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[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1271 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1271

   To require the Secretary of the Interior to issue regulations to 
   prevent or minimize the venting and flaring of gas in oil and gas 
  production operations in the United States, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 11, 2015

  Mr. Markey introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
   To require the Secretary of the Interior to issue regulations to 
   prevent or minimize the venting and flaring of gas in oil and gas 
  production operations in the United States, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Fuel Loss Abatement and Royalty 
Enhancement Act'' or the ``FLARE Act''.

SEC. 2. REGULATIONS TO PREVENT OR MINIMIZE VENTING AND FLARING OF GAS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall issue 
regulations under this Act--
            (1) to prevent or minimize the venting and flaring of gas 
        in oil and gas production operations on Federal land onshore 
        and offshore in the United States; and
            (2) to promote the capture and beneficial use or 
        reinjection of gas in the operations referred to in paragraph 
        (1).
    (b) Royalties.--A regulation issued under this section shall 
include provisions that treat gas that is flared or vented in 
operations under a lease under this Act as production for which royalty 
is required to be paid to the United States.
    (c) Limitation on Application to Existing Leases.--Regulations 
issued under subsection (a) shall not apply with respect to production 
under a lease in effect on the date of enactment of this Act to the 
extent such application would constitute a breach of the terms of the 
lease by the United States.

SEC. 3. ASSESSMENT OF VENTING AND FLARING OF GAS IN PRODUCTION 
              OPERATIONS IN UNITED STATES.

    Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Comptroller General of the United States shall--
            (1) assess the venting and flaring of gas in oil and gas 
        production operations on Federal land onshore and offshore in 
        the United States; and
            (2) submit to Congress a report on the venting and flaring 
        of gas in oil and gas production operations on Federal land 
        onshore and offshore in the United States, including an 
        estimate of the volume of gas that is vented or flared in such 
        operations each year.

SEC. 4. REGULATIONS.

    The Secretary of the Interior shall issue regulations that define 
the terms ``vent'', ``venting'', ``flare'', and ``flaring'' for 
purposes of this Act.
                                 <all>
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