IB 

Union Calendar No. 453 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1505 

[Report No. 117–629] 

To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to make certain adjustments to the 

regulation of surface-disturbing activities and to protect taxpayers from 

unduly bearing the reclamation costs of oil and gas development, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 2, 2021 

Mr. LOWENTHAL (for himself, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. LEVIN of California, Mr. 

CARTWRIGHT, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, and Mr. 

HUFFMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

DECEMBER 14, 2022 

Additional sponsors: Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. 

COHEN, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. PORTER, Ms. LEGER

FERNANDEZ, and Mr. CASTEN

DECEMBER 14, 2022 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 2, 2021] 


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A BILL 

To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to make certain adjustments to the regulation of surface-disturbing activities 

and to protect taxpayers from unduly bearing the reclamation costs of oil and gas development, and for other 

purposes. 


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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 referred to as the ‘‘Bonding Reform 

5 and Taxpayer Protection Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SURFACE DISTURBANCE AND RECLAMATION. 

7 Section 17(g) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

8 226(g)) is amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(g) BONDING REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

11 ‘‘(A) INTERIM RECLAMATION PLAN.—The 

12 term ‘Interim Reclamation Plan’ means an on13 going plan specifying reclamation steps to be 

14 taken on all disturbed areas covered by any lease 

15 issued under this Act that are not needed for ac16 tive operations. 

17 ‘‘(B) FINAL RECLAMATION PLAN.—The term 

18 ‘Final Reclamation Plan’ means a plan describ19 ing all reclamation activity to be conducted for 

20 all disturbed areas, including locations, facili21 ties, trenches, rights-of-way, roads, and any 

22 other surface disturbance covered by a lease 

23 issued under this Act prior to final abandon24 ment. 


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1 ‘‘(C) OPERATOR.—The term ‘operator’ 

2 means, with respect to an oil or gas operation, 

3 any entity, including the lessee or operating 

4 rights owner, that has stated in writing to a rel5 evant authority that such entity is responsible 

6 for any portion of such operation. 

7 ‘‘(D) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term 

8 ‘Secretary concerned’ means— 

9 ‘‘(i) the Secretary of the Interior for 

10 public lands administered by such Sec11 retary; 

12 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary of Agriculture for 

13 forest service lands. 

14 ‘‘(2) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary concerned 

15 shall regulate all surface-disturbing activities con16 ducted pursuant to any lease issued under this Act, 

17 and shall determine reclamation and other actions as 

18 required in the interest of conservation of surface re19 sources. 

20 ‘‘(3) RECLAMATION PLANS REQUIRED.— 

21 ‘‘(A) ANALYSIS AND APPROVAL RE22 QUIRED.—No permit to drill on an oil and gas 

23 lease issued under this Act may be granted with24 out the analysis and approval by the Secretary 

25 concerned of both an interim reclamation plan 


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1 and a final reclamation plan covering proposed 

2 surface-disturbing activities within the lease 

3 area. 

4 ‘‘(B) PLANS OF OPERATIONS.—All Federal 

5 plans or permits submitted pursuant to this Act 

6 with the potential to create surface disturbance 

7 shall include an Interim and Final Reclamation 

8 Plan. 

9 ‘‘(C) SECRETARIAL REVIEW.—The Secretary 

10 concerned shall review each Interim Reclamation 

11 Plan at regular intervals and shall require such 

12 plans to be amended as warranted, subject to the 

13 approval of such Secretary. 

14 ‘‘(4) BONDING.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.— 

16 ‘‘(i) REGULATION.—Not later than 180 

17 days after the date of enactment of the 

18 Bonding Reform and Taxpayer Protection 

19 Act of 2021, the Secretary concerned shall, 

20 by regulation, require that an adequate 

21 bond, surety, or other financial arrange22 ment be established prior to the commence23 ment of surface-disturbing activities on any 

24 lease under this Act. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) AMOUNT OF BOND.—In deter2 mining the adequacy of a bond, surety, or 

3 other financial instrument required by reg4 ulation under clause (i), the Secretary shall 

5 find that such arrangement is adequate if it 

6 is not less than the greater of— 

7 ‘‘(I) the amount necessary for— 

8 ‘‘(aa) the complete and time9 ly reclamation of the lease tract; 

10 ‘‘(bb) the restoration of any 

11 lands or surface waters adversely 

12 affected by lease operations after 

13 the abandonment or cessation of 

14 oil and gas operations on the 

15 lease; or 

16 ‘‘(cc) in the case of an idled 

17 well, the total plugging and rec18 lamation costs for each idled well 

19 controlled by the same operator; 

20 ‘‘(II) $150,000 in the case of an 

21 arrangement for an individual surface22 disturbing activity of each entity on 

23 an oil or gas lease; or 


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1 ‘‘(III) $500,000 in the case of an 

2 arrangement for all surface-disturbing 

3 activities of each entity in a State. 

4 ‘‘(iii) ADJUSTMENT FOR INFLATION.— 

5 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—In the appli6 cation of clause (ii), the Secretaries 

7 concerned shall jointly at least once 

8 every three years, at the beginning of 

9 the fiscal year, adjust the dollar 

10 amounts in clause (ii) to account for 

11 inflation based on the Consumer Price 

12 Index for all urban consumer published 

13 by the Department of Labor. 

14 ‘‘(II) ROUNDING.—If any amount 

15 as adjusted under subclause (I) is not 

16 a multiple of $1,000, such amount 

17 shall be rounded to the next higher 

18 multiple of $1000. 

19 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION.—The Secretary con20 cerned shall not issue or approve the assignment 

21 of any lease under the terms of this section to 

22 any person, association, corporation, or any sub23 sidiary, affiliate, or person controlled by or 

24 under common control with such person, associa25 tion, or corporation, during any period in 


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1 which, as determined by the relevant Secretary, 

2 such entity has failed or refused to comply in 

3 any material respect with the reclamation re4 quirements and other standards established 

5 under this section for any prior lease to which 

6 such requirements and standards applied. 

7 ‘‘(C) NOTICE AND OPPORTUNITY FOR COM8 PLIANCE.—Prior to making a determination not 

9 to issue or approve the assignment of a lease 

10 under subparagraph (B) with respect to an enti11 ty the Secretary concerned shall provide such en12 tity with adequate notification and an oppor13 tunity to comply with such reclamation require14 ments and other standards and shall consider 

15 whether any administrative or judicial appeal is 

16 pending. Once the entity has complied with the 

17 reclamation requirement or other standard con18 cerned each oil or gas lease may be issued to 

19 such entity under this Act. 

20 ‘‘(D) REVIEW UPON TRANSFER.—The Sec21 retary concerned shall review the adequacy of a 

22 bond, surety, or other financial instrument any23 time a lease or well under this Act is transferred. 

24 The Secretary shall find such bond, surety, or 


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1 other financial instrument adequate if such ar2 rangement— 

3 ‘‘(i) meets the requirement described in 

4 subparagraph (A)(ii); and 

5 ‘‘(ii) is not for a lesser amount than 

6 the amount maintained by the current oper7 ator. 

8 ‘‘(E) REQUIRING HIGHER BOND

9 AMOUNTS.—The Secretary concerned shall, at 

10 any time that such Secretary determines that a 

11 bond, surety, or other financial instrument re12 quired by a regulation issued pursuant to sub13 paragraph (A) no longer meets the requirements 

14 of clause (ii) of such subparagraph, increase the 

15 required amount of such financial arrangement 

16 to the level required by subparagraph (A). 

17 ‘‘(F) PHASING-IN BOND INCREASES.—With 

18 respect to a bond increased under subparagraph 

19 (E), the Secretary concerned shall require the op20 erator to meet the following deadlines in posting 

21 the amount of the increase that results from the 

22 operation of such paragraph: 

23 ‘‘(i) 25 percent of the increase by not 

24 later than 1 year after the date on which 


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1 the determination was made under subpara2 graph (D). 

3 ‘‘(ii) 75 percent of the increase by not 

4 later than 2 years after such date. 

5 ‘‘(iii) 100 percent of the increase by 

6 not later than 3 years after such date. 

7 ‘‘(5) STANDARDS.—Not later than 180 days after 

8 the date of enactment of the Bonding Reform and 

9 Taxpayer Protection Act of 2021, the Secretary of the 

10 Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall, by 

11 regulation, establish uniform standards for all In12 terim and Final Reclamation Plans. The goal of such 

13 plans shall be the restoration of the affected ecosystem 

14 to a condition approximating or equal to that which 

15 existed prior to the surface disturbance. Such stand16 ards shall include restoration of natural vegetation 

17 and hydrology, habitat restoration, salvage, storage 

18 and reuse of topsoils, erosion control, control of 

19 invasive species and noxious weeds and natural 

20 contouring. 

21 ‘‘(6) MONITORING.—The Secretary concerned 

22 shall not approve final abandonment and shall not 

23 release any bond required by this Act until the stand24 ards and requirement for final reclamation estab25 lished pursuant to this Act have been met. 


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1 ‘‘(7) FINANCIAL ASSURANCES.—The Secretary 

2 concerned shall not release the financial assurance es3 tablished for a lease until the operator has paid the 

4 inspection fees required under section 4 for the lease 

5 covered by the financial assurance instrument. 

6 ‘‘(8) BOND ADEQUACY REVIEW.—The Secretary 

7 shall conduct bond adequacy reviews as required 

8 under paragraph (4)(D) in accordance with Bureau 

9 of Land Management Instruction Memorandum No. 

10 2019-014, dated November 15, 2018. 

11 ‘‘(9) ORPHANED WELL FEE.—The Secretary of 

12 the Interior shall collect a per barrel of oil equivalent 

13 fee of not less than $0.10 on oil and gas produced 

14 from Federal lands for the use of plugging and rec15 lamation of orphaned wells.’’. 

16 SEC. 3. CHANGES TO THE BLM PERMIT PROCESSING IM17 PROVEMENT FUND. 

18 (a) NAME OF FUND.—Section 35(c)(2)(B) of the Min19 eral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 191(c)(2)(B)) is amended by 

20 striking ‘‘BLM Permit Processing Improvement Fund’’ and 

21 inserting ‘‘BLM Administration and Accountability 

22 Fund’’. 

23 (b) ADDITIONAL USES.—Section 35(c)(3)(A) of such 

24 Act (30 191(c)(3)(A)) is amended by adding at the end the 


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1 following: ‘‘Such coordination and processing shall in2 clude— 

3 ‘‘(i) the coordination and review proc4 ess for financial assurances for oil and gas 

5 leases and bond releases for oil and gas 

6 leases; 

7 ‘‘(ii) the inventory of orphaned wells 

8 and coordinate the processing of requests for 

9 delays in the permanent closure of inactive 

10 wells; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) coordination and processing re12 lated to environmental and cultural re13 sources reviews applicable to oil and gas ac14 tivities.’’. 

15 SEC. 4. INSPECTION FEES. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 108 of the Federal Oil and 

17 Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982 (30 U.S.C. 1718) is 

18 amended by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(d) INSPECTION FEES.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para21 graph (5), the designated operator under each oil and 

22 gas lease on Federal or Indian lands, or each unit 

23 and communitization agreement that includes one or 

24 more such Federal or Indian leases, that is subject to 

25 inspection under subsection (b) and that is in force 


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1 at the start of the fiscal year 2021, shall pay a non2 refundable annual inspection fee in an amount that, 

3 except as provided in paragraph (2), is established by 

4 the Secretary by regulation and is sufficient to re5 cover the full costs incurred by the United States for 

6 inspection and enforcement with respect to such 

7 leases. 

8 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT.—Until the effective date of regula9 tions under paragraph (1), the amount of the fee shall 

10 be— 

11 ‘‘(A) $700 for each lease or unit or 

12 communitization agreement with no active or in13 active wells, but with surface use, disturbance or 

14 reclamation; 

15 ‘‘(B) $1,225 for each lease or unit or 

16 communitization agreement with 1 to 10 wells, 

17 with any combination of active or inactive wells; 

18 ‘‘(C) $4,900 for each lease or unit or 

19 communitization agreement with 11 to 50 wells, 

20 with any combination of active or inactive wells; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(D) $9,800 for each lease or unit or 

23 communitization agreement with more than 50 

24 wells, with any combination of active or inactive 

25 wells. 


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1 ‘‘(3) DUE DATE.—Payment of the fee under this 

2 section shall be due, annually, not later than 30 days 

3 after the Secretary provides notice of the assessment 

4 of the fee. 

5 ‘‘(4) PENALTY.—If the designated operator fails 

6 to pay the full amount of the fee as prescribed in this 

7 section, the Secretary may, in addition to utilizing 

8 any other applicable enforcement authority, assess 

9 civil penalties against the operator under section 109 

10 in the same manner as if this section were a mineral 

11 leasing law. 

12 ‘‘(5) EXEMPTION FOR TRIBAL OPERATORS.—An 

13 operator that is a Tribe or is controlled by a Tribe 

14 is not subject to paragraph (1) with respect to a lease, 

15 unit, or communitization agreement that is located 

16 entirely on the lands of such Tribe. 

17 ‘‘(6) ADJUSTMENT FOR INFLATION.—In the ap18 plication of paragraph (2), the Secretaries shall at 

19 least once every three years, at the beginning of the 

20 fiscal year, adjust the dollar amounts in paragraph 

21 (2) to account for inflation based on the Consumer 

22 Price Index for all urban consumer published by the 

23 Department of Labor.’’. 

24 (b) ASSESSMENT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2022.—The Sec25 retary of the Interior shall assess the fee under the amendVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1505.RH H1505

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1 ment made by subsection (a) for fiscal year 2022, and pro2 vide notice of such assessment to each designated operator 

3 who is liable for such fee, by not later than 60 days after 

4 the date of enactment of this Act. 

5 SEC. 5. BONDING EQUITY FOR NATIONAL WILDLIFE REF6 UGE SYSTEM LANDS. 

7 Section 4 of the National Wildlife Refuge System Ad8 ministration Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd et seq.) is 

9 amended— 

10 (1) by redesignating subsections (h) through (o), 

11 as subsections (i) through (p), respectively; and 

12 (2) by inserting after subsection (g) the following 

13 new subsection: 

14 ‘‘(h) RECLAMATION, DAMAGES, AND FINANCIAL AS15 SURANCE FOR OIL AND GAS OPERATIONS ON REFUGE

16 LANDS.— 

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

18 shall obtain adequate financial assurances from non19 Federal entities to repair potential damages to refuge 

20 resources, prior to the commencement of surface-dis21 turbing activities as part of the development of non22 Federal minerals below refuge surface estate, includ23 ing— 

24 ‘‘(A) to ensure the complete and timely rec25 lamation of the land, and the restoration of any 


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1 lands or surface waters adversely affected by op2 erations after the abandonment or cessation of 

3 oil and gas operations on the land; and 

4 ‘‘(B) to meet potential response and assess5 ment costs and other damages to refuge resources 

6 as a result of oil and gas operations. 

7 ‘‘(2) Financial assurances forfeited by a non8 Federal entity under this subsection shall be retained 

9 and available to the Secretary, without further appro10 priation, and shall remain available until expended, 

11 for— 

12 ‘‘(A) plugging and abandoning wells; 

13 ‘‘(B) removing structures, equipment, mate14 rials, and other infrastructure; 

15 ‘‘(C) response costs and damage assessments 

16 conducted; 

17 ‘‘(D) restoration, replacement, or acquisi18 tion of the equivalent refuge resources; and 

19 ‘‘(E) monitoring and studying affected ref20 uge resources.’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 453 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1505 

[Report No. 117–629] 

A BILL 

To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to make certain 

gas development, and for other purposes. unduly bearing the reclamation costs of oil and turbing activities and to protect taxpayers from adjustments to the regulation of surface-disDECEMBER 14, 2022 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


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