to be taken by the President to ensure that domes8 tic oil production exceeds imports of foreign oil.

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