II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1278 

To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to provide for the conduct 

of certain lease sales in the Alaska outer Continental Shelf region, 

to make certain modifications to the North Slope Science Initiative, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 11, 2015 

Ms. MURKOWSKI introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to provide 

for the conduct of certain lease sales in the Alaska 

outer Continental Shelf region, to make certain modifications to the North Slope Science Initiative, 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 ‘‘Alaska Outer Conti5 nental Shelf Lease Sale Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF BEAUFORT AND COOK INLET 

2 LEASE SALES. 

3 Beginning in fiscal year 2016 and each fiscal year 

4 thereafter, the Secretary shall conduct under the Outer 

5 Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) 1 

6 or more oil and gas lease sales in— 

7 (1) the Cook Inlet Planning Area; and 

8 (2) the portion of the Beaufort Planning Area 

9 located within 3 nautical miles of the seaward 

10 boundary of Alaska. 

11 SEC. 3. LEASE TERMS OF CERTAIN CHUKCHI AND BEAU12 FORT LEASES. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8(b)(2) of the Outer Con14 tinental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337(b)(2)) is 

15 amended— 

16 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

17 the end; 

18 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘;’’ and 

19 inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

20 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(C) in the case of an oil and gas lease in 

22 the portion of the Beaufort Planning Area or 

23 Chukchi Planning Area that is beyond 3 nau24 tical miles of the seaward boundary of the State 

25 of Alaska, 20 years;’’. 

26 (b) EXTENSION OF EXISTING LEASES.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, with the con2 sent of the holder of a covered lease described in 

3 paragraph (2), shall extend the initial term of the 

4 covered lease to 20 years. 

5 (2) DESCRIPTION OF COVERED LEASE.—A cov6 ered lease referred to in paragraph (1) is a lease for 

7 oil and gas production in effect on the date of enact8 ment of this Act that was issued under section 8 of 

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

10 1337) for a portion of the Beaufort Planning Area 

11 or Chukchi Planning Area that is beyond 3 nautical 

12 miles of the seaward boundary of the State. 

13 SEC. 4. DISTRIBUTION OF REVENUE TO ALASKA. 

14 Section 9 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

15 (43 U.S.C. 1338) is amended— 

16 (1) by striking ‘‘All rentals,’’ and inserting the 

17 following: 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

19 (b), all rentals,’’; and 

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

21 ‘‘(b) DISTRIBUTION OF REVENUE TO ALASKA.— 

22 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

23 ‘‘(A) COASTAL POLITICAL SUBDIVISION.— 

24 The term ‘coastal political subdivision’ means a 

25 county-equivalent subdivision of the State— 


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1 ‘‘(i) all or part of which lies within the 

2 coastal zone of the State (as defined in 

3 section 304 of the Coastal Zone Manage4 ment Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1453)); and 

5 ‘‘(ii)(I) the closest point of which is 

6 not more than 200 nautical miles from the 

7 geographical center of any leased tract in 

8 the Alaska outer Continental Shelf region; 

9 or 

10 ‘‘(II)(aa) the closest point of which is 

11 more than 200 nautical miles from the 

12 geographical center of a leased tract in the 

13 Alaska outer Continental Shelf region; and 

14 ‘‘(bb) that is determined by the State 

15 to be a significant staging area for oil and 

16 gas servicing, supply vessels, operations, 

17 suppliers, or workers. 

18 ‘‘(B) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDU19 CATION.—The term ‘institution of higher edu20 cation’ has the meaning given the term in sec21 tion 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

22 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 

23 ‘‘(C) QUALIFIED REVENUES.— 

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘quali25 fied revenues’ means all revenues derived 


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1 from all rentals, royalties, bonus bids, and 

2 other sums due and payable to the United 

3 States from energy development in the 

4 Alaska outer Continental Shelf region. 

5 ‘‘(ii) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘quali6 fied revenues’ does not include revenues 

7 generated from leases subject to section 

8 8(g). 

9 ‘‘(D) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means the 

10 State of Alaska. 

11 ‘‘(E) WORKFORCE INVESTMENT BOARD.— 

12 The term ‘workforce investment board’ means a 

13 State or local workforce investment board es14 tablished under subtitle B of title I of the 

15 Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 

16 2811 et seq.). 

17 ‘‘(2) FISCAL YEARS 2016–2026.—For each of fis18 cal years 2016 through 2026, the Secretary shall de19 posit— 

20 ‘‘(A) 50 percent of qualified revenues in 

21 the general fund of the Treasury; 

22 ‘‘(B) 27.5 percent of qualified revenues in 

23 the Treasury, to be used for deficit reduction; 


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1 ‘‘(C) 7.5 percent of qualified revenues in a 

2 special account in the Treasury, to be distrib3 uted by the Secretary to the State; 

4 ‘‘(D) 7.5 percent of qualified revenues in a 

5 special account in the Treasury, to be distrib6 uted by the Secretary to coastal political sub7 divisions; 

8 ‘‘(E) 2.5 percent of qualified revenues in a 

9 special account in the Treasury, to be used to 

10 carry out the North Slope Science Initiative es11 tablished under section 6(a)(1) of the Alaska 

12 Outer Continental Shelf Lease Sale Act; 

13 ‘‘(F) 2.5 percent of qualified revenues in a 

14 special account in the Treasury, to be used by 

15 the Secretary to provide grants on a competitive 

16 basis to eligible institutions of higher education 

17 and workforce investment boards in the State 

18 to establish and providing funding for— 

19 ‘‘(i) programs to ensure an adequately 

20 skilled workforce to construct, operate, or 

21 maintain oil or gas pipelines; or 

22 ‘‘(ii) programs to ensure an ade23 quately skilled workforce to operate, main24 tain, and perform all environmental procVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 May 13, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1278.IS S1278

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1 esses relating to existing or future oil and 

2 gas infrastructure; and 

3 ‘‘(G) 2.5 percent of qualified revenues in a 

4 special account in the Treasury to provide fi5 nancial assistance for— 

6 ‘‘(i) offshore leasing and development 

7 programs in the State; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) the development of rights-of-way 

9 for pipelines to transport oil or gas pro10 duced offshore through land under the ju11 risdiction of the Secretary in the State. 

12 ‘‘(3) SUBSEQUENT FISCAL YEARS.—For fiscal 

13 year 2027 and each subsequent fiscal year, the Sec14 retary shall deposit— 

15 ‘‘(A) 50 percent of qualified revenues in 

16 general fund of the Treasury; 

17 ‘‘(B) 30 percent of qualified revenues in a 

18 special account in the Treasury, to be distrib19 uted by the Secretary to the State; 

20 ‘‘(C) 12.5 percent of qualified revenues in 

21 the Treasury, to be used for low-income home 

22 energy assistance, weatherization programs, 

23 and infrastructure in the Arctic; and 


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1 ‘‘(D) 7.5 in a special account in the Treas2 ury, to be distributed by the Secretary to coast3 al political subdivisions. 

4 ‘‘(4) ALLOCATION AMONG COASTAL POLITICAL

5 SUBDIVISIONS.—Of the amount paid by the Sec6 retary to coastal political subdivisions under para7 graph (2)(D) or (3)(D)— 

8 ‘‘(A) 90 percent shall be allocated in 

9 amounts (based on a formula established by the 

10 Secretary by regulation) that are inversely pro11 portional to the respective distances between 

12 the point in each coastal political subdivision 

13 that is closest to the geographic center of the 

14 applicable leased tract and the geographic cen15 ter of the leased tract; and 

16 ‘‘(B) 10 percent shall be divided equally 

17 among each coastal political subdivision that— 

18 ‘‘(i) is more than 200 nautical miles 

19 from the geographic center of a leased 

20 tract; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) the State of Alaska determines to 

22 be a significant staging area for oil and 

23 gas servicing, supply vessels, operations, 

24 suppliers, or workers. 


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1 ‘‘(5) TIMING.—The amounts required to be de2 posited under paragraphs (2) and (3) for the appli3 cable fiscal year shall be made available in accord4 ance with those paragraphs during the fiscal year 

5 immediately following the applicable fiscal year. 

6 ‘‘(6) ADMINISTRATION.—Amounts made avail7 able under paragraphs (2) and (3) shall— 

8 ‘‘(A) be made available, without further 

9 appropriation, in accordance with this sub10 section; 

11 ‘‘(B) remain available until expended; and 

12 ‘‘(C) be in addition to any amounts appro13 priated under any other provision of law.’’. 

14 SEC. 5. INCLUSION OF BEAUFORT AND CHUKCHI LEASE 

15 SALES IN 5-YEAR LEASING PROGRAMS. 

16 Section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

17 (43 U.S.C. 1344) is amended by adding at the end the 

18 following: 

19 ‘‘(i) INCLUSION OF CERTAIN LEASE SALES.—The 

20 Secretary shall include in any leasing program prepared 

21 in accordance with this section provisions for the conduct 

22 of at least 3 lease sales in each of the Beaufort Planning 

23 Area and the Chukchi Planning Area during the term of 

24 the leasing program.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. NORTH SLOPE SCIENCE INITIATIVE. 

2 Section 348 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

3 U.S.C. 15906) is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (a)— 

5 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘(re6 ferred to in this section as the ‘Secretary’)’’ 

7 after ‘‘Secretary of the Interior’’; and 

8 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘(in9 cluding the Beaufort and Chukchi seas)’’ after 

10 ‘‘North Slope of Alaska’’; 

11 (2) in subsection (b)— 

12 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘(in13 cluding the Beaufort and Chukchi seas)’’ after 

14 ‘‘North Slope’’; and 

15 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘develop 

16 an understanding of’’ and inserting ‘‘identify’’; 

17 and 

18 (3) in subsection (c)(2), by inserting ‘‘the 

19 Northwest Arctic Borough, the NANA Regional Cor20 poration,’’ after ‘‘Arctic Slope Regional Corpora21 tion,’’. 

Æ 


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