IB 

Union Calendar No. 295 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4761 

[Report No. 109–531] 

To provide for exploration, development, and production activities for mineral 

resources on the outer Continental Shelf, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 15, 2006 

Mr. JINDAL (for himself, Mr. BAKER, Mr. BOUSTANY, and Mrs. DRAKE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources 

JUNE 26, 2006 

Additional sponsors: Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. BROWN of South Carolina, Mr. 

FORTUN ̃O, Mr. WICKER, Mr. GIBBONS, Mr. BONNER, Mr. PICKERING, 

Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. MCCRERY, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. 

COLE of Oklahoma, Mr. CANTOR, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. 

BLUNT, Mr. HERGER, Mr. MCCAUL of Texas, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. 

MCHENRY, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. WAMP, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. EVERETT, Mr. THORNBERRY, Mr. MARCHANT, Mr. BRADY of Texas, Mr. WILSON of South 

Carolina, Mr. SHUSTER, Mr. CUELLAR, Mr. BONILLA, Mr. POE, Mr. 

GOHMERT, Mr. BURGESS, Mr. OTTER, Mr. NUNES, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. 

CRAMER, Mr. DAVIS of Alabama, Ms. GRANGER, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. 

SOUDER, Mr. GINGREY, Mr. GILCHREST, Mr. ROGERS of Michigan, Mr. 

SULLIVAN, Mr. ISTOOK, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. REHBERG, Mr. TOM DAVIS

of Virginia, Mr. HALL, Mr. PEARCE, Mrs. CUBIN, Mr. PORTER, Mr. 

SIMPSON, Mr. BOREN, Mr. PRICE of Georgia, Mr. BEAUPREZ, Mr. 

OXLEY, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. DEAL of Georgia, Mr. CARTER, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky, 

Ms. FOXX, Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi, Mr. BUYER, 

Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. BARRETT of South Carolina, Mr. PAUL, Ms. HART, 

Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. MELANCON, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. GOODE, Mr. 

MCHUGH, Mr. CANNON, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. LUCAS, Mr. 

RADANOVICH, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. HOSTETTLER, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. 

FORTENBERRY, Mr. GILLMOR, Mr. GARY G. MILLER of California, Mr. 


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BISHOP of Utah, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mrs. 

SCHMIDT, Mr. OSBORNE, Mr. TERRY, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mrs. 

MUSGRAVE, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. PENCE, Mr. SHADEGG, Miss 

MCMORRIS, Mr. KLINE, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. FLAKE, Mr. 

FORD, Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania, Mr. CULBERSON, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. MURPHY, and Mr. GRAVES

JUNE 26, 2006 

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 February 15, 2006] 

A BILL 

To provide for exploration, development, and production activities for mineral resources on the outer Continental 

Shelf, 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 ‘‘Deep Ocean Energy Re5 sources Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. POLICY. 

7 It is the policy of the United States that— 

8 (1) the United States is blessed with abundant 

9 energy resources on the outer Continental Shelf and 

10 has developed a comprehensive framework of environ11 mental laws and regulations and fostered the develop12 ment of state-of-the-art technology that allows for the 


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1 responsible development of these resources for the ben2 efit of its citizenry; 

3 (2) adjacent States are required by the cir4 cumstances to commit significant resources in support 

5 of exploration, development, and production activities 

6 for mineral resources on the outer Continental Shelf, 

7 and it is fair and proper for a portion of the receipts 

8 from such activities to be shared with Adjacent States 

9 and their local coastal governments; 

10 (3) the existing laws governing the leasing and 

11 production of the mineral resources of the outer Con12 tinental Shelf have reduced the production of mineral 

13 resources, have preempted Adjacent States from being 

14 sufficiently involved in the decisions regarding the al15 lowance of mineral resource development, and have 

16 been harmful to the national interest; 

17 (4) the national interest is served by granting 

18 the Adjacent States more options related to whether or 

19 not mineral leasing should occur in the outer Conti20 nental Shelf within their Adjacent Zones; 

21 (5) it is not reasonably foreseeable that explo22 ration of a leased tract located more than 25 miles 

23 seaward of the coastline, development and production 

24 of a natural gas discovery located more than 25 miles 

25 seaward of the coastline, or development and producVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:12 Jun 27, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4761.RH H4761

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1 tion of an oil discovery located more than 50 miles 

2 seaward of the coastline will adversely affect resources 

3 near the coastline; 

4 (6) transportation of oil from a leased tract 

5 might reasonably be foreseen, under limited cir6 cumstances, to have the potential to adversely affect 

7 resources near the coastline if the oil is within 50 

8 miles of the coastline, but such potential to adversely 

9 affect such resources is likely no greater, and probably 

10 less, than the potential impacts from tanker transpor11 tation because tanker spills usually involve large re12 leases of oil over a brief period of time; and 

13 (7) among other bodies of inland waters, the 

14 Great Lakes, Long Island Sound, Delaware Bay, 

15 Chesapeake Bay, Albemarle Sound, San Francisco 

16 Bay, and Puget Sound are not part of the outer Con17 tinental Shelf, and are not subject to leasing by the 

18 Federal Government for the exploration, development, 

19 and production of any mineral resources that might 

20 lie beneath them. 

21 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS UNDER THE OUTER CONTINENTAL 

22 SHELF LANDS ACT. 

23 Section 2 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

24 (43 U.S.C. 1331) is amended— 


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1 (1) by amending paragraph (f) to read as fol2 lows: 

3 ‘‘(f) The term ‘affected State’ means the Adjacent 

4 State.’’; 

5 (2) by striking the semicolon at the end of each 

6 of paragraphs (a) through (o) and inserting a period; 

7 (3) by striking ‘‘; and’’ at the end of paragraph 

8 (p) and inserting a period; 

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

10 ‘‘(r) The term ‘Adjacent State’ means, with respect to 

11 any program, plan, lease sale, leased tract or other activity, 

12 proposed, conducted, or approved pursuant to the provi13 sions of this Act, any State the laws of which are declared, 

14 pursuant to section 4(a)(2), to be the law of the United 

15 States for the portion of the outer Continental Shelf on 

16 which such program, plan, lease sale, leased tract or activ17 ity appertains or is, or is proposed to be, conducted. For 

18 purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘State’ includes Puerto 

19 Rico and the other Territories of the United States. 

20 ‘‘(s) The term ‘Adjacent Zone’ means, with respect to 

21 any program, plan, lease sale, leased tract, or other activity, 

22 proposed, conducted, or approved pursuant to the provi23 sions of this Act, the portion of the outer Continental Shelf 

24 for which the laws of a particular Adjacent State are deVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:12 Jun 27, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4761.RH H4761

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1 clared, pursuant to section 4(a)(2), to be the law of the 

2 United States. 

3 ‘‘(t) The term ‘miles’ means statute miles. 

4 ‘‘(u) The term ‘coastline’ has the same meaning as the 

5 term ‘coast line’ as defined in section 2(c) of the Submerged 

6 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1301(c)). 

7 ‘‘(v) The term ‘Neighboring State’ means a coastal 

8 State having a common boundary at the coastline with the 

9 Adjacent State.’’; and 

10 (5) in paragraph (a), by inserting after ‘‘con11 trol’’ the following: ‘‘or lying within the United States 

12 exclusive economic zone adjacent to the Territories of 

13 the United States’’. 

14 SEC. 4. DETERMINATION OF ADJACENT ZONES AND PLAN15 NING AREAS. 

16 Section 4(a)(2)(A) of the Outer Continental Shelf 

17 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1333(a)(2)(A)) is amended in the 

18 first sentence by striking ‘‘, and the President’’ and all that 

19 follows through the end of the sentence and inserting the 

20 following: ‘‘. The lines extending seaward and defining each 

21 State’s Adjacent Zone, and each OCS Planning Area, are 

22 as indicated on the maps for each outer Continental Shelf 

23 region entitled ‘Alaska OCS Region State Adjacent Zone 

24 and OCS Planning Areas’, ‘Pacific OCS Region State Ad25 jacent Zones and OCS Planning Areas’, ‘Gulf of Mexico 


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1 OCS Region State Adjacent Zones and OCS Planning 

2 Areas’, and ‘Atlantic OCS Region State Adjacent Zones 

3 and OCS Planning Areas’, all of which are dated September 

4 2005 and on file in the Office of the Director, Minerals 

5 Management Service.’’. 

6 SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATION OF LEASING. 

7 Section 5 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

8 (43 U.S.C. 1334) is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(k) VOLUNTARY PARTIAL RELINQUISHMENT OF A

11 LEASE.—Any lessee of a producing lease may relinquish 

12 to the Secretary any portion of a lease that the lessee has 

13 no interest in producing and that the Secretary finds is 

14 geologically prospective. In return for any such relinquish15 ment, the Secretary shall provide to the lessee a royalty in16 centive for the portion of the lease retained by the lessee, 

17 in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Sec18 retary to carry out this subsection. The Secretary shall pub19 lish final regulations implementing this subsection within 

20 365 days after the date of the enactment of the Deep Ocean 

21 Energy Resources Act of 2006. 

22 ‘‘(l) NATURAL GAS LEASE REGULATIONS.—Not later 

23 than July 1, 2007, the Secretary shall publish a final regu24 lation that shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) establish procedures for entering into nat2 ural gas leases; 

3 ‘‘(2) ensure that natural gas leases are only 

4 available for tracts on the outer Continental Shelf 

5 that are wholly within 100 miles of the coastline 

6 within an area withdrawn from disposition by leas7 ing on the day after the date of enactment of the Deep 

8 Ocean Energy Resources Act of 2006; 

9 ‘‘(3) provide that natural gas leases shall contain 

10 the same rights and obligations established for oil and 

11 gas leases, except as otherwise provided in the Deep 

12 Ocean Energy Resources Act of 2006; 

13 ‘‘(4) provide that, in reviewing the adequacy of 

14 bids for natural gas leases, the value of any crude oil 

15 estimated to be contained within any tract shall be 

16 excluded; 

17 ‘‘(5) provide that any crude oil produced from a 

18 well and reinjected into the leased tract shall not be 

19 subject to payment of royalty, and that the Secretary 

20 shall consider, in setting the royalty rates for a nat21 ural gas lease, the additional cost to the lessee of not 

22 producing any crude oil; and 

23 ‘‘(6) provide that any Federal law that applies 

24 to an oil and gas lease on the outer Continental Shelf 


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1 shall apply to a natural gas lease unless otherwise 

2 clearly inapplicable.’’. 

3 SEC. 6. GRANT OF LEASES BY SECRETARY. 

4 Section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

5 (43 U.S.C. 1337) is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (a)(1) by inserting after the 

7 first sentence the following: ‘‘Further, the Secretary 

8 may grant natural gas leases in a manner similar to 

9 the granting of oil and gas leases and under the var10 ious bidding systems available for oil and gas 

11 leases.’’; 

12 (2) by adding at the end of subsection (b) the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘The Secretary may issue more than one lease for a given 

15 tract if each lease applies to a separate and distinct range 

16 of vertical depths, horizontal surface area, or a combination 

17 of the two. The Secretary may issue regulations that the 

18 Secretary determines are necessary to manage such leases 

19 consistent with the purposes of this Act.’’; 

20 (3) by amending subsection (p)(2)(B) to read as 

21 follows: 

22 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall provide for the pay23 ment to coastal states, and their local coastal govern24 ments, of 75 percent of Federal receipts from projects 

25 authorized under this section located partially or 


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1 completely within the area extending seaward of State 

2 submerged lands out to 4 marine leagues from the 

3 coastline, and the payment to coastal states of 50 per4 cent of the receipts from projects completely located in 

5 the area more than 4 marine leagues from the coast6 line. Payments shall be based on a formula estab7 lished by the Secretary by rulemaking no later than 

8 180 days after the date of the enactment of the Deep 

9 Ocean Energy Resources Act of 2006 that provides for 

10 equitable distribution, based on proximity to the 

11 project, among coastal states that have coastline that 

12 is located within 200 miles of the geographic center 

13 of the project.’’. 

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

15 ‘‘(q) NATURAL GAS LEASES.— 

16 ‘‘(1) RIGHT TO PRODUCE NATURAL GAS.—A les17 see of a natural gas lease shall have the right to 

18 produce the natural gas from a field on a natural gas 

19 leased tract if the Secretary estimates that the discov20 ered field has at least 40 percent of the economically 

21 recoverable Btu content of the field contained within 

22 natural gas and such natural gas is economical to 

23 produce. 

24 ‘‘(2) CRUDE OIL.—A lessee of a natural gas lease 

25 may not produce crude oil from the lease. 


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1 ‘‘(3) ESTIMATES OF BTU CONTENT.—The Sec2 retary shall make estimates of the natural gas Btu 

3 content of discovered fields on a natural gas lease 

4 only after the completion of at least one exploration 

5 well, the data from which has been tied to the results 

6 of a three-dimensional seismic survey of the field. The 

7 Secretary may not require the lessee to further delin8 eate any discovered field prior to making such esti9 mates. 

10 ‘‘(4) DEFINITION OF NATURAL GAS.—For pur11 poses of a natural gas lease, natural gas means nat12 ural gas and all substances produced in association 

13 with gas, including, but not limited to, hydrocarbon 

14 liquids (other than crude oil) that are obtained by the 

15 condensation of hydrocarbon vapors and separate out 

16 in liquid form from the produced gas stream. 

17 ‘‘(r) REMOVAL OF RESTRICTIONS ON JOINT BIDDING

18 IN CERTAIN AREAS OF THE OUTER CONTINENTAL

19 SHELF.—Restrictions on joint bidders shall no longer apply 

20 to tracts located in the Alaska OCS Region. Such restric21 tions shall not apply to tracts in other OCS regions deter22 mined to be ‘frontier tracts’ or otherwise ‘high cost tracts’ 

23 under final regulations that shall be published by the Sec24 retary by not later than 365 days after the date of the enact25 ment of the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act of 2006. 


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1 ‘‘(s) ROYALTY SUSPENSION PROVISIONS.—The Sec2 retary shall agree to a request by any lessee to amend any 

3 lease issued for Central and Western Gulf of Mexico tracts 

4 during the period of December 1, 1995, through December 

5 31, 2000, to incorporate price thresholds applicable to roy6 alty suspension provisions, or amend existing price thresh7 olds, in the amount of $40.50 per barrel (2006 dollars) for 

8 oil and for natural gas of $6.75 per million Btu (2006 dol9 lars). Any amended lease shall impose the new or revised 

10 price thresholds effective October 1, 2005. Existing lease 

11 provisions shall prevail through September 30, 2005. After 

12 the date of the enactment of the Deep Ocean Energy Re13 sources Act of 2006, price thresholds shall apply to any roy14 alty suspension volumes granted by the Secretary. Unless 

15 otherwise set by Secretary by regulation or for a particular 

16 lease sale, the price thresholds shall be $40.50 for oil (2006 

17 dollars) and $6.75 for natural gas (2006 dollars). 

18 ‘‘(t) ROYALTY RATE FOR OIL AND GAS OR NATURAL

19 GAS LEASES ON THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF.—After 

20 the date of the enactment of the Deep Ocean Energy Re21 sources Act of 2006, the base royalty rate for new oil and 

22 gas or natural gas leases on the outer Continental Shelf 

23 shall be the same for all leased tracts. 

24 ‘‘(u) CONSERVATION OF RESOURCES FEES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) Not later than one year after the date of the 

2 enactment of the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act of 

3 2006, the Secretary by regulation shall establish a 

4 conservation of resources fee for producing leases that 

5 will apply to new and existing leases which shall be 

6 set at $9 per barrel for oil and $1.25 per million Btu 

7 for gas. This fee shall only apply to leases in produc8 tion located in more than 200 meters of water for 

9 which royalties are not being paid when prices exceed 

10 $40.50 per barrel for oil and $6.75 per million Btu 

11 for natural gas in 2006, dollars. This fee shall apply 

12 to production from and after October 1, 2005, and 

13 shall be treated as offsetting receipts. 

14 ‘‘(2) Not later than one year after the date of the 

15 enactment of the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act of 

16 2006, the Secretary by regulation shall establish a 

17 conservation of resources fee for nonproducing leases 

18 that will apply to new and existing leases which shall 

19 be set at not less than $1.00 nor more than $4.00 per 

20 acre per year. This fee shall apply from and after Oc21 tober 1, 2005, and shall be treated as offsetting re22 ceipts.’’; 

23 (5) by striking subsection (a)(3)(A) and redesig24 nating the subsequent subparagraphs as subpara25 graphs (A) and (B), respectively; 


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1 (6) in subsection (a)(3)(A) (as so redesignated) 

2 by striking ‘‘In the Western’’ and all that follows 

3 through ‘‘the Secretary’’ the first place it appears and 

4 inserting ‘‘The Secretary’’; and 

5 (7) effective October 1, 2006, in subsection (g)— 

6 (A) by striking all after ‘‘(g)’’, except para7 graph (3); 

8 (B) by striking the last sentence of para9 graph (3); and 

10 (C) by striking ‘‘(3)’’. 

11 SEC. 7. DISPOSITION OF RECEIPTS. 

12 Section 9 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

13 (43 U.S.C. 1338) is amended— 

14 (1) by designating the existing text as subsection 

15 (a); 

16 (2) in subsection (a) (as so designated) by insert17 ing ‘‘, if not paid as otherwise provided in this title’’ 

18 after ‘‘receipts’’; and 

19 (3) by adding the following: 

20 ‘‘(b) TREATMENT OF OCS RECEIPTS FROM TRACTS

21 COMPLETELY WITHIN 100 MILES OF THE COASTLINE.— 

22 ‘‘(1) DEPOSIT.—The Secretary shall deposit into 

23 a separate account in the Treasury the portion of 

24 OCS Receipts for each fiscal year that will be shared 

25 under paragraphs (2), (3), and (4). 


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1 ‘‘(2) PHASED-IN RECEIPTS SHARING.— 

2 ‘‘(A) Beginning October 1, 2005, the Sec3 retary shall share OCS Receipts derived from the 

4 following areas: 

5 ‘‘(i) Lease tracts located on portions of 

6 the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region completely 

7 beyond 4 marine leagues from any coastline 

8 and completely within 100 miles of any 

9 coastline that are available for leasing 

10 under the 2002–2007 5-Year Oil and Gas 

11 Leasing Program in effect prior to the date 

12 of the enactment of the Deep Ocean Energy 

13 Resources Act of 2006. 

14 ‘‘(ii) Lease tracts in production prior 

15 to October 1, 2005, completely beyond 4 ma16 rine leagues from any coastline and com17 pletely within 100 miles of any coastline lo18 cated on portions of the OCS that were not 

19 available for leasing under the 2002–2007 

20 5-Year OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program 

21 in effect prior to the date of the enactment 

22 of the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act of 

23 2006. 

24 ‘‘(iii) Lease tracts for which leases are 

25 issued prior to October 1, 2005, located in 


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1 the Alaska OCS Region completely beyond 4 

2 marine leagues from any coastline and com3 pletely within 100 miles of the coastline. 

4 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall share the following 

5 percentages of OCS Receipts from the leases de6 scribed in subparagraph (A) derived during the 

7 fiscal year indicated: 

8 ‘‘(i) For fiscal year 2006, 6.0 percent. 

9 ‘‘(ii) For fiscal year 2007, 7.0 percent. 

10 ‘‘(iii) For fiscal year 2008, 8.0 percent. 

11 ‘‘(iv) For fiscal year 2009, 9.0 percent. 

12 ‘‘(v) For fiscal year 2010, 12.0 percent. 

13 ‘‘(vi) For fiscal year 2011, 15.0 per14 cent. 

15 ‘‘(vii) For fiscal year 2012, 18.0 per16 cent. 

17 ‘‘(viii) For fiscal year 2013, 21.0 per18 cent. 

19 ‘‘(ix) For fiscal year 2014, 24.0 per20 cent. 

21 ‘‘(x) For fiscal year 2015, 27.0 percent. 

22 ‘‘(xi) For fiscal year 2016, 30.0 per23 cent. 

24 ‘‘(xii) For fiscal year 2017, 33.0 per25 cent. 


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1 ‘‘(xiii) For fiscal year 2018, 36.0 per2 cent. 

3 ‘‘(xiv) For fiscal year 2019, 39.0 per4 cent. 

5 ‘‘(xv) For fiscal year 2020, 42.0 per6 cent. 

7 ‘‘(xvi) For fiscal year 2021, 45.0 per8 cent. 

9 ‘‘(xvii) For fiscal year 2022 and each 

10 subsequent fiscal year, 50.0 percent. 

11 ‘‘(C) The provisions of this paragraph shall 

12 not apply to leases that could not have been 

13 issued but for section 5(k) of this Act or section 

14 6(2) of the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act of 

15 2006. 

16 ‘‘(3) IMMEDIATE RECEIPTS SHARING.—Begin17 ning October 1, 2005, the Secretary shall share 50 

18 percent of OCS Receipts derived from all leases lo19 cated completely beyond 4 marine leagues from any 

20 coastline and completely within 100 miles of any 

21 coastline not included within the provisions of para22 graph (2). 

23 ‘‘(4) RECEIPTS SHARING FROM TRACTS WITHIN 4

24 MARINE LEAGUES OF ANY COASTLINE.—Beginning 

25 October 1, 2005, the Secretary shall share 75 percent 


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1 of OCS Receipts derived from all leases located com2 pletely or partially within 4 marine leagues from any 

3 coastline. 

4 ‘‘(5) ALLOCATIONS.—The Secretary shall allocate 

5 the OCS Receipts deposited into the separate account 

6 established by paragraph (1) that are shared under 

7 paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) as follows: 

8 ‘‘(A) BONUS BIDS.—Deposits derived from 

9 bonus bids from a leased tract, including interest 

10 thereon, shall be allocated at the end of each fis11 cal year as follows: 

12 ‘‘(i) 85 percent to the Adjacent State. 

13 ‘‘(ii) 5 percent into the Treasury, 

14 which shall be allocated to the account es15 tablished by section 14 of the Deep Ocean 

16 Energy Resources Act of 2006. 

17 ‘‘(iii) 5 percent into the account estab18 lished by section 23 of the Deep Ocean En19 ergy Resources Act of 2006. 

20 ‘‘(iv) 5 percent into the account estab21 lished by section 26 of the Deep Ocean En22 ergy Resources Act of 2006. 

23 ‘‘(B) ROYALTIES.—Deposits derived from 

24 royalties from a leased tract, including interest 


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1 thereon, shall be allocated at the end of each fis2 cal year as follows: 

3 ‘‘(i) 85 percent to the Adjacent State 

4 and any other producing State or States 

5 with a leased tract within its Adjacent Zone 

6 within 100 miles of its coastline that gen7 erated royalties during the fiscal year, if the 

8 other producing or States have a coastline 

9 point within 300 miles of any portion of the 

10 leased tract, in which case the amount allo11 cated for the leased tract shall be— 

12 ‘‘(I) one-third to the Adjacent 

13 State; and 

14 ‘‘(II) two-thirds to each producing 

15 State, including the Adjacent State, in16 versely proportional to the distance be17 tween the nearest point on the coastline 

18 of the producing State and the geo19 graphic center of the leased tract. 

20 ‘‘(ii) 5 percent into the Treasury, 

21 which shall be allocated to the account es22 tablished by section 14 of the Deep Ocean 

23 Energy Resources Act of 2006. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) 5 percent into the account estab2 lished by section 23 of the Deep Ocean En3 ergy Resources Act of 2006. 

4 ‘‘(iv) 5 percent into the account estab5 lished by section 26 of the Deep Ocean En6 ergy Resources Act of 2006. 

7 ‘‘(c) TREATMENT OF OCS RECEIPTS FROM TRACTS

8 PARTIALLY OR COMPLETELY BEYOND 100 MILES OF THE

9 COASTLINE.— 

10 ‘‘(1) DEPOSIT.—The Secretary shall deposit into 

11 a separate account in the Treasury the portion of 

12 OCS Receipts for each fiscal year that will be shared 

13 under paragraphs (2) and (3). 

14 ‘‘(2) PHASED-IN RECEIPTS SHARING.— 

15 ‘‘(A) Beginning October 1, 2005, the Sec16 retary shall share OCS Receipts derived from the 

17 following areas: 

18 ‘‘(i) Lease tracts located on portions of 

19 the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region partially or 

20 completely beyond 100 miles of any coast21 line that were available for leasing under 

22 the 2002–2007 5-Year Oil and Gas Leasing 

23 Program in effect prior to the date of enact24 ment of the Deep Ocean Energy Resources 

25 Act of 2006. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) Lease tracts in production prior 

2 to October 1, 2005, partially or completely 

3 beyond 100 miles of any coastline located 

4 on portions of the OCS that were not avail5 able for leasing under the 2002–2007 5-Year 

6 OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program in ef7 fect prior to the date of enactment of the 

8 Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act of 2006. 

9 ‘‘(iii) Lease tracts for which leases are 

10 issued prior to October 1, 2005, located in 

11 the Alaska OCS Region partially or com12 pletely beyond 100 miles of the coastline. 

13 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall share the following 

14 percentages of OCS Receipts from the leases de15 scribed in subparagraph (A) derived during the 

16 fiscal year indicated: 

17 ‘‘(i) For fiscal year 2006, 6.0 percent. 

18 ‘‘(ii) For fiscal year 2007, 7.0 percent. 

19 ‘‘(iii) For fiscal year 2008, 8.0 percent. 

20 ‘‘(iv) For fiscal year 2009, 9.0 percent. 

21 ‘‘(v) For fiscal year 2010, 12.0 percent. 

22 ‘‘(vi) For fiscal year 2011, 15.0 per23 cent. 

24 ‘‘(vii) For fiscal year 2012, 18.0 per25 cent. 


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1 ‘‘(viii) For fiscal year 2013, 21.0 per2 cent. 

3 ‘‘(ix) For fiscal year 2014, 24.0 per4 cent. 

5 ‘‘(x) For fiscal year 2015, 27.0 percent. 

6 ‘‘(xi) For fiscal year 2016, 30.0 per7 cent. 

8 ‘‘(xii) For fiscal year 2017, 33.0 per9 cent. 

10 ‘‘(xiii) For fiscal year 2018, 36.0 per11 cent. 

12 ‘‘(xiv) For fiscal year 2019, 39.0 per13 cent. 

14 ‘‘(xv) For fiscal year 2020, 42.0 per15 cent. 

16 ‘‘(xvi) For fiscal year 2021, 45.0 per17 cent. 

18 ‘‘(xvii) For fiscal year 2022 and each 

19 subsequent fiscal year, 50.0 percent. 

20 ‘‘(C) The provisions of this paragraph shall 

21 not apply to leases that could not have been 

22 issued but for section 5(k) of this Act or section 

23 6(2) of the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act of 

24 2006. 


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1 ‘‘(3) IMMEDIATE RECEIPTS SHARING.—Begin2 ning October 1, 2005, the Secretary shall share 50 

3 percent of OCS Receipts derived on and after October 

4 1, 2005, from all leases located partially or completely 

5 beyond 100 miles of any coastline not included within 

6 the provisions of paragraph (2). 

7 ‘‘(4) ALLOCATIONS.—The Secretary shall allocate 

8 the OCS Receipts deposited into the separate account 

9 established by paragraph (1) that are shared under 

10 paragraphs (2) and (3) as follows: 

11 ‘‘(A) BONUS BIDS.—Deposits derived from 

12 bonus bids from a leased tract, including interest 

13 thereon, shall be allocated at the end of each fis14 cal year as follows: 

15 ‘‘(i) 85 percent to the Adjacent State. 

16 ‘‘(ii) 5 percent into the Treasury, 

17 which shall be allocated to the account es18 tablished by section 14 of the Deep Ocean 

19 Energy Resources Act of 2006. 

20 ‘‘(iii) 5 percent into the account estab21 lished by section 23 of the Deep Ocean En22 ergy Resources Act of 2006. 

23 ‘‘(iv) 5 percent into the account estab24 lished by section 26 of the Deep Ocean En25 ergy Resources Act of 2006. 


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1 ‘‘(B) ROYALTIES.—Deposits derived from 

2 royalties from a leased tract, including interest 

3 thereon, shall be allocated at the end of each fis4 cal year as follows: 

5 ‘‘(i) 85 percent to the Adjacent State 

6 and any other producing State or States 

7 with a leased tract within its Adjacent Zone 

8 partially or completely beyond 100 miles of 

9 its coastline that generated royalties during 

10 the fiscal year, if the other producing State 

11 or States have a coastline point within 300 

12 miles of any portion of the leased tract, in 

13 which case the amount allocated for the 

14 leased tract shall be— 

15 ‘‘(I) one-third to the Adjacent 

16 State; and 

17 ‘‘(II) two-thirds to each producing 

18 State, including the Adjacent State, in19 versely proportional to the distance be20 tween the nearest point on the coastline 

21 of the producing State and the geo22 graphic center of the leased tract. 

23 ‘‘(ii) 5 percent into the account estab24 lished by section 14 of the Deep Ocean En25 ergy Resources Act of 2006. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) 5 percent into the account estab2 lished by section 23 of the Deep Ocean En3 ergy Resources Act of 2006. 

4 ‘‘(iv) 5 percent into the account estab5 lished by section 26 of the Deep Ocean En6 ergy Resources Act of 2006. 

7 ‘‘(d) TRANSMISSION OF ALLOCATIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

9 the end of each fiscal year, the Secretary shall trans10 mit— 

11 ‘‘(A) to each State 60 percent of such State’s 

12 allocations under subsections (b)(5)(A)(i), 

13 (b)(5)(B)(i), (c)(4)(A)(i), and (c)(4)(B)(i) for the 

14 immediate prior fiscal year; 

15 ‘‘(B) to coastal county-equivalent and mu16 nicipal political subdivisions of such State a 

17 total of 40 percent of such State’s allocations 

18 under subsections (b)(5)(A)(i), (b)(5)(B)(i), 

19 (c)(4)(A)(i), and (c)(4)(B)(i), together with all 

20 accrued interest thereon; and 

21 ‘‘(C) the remaining allocations under sub22 sections (b)(5) and (c)(4), together with all ac23 crued interest thereon. 

24 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATIONS TO COASTAL COUNTY-EQUIVA25 LENT POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS.—The Secretary shall 


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1 make an initial allocation of the OCS Receipts to be 

2 shared under paragraph (1)(B) as follows: 

3 ‘‘(A) 25 percent shall be allocated to coastal 

4 county-equivalent political subdivisions that are 

5 completely more than 25 miles landward of the 

6 coastline and at least a part of which lies not 

7 more than 75 miles landward from the coastline, 

8 with the allocation among such coastal county9 equivalent political subdivisions based on popu10 lation. 

11 ‘‘(B) 75 percent shall be allocated to coastal 

12 county-equivalent political subdivisions that are 

13 completely or partially less than 25 miles land14 ward of the coastline, with the allocation among 

15 such coastal county-equivalent political subdivi16 sions to be further allocated as follows: 

17 ‘‘(i) 25 percent shall be allocated based 

18 on the ratio of such coastal county-equiva19 lent political subdivision’s population to the 

20 coastal population of all coastal county21 equivalent political subdivisions in the 

22 State. 

23 ‘‘(ii) 25 percent shall be allocated based 

24 on the ratio of such coastal county-equiva25 lent political subdivision’s coastline miles to 


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1 the coastline miles of all coastal county2 equivalent political subdivisions in the 

3 State as calculated by the Secretary. In 

4 such calculations, coastal county-equivalent 

5 political subdivisions without a coastline 

6 shall be considered to have 50 percent of the 

7 average coastline miles of the coastal coun8 ty-equivalent political subdivisions that do 

9 have coastlines. 

10 ‘‘(iii) 25 percent shall be allocated to 

11 all coastal county-equivalent political sub12 divisions having a coastline point within 

13 300 miles of the leased tract for which OCS 

14 Receipts are being shared based on a for15 mula that allocates the funds based on such 

16 coastal county-equivalent political subdivi17 sion’s relative distance from the leased tract. 

18 ‘‘(iv) 25 percent shall be allocated to 

19 all coastal county-equivalent political sub20 divisions having a coastline point within 

21 300 miles of the leased tract for which OCS 

22 Receipts are being shared based on the rel23 ative level of outer Continental Shelf oil and 

24 gas activities in a coastal political subdivi25 sion compared to the level of outer ContiVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:12 Jun 27, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4761.RH H4761

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1 nental Shelf activities in all coastal polit2 ical subdivisions in the State. The Secretary 

3 shall define the term ‘outer Continental 

4 Shelf oil and gas activities’ for purposes of 

5 this subparagraph to include, but not be 

6 limited to, construction of vessels, drillships, 

7 and platforms involved in exploration, pro8 duction, and development on the outer Con9 tinental Shelf; support and supply bases, 

10 ports, and related activities; offices of geolo11 gists, geophysicists, engineers, and other 

12 professionals involved in support of explo13 ration, production, and development of oil 

14 and gas on the outer Continental Shelf; 

15 pipelines and other means of transporting 

16 oil and gas production from the outer Con17 tinental Shelf; and processing and refining 

18 of oil and gas production from the outer 

19 Continental Shelf. For purposes of this sub20 paragraph, if a coastal county-equivalent 

21 political subdivision does not have a coast22 line, its coastal point shall be the point on 

23 the coastline closest to it. 

24 ‘‘(3) ALLOCATIONS TO COASTAL MUNICIPAL PO25 LITICAL SUBDIVISIONS.—The initial allocation to 


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1 each coastal county-equivalent political subdivision 

2 under paragraph (2) shall be further allocated to the 

3 coastal county-equivalent political subdivision and 

4 any coastal municipal political subdivisions located 

5 partially or wholly within the boundaries of the coast6 al county-equivalent political subdivision as follows: 

7 ‘‘(A) One-third shall be allocated to the 

8 coastal county-equivalent political subdivision. 

9 ‘‘(B) Two-thirds shall be allocated on a per 

10 capita basis to the municipal political subdivi11 sions and the county-equivalent political subdivi12 sion, with the allocation to the latter based upon 

13 its population not included within the bound14 aries of a municipal political subdivision. 

15 ‘‘(e) INVESTMENT OF DEPOSITS.—Amounts deposited 

16 under this section shall be invested by the Secretary of the 

17 Treasury in securities backed by the full faith and credit 

18 of the United States having maturities suitable to the needs 

19 of the account in which they are deposited and yielding the 

20 highest reasonably available interest rates as determined by 

21 the Secretary of the Treasury. 

22 ‘‘(f) USE OF FUNDS.—A recipient of funds under this 

23 section may use the funds for one or more of the following: 

24 ‘‘(1) To reduce in-State college tuition at public 

25 institutions of higher learning and otherwise support 


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1 public education, including career technical edu2 cation. 

3 ‘‘(2) To make transportation infrastructure im4 provements. 

5 ‘‘(3) To reduce taxes. 

6 ‘‘(4) To promote, fund, and provide for— 

7 ‘‘(A) coastal or environmental restoration; 

8 ‘‘(B) fish, wildlife, and marine life habitat 

9 enhancement; 

10 ‘‘(C) waterways construction and mainte11 nance; 

12 ‘‘(D) levee construction and maintenance 

13 and shore protection; and 

14 ‘‘(E) marine and oceanographic education 

15 and research. 

16 ‘‘(5) To promote, fund, and provide for — 

17 ‘‘(A) infrastructure associated with energy 

18 production activities conducted on the outer Con19 tinental Shelf; 

20 ‘‘(B) energy demonstration projects; 

21 ‘‘(C) supporting infrastructure for shore22 based energy projects; 

23 ‘‘(D) State geologic programs, including 

24 geologic mapping and data storage programs, 

25 and state geophysical data acquisition; 


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1 ‘‘(E) State seismic monitoring programs, 

2 including operation of monitoring stations; 

3 ‘‘(F) development of oil and gas resources 

4 through enhanced recovery techniques; 

5 ‘‘(G) alternative energy development, in6 cluding bio fuels, coal-to-liquids, oil shale, tar 

7 sands, geothermal, geopressure, wind, waves, cur8 rents, hydro, and other renewable energy; 

9 ‘‘(H) energy efficiency and conservation 

10 programs; and 

11 ‘‘(I) front-end engineering and design for 

12 facilities that produce liquid fuels from hydro13 carbons and other biological matter. 

14 ‘‘(6) To promote, fund, and provide for— 

15 ‘‘(A) historic preservation programs and 

16 projects; 

17 ‘‘(B) natural disaster planning and re18 sponse; and, 

19 ‘‘(C) hurricane and natural disaster insur20 ance programs. 

21 ‘‘(7) For any other purpose as determined by 

22 State law. 

23 ‘‘(g) NO ACCOUNTING REQUIRED.—No recipient of 

24 funds under this section shall be required to account to the 

25 Federal Government for the expenditure of such funds, exVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:12 Jun 27, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00031 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4761.RH H4761

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1 cept as otherwise may be required by law. However, States 

2 may enact legislation providing for accounting for and au3 diting of such expenditures. Further, funds allocated under 

4 this section to States and political subdivisions may be used 

5 as matching funds for other Federal programs. 

6 ‘‘(h) EFFECT OF FUTURE LAWS.—Enactment of any 

7 future Federal statute that has the effect, as determined by 

8 the Secretary, of restricting any Federal agency from spend9 ing appropriated funds, or otherwise preventing it from ful10 filling its pre-existing responsibilities as of the date of en11 actment of the statute, unless such responsibilities have been 

12 reassigned to another Federal agency by the statute with 

13 no prevention of performance, to issue any permit or other 

14 approval impacting on the OCS oil and gas leasing pro15 gram, or any lease issued thereunder, or to implement any 

16 provision of this Act shall automatically prohibit any shar17 ing of OCS Receipts under this section directly with the 

18 States, and their coastal political subdivisions, for the dura19 tion of the restriction. The Secretary shall make the deter20 mination of the existence of such restricting effects within 

21 30 days of a petition by any outer Continental Shelf lessee 

22 or producing State. 

23 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

24 ‘‘(1) COASTAL COUNTY-EQUIVALENT POLITICAL

25 SUBDIVISION.—The term ‘coastal county-equivalent 


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1 political subdivision’ means a political jurisdiction 

2 immediately below the level of State government, in3 cluding a county, parish, borough in Alaska, inde4 pendent municipality not part of a county, parish, or 

5 borough in Alaska, or other equivalent subdivision of 

6 a coastal State, that lies within the coastal zone. 

7 ‘‘(2) COASTAL MUNICIPAL POLITICAL SUBDIVI8 SION.—The term ‘coastal municipal political subdivi9 sion’ means a municipality located within and part 

10 of a county, parish, borough in Alaska, or other 

11 equivalent subdivision of a State, all or part of which 

12 coastal municipal political subdivision lies within the 

13 coastal zone. 

14 ‘‘(3) COASTAL POPULATION.—The term ‘coastal 

15 population’ means the population of all coastal coun16 ty-equivalent political subdivisions, as determined by 

17 the most recent official data of the Census Bureau. 

18 ‘‘(4) COASTAL ZONE.—The term ‘coastal zone’ 

19 means that portion of a coastal State, including the 

20 entire territory of any coastal county-equivalent polit21 ical subdivision at least a part of which lies, within 

22 75 miles landward from the coastline, or a greater 

23 distance as determined by State law enacted to imple24 ment this section. 


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1 ‘‘(5) BONUS BIDS.—The term ‘bonus bids’ means 

2 all funds received by the Secretary to issue an outer 

3 Continental Shelf minerals lease. 

4 ‘‘(6) ROYALTIES.—The term ‘royalties’ means all 

5 funds received by the Secretary from production of oil 

6 or natural gas, or the sale of production taken in7 kind, from an outer Continental Shelf minerals lease. 

8 ‘‘(7) PRODUCING STATE.—The term ‘producing 

9 State’ means an Adjacent State having an Adjacent 

10 Zone containing leased tracts from which OCS Re11 ceipts were derived. 

12 ‘‘(8) OCS RECEIPTS.—The term ‘OCS Receipts’ 

13 means bonus bids, royalties, and conservation of re14 sources fees.’’. 

15 SEC. 8. REVIEW OF OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF EXPLO16 RATION PLANS. 

17 Subsections (c) and (d) of section 11 of the Outer Con18 tinental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1340) are amended to 

19 read as follows: 

20 ‘‘(c) PLAN REVIEW; PLAN PROVISIONS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) Except as otherwise provided in this Act, 

22 prior to commencing exploration pursuant to any oil 

23 and gas lease issued or maintained under this Act, 

24 the holder thereof shall submit an exploration plan 

25 (hereinafter in this section referred to as a ‘plan’) to 


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1 the Secretary for review which shall include all infor2 mation and documentation required under para3 graphs (2) and (3). The Secretary shall review the 

4 plan for completeness within 10 days of submission. 

5 If the Secretary finds that the plan is not complete, 

6 the Secretary shall notify the lessee with a detailed ex7 planation and require such modifications of such 

8 plan as are necessary to achieve completeness. The 

9 Secretary shall have 10 days to review a modified 

10 plan for completeness. Such plan may apply to more 

11 than one lease held by a lessee in any one region of 

12 the outer Continental Shelf, or by a group of lessees 

13 acting under a unitization, pooling, or drilling agree14 ment, and the lessee shall certify that such plan is 

15 consistent with the terms of the lease and is consistent 

16 with all statutory and regulatory requirements in ef17 fect on the date of issuance of the lease, and any regu18 lations promulgated under this Act to the conserva19 tion of resources after the date of the lease issuances. 

20 The Secretary shall have 30 days from the date the 

21 plan is deemed complete to conduct a review of the 

22 plan. If the Secretary finds the plan is not consistent 

23 with the lease and all such statutory and regulatory 

24 requirements, the Secretary shall notify the lessee with 

25 a detailed explanation of such modifications of such 


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•HR 4761 RH 

1 plan as are necessary to achieve compliance. The Sec2 retary shall have 30 days to review any modified 

3 plan submitted by the lessee. The lessee shall not take 

4 any action under the exploration plan within the 30- 

5 day review period, or thereafter until the plan has 

6 been modified to achieve compliance as so notified. 

7 ‘‘(2) An exploration plan submitted under this 

8 subsection shall include, in the degree of detail which 

9 the Secretary may by regulation require— 

10 ‘‘(A) a schedule of anticipated exploration 

11 activities to be undertaken; 

12 ‘‘(B) a description of equipment to be used 

13 for such activities; 

14 ‘‘(C) the general location of each well to be 

15 drilled; and 

16 ‘‘(D) such other information deemed perti17 nent by the Secretary. 

18 ‘‘(3) The Secretary may, by regulation, require 

19 that such plan be accompanied by a general statement 

20 of development and production intentions which shall 

21 be for planning purposes only and which shall not be 

22 binding on any party. 

23 ‘‘(d) PLAN REVISIONS; CONDUCT OF EXPLORATION AC24 TIVITIES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) If a significant revision of an exploration 

2 plan under this subsection is submitted to the Sec3 retary, the process to be used for the review of such 

4 revision shall be the same as set forth in subsection 

5 (c) of this section. 

6 ‘‘(2) All exploration activities pursuant to any 

7 lease shall be conducted in accordance with an explo8 ration plan or a revised plan which has been sub9 mitted to and reviewed by the Secretary.’’. 

10 SEC. 9. RESERVATION OF LANDS AND RIGHTS. 

11 Section 12 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

12 (43 U.S.C. 1341) is amended— 

13 (1) in subsection (a) by adding at the end the 

14 following: ‘‘The President may partially or completely 

15 revise or revoke any prior withdrawal made by the 

16 President under the authority of this section. The 

17 President may not revise or revoke a withdrawal that 

18 was initiated by a petition from a State and ap19 proved by the Secretary of the Interior under sub20 section (h). A withdrawal by the President may be for 

21 a term not to exceed 10 years. When considering po22 tential uses of the outer Continental Shelf, to the max23 imum extent possible, the President shall accommo24 date competing interests and potential uses.’’; 

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


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1 ‘‘(g) AVAILABILITY FOR LEASING WITHIN CERTAIN

2 AREAS OF THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF.— 

3 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION AGAINST LEASING.— 

4 ‘‘(A) UNAVAILABLE FOR LEASING WITHOUT

5 STATE REQUEST.—Except as otherwise provided 

6 in this subsection, from and after enactment of 

7 the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act of 2006, 

8 the Secretary shall not offer for leasing for oil 

9 and gas, or natural gas, any area within 50 

10 miles of the coastline that was withdrawn from 

11 disposition by leasing in the Atlantic OCS Re12 gion or the Pacific OCS Region, or the Gulf of 

13 Mexico OCS Region Eastern Planning Area, as 

14 depicted on the maps referred to in this subpara15 graph, under the ‘Memorandum on Withdrawal 

16 of Certain Areas of the United States Outer Con17 tinental Shelf from Leasing Disposition’, 34 

18 Weekly Comp. Pres. Doc. 1111, dated June 12, 

19 1998, or any area within 50 miles of the coast20 line not withdrawn under that Memorandum 

21 that is included within the Gulf of Mexico OCS 

22 Region Eastern Planning Area as indicated on 

23 the map entitled ‘Gulf of Mexico OCS Region 

24 State Adjacent Zones and OCS Planning Areas’ 

25 or the Florida Straits Planning Area as indiVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:12 Jun 27, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00038 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4761.RH H4761

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1 cated on the map entitled ‘Atlantic OCS Region 

2 State Adjacent Zones and OCS Planning Areas’, 

3 both of which are dated September 2005 and on 

4 file in the Office of the Director, Minerals Man5 agement Service. 

6 ‘‘(B) AREAS BETWEEN 50 AND100 MILES

7 FROM THE COASTLINE.—Unless an Adjacent 

8 State petitions under subsection (h) within one 

9 year after the date of the enactment of the Deep 

10 Ocean Energy Resources Act of 2006 for natural 

11 gas leasing or by June 30, 2009, for oil and gas 

12 leasing, the Secretary shall offer for leasing any 

13 area more than 50 miles but less than 100 miles 

14 from the coastline that was withdrawn from dis15 position by leasing in the Atlantic OCS Region, 

16 the Pacific OCS Region, or the Gulf of Mexico 

17 OCS Region Eastern Planning Area, as depicted 

18 on the maps referred to in this subparagraph, 

19 under the ‘Memorandum on Withdrawal of Cer20 tain Areas of the United States Outer Conti21 nental Shelf from Leasing Disposition’, 34 Week22 ly Comp. Pres. Doc. 1111, dated June 12, 1998, 

23 or any area more than 50 miles but less than 

24 100 miles of the coastline not withdrawn under 

25 that Memorandum that is included within the 


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1 Gulf of Mexico OCS Region Eastern Planning 

2 Area as indicated on the map entitled ‘Gulf of 

3 Mexico OCS Region State Adjacent Zones and 

4 OCS Planning Areas’ or within the Florida 

5 Straits Planning Area as indicated on the map 

6 entitled ‘Atlantic OCS Region State Adjacent 

7 Zones and OCS Planning Areas’, both of which 

8 are dated September 2005 and on file in the Of9 fice of the Director, Minerals Management Serv10 ice. 

11 ‘‘(2) REVOCATION OF WITHDRAWAL.—The provi12 sions of the ‘Memorandum on Withdrawal of Certain 

13 Areas of the United States Outer Continental Shelf 

14 from Leasing Disposition’, 34 Weekly Comp. Pres. 

15 Doc. 1111, dated June 12, 1998, are hereby revoked 

16 and are no longer in effect regarding any areas that 

17 are more than 100 miles from the coastline, nor for 

18 any areas that are less than 100 miles from the coast19 line and are included within the Gulf of Mexico OCS 

20 Region Central Planning Area as depicted on the 

21 map entitled ‘Gulf of Mexico OCS Region State Adja22 cent Zones and OCS Planning Areas’ dated Sep23 tember 2005 and on file in the Office of the Director, 

24 Minerals Management Service. The 2002–2007 5-Year 

25 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing ProVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:12 Jun 27, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00040 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4761.RH H4761

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1 gram is hereby amended to include the areas added 

2 to the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region Central Planning 

3 Area by this Act to the extent that such areas were 

4 included within the original boundaries of proposed 

5 Lease Sale 181. The amendment to such leasing pro6 gram includes a sale in such additional areas, which 

7 shall be held no later than June 30, 2007. The Final 

8 Environmental Impact Statement prepared for this 

9 area for Lease Sale 181 shall be deemed sufficient for 

10 all purposes for each lease sale in which such area is 

11 offered for lease during the 2002–2007 5-Year Outer 

12 Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program 

13 without need for supplementation. Any tract only 

14 partially added to the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region 

15 Central Planning Area by this Act shall be eligible for 

16 leasing of the part of such tract that is included with17 in the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region Central Planning 

18 Area, and the remainder of such tract that lies out19 side of the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region Central Plan20 ning Area may be developed and produced by the les21 see of such partial tract using extended reach or simi22 lar drilling from a location on a leased area. Further, 

23 any area in the OCS withdrawn from leasing may be 

24 leased, and thereafter developed and produced by the 

25 lessee using extended reach or similar drilling from a 


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1 location on a leased area located in an area available 

2 for leasing. 

3 ‘‘(3) PETITION FOR LEASING.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Governor of the 

5 State, upon concurrence of its legislature, may 

6 submit to the Secretary a petition requesting 

7 that the Secretary make available any area that 

8 is within the State’s Adjacent Zone, included 

9 within the provisions of paragraph (1), and that 

10 (i) is greater than 25 miles from any point on 

11 the coastline of a Neighboring State for the con12 duct of offshore leasing, pre-leasing, and related 

13 activities with respect to natural gas leasing; or 

14 (ii) is greater than 50 miles from any point on 

15 the coastline of a Neighboring State for the con16 duct of offshore leasing, pre-leasing, and related 

17 activities with respect to oil and gas leasing. The 

18 Adjacent State may also petition for leasing any 

19 other area within its Adjacent Zone if leasing is 

20 allowed in the similar area of the Adjacent Zone 

21 of the applicable Neighboring State, or if not al22 lowed, if the Neighboring State, acting through 

23 its Governor, expresses its concurrence with the 

24 petition. The Secretary shall only consider such 

25 a petition upon making a finding that leasing is 


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•HR 4761 RH 

1 allowed in the similar area of the Adjacent Zone 

2 of the applicable Neighboring State or upon re3 ceipt of the concurrence of the Neighboring State. 

4 The date of receipt by the Secretary of such con5 currence by the Neighboring State shall con6 stitute the date of receipt of the petition for that 

7 area for which the concurrence applies. Except 

8 for any area described in the last sentence of 

9 paragraph (2), a petition for leasing any part of 

10 the Alabama Adjacent Zone that is a part of the 

11 Gulf of Mexico Eastern Planning Area, as indi12 cated on the map entitled ‘Gulf of Mexico OCS 

13 Region State Adjacent Zones and OCS Planning 

14 Areas’ which is dated September 2005 and on 

15 file in the Office of the Director, Minerals Man16 agement Service, shall require the concurrence of 

17 both Alabama and Florida. 

18 ‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS ON LEASING.—In its pe19 tition, a State with an Adjacent Zone that con20 tains leased tracts may condition new leasing for 

21 oil and gas, or natural gas for tracts within 25 

22 miles of the coastline by— 

23 ‘‘(i) requiring a net reduction in the 

24 number of production platforms; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) requiring a net increase in the 

2 average distance of production platforms 

3 from the coastline; 

4 ‘‘(iii) limiting permanent surface occu5 pancy on new leases to areas that are more 

6 than 10 miles from the coastline; 

7 ‘‘(iv) limiting some tracts to being pro8 duced from shore or from platforms located 

9 on other tracts; or 

10 ‘‘(v) other conditions that the Adjacent 

11 State may deem appropriate as long as the 

12 Secretary does not determine that produc13 tion is made economically or technically 

14 impracticable or otherwise impossible. 

15 ‘‘(C) ACTION BY SECRETARY.—Not later 

16 than 90 days after receipt of a petition under 

17 subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall approve 

18 the petition, unless the Secretary determines that 

19 leasing the area would probably cause serious 

20 harm or damage to the marine resources of the 

21 State’s Adjacent Zone. Prior to approving the 

22 petition, the Secretary shall complete an envi23 ronmental assessment that documents the antici24 pated environmental effects of leasing in the area 

25 included within the scope of the petition. 


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1 ‘‘(D) FAILURE TO ACT.—If the Secretary 

2 fails to approve or deny a petition in accordance 

3 with subparagraph (C) the petition shall be con4 sidered to be approved 90 days after receipt of 

5 the petition. 

6 ‘‘(E) AMENDMENT OF THE 5-YEAR LEASING

7 PROGRAM.—Notwithstanding section 18, within 

8 180 days of the approval of a petition under sub9 paragraph (C) or (D), after the expiration of the 

10 time limits in paragraph (1)(B), and within 180 

11 days after the enactment of the Deep Ocean En12 ergy Resources Act of 2006 for the areas made 

13 available for leasing under paragraph (2), the 

14 Secretary shall amend the current 5-Year Outer 

15 Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program 

16 to include a lease sale or sales for at least 75 

17 percent of the associated areas, unless there are, 

18 from the date of approval, expiration of such 

19 time limits, or enactment, as applicable, fewer 

20 than 12 months remaining in the current 5-Year 

21 Leasing Program in which case the Secretary 

22 shall include the associated areas within lease 

23 sales under the next 5-Year Leasing Program. 

24 For purposes of amending the 5-Year Program 

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1 tions with States shall not be required. For pur2 poses of this section, an environmental assess3 ment performed under the provisions of the Na4 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to as5 sess the effects of approving the petition shall be 

6 sufficient to amend the 5-Year Leasing Program. 

7 ‘‘(h) OPTION TO PETITION FOR EXTENSION OF WITH8 DRAWAL FROM LEASING WITHIN CERTAIN AREAS OF THE

9 OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Governor of the State, 

11 upon the concurrence of its legislature, may submit to 

12 the Secretary petitions requesting that the Secretary 

13 extend for a period of time of up to 5 years for each 

14 petition the withdrawal from leasing for all or part 

15 of any area within the State’s Adjacent Zone located 

16 more than 50 miles, but less than 100 miles, from the 

17 coastline that is subject to subsection (g)(1)(B). A 

18 State may petition multiple times for any particular 

19 area but not more than once per calendar year for 

20 any particular area. A State must submit separate 

21 petitions, with separate votes by its legislature, for oil 

22 and gas leasing and for natural gas leasing. A peti23 tion of a State may request some areas to be with24 drawn from all leasing and some areas to be with25 drawn only from one type of leasing. Petitions for exVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:12 Jun 27, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00046 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4761.RH H4761

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1 tending the withdrawal from leasing of any part of 

2 the Alabama Adjacent Zone that is more than 50 

3 miles, but less than 100 miles, from the coastline that 

4 is a part of the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region Eastern 

5 Planning Area, as indicated on the map entitled 

6 ‘Gulf of Mexico OCS Region State Adjacent Zones 

7 and OCS Planning Areas’ which is dated September 

8 2005 and on file in the Office of the Director, Min9 erals Management Service, may be made by either 

10 Alabama or Florida. 

11 ‘‘(2) ACTION BY SECRETARY.—The Secretary 

12 shall perform an environmental assessment under the 

13 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to assess 

14 the effects of approving the petition under paragraph 

15 (1). Not later than 90 days after receipt of the peti16 tion, the Secretary shall approve the petition, unless 

17 the Secretary determines that extending the with18 drawal from leasing would probably cause serious 

19 harm or damage to the marine resources of the State’s 

20 Adjacent Zone. The Secretary shall not approve a pe21 tition from a State that extends the remaining period 

22 of a withdrawal of an area from leasing for a total 

23 of more than 10 years. However, the Secretary may 

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1 ing of any area ad infinitum, subject only to the lim2 itations contained in this subsection. 

3 ‘‘(3) FAILURE TO ACT.—If the Secretary fails to 

4 approve or deny a petition in accordance with para5 graph (2) the petition shall be considered to be ap6 proved 90 days after receipt of the petition. 

7 ‘‘(i) EFFECT OF OTHER LAWS.—Adoption by any Ad8 jacent State of any constitutional provision, or enactment 

9 of any State statute, that has the effect, as determined by 

10 the Secretary, of restricting either the Governor or the Leg11 islature, or both, from exercising full discretion related to 

12 subsection (g) or (h), or both, shall automatically (1) pro13 hibit any sharing of OCS Receipts under this Act with the 

14 Adjacent State, and its coastal political subdivisions, and 

15 (2) prohibit the Adjacent State from exercising any author16 ity under subsection (h), for the duration of the restriction. 

17 The Secretary shall make the determination of the existence 

18 of such restricting constitutional provision or State statute 

19 within 30 days of a petition by any outer Continental Shelf 

20 lessee or coastal State.’’. 

21 SEC. 10. OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF LEASING PROGRAM. 

22 Section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

23 (43 U.S.C. 1344) is amended— 

24 (1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end of 

25 paragraph (3) the following: ‘‘The Secretary shall, in 


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1 each 5-year program, include lease sales that when 

2 viewed as a whole propose to offer for oil and gas or 

3 natural gas leasing at least 75 percent of the avail4 able unleased acreage within each OCS Planning 

5 Area. Available unleased acreage is that portion of the 

6 outer Continental Shelf that is not under lease at the 

7 time of the proposed lease sale, and has not otherwise 

8 been made unavailable for leasing by law.’’; 

9 (2) in subsection (c), by striking so much as pre10 cedes paragraph (3) and inserting the following: 

11 ‘‘(c)(1) During the preparation of any proposed leas12 ing program under this section, the Secretary shall consider 

13 and analyze leasing throughout the entire Outer Conti14 nental Shelf without regard to any other law affecting such 

15 leasing. During this preparation the Secretary shall invite 

16 and consider suggestions from any interested Federal agen17 cy, including the Attorney General, in consultation with the 

18 Federal Trade Commission, and from the Governor of any 

19 coastal State. The Secretary may also invite or consider 

20 any suggestions from the executive of any local government 

21 in a coastal State that have been previously submitted to 

22 the Governor of such State, and from any other person. Fur23 ther, the Secretary shall consult with the Secretary of De24 fense regarding military operational needs in the outer 

25 Continental Shelf. The Secretary shall work with the SecVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:12 Jun 27, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00049 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4761.RH H4761

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1 retary of Defense to resolve any conflicts that might arise 

2 regarding offering any area of the outer Continental Shelf 

3 for oil and gas or natural gas leasing. If the Secretaries 

4 are not able to resolve all such conflicts, any unresolved 

5 issues shall be elevated to the President for resolution. 

6 ‘‘(2) After the consideration and analysis required by 

7 paragraph (1), including the consideration of the sugges8 tions received from any interested Federal agency, the Fed9 eral Trade Commission, the Governor of any coastal State, 

10 any local government of a coastal State, and any other per11 son, the Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register a 

12 proposed leasing program accompanied by a draft environ13 mental impact statement prepared pursuant to the Na14 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969. After the pub15 lishing of the proposed leasing program and during the 

16 comment period provided for on the draft environmental 

17 impact statement, the Secretary shall submit a copy of the 

18 proposed program to the Governor of each affected State for 

19 review and comment. The Governor may solicit comments 

20 from those executives of local governments in the Governor’s 

21 State that the Governor, in the discretion of the Governor, 

22 determines will be affected by the proposed program. If any 

23 comment by such Governor is received by the Secretary at 

24 least 15 days prior to submission to the Congress pursuant 

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1 tion of such proposed program, the Secretary shall reply 

2 in writing, granting or denying such request in whole or 

3 in part, or granting such request in such modified form 

4 as the Secretary considers appropriate, and stating the Sec5 retary’s reasons therefor. All such correspondence between 

6 the Secretary and the Governor of any affected State, to7 gether with any additional information and data relating 

8 thereto, shall accompany such proposed program when it 

9 is submitted to the Congress.’’; and 

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

11 ‘‘(i) PROJECTION OF STATE ADJACENT ZONE RE12 SOURCES AND STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT SHARES OF

13 OCS RECEIPTS.—Concurrent with the publication of the 

14 scoping notice at the beginning of the development of each 

15 5-year outer Continental Shelf oil and gas leasing program, 

16 or as soon thereafter as possible, the Secretary shall— 

17 ‘‘(1) provide to each Adjacent State a current es18 timate of proven and potential oil and gas resources 

19 located within the State’s Adjacent Zone; and 

20 ‘‘(2) provide to each Adjacent State, and coastal 

21 political subdivisions thereof, a best-efforts projection 

22 of the OCS Receipts that the Secretary expects will be 

23 shared with each Adjacent State, and its coastal polit24 ical subdivisions, using the assumption that the un25 leased tracts within the State’s Adjacent Zone are 


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1 fully made available for leasing, including long-term 

2 projected OCS Receipts. In addition, the Secretary 

3 shall include a macroeconomic estimate of the impact 

4 of such leasing on the national economy and each 

5 State’s economy, including investment, jobs, revenues, 

6 personal income, and other categories.’’. 

7 SEC. 11. COORDINATION WITH ADJACENT STATES. 

8 Section 19 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

9 (43 U.S.C. 1345) is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (a) in the first sentence by in11 serting ‘‘, for any tract located within the Adjacent 

12 State’s Adjacent Zone,’’ after ‘‘government’’; and 

13 (2) by adding the following: 

14 ‘‘(f)(1) No Federal agency may permit or otherwise ap15 prove, without the concurrence of the Adjacent State, the 

16 construction of a crude oil or petroleum products (or both) 

17 pipeline within the part of the Adjacent State’s Adjacent 

18 Zone that is withdrawn from oil and gas or natural gas 

19 leasing, except that such a pipeline may be approved, with20 out such Adjacent State’s concurrence, to pass through such 

21 Adjacent Zone if at least 50 percent of the production pro22 jected to be carried by the pipeline within its first 10 years 

23 of operation is from areas of the Adjacent State’s Adjacent 

24 Zone. 


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1 ‘‘(2) No State may prohibit the construction within 

2 its Adjacent Zone or its State waters of a natural gas pipe3 line that will transport natural gas produced from the outer 

4 Continental Shelf. However, an Adjacent State may prevent 

5 a proposed natural gas pipeline landing location if it pro6 poses two alternate landing locations in the Adjacent State, 

7 acceptable to the Adjacent State, located within 50 miles 

8 on either side of the proposed landing location.’’. 

9 SEC. 12. ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES. 

10 Section 20(d) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

11 (43 U.S.C. 1346) is amended— 

12 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(d)’’; and 

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

14 ‘‘(2) For all programs, lease sales, leases, and actions 

15 under this Act, the following shall apply regarding the ap16 plication of the National Environmental Policy Act of 

17 1969: 

18 ‘‘(A) Granting or directing lease suspensions and 

19 the conduct of all preliminary activities on outer 

20 Continental Shelf tracts, including seismic activities, 

21 are categorically excluded from the need to prepare ei22 ther an environmental assessment or an environ23 mental impact statement, and the Secretary shall not 

24 be required to analyze whether any exceptions to a 


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1 categorical exclusion apply for activities conducted 

2 under the authority of this Act. 

3 ‘‘(B) The environmental impact statement devel4 oped in support of each 5-year oil and gas leasing 

5 program provides the environmental analysis for all 

6 lease sales to be conducted under the program and 

7 such sales shall not be subject to further environ8 mental analysis. 

9 ‘‘(C) Exploration plans shall not be subject to 

10 any requirement to prepare an environmental impact 

11 statement, and the Secretary may find that explo12 ration plans are eligible for categorical exclusion due 

13 to the impacts already being considered within an en14 vironmental impact statement or due to mitigation 

15 measures included within the plan. 

16 ‘‘(D) Within each OCS Planning Area, after the 

17 preparation of the first development and production 

18 plan environmental impact statement for a leased 

19 tract within the Area, future development and pro20 duction plans for leased tracts within the Area shall 

21 only require the preparation of an environmental as22 sessment unless the most recent development and pro23 duction plan environmental impact statement within 

24 the Area was finalized more than 10 years prior to 


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1 the date of the approval of the plan, in which case an 

2 environmental impact statement shall be required.’’. 

3 SEC. 13. REVIEW OF OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF DEVEL4 OPMENT AND PRODUCTION PLANS. 

5 Section 25 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

6 (43 U.S.C. 1351(a)) is amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 25. REVIEW OF OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF DEVEL8 OPMENT AND PRODUCTION PLANS. 

9 ‘‘(a) DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION PLANS; SUB10 MISSION TO SECRETARY; STATEMENT OF FACILITIES AND

11 OPERATION; SUBMISSION TO GOVERNORS OF AFFECTED

12 STATES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) Prior to development and production pursu14 ant to an oil and gas lease issued on or after Sep15 tember 18, 1978, for any area of the outer Conti16 nental Shelf, or issued or maintained prior to Sep17 tember 18, 1978, for any area of the outer Conti18 nental Shelf, with respect to which no oil or gas has 

19 been discovered in paying quantities prior to Sep20 tember 18, 1978, the lessee shall submit a development 

21 and production plan (hereinafter in this section re22 ferred to as a ‘plan’) to the Secretary for review. 

23 ‘‘(2) A plan shall be accompanied by a statement 

24 describing all facilities and operations, other than 

25 those on the outer Continental Shelf, proposed by the 


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1 lessee and known by the lessee (whether or not owned 

2 or operated by such lessee) that will be constructed or 

3 utilized in the development and production of oil or 

4 gas from the lease area, including the location and 

5 site of such facilities and operations, the land, labor, 

6 material, and energy requirements associated with 

7 such facilities and operations, and all environmental 

8 and safety safeguards to be implemented. 

9 ‘‘(3) Except for any privileged or proprietary in10 formation (as such term is defined in regulations 

11 issued by the Secretary), the Secretary, within 30 

12 days after receipt of a plan and statement, shall— 

13 ‘‘(A) submit such plan and statement to the 

14 Governor of any affected State, and upon request 

15 to the executive of any affected local government; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(B) make such plan and statement avail18 able to any appropriate interstate regional enti19 ty and the public. 

20 ‘‘(b) DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION ACTIVITIES IN

21 ACCORDANCE WITH PLAN AS LEASE REQUIREMENT.—After 

22 enactment of the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act of 2006, 

23 no oil and gas lease may be issued pursuant to this Act 

24 in any region of the outer Continental Shelf, unless such 

25 lease requires that development and production activities 


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1 be carried out in accordance with a plan that complies with 

2 the requirements of this section. This section shall also 

3 apply to leases that do not have an approved development 

4 and production plan as of the date of enactment of the Deep 

5 Ocean Energy Resources Act of 2006. 

6 ‘‘(c) SCOPE AND CONTENTS OF PLAN.—A plan may 

7 apply to more than one oil and gas lease, and shall set forth, 

8 in the degree of detail established by regulations issued by 

9 the Secretary— 

10 ‘‘(1) the general work to be performed; 

11 ‘‘(2) a description of all facilities and operations 

12 located on the outer Continental Shelf that are pro13 posed by the lessee or known by the lessee (whether or 

14 not owned or operated by such lessee) to be directly 

15 related to the proposed development, including the lo16 cation and size of such facilities and operations, and 

17 the land, labor, material, and energy requirements as18 sociated with such facilities and operations; 

19 ‘‘(3) the environmental safeguards to be imple20 mented on the outer Continental Shelf and how such 

21 safeguards are to be implemented; 

22 ‘‘(4) all safety standards to be met and how such 

23 standards are to be met; 

24 ‘‘(5) an expected rate of development and pro25 duction and a time schedule for performance; and 


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1 ‘‘(6) such other relevant information as the Sec2 retary may by regulation require. 

3 ‘‘(d) COMPLETENESS REVIEW OF THE PLAN.— 

4 ‘‘(1) Prior to commencing any activity under a 

5 development and production plan pursuant to any oil 

6 and gas lease issued or maintained under this Act, 

7 the lessee shall certify that the plan is consistent with 

8 the terms of the lease and that it is consistent with 

9 all statutory and regulatory requirements in effect on 

10 the date of issuance of the lease, and any regulations 

11 promulgated under this Act related to the conserva12 tion of resources after the date of lease issuance. The 

13 plan shall include all required information and docu14 mentation required under subsection (c). 

15 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall review the plan for com16 pleteness within 30 days of submission. If the Sec17 retary finds that the plan is not complete, the Sec18 retary shall notify the lessee with a detailed expla19 nation of such modifications of such plan as are nec20 essary to achieve completeness. The Secretary shall 

21 have 30 days to review a modified plan for complete22 ness. 

23 ‘‘(e) REVIEW FOR CONSISTENCY OF THE PLAN.— 

24 ‘‘(1) After a determination that a plan is com25 plete, the Secretary shall have 120 days to conduct a 


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1 review of the plan, to ensure that it is consistent with 

2 the terms of the lease, and that it is consistent with 

3 all such statutory and regulatory requirements appli4 cable to the lease. The review shall ensure that the 

5 plan is consistent with lease terms, and statutory and 

6 regulatory requirements applicable to the lease, re7 lated to national security or national defense, includ8 ing any military operating stipulations or other re9 strictions. The Secretary shall seek the assistance of 

10 the Department of Defense in the conduct of the re11 view of any plan prepared under this section for a 

12 lease containing military operating stipulations or 

13 other restrictions and shall accept the assistance of the 

14 Department of Defense in the conduct of the review of 

15 any plan prepared under this section for any other 

16 lease when the Secretary of Defense requests an oppor17 tunity to participate in the review. If the Secretary 

18 finds that the plan is not consistent, the Secretary 

19 shall notify the lessee with a detailed explanation of 

20 such modifications of such plan as are necessary to 

21 achieve consistency. 

22 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall have 120 days to review 

23 a modified plan. 

24 ‘‘(3) The lessee shall not conduct any activities 

25 under the plan during any 120-day review period, or 


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1 thereafter until the plan has been modified to achieve 

2 compliance as so notified. 

3 ‘‘(4) After review by the Secretary provided for 

4 by this section, a lessee may operate pursuant to the 

5 plan without further review or approval by the Sec6 retary. 

7 ‘‘(f) REVIEW OF REVISION OF THE APPROVED PLAN.— 

8 The lessee may submit to the Secretary any revision of a 

9 plan if the lessee determines that such revision will lead 

10 to greater recovery of oil and natural gas, improve the effi11 ciency, safety, and environmental protection of the recovery 

12 operation, is the only means available to avoid substantial 

13 economic hardship to the lessee, or is otherwise not incon14 sistent with the provisions of this Act, to the extent such 

15 revision is consistent with protection of the human, marine, 

16 and coastal environments. The process to be used for the 

17 review of any such revision shall be the same as that set 

18 forth in subsections (d) and (e). 

19 ‘‘(g) CANCELLATION OF LEASE ON FAILURE TO SUB20 MIT PLAN OR COMPLY WITH A PLAN.—Whenever the owner 

21 of any lease fails to submit a plan in accordance with regu22 lations issued under this section, or fails to comply with 

23 a plan, the lease may be canceled in accordance with section 

24 5(c) and (d). Termination of a lease because of failure to 


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1 comply with a plan, including required modifications or 

2 revisions, shall not entitle a lessee to any compensation. 

3 ‘‘(h) PRODUCTION AND TRANSPORTATION OF NATURAL

4 GAS; SUBMISSION OF PLAN TO FEDERAL ENERGY REGU5 LATORY COMMISSION; IMPACT STATEMENT.—If any devel6 opment and production plan submitted to the Secretary 

7 pursuant to this section provides for the production and 

8 transportation of natural gas, the lessee shall contempora9 neously submit to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commis10 sion that portion of such plan that relates to the facilities 

11 for transportation of natural gas. The Secretary and the 

12 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission shall agree as to 

13 which of them shall prepare an environmental impact state14 ment pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act 

15 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) applicable to such portion 

16 of such plan, or conduct studies as to the effect on the envi17 ronment of implementing it. Thereafter, the findings and 

18 recommendations by the agency preparing such environ19 mental impact statement or conducting such studies pursu20 ant to such agreement shall be adopted by the other agency, 

21 and such other agency shall not independently prepare an22 other environmental impact statement or duplicate such 

23 studies with respect to such portion of such plan, but the 

24 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, in connection 

25 with its review of an application for a certificate of public 


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1 convenience and necessity applicable to such transportation 

2 facilities pursuant to section 7 of the Natural Gas Act (15 

3 U.S.C. 717f), may prepare such environmental studies or 

4 statement relevant to certification of such transportation fa5 cilities as have not been covered by an environmental im6 pact statement or studies prepared by the Secretary. The 

7 Secretary, in consultation with the Federal Energy Regu8 latory Commission, shall promulgate rules to implement 

9 this subsection, but the Federal Energy Regulatory Com10 mission shall retain sole authority with respect to rules and 

11 procedures applicable to the filing of any application with 

12 the Commission and to all aspects of the Commission’s re13 view of, and action on, any such application.’’. 

14 SEC. 14. FEDERAL ENERGY NATURAL RESOURCES EN15 HANCEMENT FUND ACT OF 2006. 

16 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 

17 (1) Energy and minerals exploration, develop18 ment, and production on Federal onshore and offshore 

19 lands, including bio-based fuel, natural gas, minerals, 

20 oil, geothermal, and power from wind, waves, cur21 rents, and thermal energy, involves significant out22 lays of funds by Federal and State wildlife, fish, and 

23 natural resource management agencies for environ24 mental studies, planning, development, monitoring, 


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1 and management of wildlife, fish, air, water, and 

2 other natural resources. 

3 (2) State wildlife, fish, and natural resource 

4 management agencies are funded primarily through 

5 permit and license fees paid to the States by the gen6 eral public to hunt and fish, and through Federal ex7 cise taxes on equipment used for these activities. 

8 (3) Funds generated from consumptive and rec9 reational uses of wildlife, fish, and other natural re10 sources currently are inadequate to address the nat11 ural resources related to energy and minerals develop12 ment on Federal onshore and offshore lands. 

13 (4) Funds available to Federal agencies respon14 sible for managing Federal onshore and offshore lands 

15 and Federal-trust wildlife and fish species and their 

16 habitats are inadequate to address the natural re17 sources related to energy and minerals development 

18 on Federal onshore and offshore lands. 

19 (5) Receipts derived from sales, bonus bids, and 

20 royalties under the mineral leasing laws of the United 

21 States are paid to the Treasury through the Minerals 

22 Management Service of the Department of the Inte23 rior. 

24 (6) None of the receipts derived from sales, bonus 

25 bids, and royalties under the minerals leasing laws of 


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1 the United States are paid to the Federal or State 

2 agencies to examine, monitor, and manage wildlife, 

3 fish, air, water, and other natural resources related to 

4 natural gas, oil, and mineral exploration and devel5 opment. 

6 (b) PURPOSES.—It is the purpose of this section to— 

7 (1) establish a fund for the monitoring and man8 agement of wildlife and fish, and their habitats, and 

9 air, water, and other natural resources related to en10 ergy and minerals development on Federal onshore 

11 and offshore lands; 

12 (2) make available receipts derived from sales, 

13 bonus bids, royalties, and fees from onshore and off14 shore gas, mineral, oil, and any additional form of 

15 energy and minerals development under the laws of 

16 the United States for the purposes of such fund; 

17 (3) distribute funds from such fund each fiscal 

18 year to the Secretary of the Interior and the States; 

19 and 

20 (4) use the distributed funds to secure the nec21 essary trained workforce or contractual services to 

22 conduct environmental studies, planning, develop23 ment, monitoring, and post-development management 

24 of wildlife and fish and their habitats and air, water, 

25 and other natural resources that may be related to 


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1 bio-based fuel, gas, mineral, oil, wind, or other energy 

2 exploration, development, transportation, trans3 mission, and associated activities on Federal onshore 

4 and offshore lands, including, but not limited to— 

5 (A) pertinent research, surveys, and envi6 ronmental analyses conducted to identify any 

7 impacts on wildlife, fish, air, water, and other 

8 natural resources from energy and mineral ex9 ploration, development, production, and trans10 portation or transmission; 

11 (B) projects to maintain, improve, or en12 hance wildlife and fish populations and their 

13 habitats or air, water, or other natural resources, 

14 including activities under the Endangered Spe15 cies Act of 1973; 

16 (C) research, surveys, environmental anal17 yses, and projects that assist in managing, in18 cluding mitigating either onsite or offsite, or 

19 both, the impacts of energy and mineral activi20 ties on wildlife, fish, air, water, and other nat21 ural resources; and 

22 (D) projects to teach young people to live off 

23 the land. 

24 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) ENHANCEMENT FUND.—The term ‘‘Enhance2 ment Fund’’ means the Federal Energy Natural Re3 sources Enhancement Fund established by subsection 

4 (d). 

5 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the Gov6 ernor of the State. 

7 (d) ESTABLISHMENT AND USE OF FEDERAL ENERGY

8 NATURAL RESOURCES ENHANCEMENT FUND.— 

9 (1) ENHANCEMENT FUND.—There is established 

10 in the Treasury a separate account to be known as 

11 the ‘‘Federal Energy Natural Resources Enhancement 

12 Fund’’. 

13 (2) FUNDING.—The Secretary of the Treasury 

14 shall deposit in the Enhancement Fund— 

15 (A) such sums as are provided by sections 

16 9(b)(5)(A)(ii), 9(b)(5)(B)(ii), 9(c)(4)(A)(ii), and 

17 9(c)(4)(B)(ii) of the Outer Continental Shelf 

18 Lands Act, as amended by this Act; 

19 (B)(i) during the period of October 1, 2006, 

20 through September 30, 2015, one percent of all 

21 sums paid into the Treasury under section 35 of 

22 the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 191), and 

23 (ii) beginning October 1, 2015, and there24 after, 2.5 percent of all sums paid into the 


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1 Treasury under section 35 of the Mineral Leas2 ing Act (30 U.S.C. 191); and 

3 (C)(i) during the period of October 1, 2006, 

4 through September 30, 2015, one percent of all 

5 sums paid into the Treasury from receipts de6 rived from bonus bids and royalties from other 

7 mineral leasing on public lands, and 

8 (ii) beginning October 1, 2015, and there9 after, 2.5 percent of all sums paid into the 

10 Treasury from receipts derived from bonus bids 

11 and royalties from other mineral leasing on pub12 lic lands. 

13 (3) INVESTMENTS.—The Secretary of the Treas14 ury shall invest the amounts deposited under para15 graph (2) and all accrued interest on the amounts de16 posited under paragraph (2) only in interest bearing 

17 obligations of the United States or in obligations 

18 guaranteed as to both principal and interest by the 

19 United States. 

20 (4) PAYMENT TO SECRETARY OF THE INTE21 RIOR.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning with fiscal 

23 year 2007, and in each fiscal year thereafter, 

24 one-third of amounts deposited into the Enhance25 ment Fund, together with the interest thereon, 


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1 shall be available, without fiscal year limita2 tions, to the Secretary of the Interior for use for 

3 the purposes described in (b)(4). 

4 (B) WITHDRAWALS AND TRANSFER OF

5 FUNDS.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall 

6 withdraw such amounts from the Enhancement 

7 Fund as the Secretary of the Interior may re8 quest, subject to the limitation in (A), and trans9 fer such amounts to the Secretary of the Interior 

10 to be used, at the discretion of the Secretary of 

11 the Interior, by the Minerals Management Serv12 ice, the Bureau of Land Management, and the 

13 United States Fish and Wildlife Service for use 

14 for the purposes described in subsection (b)(4). 

15 (5) PAYMENT TO STATES.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning with fiscal 

17 year 2007, and in each fiscal year thereafter, 

18 two-thirds of amounts deposited into the En19 hancement Fund, together with the interest there20 on, shall be available, without fiscal year limita21 tions, to the States for use for the purposes de22 scribed in (b)(4). 

23 (B) WITHDRAWALS AND TRANSFER OF

24 FUNDS.—Within the first 90 days of each fiscal 

25 year, the Secretary of the Treasury shall withVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:12 Jun 27, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00068 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4761.RH H4761

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1 draw amounts from the Enhancement Fund and 

2 transfer such amounts to the States based on the 

3 proportion of all receipts that were collected the 

4 previous fiscal year from Federal leases within 

5 the boundaries of each State and each State’s 

6 outer Continental Shelf Adjacent Zone as deter7 mined in accordance with section 4(a) of the 

8 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 

9 1333(a)), as amended by this Act. 

10 (C) USE OF PAYMENTS BY STATE.—Each 

11 State shall use the payments made under sub12 paragraph (B) only for carrying out projects 

13 and programs for the purposes described in 

14 (b)(4). 

15 (D) ENCOURAGE USE OF PRIVATE FUNDS BY

16 STATE.—Each State shall use the payments 

17 made under subparagraph (B) to leverage pri18 vate funds for carrying out projects for the pur19 poses described in (b)(4). 

20 (e) LIMITATION ON USE.—Amounts available under 

21 this section may not be used for the purchase of any interest 

22 in land. 

23 (f) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning in fiscal year 2008 

25 and continuing for each fiscal year thereafter, the 


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1 Secretary of the Interior and each State receiving 

2 funds from the Enhancement Fund shall submit a re3 port to the Committee on Energy and Natural Re4 sources of the Senate and the Committee on Resources 

5 of the House of Representatives. 

6 (2) REQUIREDINFORMATION.—Reports sub7 mitted to the Congress by the Secretary of the Interior 

8 and States under this subsection shall include the fol9 lowing information regarding expenditures during the 

10 previous fiscal year: 

11 (A) A summary of pertinent scientific re12 search and surveys conducted to identify impacts 

13 on wildlife, fish, and other natural resources 

14 from energy and mineral developments. 

15 (B) A summary of projects planned and 

16 completed to maintain, improve or enhance wild17 life and fish populations and their habitats or 

18 other natural resources. 

19 (C) A list of additional actions that assist, 

20 or would assist, in managing, including miti21 gating either onsite or offsite, or both, the im22 pacts of energy and mineral development on 

23 wildlife, fish, and other natural resources. 

24 (D) A summary of private (non-Federal) 

25 funds used to plan, conduct, and complete the 


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1 plans and programs identified in paragraphs 

2 (2)(A) and (2)(B). 

3 SEC. 15. TERMINATION OF EFFECT OF LAWS PROHIBITING 

4 THE SPENDING OF APPROPRIATED FUNDS 

5 FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES. 

6 All provisions of existing Federal law prohibiting the 

7 spending of appropriated funds to conduct oil and natural 

8 gas leasing and preleasing activities, or to issue a lease to 

9 any person, for any area of the outer Continental Shelf shall 

10 have no force or effect. 

11 SEC. 16. OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF INCOMPATIBLE USE. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—No Federal agency may permit 

13 construction or operation (or both) of any facility, or des14 ignate or maintain a restricted transportation corridor or 

15 operating area on the Federal outer Continental Shelf or 

16 in State waters, that will be incompatible with, as deter17 mined by the Secretary of the Interior, oil and gas or nat18 ural gas leasing and substantially full exploration and pro19 duction of tracts that are geologically prospective for oil or 

20 natural gas (or both). 

21 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to 

22 any facility, transportation corridor, or operating area the 

23 construction, operation, designation, or maintenance of 

24 which is or will be— 


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1 (1) located in an area of the outer Continental 

2 Shelf that is unavailable for oil and gas or natural 

3 gas leasing by operation of law; 

4 (2) used for a military readiness activity (as de5 fined in section 315(f) of Public Law 107–314; 16 

6 U.S.C. 703 note); or 

7 (3) required in the national interest, as deter8 mined by the President. 

9 SEC. 17. REPURCHASE OF CERTAIN LEASES. 

10 (a) AUTHORITY TO REPURCHASE AND CANCEL CER11 TAIN LEASES.—The Secretary of the Interior shall repur12 chase and cancel any Federal oil and gas, geothermal, coal, 

13 oil shale, tar sands, or other mineral lease, whether onshore 

14 or offshore, if the Secretary finds that such lease qualifies 

15 for repurchase and cancellation under the regulations au16 thorized by this section. 

17 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 365 days after the 

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

19 a final regulation stating the conditions under which a 

20 lease referred to in subsection (a) would qualify for repur21 chase and cancellation, and the process to be followed re22 garding repurchase and cancellation. Such regulation shall 

23 include, but not be limited to, the following: 


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1 (1) The Secretary shall repurchase and cancel a 

2 lease after written request by the lessee upon a finding 

3 by the Secretary that— 

4 (A) a request by the lessee for a required 

5 permit or other approval complied with applica6 ble law, except the Coastal Zone Management 

7 Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.), and terms 

8 of the lease and such permit or other approval 

9 was denied; 

10 (B) a Federal agency failed to act on a re11 quest by the lessee for a required permit, other 

12 approval, or administrative appeal within a reg13 ulatory or statutory time-frame associated with 

14 the requested action, whether advisory or manda15 tory, or if none, within 180 days; or 

16 (C) a Federal agency attached a condition 

17 of approval, without agreement by the lessee, to 

18 a required permit or other approval if such con19 dition of approval was not mandated by Federal 

20 statute or regulation in effect on the date of lease 

21 issuance, or was not specifically allowed under 

22 the terms of the lease. 

23 (2) A lessee shall not be required to exhaust ad24 ministrative remedies regarding a permit request, adVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:12 Jun 27, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00073 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4761.RH H4761

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1 ministrative appeal, or other required request for ap2 proval for the purposes of this section. 

3 (3) The Secretary shall make a final agency de4 cision on a request by a lessee under this section with5 in 180 days of request. 

6 (4) Compensation to a lessee to repurchase and 

7 cancel a lease under this section shall be the amount 

8 that a lessee would receive in a restitution case for a 

9 material breach of contract. 

10 (5) Compensation shall be in the form of a check 

11 or electronic transfer from the Department of the 

12 Treasury from funds deposited into miscellaneous re13 ceipts under the authority of the same Act that au14 thorized the issuance of the lease being repurchased. 

15 (6) Failure of the Secretary to make a final 

16 agency decision on a request by a lessee under this 

17 section within 180 days of request shall result in a 

18 10 percent increase in the compensation due to the 

19 lessee if the lease is ultimately repurchased. 

20 (c) NO PREJUDICE.—This section shall not be inter21 preted to prejudice any other rights that the lessee would 

22 have in the absence of this section. 

23 SEC. 18. OFFSITE ENVIRONMENTAL MITIGATION. 

24 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any per25 son conducting activities under the Mineral Leasing Act (30 


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1 U.S.C. 181 et seq.), the Geothermal Steam Act (30 U.S.C. 

2 1001 et seq.), the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands 

3 (30 U.S.C. 351 et seq.), the Weeks Act (16 U.S.C. 552 et 

4 seq.), the General Mining Act of 1872 (30 U.S.C. 22 et seq.), 

5 the Materials Act of 1947 (30 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), or the 

6 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.), 

7 may in satisfying any mitigation requirements associated 

8 with such activities propose mitigation measures on a site 

9 away from the area impacted and the Secretary of the Inte10 rior shall accept these proposed measures if the Secretary 

11 finds that they generally achieve the purposes for which 

12 mitigation measures appertained. 

13 SEC. 19. AMENDMENTS TO THE MINERAL LEASING ACT. 

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

15 226(g)) is amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(g) REGULATION OF SURFACE-DISTURBING ACTIVI17 TIES.— 

18 ‘‘(1) REGULATION OF SURFACE-DISTURBING AC19 TIVITIES.—The Secretary of the Interior, or for Na20 tional Forest lands, the Secretary of Agriculture, shall 

21 regulate all surface-disturbing activities conducted 

22 pursuant to any lease issued under this Act, and shall 

23 determine reclamation and other actions as required 

24 in the interest of conservation of surface resources. 


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1 ‘‘(2) SUBMISSION OF EXPLORATION PLAN; COM2 PLETION REVIEW; COMPLIANCE REVIEW.— 

3 ‘‘(A) Prior to beginning oil and gas explo4 ration activities, a lessee shall submit an explo5 ration plan to the Secretary of the Interior for 

6 review. 

7 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall review the plan for 

8 completeness within 10 days of submission. 

9 ‘‘(C) In the event the exploration plan is de10 termined to be incomplete, the Secretary shall 

11 notify the lessee in writing and specify the items 

12 or information needed to complete the explo13 ration plan. 

14 ‘‘(D) The Secretary shall have 10 days to 

15 review any modified exploration plan submitted 

16 by the lessee. 

17 ‘‘(E) To be deemed complete, an exploration 

18 plan shall include, in the degree of detail to be 

19 determined by the Secretary by rule or regula20 tion— 

21 ‘‘(i) a drilling plan containing a de22 scription of the drilling program; 

23 ‘‘(ii) the surface and projected comple24 tion zone location; 

25 ‘‘(iii) pertinent geologic data; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) expected hazards, and proposed 

2 mitigation measures to address such haz3 ards; 

4 ‘‘(v) a schedule of anticipated explo5 ration activities to be undertaken; 

6 ‘‘(vi) a description of equipment to be 

7 used for such activities; 

8 ‘‘(vii) a certification from the lessee 

9 stating that the exploration plan complies 

10 with all lease, regulatory and statutory re11 quirements in effect on the date of the 

12 issuance of the lease and any regulations 

13 promulgated after the date of lease issuance 

14 related to the conservation of resources; 

15 ‘‘(viii) evidence that the lessee has se16 cured an adequate bond, surety, or other fi17 nancial arrangement prior to commence18 ment of any surface disturbing activity; 

19 ‘‘(ix) a plan that details the complete 

20 and timely reclamation of the lease tract; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(x) such other relevant information as 

23 the Secretary may by regulation require. 

24 ‘‘(F) Upon a determination that the explo25 ration plan is complete, the Secretary shall have 


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1 30 days from the date the plan is deemed com2 plete to conduct a review of the plan. 

3 ‘‘(G) If the Secretary finds the exploration 

4 plan is not consistent with all statutory and reg5 ulatory requirements described in subparagraph 

6 (E)(vii), the Secretary shall notify the lessee with 

7 a detailed explanation of such modifications of 

8 the exploration plan as are necessary to achieve 

9 compliance. 

10 ‘‘(H) The lessee shall not take any action 

11 under the exploration plan within a 30 day re12 view period, or thereafter until the plan has been 

13 modified to achieve compliance as so notified. 

14 ‘‘(I) After review by the Secretary provided 

15 by this subsection, a lessee may operate pursuant 

16 to the plan without further review or approval 

17 by the Secretary. 

18 ‘‘(3) PLAN REVISIONS; CONDUCT OF EXPLO19 RATION ACTIVITIES.— 

20 ‘‘(A) If a significant revision of an explo21 ration plan under this subsection is submitted to 

22 the Secretary, the process to be used for the re23 view of such revision shall be the same as set 

24 forth in paragraph (1) of this subsection. 


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1 ‘‘(B) All exploration activities pursuant to 

2 any lease shall be conducted in accordance with 

3 an exploration plan that has been submitted to 

4 and reviewed by the Secretary or a revision of 

5 such plan. 

6 ‘‘(4) SUBMISSION OF DEVELOPMENT AND PRO7 DUCTION PLAN; COMPLETENESS REVIEW; COMPLIANCE

8 REVIEW.— 

9 ‘‘(A) Prior to beginning oil and gas devel10 opment and production activities, a lessee shall 

11 submit a development and exploration plan to 

12 the Secretary of the Interior. Upon submission, 

13 such plans shall be subject to a review for com14 pleteness. 

15 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall review the plan for 

16 completeness within 30 days of submission. 

17 ‘‘(C) In the event a development and pro18 duction plan is determined to be incomplete, the 

19 Secretary shall notify the lessee in writing and 

20 specify the items or information needed to com21 plete the plan. 

22 ‘‘(D) The Secretary shall have 30 days to 

23 review for completeness any modified develop24 ment and production plan submitted by the les25 see. 


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1 ‘‘(E) To be deemed complete, a development 

2 and production plan shall include, in the degree 

3 of detail to be determined by the Secretary by 

4 rule or regulation— 

5 ‘‘(i) a drilling plan containing a de6 scription of the drilling program; 

7 ‘‘(ii) the surface and projected comple8 tion zone location; 

9 ‘‘(iii) pertinent geologic data; 

10 ‘‘(iv) expected hazards, and proposed 

11 mitigation measures to address such haz12 ards; 

13 ‘‘(v) a statement describing all facili14 ties and operations proposed by the lessee 

15 and known by the lessee (whether or not 

16 owned or operated by such lessee) that shall 

17 be constructed or utilized in the develop18 ment and production of oil or gas from the 

19 leases areas, including the location and site 

20 of such facilities and operations, the land, 

21 labor, material, and energy requirements 

22 associated with such facilities and oper23 ations; 

24 ‘‘(vi) the general work to be performed; 


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1 ‘‘(vii) the environmental safeguards to 

2 be implemented in connection with the de3 velopment and production and how such 

4 safeguards are to be implemented; 

5 ‘‘(viii) all safety standards to be met 

6 and how such standards are to be met; 

7 ‘‘(ix) an expected rate of development 

8 and production and a time schedule for per9 formance; 

10 ‘‘(x) a certification from the lessee stat11 ing that the development and production 

12 plan complies with all lease, regulatory, 

13 and statutory requirements in effect on the 

14 date of issuance of the lease, and any regu15 lations promulgated after the date of lease 

16 issuance related to the conservation of re17 sources; 

18 ‘‘(xi) evidence that the lessee has se19 cured an adequate bond, surety, or other fi20 nancial arrangement prior to commence21 ment of any surface disturbing activity; 

22 ‘‘(xii) a plan that details the complete 

23 and timely reclamation of the lease tract; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(xiii) such other relevant information 

2 as the Secretary may by regulation require. 

3 ‘‘(F) Upon a determination that the devel4 opment and production plan is complete, the 

5 Secretary shall have 120 days from the date the 

6 plan is deemed complete to conduct a review of 

7 the plan. 

8 ‘‘(G) If the Secretary finds the development 

9 and production plan is not consistent with all 

10 statutory and regulatory requirements described 

11 in subparagraph (E)(x), the Secretary shall no12 tify the lessee with a detailed explanation of such 

13 modifications of the development and production 

14 plan as are necessary to achieve compliance. 

15 ‘‘(H) The lessee shall not take any action 

16 under the development and production plan 

17 within a 120 day review period, or thereafter 

18 until the plan has been modified to achieve com19 pliance as so notified. 

20 ‘‘(5) PLAN REVISIONS; CONDUCT OF DEVELOP21 MENT ANDPRODUCTION ACTIVITIES.— 

22 ‘‘(A) If a significant revision of a develop23 ment and production plan under this subsection 

24 is submitted to the Secretary, the process to be 

25 used for the review of such revision shall be the 


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1 same as set forth in paragraph (4) of this sub2 section. 

3 ‘‘(B) All development and production ac4 tivities pursuant to any lease shall be conducted 

5 in accordance with a development and produc6 tion plan that has been submitted to and re7 viewed by the Secretary or a revision of such 

8 plan. 

9 ‘‘(6) CANCELLATION OF LEASE ON FAILURE TO

10 SUBMIT PLAN OR COMPLY WITH APPROVEDPLAN.— 

11 Whenever the owner of any lease fails to submit a 

12 plan in accordance with regulations issued under this 

13 section, or fails to comply with a plan, the lease may 

14 be canceled in accordance with section 31. Termi15 nation of a lease because of failure to comply with a 

16 plan, including required modifications or revisions, 

17 shall not entitle a lessee to any compensation.’’. 

18 SEC. 20. MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE. 

19 The bureau known as the ‘‘Minerals Management Serv20 ice’’ in the Department of the Interior shall be known as 

21 the ‘‘National Ocean Resources and Royalty Service’’. 


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1 SEC. 21. AUTHORITY TO USE DECOMMISSIONED OFFSHORE 

2 OIL AND GAS PLATFORMS AND OTHER FA3 CILITIES FOR ARTIFICIAL REEF, SCIENTIFIC 

4 RESEARCH, OR OTHER USES. 

5 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the 

6 ‘‘Rigs to Reefs Act of 2006’’. 

7 (b) IN GENERAL.—The Outer Continental Shelf Lands 

8 Act (43 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 

9 section 9 the following: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 10. USE OF DECOMMISSIONED OFFSHORE OIL AND 

11 GAS PLATFORMS AND OTHER FACILITIES FOR 

12 ARTIFICIAL REEF, SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, OR 

13 OTHER USES. 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall issue regula15 tions under which the Secretary may authorize use of an 

16 offshore oil and gas platform or other facility that is decom17 missioned from service for oil and gas purposes for an arti18 ficial reef, scientific research, or any other use authorized 

19 under section 8(p) or any other applicable Federal law. 

20 ‘‘(b) TRANSFER REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall 

21 not allow the transfer of a decommissioned offshore oil and 

22 gas platform or other facility to another person unless the 

23 Secretary is satisfied that the transferee is sufficiently bond24 ed, endowed, or otherwise financially able to fulfill its obli25 gations, including but not limited to— 


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1 ‘‘(1) ongoing maintenance of the platform or 

2 other facility; 

3 ‘‘(2) any liability obligations that might arise; 

4 ‘‘(3) removal of the platform or other facility if 

5 determined necessary by the Secretary; and 

6 ‘‘(4) any other requirements and obligations that 

7 the Secretary may deem appropriate by regulation. 

8 ‘‘(c) PLUGGING AND ABANDONMENT.—The Secretary 

9 shall ensure that plugging and abandonment of wells is ac10 complished at an appropriate time. 

11 ‘‘(d) POTENTIAL TO PETITION TO OPT-OUT OF REGU12 LATIONS.—An Adjacent State acting through a resolution 

13 of its legislature, with concurrence of its Governor, may pre14 liminarily petition to opt-out of the application of regula15 tions promulgated under this section to platforms and other 

16 facilities located in the area of its Adjacent Zone within 

17 12 miles of the coastline. Upon receipt of the preliminary 

18 petition, the Secretary shall complete an environmental as19 sessment that documents the anticipated environmental ef20 fects of approving the petition. The Secretary shall provide 

21 the environmental assessment to the State, which then has 

22 the choice of no action or confirming its petition by further 

23 action of its legislature, with the concurrence of its Gov24 ernor. The Secretary is authorized to except such area from 


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1 the application of such regulations, and shall approve any 

2 confirmed petition. 

3 ‘‘(e) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY.—A person that had 

4 used an offshore oil and gas platform or other facility for 

5 oil and gas purposes and that no longer has any ownership 

6 or control of the platform or other facility shall not be liable 

7 under Federal law for any costs or damages arising from 

8 such platform or other facility after the date the platform 

9 or other facility is used for any purpose under subsection 

10 (a), unless such costs or damages arise from— 

11 ‘‘(1) use of the platform or other facility by the 

12 person for development or production of oil or gas; or 

13 ‘‘(2) another act or omission of the person. 

14 ‘‘(f) OTHER LEASING AND USE NOT AFFECTED.—This 

15 section, and the use of any offshore oil and gas platform 

16 or other facility for any purpose under subsection (a), shall 

17 not affect— 

18 ‘‘(1) the authority of the Secretary to lease any 

19 area under this Act; or 

20 ‘‘(2) any activity otherwise authorized under this 

21 Act.’’. 

22 (c) DEADLINE FOR REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of 

23 the Interior shall issue regulations under subsection (b) by 

24 not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 

25 this Act. 


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1 (d) STUDY AND REPORT ON EFFECTS OF REMOVAL OF

2 PLATFORMS.—Not later than one year after the date of en3 actment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior, in con4 sultation with other Federal agencies as the Secretary deems 

5 advisable, shall study and report to the Congress regarding 

6 how the removal of offshore oil and gas platforms and other 

7 facilities from the outer Continental Shelf would affect ex8 isting fish stocks and coral populations. 

9 SEC. 22. REPEAL OF REQUIREMENT TO CONDUCT COM10 PREHENSIVE INVENTORY OF OCS OIL AND 

11 NATURAL GAS RESOURCES. 

12 The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–58) 

13 is amended— 

14 (1) by repealing section 357 (119 Stat. 720; 42 

15 U.S.C. 15912); and 

16 (2) in the table of contents in section 1(b), by 

17 striking the item relating to such section 357. 

18 SEC. 23. MINING AND PETROLEUM SCHOOLS. 

19 (a) FEDERAL ENERGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES

20 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND.— 

21 (1) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND.—There 

22 is established in the Treasury a separate account to 

23 be known as the ‘‘Federal Energy And Mineral Re24 sources Professional Development Fund’’ (in this secVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:12 Jun 27, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00087 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4761.RH H4761

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1 tion referred to as the ‘‘Professional Development 

2 Fund’’). 

3 (2) FUNDING.—The Secretary of the Treasury 

4 shall deposit in the Professional Development Fund— 

5 (A) such sums as are provided by sections 

6 9(b)(5)(A)(iii), 9(b)(5)(B)(iii), 9(c)(4)(A)(iii), 

7 and 9(c)(4)(B)(iii) of the Outer Continental 

8 Shelf Lands Act, as amended by this Act; 

9 (B)(i) during the period of October 1, 2006, 

10 through September 30, 2015, one percent of all 

11 sums paid into the Treasury under section 35 of 

12 the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 191), and 

13 (ii) beginning October 1, 2015, and there14 after, 2.5 percent of all sums paid into the 

15 Treasury under section 35 of the Mineral Leas16 ing Act (30 U.S.C. 191); 

17 (C)(i) during the period of October 1, 2006, 

18 through September 30, 2015, one percent of all 

19 sums paid into the Treasury from receipts de20 rived from bonus bids and royalties from other 

21 mineral leasing on public lands, and 

22 (ii) beginning October 1, 2015, and there23 after, 2.5 percent of all sums paid into the 

24 Treasury from receipts derived from bonus bids 


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1 and royalties from other mineral leasing on pub2 lic lands; 

3 (D) donations received under paragraph 

4 (4); 

5 (E) amounts referred to in section 2325 of 

6 the Revised Statutes; and 

7 (F) funds received under section 10 of the 

8 Energy and Mineral Schools Reinvestment Act, 

9 as amended by this Act. 

10 (3) INVESTMENTS.—The Secretary of the Treas11 ury shall invest the amounts deposited under para12 graph (2) and all accrued interest on the amounts de13 posited under paragraph (2) only in interest bearing 

14 obligations of the United States or in obligations 

15 guaranteed as to both principal and interest by the 

16 United States. 

17 (4) DONATIONS.—The Secretary of the Interior 

18 may solicit and accept donations of funds for deposit 

19 into the Professional Development Fund. 

20 (5) AVAILABILITY TO SECRETARY OF THE INTE21 RIOR.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning with fiscal 

23 year 2007, and in each fiscal year thereafter, the 

24 amounts deposited into the Professional Develop25 ment Fund, together with the interest thereon, 


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1 shall be available, without fiscal year limita2 tions, to the Secretary of the Interior for use to 

3 carry out the Energy and Mineral Schools Rein4 vestment Act. 

5 (B) WITHDRAWALS AND TRANSFER OF

6 FUNDS.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall 

7 withdraw such amounts from the Professional 

8 Development Fund as the Secretary of the Inte9 rior may request and transfer such amounts to 

10 the Secretary of the Interior to be used, at the 

11 discretion of the Secretary to carry out the En12 ergy and Mineral Schools Reinvestment Act. 

13 (b) MAINTENANCE AND RESTORATION OF EXISTING

14 AND HISTORIC PETROLEUM AND MINING ENGINEERING

15 PROGRAMS.—Public Law 98–409 (30 U.S.C. 1221 et seq.) 

16 is amended to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

18 ‘‘This Act may be cited as the ‘Energy and Mineral 

19 Schools Reinvestment Act’. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 2. POLICY. 

21 ‘‘It is the policy of the United States to maintain the 

22 human capital needed to preserve and foster the economic, 

23 energy, and mineral resources security of the United States. 

24 The petroleum and mining engineering programs and the 

25 applied geology and geophysics programs at State chartered 


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1 schools, universities, and institutions that produce human 

2 capital are national assets and should be assisted with Fed3 eral funds to ensure their continued health and existence. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 3. MAINTAINING AND RESTORING HISTORIC AND EX5 ISTING PETROLEUM AND MINING ENGINEER6 ING EDUCATION PROGRAMS. 

7 ‘‘(a) Using the funds in the Federal Energy And Min8 eral Resources Professional Development Fund, the Sec9 retary of the Interior (in this Act referred to as the ‘Sec10 retary’) shall provide funds to each historic and existing 

11 State-chartered recognized petroleum or mining school to 

12 assist such schools, universities, and institutions in main13 taining programs in petroleum, mining, and mineral engi14 neering education and research. All funds shall be directed 

15 only to these programs and shall be subject to the conditions 

16 of this section. Such funds shall not be less than 33 percent 

17 of the annual outlay of funds under this Act. 

18 ‘‘(b) In this Act the term ‘historic and existing State19 chartered recognized petroleum or mining school’ means a 

20 school, university, or educational institution with the pres21 ence of an engineering program meeting the specific pro22 gram criteria, established by the member societies of ABET, 

23 Inc., for petroleum, mining, or mineral engineering and 

24 that is accredited on the date of enactment of the Deep 

25 Ocean Energy Resources Act of 2006 by ABET, Inc. 


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1 ‘‘(c) It shall be the duty of each school, university, or 

2 institution receiving funds under this section to provide for 

3 and enhance the training of undergraduate and graduate 

4 petroleum, mining, and mineral engineers through research, 

5 investigations, demonstrations, and experiments. All such 

6 work shall be carried out in a manner that will enhance 

7 undergraduate education. 

8 ‘‘(d) Each school, university, or institution receiving 

9 funds under this Act shall maintain the program for which 

10 the funds are provided for 10 years after the date of the 

11 first receipt of such funds and take steps agreed to by the 

12 Secretary to increase the number of undergraduate students 

13 enrolled in and completing the programs of study in petro14 leum, mining, and mineral engineering. 

15 ‘‘(e) The research, investigation, demonstration, exper16 iment, and training authorized by this section may include 

17 development and production of conventional and non-con18 ventional fuel resources, the production of metallic and non19 metallic mineral resources including industrial mineral re20 sources, and the production of stone, sand, and gravel. In 

21 all cases the work carried out with funds made available 

22 under this Act shall include a significant opportunity for 

23 participation by undergraduate students. 

24 ‘‘(f) Research funded by this Act related to energy and 

25 mineral resource development and production may include 


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1 studies of petroleum, mining, and mineral extraction and 

2 immediately related beneficiation technology; mineral eco3 nomics, reclamation technology and practices for active op4 erations, and the development of re-mining systems and 

5 technologies to facilitate reclamation that fosters the ulti6 mate recovery of resources at abandoned petroleum, mining, 

7 and aggregate production sites. 

8 ‘‘(g) Grants for basic science and engineering studies 

9 and research shall not require additional participation by 

10 funding partners. Grants for studies to demonstrate the 

11 proof of concept for science and engineering or the dem12 onstration of feasibility and implementation shall include 

13 participation by industry and may include funding from 

14 other Federal agencies. 

15 ‘‘(h)(1) No funds made available under this section 

16 shall be applied to the acquisition by purchase or lease of 

17 any land or interests therein, or the rental, purchase, con18 struction, preservation, or repair of any building. 

19 ‘‘(2) Funding made available under this section may 

20 be used with the express approval of the Secretary for pro21 posals that will provide for maintaining or upgrading of 

22 existing laboratories and laboratory equipment. Funding 

23 for such maintenance shall not be used for university over24 head expenses. 


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1 ‘‘(3) Funding made available under this Act may be 

2 used for maintaining and upgrading mines and oil and 

3 gas drilling rigs owned by a school, university, or institu4 tion described in this section that are used for under5 graduate and graduate training and worker safety train6 ing. All requests for funding such mines and oil and gas 

7 drilling rigs must demonstrate that they have been owned 

8 by the school, university, or institution for 5 years prior 

9 to the date of enactment of the Deep Ocean Energy Re10 sources Act of 2006 and have been actively used for instruc11 tional or training purposes during that time. 

12 ‘‘(4) Any funding made available under this section 

13 for research, investigation, demonstration, experiment, or 

14 training shall not be used for university overhead charges 

15 in excess of 10 percent of the amount authorized by the Sec16 retary. 

17 ‘‘SEC. 4. FORMER AND NEW PETROLEUM AND MINING ENGI18 NEERING PROGRAMS. 

19 ‘‘A school, university, or educational institution that 

20 formerly met the requirements of section 3(b) immediately 

21 before the date of the enactment of the Deep Ocean Energy 

22 Resources Act of 2006, or that seeks to establish a new pro23 gram described in section 3(b), shall be eligible for funding 

24 under this Act only if it— 


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1 ‘‘(1) establishes a petroleum, mining, or mineral 

2 engineering program that meets the specific program 

3 criteria and is accredited as such by ABET, Inc.; 

4 ‘‘(2) agrees to the conditions of subsections (c) 

5 through (h) of section 3 and the Secretary, as advised 

6 by the Committee established by section 11, deter7 mines that the program will strengthen and increase 

8 the number of nationally available, well- qualified 

9 faculty members in petroleum, mining, and mineral 

10 engineering; and 

11 ‘‘(3) agrees to maintain the accredited program 

12 for 10 years after the date of the first receipt of funds 

13 under this Act. 

14 ‘‘SEC. 5. FUNDING OF CONSORTIA OF HISTORIC AND EXIST15 ING SCHOOLS. 

16 ‘‘Where appropriate, the Secretary may make funds 

17 available to consortia of schools, universities, or institutions 

18 described in sections 3, 4, and 6, including those consortia 

19 that include schools, universities, or institutions that are 

20 ineligible for funds under this Act if those schools, univer21 sities, or institutions, respectively, have skills, programs, or 

22 facilities specifically identified as needed by the consortia 

23 to meet the necessary expenses for purposes of— 

24 ‘‘(1) specific energy and mineral research 

25 projects of broad application that could not otherwise 


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1 be undertaken, including the expenses of planning 

2 and coordinating regional petroleum, geothermal, 

3 mining, and mineral engineering or beneficiation 

4 projects by two or more schools; and 

5 ‘‘(2) research into any aspects of petroleum, geo6 thermal, mining, or mineral engineering or 

7 beneficiation problems, including but not limited to 

8 exploration, that are related to the mission of the De9 partment of the Interior and that are considered by 

10 the Committee to be desirable. 

11 ‘‘SEC. 6. SUPPORT FOR SCHOOLS WITH ENERGY AND MIN12 ERAL RESOURCE PROGRAMS IN PETROLEUM 

13 AND MINERAL EXPLORATION GEOLOGY, PE14 TROLEUM GEOPHYSICS, OR MINING GEO15 PHYSICS. 

16 ‘‘(a) Twenty percent of the annual outlay of funds 

17 under this Act may be granted to schools, universities, and 

18 institutions other than those described in sections 3 and 4. 

19 ‘‘(b) The Secretary, as advised by the Committee estab20 lished by section 11, shall determine the eligibility of a col21 lege or university to receive funding under this Act using 

22 criteria that include— 

23 ‘‘(1) the presence of a substantial program of un24 dergraduate and graduate geoscience instruction and 

25 research in one or more of the following specialties: 


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1 petroleum geology, geothermal geology, mineral explo2 ration geology, economic geology, industrial minerals 

3 geology, mining geology, petroleum geophysics, min4 ing geophysics, geological engineering, or geophysical 

5 engineering that has a demonstrated history of 

6 achievement; 

7 ‘‘(2) evidence of institutional commitment for the 

8 purposes of this Act that includes a significant oppor9 tunity for participation by undergraduate students in 

10 research; 

11 ‘‘(3) evidence that such school, university, or in12 stitution has or can obtain significant industrial co13 operation in activities within the scope of this Act; 

14 ‘‘(4) agreement by the school, university, or in15 stitution to maintain the programs for which the 

16 funding is sought for the 10-year period beginning on 

17 the date the school, university, or institution first re18 ceives such funds; and 

19 ‘‘(5) requiring that such funding shall be for the 

20 purposes set forth in subsections (c) through (h) of 

21 section 3 and subject to the conditions set forth in sec22 tion 3(h). 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 7. DESIGNATION OF FUNDS FOR SCHOLARSHIPS AND 

2 FELLOWSHIPS. 

3 ‘‘(a) The Secretary shall utilize 19 percent of the an4 nual outlay of funds under this Act for the purpose of pro5 viding merit-based scholarships for undergraduate edu6 cation, graduate fellowships, and postdoctoral fellowships. 

7 ‘‘(b) In order to receive a scholarship or a graduate 

8 fellowship, an individual student must be a lawful perma9 nent resident of the United States or a United States citizen 

10 and must agree in writing to complete a course of studies 

11 and receive a degree in petroleum, mining, or mineral engi12 neering, petroleum geology, geothermal geology, mining and 

13 economic geology, petroleum and mining geophysics, or 

14 mineral economics. 

15 ‘‘(c) The regulations required by section 9 shall require 

16 that an individual, in order to retain a scholarship or grad17 uate fellowship, must continue in one of the course of studies 

18 listed in subsection (b) of this section, must remain in good 

19 academic standing, as determined by the school, institution, 

20 or university and must allow for reinstatement of the schol21 arship or graduate fellowship by the Secretary, upon the 

22 recommendation of the school or institution. Such regula23 tions may also provide for recovery of funds from an indi24 vidual who fails to complete any of the courses of study 

25 listed in subsection (b) of this section after notice that such 


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1 completion is a requirement of receipt funding under this 

2 Act. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 8. FUNDING CRITERIA FOR INSTITUTIONS. 

4 ‘‘(a) Each application for funds under this Act shall 

5 state, among other things, the nature of the project to be 

6 undertaken; the period during which it will be pursued; the 

7 qualifications of the personnel who will direct and conduct 

8 it; the estimated costs; the importance of the project to the 

9 Nation, region, or States concerned; its relation to other 

10 known research projects theretofore pursued or being pur11 sued; the extent to which the proposed project will maximize 

12 the opportunity for the training of undergraduate petro13 leum, mining, and mineral engineers; geologists and geo14 physicists; and the extent of participation by nongovern15 mental sources in the project. 

16 ‘‘(b) No funds shall be made available under this Act 

17 except for a project approved by the Secretary. All funds 

18 shall be made available upon the basis of merit of the 

19 project, the need for the knowledge that it is expected to 

20 produce when completed, and the opportunity it provides 

21 for the undergraduate training of individuals as petroleum, 

22 mining, and mineral engineers, geologists, and geo23 physicists. 

24 ‘‘(c) Funds available under this Act shall be paid at 

25 such times and in such amounts during each fiscal year 


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1 as determined by the Secretary, and upon vouchers ap2 proved by the Secretary. Each school, university, or institu3 tion that receives funds under this Act shall— 

4 ‘‘(1) establish its plan to provide for the training 

5 of individuals as petroleum, mining, and mineral en6 gineers, geologists, and geophysicists under a cur7 riculum appropriate to the field of mineral resources 

8 and mineral engineering and related fields; 

9 ‘‘(2) establish policies and procedures that assure 

10 that Federal funds made available under this Act for 

11 any fiscal year will supplement and, to the extent 

12 practicable, increase the level of funds that would, in 

13 the absence of such Federal funds, be made available 

14 for purposes of this Act, and in no case supplant such 

15 funds; and 

16 ‘‘(3) have an officer appointed by its governing 

17 authority who shall receive and account for all funds 

18 paid under this Act and shall make an annual report 

19 to the Secretary on or before the first day of Sep20 tember of each year, on work accomplished and the 

21 status of projects underway, together with a detailed 

22 statement of the amounts received under this Act dur23 ing the preceding fiscal year, and of its disbursements 

24 on schedules prescribed by the Secretary. 


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1 ‘‘(d) If any of the funds received by the authorized re2 ceiving officer of a program under this Act are found by 

3 the Secretary to have been improperly diminished, lost, or 

4 misapplied, such funds shall be recovered by the Secretary. 

5 ‘‘(e) Schools, universities, and institutions receiving 

6 funds under this Act are authorized and encouraged to plan 

7 and conduct programs under this Act in cooperation with 

8 each other and with such other agencies, business enterprises 

9 and individuals. 

10 ‘‘SEC. 9. DUTIES OF SECRETARY. 

11 ‘‘(a) The Secretary, acting through the Assistant Sec12 retary for Land and Minerals Management, shall admin13 ister this Act and shall prescribe such rules and regulations 

14 as may be necessary to carry out its provisions not later 

15 than 1 year after the enactment of the Deep Ocean Energy 

16 Resources Act of 2006. 

17 ‘‘(b)(1) There is established in the Department of the 

18 Interior, under the supervision of the Assistant Secretary 

19 for Land and Minerals Management, an office to be known 

20 as the Office of Petroleum and Mining Schools (hereafter 

21 in this Act referred to as the ‘Office’) to administer the pro22 visions of this Act. There shall be a Director of the Office 

23 who shall be a member of the Senior Executive Service. The 

24 position of the Director shall be allocated from among the 

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1 ment of the Interior and shall be a career reserved position 

2 as defined in section 3132(a)(8) of title 5, United States 

3 Code. 

4 ‘‘(2) The Director is authorized to appoint a Deputy 

5 Director and to employ such officers and employees as may 

6 be necessary to enable the Office to carry out its functions, 

7 not to exceed fifteen. Such appointments shall be made from 

8 existing positions at the Department of the Interior, and 

9 shall be subject to the provisions of title 5, United States 

10 Code, governing appointments in the competitive service. 

11 Such positions shall be paid in accordance with the provi12 sions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such 

13 title relating to classification and General Schedule pay 

14 rates. 

15 ‘‘(3) In carrying out his or her functions, the Director 

16 shall assist and advise the Secretary and the Committee es17 tablished by section 11 of this Act by 

18 ‘‘(A) providing professional and administrative 

19 staff support for the Committee including record20 keeping and maintaining minutes of all Committee 

21 and subcommittee meetings; 

22 ‘‘(B) coordinating the activities of the Committee 

23 with Federal agencies and departments, and the 

24 schools, universities, and institutions to which funds 

25 are provided under this Act; 


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1 ‘‘(C) maintaining accurate records of funds dis2 bursed for all scholarships, fellowships, research 

3 grants, and grants for career technical education pur4 poses; 

5 ‘‘(D) preparing any regulations required to im6 plement this Act; 

7 ‘‘(E) conducting site visits at schools, univer8 sities, and institutions receiving funding under this 

9 Act; and 

10 ‘‘(F) serving as a central repository for reports 

11 and clearing house for public information on research 

12 funded by this Act. 

13 ‘‘(4) The Director or an employee of the Office shall 

14 be present at each meeting of the Committee established by 

15 section 11 or a subcommittee of such Committee. 

16 ‘‘(5) The Director is authorized to contract with public 

17 or private agencies, institutions, and organizations and 

18 with individuals without regard to section 3324(a) and (b) 

19 of title 31, United States Code, and section 5 of title 41, 

20 United States Code, in carrying out his or her functions. 

21 ‘‘(6) As needed the Director shall ascertain whether the 

22 requirements of this Act have been met by schools, univer23 sities, institutions, and individuals, including the payment 

24 of any revenues derived from patents into the fund created 

25 by section 23(a) of this Act as required by section 10(d). 


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1 ‘‘(c) The Secretary, acting through the Office of Petro2 leum and Mining Schools, shall furnish such advice and 

3 assistance as will best promote the purposes of this Act, 

4 shall participate in coordinating research, investigations, 

5 demonstrations, and experiments initiated under this Act, 

6 shall indicate to schools, universities, and institutions re7 ceiving funds under this Act such lines of inquiry that seem 

8 most important, and shall encourage and assist in the es9 tablishment and maintenance of cooperation between such 

10 schools, universities, and institutions, other research orga11 nizations, the Department of the Interior, and other Federal 

12 agencies. 

13 ‘‘(d) The Secretary shall establish procedures— 

14 ‘‘(1) to ensure that each employee and contractor 

15 of the Office established by this section and each mem16 ber of the committee established by section 11 of this 

17 Act shall disclose to the Secretary any financial inter18 ests in or financial relationships with schools, univer19 sities, institutions or individuals receiving funds, 

20 scholarships or fellowships under this Act; 

21 ‘‘(2) to require any employee, contractor, or 

22 member of the committee with a financial relation23 ship disclosed under paragraph (1) to recuse them24 selves from— 


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1 ‘‘(A) any recommendation or decision re2 garding the awarding of funds, scholarships or 

3 fellowships; or 

4 ‘‘(B) any review, report, analysis or inves5 tigation regarding compliance with the provi6 sions of this Act by a school, university, institu7 tion or any individual. 

8 ‘‘(e) On or before the first day of July of each year 

9 beginning after the date of enactment of this sentence, 

10 schools, universities, and institutions receiving funds under 

11 this Act shall certify compliance with this Act and upon 

12 request of the Director of the office established by this section 

13 provide documentation of such compliance. 

14 ‘‘(f) An individual granted a scholarship or fellowship 

15 with funds provided under this Act shall through their re16 spective school, university, or institution, advise the Direc17 tor of the office established by this Act of progress towards 

18 completion of the course of studies and upon the awarding 

19 of the degree within 30 days after the award. 

20 ‘‘(g) The regulations required by this section shall in21 clude a preference for veterans and service members who 

22 have received or will receive either the Afghanistan Cam23 paign Medal or the Iraq Campaign Medal as authorized 

24 by Public Law 108–234, and Executive Order 13363. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 10. COORDINATION. 

2 ‘‘(a) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to impair 

3 or modify the legal relationship existing between any of the 

4 schools, universities, and institutions under whose direction 

5 a program is established with funds provided under this 

6 Act and the government of the State in which it is located. 

7 Nothing in this Act shall in any way be construed to au8 thorize Federal control or direction of education at any 

9 school, university, or institution. 

10 ‘‘(b) The programs authorized by this Act are intended 

11 to enhance the Nation’s petroleum, mining, and mineral en12 gineering education programs and to enhance educational 

13 programs in petroleum and mining exploration and to in14 crease the number of individuals enrolled in and completing 

15 these programs. To achieve this intent, the Secretary and 

16 the Committee established by section 11 shall receive the 

17 continuing advice and cooperation of all agencies of the 

18 Federal Government concerned with the identification, ex19 ploration, and development of energy and mineral re20 sources. 

21 ‘‘(c) Nothing in this Act is intended to give or shall 

22 be construed as giving the Secretary any authority over 

23 mining and mineral resources research conducted by any 

24 agency of the Federal Government, or as repealing or di25 minishing existing authorities or responsibilities of any 

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1 tract for, or assist in research in its area of responsibility 

2 and concern with regard to mining and mineral resources. 

3 ‘‘(d) The schools, universities, and institutions receiv4 ing funding under this Act shall make detailed reports to 

5 the Office of Petroleum and Mining Schools on projects com6 pleted, in progress, or planned with funds provided under 

7 this Act. All such reports shall available to the public on 

8 not less than an annual basis through the Office of Petro9 leum and Mining Schools. All uses, products, processes, pat10 ents, and other developments resulting from any research, 

11 demonstration, or experiment funded in whole or in part 

12 under this Act shall be made available promptly to the gen13 eral public, subject to exception or limitation, if any, as 

14 the Secretary may find necessary in the interest of national 

15 security. Schools, universities, and institutions receiving 

16 patents for inventions funded in whole or in part under 

17 this Act shall be governed by the applicable Federal law, 

18 except that one percent of gross annual revenues due to the 

19 holders of the patents that are derived from such patents 

20 shall be paid by the holders of the patents to the Federal 

21 Energy and Mineral Resources Professional Development 

22 Fund established by section 23(a) of the Deep Ocean Energy 

23 Resources Act of 2006. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 11. COMMITTEE ON PETROLEUM, MINING, AND MIN2 ERAL ENGINEERING AND ENERGY AND MIN3 ERAL RESOURCE EDUCATION. 

4 ‘‘(a) The Secretary shall appoint a Committee on Pe5 troleum, Mining, and Mineral Engineering and Energy 

6 and Mineral Resource Education composed of— 

7 ‘‘(1) the Assistant Secretary of the Interior re8 sponsible for land and minerals management and not 

9 more than 16 other persons who are knowledgeable in 

10 the fields of mining and mineral resources research, 

11 including 2 university administrators one of whom 

12 shall be from historic and existing petroleum and 

13 mining schools; a community, technical, or tribal col14 lege administrator; a career technical education edu15 cator; 6 representatives equally distributed from the 

16 petroleum, mining, and aggregate industries; a work17 ing miner; a working oilfield worker; a representative 

18 of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission; 

19 a representative from the Interstate Mining Compact 

20 Commission; a representative from the Western Gov21 ernors Association; a representative of the State geolo22 gists, and a representative of a State mining and rec23 lamation agency. In making these 16 appointments, 

24 the Secretary shall consult with interested groups. 

25 ‘‘(2) The Assistant Secretary for Land and Min26 erals Management, in the capacity of the Chairman 


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1 of the Committee, may have present during meetings 

2 of the Committee representatives of Federal agencies 

3 with responsibility for energy and minerals resources 

4 management, energy and mineral resource investiga5 tions, energy and mineral commodity information, 

6 international trade in energy and mineral commod7 ities, mining safety regulation and mine safety re8 search, and research into the development, production, 

9 and utilization of energy and mineral commodities. 

10 These representatives shall serve as technical advisors 

11 to the committee and shall have no voting responsibil12 ities. 

13 ‘‘(b) The Committee shall consult with, and make rec14 ommendations to, the Secretary on all matters relating to 

15 funding energy and mineral resources research, the award16 ing of scholarships and fellowships and allocation of fund17 ing made under this Act. The Secretary shall consult with 

18 and carefully consider recommendations of the Committee 

19 in such matters. 

20 ‘‘(c) Committee members, other than officers or em21 ployees of Federal, State, or local governments, shall be, for 

22 each day (including traveltime) during which they are per23 forming Committee business, paid at a rate fixed by the 

24 Secretary but not in excess of the daily equivalent of the 

25 maximum rate of pay for level IV of the Executive Schedule 


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1 under section 5136 of title 5, United States Code, and shall 

2 be fully reimbursed for travel, subsistence, and related ex3 penses. 

4 ‘‘(d) The Committee shall be chaired by the Assistant 

5 Secretary of the Interior responsible for land and minerals 

6 management. There shall also be elected a Vice Chairman 

7 by the Committee from among the members referred to in 

8 this section. The Vice Chairman shall perform such duties 

9 as are determined to be appropriate by the committee, ex10 cept that the Chairman of the Committee must personally 

11 preside at all meetings of the full Committee. The Com12 mittee may organize itself into such subcommittees as the 

13 Committee may deem appropriate. 

14 ‘‘(e) Following completion of the report required by 

15 section 385 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Committee 

16 shall consider the recommendations of the report, ongoing 

17 efforts in the schools, universities, and institutions receiving 

18 funding under this Act, the Federal and State Governments, 

19 and the private sector, and shall formulate and recommend 

20 to the Secretary a national plan for a program utilizing 

21 the fiscal resources provided under this Act. The Committee 

22 shall submit such plan to the Secretary for approval. Upon 

23 approval, the plan shall guide the Secretary and the Com24 mittee in their actions under this Act. 


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1 ‘‘(f) Section 10 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act 

2 (5 U.S.C. App. 2) shall not apply to the Committee. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 12. CAREER TECHNICAL EDUCATION. 

4 ‘‘(a) Up to 25 percent of the annual outlay of funds 

5 under this Act may be granted to schools or institutions 

6 including, but not limited to, colleges, universities, commu7 nity colleges, tribal colleges, technical institutes, and sec8 ondary schools, other than those described in sections 3, 4, 

9 5, and 6. 

10 ‘‘(b) The Secretary, as advised by the Committee estab11 lished under section 11, shall determine the eligibility of 

12 a school or institution to receive funding under this section 

13 using criteria that include— 

14 ‘‘(1) the presence of a State-approved program in 

15 mining engineering technology, petroleum engineering 

16 technology, industrial engineering technology, or in17 dustrial technology that— 

18 ‘‘(A) is focused on technology and its use in 

19 energy and mineral production and related 

20 maintenance, operational safety, or energy infra21 structure protection and security; 

22 ‘‘(B) prepares students for advanced or su23 pervisory roles in the mining industry or the pe24 troleum industry; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) grants either an associate’s degree or a 

2 baccalaureate degree in one of the subjects listed 

3 in subparagraph (A); 

4 ‘‘(2) the presence of a program, including a sec5 ondary school vocational education program or career 

6 academy, that provides training for individuals en7 tering the petroleum, coal mining, or mineral mining 

8 industries; or 

9 ‘‘(3) the presence of a State-approved program of 

10 career technical education at a secondary school, of11 fered cooperatively with a community college in one 

12 of the industrial sectors of— 

13 ‘‘(A) agriculture, forestry, or fisheries; 

14 ‘‘(B) utilities; 

15 ‘‘(C) construction; 

16 ‘‘(D) manufacturing; and 

17 ‘‘(E) transportation and warehousing. 

18 ‘‘(c) Schools or institutions receiving funds under this 

19 section must show evidence of an institutional commitment 

20 for the purposes of career technical education and provide 

21 evidence that the school or institution has received or will 

22 receive industry cooperation in the form of equipment, em23 ployee time, or donations of funds to support the activities 

24 that are within the scope of this section. 


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1 ‘‘(d) Schools or institutions receiving funds under this 

2 section must agree to maintain the programs for which the 

3 funding is sought for a period of 10 years beginning on 

4 the date the school or institution receives such funds, unless 

5 the Secretary finds that a shorter period of time is appro6 priate for the local labor market or is required by State 

7 authorities. 

8 ‘‘(e) Schools or institutions receiving funds under this 

9 section may combine these funds with State funds, and 

10 other Federal funds where allowed by law, to carry out pro11 grams described in this section, however the use of the funds 

12 received under this section must be reported to the Secretary 

13 not less than annually. 

14 ‘‘SEC. 13. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR WORKFORCE EN15 HANCEMENT. 

16 ‘‘(a) PHYSICAL SCIENCE, ENGINEERING AND TECH17 NOLOGY SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.— 

18 ‘‘(1) From the funds made available to carry out 

19 this section, the Secretary shall use 30 percent of that 

20 amount to provide financial assistance for education 

21 in physical sciences, engineering, and engineering or 

22 industrial technology and disciplines that, as deter23 mined by the Secretary, are critical to the functions 

24 of the Department of the Interior and are needed in 

25 the Department of the Interior workforce. 


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1 ‘‘(2) The Secretary of the Interior may award a 

2 scholarship in accordance with this section to a per3 son who— 

4 ‘‘(A) is a citizen of the United States; 

5 ‘‘(B) is pursuing an undergraduate or ad6 vanced degree in a critical skill or discipline de7 scribed in paragraph (1) at an institution of 

8 higher education; and 

9 ‘‘(C) enters into a service agreement with 

10 the Secretary of the Interior as described in sub11 section (e). 

12 ‘‘(3) The amount of the financial assistance pro13 vided under a scholarship awarded to a person under 

14 this subsection shall be the amount determined by the 

15 Secretary of the Interior as being necessary to pay all 

16 educational expenses incurred by that person, includ17 ing tuition, fees, cost of books, laboratory expenses, 

18 and expenses of room and board. The expenses paid, 

19 however, shall be limited to those educational expenses 

20 normally incurred by students at the institution of 

21 higher education involved. 

22 ‘‘(b) SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM FOR STUDENTS AT23 TENDING MINORITY SERVING HIGHER EDUCATION INSTI24 TUTIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) From the funds made available to carry out 

2 this section, the Secretary shall use 25 percent of that 

3 amount to award scholarships in accordance with this 

4 section to persons who— 

5 ‘‘(A) are enrolled in a Minority Serving 

6 Higher Education Institutions. 

7 ‘‘(B) are citizens of the United States; 

8 ‘‘(C) are pursuing an undergraduate or ad9 vanced degree in agriculture, engineering, engi10 neering or industrial technology, or physical 

11 sciences, or other discipline that is found by the 

12 Secretary to be critical to the functions of the 

13 Department of the Interior and are needed in the 

14 Department of the Interior workforce; and 

15 ‘‘(D) enter into a service agreement with the 

16 Secretary of the Interior as described in sub17 section (e). 

18 ‘‘(2) The amount of the financial assistance pro19 vided under a scholarship awarded to a person under 

20 this subsection shall be the amount determined by the 

21 Secretary of the Interior as being necessary to pay all 

22 educational expenses incurred by that person, includ23 ing tuition, fees, cost of books, laboratory expenses, 

24 and expenses of room and board. The expenses paid, 

25 however, shall be limited to those educational expenses 


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1 normally incurred by students at the institution of 

2 higher education involved. 

3 ‘‘(c) EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS WITH MINORITY

4 SERVING HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) The Secretary shall require the director of 

6 each Bureau and Office, to foster the participation of 

7 Minority Serving Higher Education Institutions in 

8 any regulatory activity, land management activity, 

9 science activity, engineering or industrial technology 

10 activity, or engineering activity carried out by the 

11 Department of the Interior. 

12 ‘‘(2) From the funds made available to carry out 

13 this section, the Secretary shall use 25 percent of that 

14 amount to support activities at Minority Serving 

15 Higher Education Institutions by— 

16 ‘‘(A) funding faculty and students in these 

17 institutions in collaborative research projects 

18 that are directly related to the Departmental or 

19 Bureau missions; 

20 ‘‘(B) allowing equipment transfer to Minor21 ity Serving Higher Education Institutions as a 

22 part of a collaborative research program directly 

23 related to a Departmental or Bureau mission; 

24 ‘‘(C) allowing faculty and students at these 

25 Minority Serving Higher Education Institutions 


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1 to participate Departmental and Bureau train2 ing activities; 

3 ‘‘(D) funding paid internships in Depart4 mental and Bureau facilities for students at Mi5 nority Serving Higher Education Institutions; 

6 ‘‘(E) assigning Departmental and Bureau 

7 personnel to positions located at Minority Serv8 ing Higher Educational Institutions to serve as 

9 mentors to students interested in a science, tech10 nology or engineering disciplines related to the 

11 mission of the Department or the Bureaus. 

12 ‘‘(d) KINDERGARTEN THROUGH GRADE TWELVE

13 SCIENCE EDUCATION ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM.— 

14 ‘‘(1) From the funds made available to carry out 

15 this section, the Secretary shall use 20 percent of that 

16 amount to support activities designed to enhance the 

17 knowledge and expertise of teachers of basic sciences, 

18 mathematics, engineering and technology in Kinder19 garten through Grade Twelve programs. 

20 ‘‘(2) The Secretary is authorized to— 

21 ‘‘(A) support competitive events for students 

22 under the supervision of teachers that are de23 signed to encourage student interest and knowl24 edge in science, engineering, technology and 

25 mathematics; 


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1 ‘‘(B) support competitively-awarded, peer2 reviewed programs to promote professional devel3 opment for mathematics, science, engineering 

4 and technology teachers who teach in grades 

5 from kindergarten through grade 12; 

6 ‘‘(C) support summer internships at De7 partment facilities, for mathematics, science, en8 gineering and technology teachers who teach in 

9 grades from kindergarten through grade 12; and 

10 ‘‘(D) sponsor and assist in sponsoring edu11 cational and teacher training activities in sub12 ject areas identified as critical skills. 

13 ‘‘(e) SERVICE AGREEMENT FOR RECIPIENTS OF AS14 SISTANCE.— 

15 ‘‘(1) To receive financial assistance under sub16 section (a) and subsection (b) of this section— 

17 ‘‘(A) in the case of an employee of the De18 partment of the Interior, the employee shall enter 

19 into a written agreement to continue in the em20 ployment of the department for the period of ob21 ligated service determined under paragraph (2); 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(B) in the case of a person not an em24 ployee of the Department of the Interior, the per25 son shall enter into a written agreement to acVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:12 Jun 27, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00118 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4761.RH H4761

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1 cept and continue employment in the Depart2 ment of the Interior for the period of obligated 

3 service determined under paragraph (2). 

4 ‘‘(2) For the purposes of this section, the period 

5 of obligated service for a recipient of a scholarship 

6 under this section shall be the period determined by 

7 the Secretary of the Interior as being appropriate to 

8 obtain adequate service in exchange for the financial 

9 assistance provided under the scholarship. In no event 

10 may the period of service required of a recipient be 

11 less than the total period of pursuit of a degree that 

12 is covered by the scholarship. The period of obligated 

13 service is in addition to any other period for which 

14 the recipient is obligated to serve in the civil service 

15 of the United States. 

16 ‘‘(3) An agreement entered into under this sub17 section by a person pursuing an academic degree 

18 shall include any terms and conditions that the Sec19 retary of the Interior determines necessary to protect 

20 the interests of the United States or otherwise appro21 priate for carrying out this section. 

22 ‘‘(f) REFUNDFOR PERIODOF UNSERVED OBLIGATED

23 SERVICE.— 

24 ‘‘(1) A person who voluntarily terminates service 

25 before the end of the period of obligated service reVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:12 Jun 27, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00119 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4761.RH H4761

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1 quired under an agreement entered into under sub2 section (e) shall refund to the United States an 

3 amount determined by the Secretary of the Interior as 

4 being appropriate to obtain adequate service in ex5 change for financial assistance. 

6 ‘‘(2) An obligation to reimburse the United 

7 States imposed under paragraph (1) is for all pur8 poses a debt owed to the United States. 

9 ‘‘(3) The Secretary of the Interior may waive, in 

10 whole or in part, a refund required under paragraph 

11 (1) if the Secretary determines that recovery would be 

12 against equity and good conscience or would be con13 trary to the best interests of the United States. 

14 ‘‘(4) A discharge in bankruptcy under title 11, 

15 United States Code, that is entered less than five 

16 years after the termination of an agreement under 

17 this section does not discharge the person signing such 

18 agreement from a debt arising under such agreement 

19 or under this subsection. 

20 ‘‘(g) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER PROGRAMS.—The Sec21 retary of the Interior shall coordinate the provision of fi22 nancial assistance under the authority of this section with 

23 the provision of financial assistance under the authorities 

24 provided in this Act in order to maximize the benefits deVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:12 Jun 27, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00120 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4761.RH H4761

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1 rived by the Department of Interior from the exercise of all 

2 such authorities. 

3 ‘‘(h) REPORT.—Not later than September 1 of each 

4 year, the Secretary of the Interior shall submit to the Com5 mittee on Resources of the House of Representatives and the 

6 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate 

7 a report on the status of the assistance program carried out 

8 under this section. The report shall describe the programs 

9 within the Department designed to recruit and retain a 

10 workforce on a short-term basis and on a long-term basis. 

11 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section: 

12 ‘‘(1) The term ‘Minority Serving Higher Edu13 cation Institutions’ means a Hispanic-serving insti14 tution, historically Black college or university, Alaska 

15 Native-serving institution, or tribal college. 

16 ‘‘(2) The term ‘Hispanic-serving institution’ has 

17 the meaning given the term in section 502(a) of the 

18 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1101a(a)). 

19 ‘‘(3) The term ‘historically Black college or uni20 versity’ has the meaning given the term ‘part B insti21 tution’ in section 322 of the Higher Education Act of 

22 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061). 

23 ‘‘(4) The term ‘tribal college’ has the meaning 

24 given the term ‘tribally controlled college or univerVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:12 Jun 27, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00121 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4761.RH H4761

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1 sity’ in section 2(a) of the Tribally Controlled College 

2 Assistance Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 1801(a)). 

3 ‘‘(5) The term ‘institution of higher education’ 

4 has the meaning given such term in section 101 of the 

5 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

6 ‘‘(6) The term ‘Alaska Native-serving institution’ 

7 has the meaning given the term in section 317 of the 

8 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059d). 

9 ‘‘(j) FUNDING.—The Secretary shall spend 3 percent 

10 of the annual outlay under this Act to implement this sec11 tion not to exceed $10,000,000.’’. 

12 SEC. 24. ONSHORE AND OFFSHORE MINERAL LEASE FEES. 

13 Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the Depart14 ment of the Interior is prohibited from charging fees appli15 cable to actions on Federal onshore and offshore oil and gas, 

16 coal, geothermal, and other mineral leases, including trans17 portation of any production from such leases, if such fees 

18 were not established in final regulations prior to the date 

19 of issuance of the lease. 

20 SEC. 25. OCS REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS. 

21 The headquarters for the Gulf of Mexico Region shall 

22 permanently be located within the State of Louisiana with23 in 25 miles of the center of Jackson Square, New Orleans, 

24 Louisiana. Further, not later than July 1, 2008, the Sec25 retary of the Interior shall establish the headquarters for 


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1 the Atlantic OCS Region and the headquarters for the Pa2 cific OCS Region within a State bordering the Atlantic 

3 OCS Region and a State bordering the Pacific OCS Region, 

4 respectively, from among the States bordering those Re5 gions, that petitions by no later than January 1, 2008, for 

6 leasing, for oil and gas or natural gas, covering at least 

7 40 percent of the area of its Adjacent Zone within 100 miles 

8 of the coastline. Such Atlantic and Pacific OCS Regions 

9 headquarters shall be located within 25 miles of the coast10 line and each MMS OCS regional headquarters shall be the 

11 permanent duty station for all Minerals Management Serv12 ice personnel that on a daily basis spend on average 60 

13 percent or more of their time in performance of duties in 

14 support of the activities of the respective Region, except that 

15 the Minerals Management Service may house regional in16 spection staff in other locations. Each OCS Region shall 

17 each be led by a Regional Director who shall be an employee 

18 within the Senior Executive Service. 

19 SEC. 26. NATIONAL GEO FUND ACT OF 2006. 

20 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the 

21 ‘‘National Geo Fund Act of 2006’’. 

22 (b) PURPOSES.—The purpose of this section is to— 

23 (1) establish a fund to provide funding for the 

24 management of geologic programs, geologic mapping, 

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1 toring programs, and the preservation and use of geo2 logic and geophysical data, geothermal and 

3 geopressure energy resource management, unconven4 tional energy resources management, and renewable 

5 energy management associated with ocean wave, cur6 rent, and thermal resources; 

7 (2) make available receipts derived from sales, 

8 bonus bids, royalties, and fees from onshore and off9 shore gas, minerals, oil, and any additional form of 

10 energy exploration and development under the laws of 

11 the United States for the purposes of the such fund; 

12 (3) distribute funds from such fund each fiscal 

13 year to the Secretary of the Interior and the States; 

14 and 

15 (4) use the distributed funds to manage activities 

16 conducted under this section, and to secure the nec17 essary trained workforce, contractual services, and 

18 other support, including maintenance and capital in19 vestments, to perform the functions and activities de20 scribed in paragraph (1). 

21 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 (1) GEO FUND.—The term ‘‘Geo Fund’’ means 

23 the National Geo Fund established by subsection (d). 

24 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the agency 

25 of a State designated by its Governor or State law to 


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1 perform the functions and activities described in sub2 section (b)(1). 

3 (d) ESTABLISHMENT AND USE OF THE GEO FUND.— 

4 (1) GEO FUND.—There is established in the 

5 Treasury a separate account to be known as the ‘‘Na6 tional Geo Fund’’. 

7 (2) FUNDING.—The Secretary of the Treasury 

8 shall deposit in the Geo Fund— 

9 (A) such sums as are provided by sections 

10 9(b)(5)(A)(iv), 9(b)(5)(B)(iv), 9(c)(4)(A)(iv), and 

11 9(c)(4)(B)(iv) of the Outer Continental Shelf 

12 Lands Act, as amended by this Act; 

13 (B)(i) during the period of October 1, 2006, 

14 through September 30, 2015, one percent of all 

15 sums paid into the Treasury under section 35 of 

16 the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 191), and 

17 (ii) beginning October 1, 2015, and there18 after, 2.5 percent of all sums paid into the 

19 Treasury under section 35 of the Mineral Leas20 ing Act (30 U.S.C. 191); 

21 (C)(i) during the period of October 1, 2006, 

22 through September 30, 2015, one percent of all 

23 sums paid into the Treasury from receipts de24 rived from bonus bids and royalties from other 

25 mineral leasing on public lands, and 


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1 (ii) beginning October 1, 2015, and there2 after, 2.5 percent of all sums paid into the 

3 Treasury from receipts derived from bonus bids 

4 and royalties from other mineral leasing on pub5 lic lands; and 

6 (D) $65,000,000 from outer Continental 

7 Shelf bonus bids, royalties, and conservation of 

8 resources fees received in fiscal year 2007, and 

9 $50,000,000 from outer Continental Shelf bonus 

10 bids, royalties, and conservation of resources fees 

11 received in each of fiscal years 2008, 2009, 2010, 

12 2011, 2012, and 2013, 75 percent of which shall 

13 be used to implement subsection (g) and all of 

14 which shall remain available until expended. 

15 (3) INVESTMENTS.—The Secretary of the Treas16 ury shall invest the amounts deposited under para17 graph (2) and all accrued interest on the amounts de18 posited under paragraph (2) only in interest bearing 

19 obligations of the United States or in obligations 

20 guaranteed as to both principal and interest by the 

21 United States. 

22 (4) AVAILABILITY TO SECRETARY OF THE INTE23 RIOR.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning with fiscal 

25 year 2007, and in each fiscal year thereafter, 


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1 one-third of amounts deposited into the Geo 

2 Fund, unless otherwise specified herein, together 

3 with the interest thereon, shall be available, 

4 without fiscal year limitations, to the Secretary 

5 of the Interior for use for the purposes described 

6 in subsection (b)(4). 

7 (B) WITHDRAWALS AND TRANSFER OF

8 FUNDS.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall 

9 withdraw such amounts from the Geo Fund as 

10 the Secretary of the Interior may request, subject 

11 to the limitation in subparagraph (A), and 

12 transfer such amounts to the Secretary of the In13 terior to be used, at the discretion of the Sec14 retary of the Interior, by the Minerals Manage15 ment Service, the Bureau of Land Management, 

16 and the United States Geological Survey for the 

17 purposes described in subsection (b)(4). No funds 

18 distributed from the Geo Fund may be used to 

19 purchase an interest in land. 

20 (5) PAYMENT TO STATES.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning with fiscal 

22 year 2007, and in each fiscal year thereafter, 

23 two-thirds of amounts deposited into the Geo 

24 Fund, unless otherwise specified herein, together 

25 with the interest thereon, shall be available, 


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1 without fiscal year limitations, to the States for 

2 use for the purposes described in subsection 

3 (b)(4). 

4 (B) WITHDRAWALS AND TRANSFER OF

5 FUNDS.—Within the first 90 days of each fiscal 

6 year, the Secretary of the Treasury shall with7 draw amounts from the Geo Fund and transfer 

8 such amounts to the States based on a formula 

9 devised by the Secretary of the Interior based on 

10 the relative needs of the States and the needs of 

11 the Nation. 

12 (C) USE OF PAYMENTS BY STATES.—Each 

13 State shall use the payments made under sub14 paragraph (B) only for carrying out projects 

15 and programs for the purposes described in sub16 section (b)(4). No funds distributed from the Geo 

17 Fund may be used to purchase an interest in 

18 land. 

19 (D) ENCOURAGEMENT OF USE OF PRIVATE

20 FUNDS BY STATES.—Each State shall use the 

21 payments made under subparagraph (B) to le22 verage private funds for carrying out projects for 

23 the purposes described in subsection (b)(4). 

24 (E) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Beginning in 

25 fiscal year 2008 and continuing for each fiscal 


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1 year thereafter, the Secretary of the Interior and 

2 each State receiving funds from the Geo Fund 

3 shall submit a report to the Committee on En4 ergy and Natural Resources of the Senate and 

5 the Committee on Resources of the House of Rep6 resentatives. Reports submitted to the Congress 

7 by the Secretary of the Interior and the States 

8 shall include detailed information regarding ex9 penditures during the previous fiscal year. 

10 (e) STRATEGIC UNCONVENTIONAL RESOURCES.— 

11 (1) PROGRAM.—The Secretary of the Interior 

12 shall establish a program for production of fuels from 

13 strategic unconventional resources, and production of 

14 oil and gas resources using CO2 enhanced recovery. 

15 The program shall focus initially on activities and 

16 domestic resources most likely to result in significant 

17 production in the near future, and shall include work 

18 necessary to improve extraction techniques, including 

19 surface and in situ operations. The program shall in20 clude characterization and assessment of potential re21 sources, a sampling program, appropriate laboratory 

22 and other analyses and testing, and assessment of 

23 methods for exploration and development of these 

24 strategic unconventional resources. 


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1 (2) PILOT PROJECTS.—The program created in 

2 paragraph (1) shall include, but not be limited to, 

3 pilot projects on (A) the Maverick Basin heavy oil 

4 and tar sands formations of Texas, including the San 

5 Miguel deposits, (B) the Greater Green River Basin 

6 heavy oil, oil shale, tar sands, and coal deposits of 

7 Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, (C) the shale, tar 

8 sands, heavy oil, and coal deposits in the Alabama9 Mississippi-Tennessee region, (D) the shale, tar sands, 

10 heavy oil, and coal deposits in the Ohio River valley, 

11 and (E) strategic unconventional resources in Cali12 fornia. The Secretary shall identify and report to 

13 Congress on feasible incentives to foster recovery of 

14 unconventional fuels by private industry within the 

15 United States. Such incentives may include, but are 

16 not limited to, long-term contracts for the purchase of 

17 unconventional fuels for defense purposes, Federal 

18 grants and loan guarantees for necessary capital ex19 penditures, and favorable terms for the leasing of 

20 Government lands containing unconventional re21 sources. 

22 (3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

23 (A) STRATEGIC UNCONVENTIONAL RE24 SOURCES.—The term ‘‘strategic unconventional 

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1 ing heavy oil, oil shale, tar sands, and coal de2 posits, from which liquid fuels may be produced. 

3 (B) IN SITU EXTRACTION METHODS.—The 

4 term ‘‘in situ extraction methods’’ means recov5 ery techniques that are applied to the resources 

6 while they are still in the ground, and are in 

7 commercial use or advanced stages of develop8 ment. Such techniques include, but are not lim9 ited to, steam flooding, steam-assisted gravity 

10 drainage (including combination with electric 

11 power generation where appropriate), cyclic 

12 steam stimulation, air injection, and chemical 

13 treatment. 

14 (4) FUNDING.—The Secretary shall carry out the 

15 program for the production of strategic unconven16 tional fuels with funds from the Geo Fund in each of 

17 fiscal years 2007 through 2011 in the amount of not 

18 less than $35,000,000 each year. Each pilot project 

19 shall be allocated not less than $4,000,000 per year in 

20 each of fiscal years 2007 through 2011. 

21 (f) SUPPORT OF GEOTHERMAL AND GEOPRESSURE

22 OIL AND GAS ENERGY PRODUCTION.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out 

24 a grant program in support of geothermal and 

25 geopressure oil and gas energy production. The proVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:12 Jun 27, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00131 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4761.RH H4761

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1 gram shall include grants for a total of not less than 

2 three assessments of the use of innovative geothermal 

3 techniques such as organic rankine cycle systems at 

4 marginal, unproductive, and productive oil and gas 

5 wells, and not less than one assessment of the use of 

6 innovative geopressure techniques. The Secretary 

7 shall, to the extent practicable and in the public in8 terest, make awards that— 

9 (A) include not less than five oil or gas well 

10 sites per project award; 

11 (B) use a range of oil or gas well hot water 

12 source temperatures from 150 degrees Fahrenheit 

13 to 300 degrees Fahrenheit; 

14 (C) use existing or new oil or gas wells; 

15 (D) cover a range of sizes from 175 kilo16 watts to one megawatt; 

17 (E) are located at a range of sites including 

18 tribal lands, Federal lease, State, or privately 

19 owned sites; 

20 (F) can be replicated at a wide range of 

21 sites; 

22 (G) facilitate identification of optimum 

23 techniques among competing alternatives; 

24 (H) include business commercialization 

25 plans that have the potential for production of 


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1 equipment at high volumes and operation and 

2 support at a large number of sites; and 

3 (I) satisfy other criteria that the Secretary 

4 determines are necessary to carry out the pro5 gram. 

6 The Secretary shall give preference to assessments that 

7 address multiple elements contained in subparagraphs 

8 (A) through (I). 

9 (2) GRANT AWARDS.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each grant award for 

11 assessment of innovative geothermal or 

12 geopressure technology such as organic rankine 

13 cycle systems at oil and gas wells made by the 

14 Secretary under this section shall include— 

15 (i) necessary and appropriate site en16 gineering study; 

17 (ii) detailed economic assessment of 

18 site specific conditions; 

19 (iii) appropriate feasibility studies to 

20 determine ability for replication; 

21 (iv) design or adaptation of existing 

22 technology for site specific circumstances or 

23 conditions; 

24 (v) installation of equipment, service, 

25 and support; and 


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1 (vi) monitoring for a minimum of one 

2 year after commissioning date. 

3 (3) COMPETITIVE GRANT SELECTION.—Not less 

4 than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 

5 Act, the Secretary shall conduct a national solicita6 tion for applications for grants under the program. 

7 Grant recipients shall be selected on a competitive 

8 basis based on criteria in subsection (b). 

9 (4) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 

10 costs of grants under this subsection shall be provided 

11 from funds made available to carry out this section. 

12 The Federal share of the cost of a project carried out 

13 with such a grant shall not exceed 50 percent of such 

14 cost. 

15 (5) FUNDING.—The Secretary shall carry out the 

16 grant program under this subsection with funds from 

17 the Geo Fund in each of fiscal years 2007 through 

18 2011 in the amount of not less than $5,000,000 each 

19 fiscal year. No funds authorized under this section 

20 may be used for the purposes of drilling new wells. 

21 (6) AMENDMENT.—Section 4 of the Geothermal 

22 Steam Act of 1970 (30 USC 1003) is amended by 

23 adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(h) GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES CO-PRODUCED WITH

25 THE MINERALS.—Any person who holds a lease or who opVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:12 Jun 27, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00134 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4761.RH H4761

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1 erates a cooperative or unit plan under the Mineral Leasing 

2 Act, in the absence of an existing lease for geothermal re3 sources under this Act, shall upon notice to the Secretary 

4 have the right to utilize any geothermal resources co-pro5 duced with the minerals for which the lease was issued dur6 ing the operation of that lease or cooperative or unit plan, 

7 for the generating of electricity to operate the lease. Any 

8 electricity that is produced in excess of that which is re9 quired to operate the lease and that is sold for purposes 

10 outside of the boundary of the lease shall be subject to the 

11 requirements of section 5.’’ 

12 (g) LIQUID FUELS GRANT PROGRAM.— 

13 (1) PROGRAM.—The Secretary of the Interior 

14 shall establish a grant program for facilities for coal15 to-liquids, petroleum coke-to-liquids, oil shale, tar 

16 sands, heavy oil, and Alaska natural gas-to-liquids 

17 and to assess the production of low-rank coal water 

18 fuel (in this subsection referred to as ‘‘LRCWF’’). 

19 (2) LRCWF.—The LRCWF grant project loca20 tion shall use lignite coal from fields near the 

21 Tombigbee River within 60 miles of a land-grant col22 lege and shall be allocated $15,000,000 for expendi23 ture during fiscal year 2007. 

24 (3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 


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1 (A) COAL-TO-LIQUIDS FRONT-ENDENGI2 NEERING ANDDESIGN.—The terms ‘‘coal-to-liq3 uids front-end engineering and design’’ and 

4 ‘‘FEED’’ mean those expenditures necessary to 

5 engineer, design, and obtain permits for a facil6 ity for a particular geographic location which 

7 will utilize a process or technique to produce liq8 uid fuels from coal resources. 

9 (B) LOW-RANK COAL WATER FUEL.—In this 

10 subsection the term ‘‘low-rank coal water fuel’’ 

11 means a liquid fuel produced from hydrothermal 

12 treatment of lignite and sub-bituminous coals. 

13 (4) GRANT PROVISIONS.—All grants shall require 

14 a 50 percent non-Federal cost share. The first 4 

15 FEED grant recipients who receive full project con16 struction financing commitments, based on earliest 

17 calendar date, shall not be required to repay any of 

18 their grants. The next 4 FEED grant recipients who 

19 receive such commitments shall be required to repay 

20 25 percent of the grant. The next 4 FEED grant re21 cipients who receive such commitments shall be re22 quired to repay 50 percent of the grant, and the re23 maining FEED grant recipeints shall be required to 

24 repay 75 percent of the grant. The LRCWF recipient 

25 shall not be required to repay the grant. Any required 


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1 repayment shall be paid as part of the closing process 

2 for any construction financing relating to the grant. 

3 No repayment shall require the payment of interest if 

4 repaid within 5 years of the issuance of the grant. 

5 FEED grants shall be be limited to a maximum of 

6 $1,000,000 per 1,000 barrels per day of liquid fuels 

7 production capacity, not to exceed $25 million per 

8 year. 

9 (5) FUNDING.—The Secretary shall carry out the 

10 grant program established by this subsection with 

11 funds from the Geo Fund. 

12 (h) RENEWABLE ENERGY FROM OCEAN WAVE, CUR13 RENT, AND THERMAL RESOURCES.— 

14 (1) PROGRAM.—The Secretary of the Interior 

15 shall establish a grant program for the production of 

16 renewable energy from ocean waves, currents, and 

17 thermal resources. 

18 (2) GRANT PROVISIONS.—All grants under this 

19 subsection shall require a 50 percent non-Federal cost 

20 share. 

21 (3) FUNDING.—The Secretary shall carry out 

22 this grant program with funds from the Geo Fund in 

23 each of fiscal years 2007 through 2011 in the amount 

24 of not less than $6,000,000 each year, and thereafter 


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1 in such amounts as the Secretary may find appro2 priate. 

3 (i) AMENDMENT TO THE SURFACE MINING CONTROL

4 AND RECLAMATION ACT OF 1977.—Section 517 of the Sur5 face Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 

6 U.S.C. 1267) is amended by adding adding at the end the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(i) Any person who provides the regulatory authority 

9 with a map under subsection (b)(1) shall not be liable to 

10 any other person in any way for the accuracy or complete11 ness of any such map which was not prepared and certified 

12 by or on behalf of such person.’’. 

13 SEC. 27. LEASES FOR AREAS LOCATED WITHIN 100 MILES OF 

14 CALIFORNIA OR FLORIDA. 

15 (a) AUTHORIZATION TO CANCEL AND EXCHANGE CER16 TAIN EXISTING OIL AND GAS LEASES; PROHIBITION ON

17 SUBMITTAL OF EXPLORATION PLANS FOR CERTAIN LEASES

18 PRIOR TO JUNE 30, 2010.— 

19 (1) AUTHORITY.—Within 2 years after the date 

20 of enactment of this Act, the lessee of an existing oil 

21 and gas lease for an area located completely within 

22 100 miles of the coastline within the California or 

23 Florida Adjacent Zones shall have the option, without 

24 compensation, of exchanging such lease for a new oil 

25 and gas lease having a primary term of 5 years. For 


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1 the area subject to the new lease, the lessee may select 

2 any unleased tract on the outer Continental Shelf that 

3 is in an area available for leasing. Further, with the 

4 permission of the relevant Governor, such a lessee 

5 may convert its existing oil and gas lease into a nat6 ural gas lease having a primary term of 5 years and 

7 covering the same area as the existing lease or an8 other area within the same State’s Adjacent Zone 

9 within 100 miles of the coastline. 

10 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS.—The Secretary 

11 of the Interior shall establish a reasonable adminis12 trative process to implement paragraph (1). Ex13 changes and conversions under subsection (a), includ14 ing the issuance of new leases, shall not be considered 

15 to be major Federal actions for purposes of the Na16 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

17 4321 et seq.). Further, such actions conducted in ac18 cordance with this section are deemed to be in compli19 ance all provisions of the Outer Continental Shelf 

20 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.). 

21 (3) OPERATING RESTRICTIONS.—A new lease 

22 issued in exchange for an existing lease under this 

23 section shall be subject to such national defense oper24 ating stipulations on the OCS tract covered by the 

25 new lease as may be applicable upon issuance. 


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1 (4) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give priority 

2 in the lease exchange process based on the amount of 

3 the original bonus bid paid for the issuance of each 

4 lease to be exchanged. The Secretary shall allow leases 

5 covering partial tracts to be exchanged for leases cov6 ering full tracts conditioned upon payment of addi7 tional bonus bids on a per-acre basis as determined 

8 by the average per acre of the original bonus bid per 

9 acre for the partial tract being exchanged. 

10 (5) EXPLORATION PLANS.—Any exploration plan 

11 submitted to the Secretary of the Interior after the 

12 date of the enactment of this Act and before July 1, 

13 2010, for an oil and gas lease for an area wholly 

14 within 100 miles of the coastline within the Cali15 fornia Adjacent Zone or Florida Adjacent Zone shall 

16 not be treated as received by the Secretary until the 

17 earlier of July 1, 2010, or the date on which a peti18 tion by the Adjacent State for oil and gas leasing cov19 ering the area within which is located the area subject 

20 to the oil and gas lease was approved. 

21 (b) FURTHER LEASE CANCELLATION AND EXCHANGE

22 PROVISIONS.— 

23 (1) CANCELLATION OF LEASE.—As part of the 

24 lease exchange process under this section, the SecVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:12 Jun 27, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00140 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4761.RH H4761

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1 retary shall cancel a lease that is exchanged under 

2 this section. 

3 (2) CONSENT OF LESSEES.—All lessees holding 

4 an interest in a lease must consent to cancellation of 

5 their leasehold interests in order for the lease to be 

6 cancelled and exchanged under this section. 

7 (3) WAIVER OF RIGHTS.—As a prerequisite to 

8 the exchange of a lease under this section, the lessee 

9 must waive any rights to bring any litigation against 

10 the United States related to the transaction. 

11 (4) PLUGGING ANDABANDONMENT.—The plug12 ging and abandonment requirements for any wells lo13 cated on any lease to be cancelled and exchanged 

14 under this section must be complied with by the les15 sees prior to the cancellation and exchange. 

16 (c) AREA PARTIALLY WITHIN 100 MILES OF FLOR17 IDA.—An existing oil and gas lease for an area located par18 tially within 100 miles of the coastline within the Florida 

19 n Adjacent Zone may only be developed and produced using 

20 wells drilled from well-head locations at least 100 miles 

21 from the coastline to any bottom-hole location on the area 

22 of the lease. This subsection shall not apply if Florida has 

23 petitioned for leasing closer to the coastline than 100 miles. 

24 (d) EXISTING OIL AND GAS LEASE DEFINED.—In this 

25 section the term ‘‘existing oil and gas lease’’ means an oil 


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1 and gas lease in effect on the date of the enactment of this 

2 Act. 

3 SEC. 28. COASTAL IMPACT ASSISTANCE. 

4 Section 31 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

5 (43 U.S.C. 1356a) is repealed. 

6 SEC. 29. OIL SHALE AND TAR SANDS AMENDMENTS. 

7 (a) REPEAL OF REQUIREMENT TO ESTABLISH PAY8 MENTS.—Section 369(o) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 

9 (Public Law 109–58; 119 Stat. 728; 42 U.S.C. 15927) is 

10 repealed. 

11 (b) TREATMENT OF REVENUES.—Section 21 of the 

12 Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 241) is amended by adding 

13 at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(e) REVENUES.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the provi16 sions of section 35, all revenues received from and 

17 under an oil shale or tar sands lease shall be disposed 

18 of as provided in this subsection. 

19 ‘‘(2) ROYALTY RATES FOR COMMERCIAL

20 LEASES.— 

21 ‘‘(A) ROYALTY RATES.—The Secretary shall 

22 model the royalty schedule for oil shale and tar 

23 sands leases based on the royalty program cur24 rently in effect for the production of synthetic 


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1 crude oil from oil sands in the Province of Al2 berta, Canada. 

3 ‘‘(B) REDUCTION.—The Secretary shall re4 duce any royalty otherwise required to be paid 

5 under subparagraph (A) under any oil shale or 

6 tar sands lease on a sliding scale based upon 

7 market price, with a 10 percent reduction if the 

8 average futures price of NYMEX Light Sweet 

9 Crude, or a similar index, drops, for the previous 

10 quarter year, below $50 (in January 1, 2006, 

11 dollars), and an 80 percent reduction if the aver12 age price drops below $30 (in January 1, 2006, 

13 dollars) for the quarter previous to the one in 

14 which the production is sold. 

15 ‘‘(3) DISPOSITION OF REVENUES.— 

16 ‘‘(A) DEPOSIT.—The Secretary shall deposit 

17 into a separate account in the Treasury all reve18 nues derived from any oil shale or tar sands 

19 lease. 

20 ‘‘(B) ALLOCATIONS TO STATES ANDLOCAL

21 POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS.—The Secretary shall 

22 allocate 50 percent of the revenues deposited into 

23 the account established under subparagraph (A) 

24 to the State within the boundaries of which the 

25 leased lands are located, with a portion of that 


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1 to be paid directly by the Secretary to the State’s 

2 local political subdivisions as provided in this 

3 paragraph. 

4 ‘‘(C) TRANSMISSION OF ALLOCATIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the 

6 last business day of the month after the 

7 month in which the revenues were received, 

8 the Secretary shall transmit— 

9 ‘‘(I) to each State two-thirds of 

10 such State’s allocations under subpara11 graph (B), and in accordance with 

12 clauses (ii) and (iii) to certain county13 equivalent and municipal political 

14 subdivisions of such State a total of 

15 one-third of such State’s allocations 

16 under subparagraph (B), together with 

17 all accrued interest thereon; and 

18 ‘‘(II) the remaining balance of 

19 such revenues deposited into the ac20 count that are not allocated under sub21 paragraph (B), together with interest 

22 thereon, shall be transmitted to the 

23 miscellaneous receipts account of the 

24 Treasury, except that until a lease has 

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1 cent of such remaining balance derived 

2 from a lease shall be paid in accord3 ance with subclause (I). 

4 ‘‘(ii) ALLOCATIONS TO CERTAIN COUN5 TY-EQUIVALENT POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS.— 

6 The Secretary shall under clause (i)(I) 

7 make equitable allocations of the revenues to 

8 county-equivalent political subdivisions that 

9 the Secretary determines are closely associ10 ated with the leasing and production of oil 

11 shale and tar sands, under a formula that 

12 the Secretary shall determine by regulation. 

13 ‘‘(iii) ALLOCATIONS TO MUNICIPAL PO14 LITICAL SUBDIVISIONS.—The initial alloca15 tion to each county-equivalent political sub16 division under clause (ii) shall be further 

17 allocated to the county-equivalent political 

18 subdivision and any municipal political 

19 subdivisions located partially or wholly 

20 within the boundaries of the county-equiva21 lent political subdivision on an equitable 

22 basis under a formula that the Secretary 

23 shall determine by regulation. 

24 ‘‘(D) INVESTMENT OF DEPOSITS.—The de25 posits in the Treasury account established under 


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1 this section shall be invested by the Secretary of 

2 the Treasury in securities backed by the full faith 

3 and credit of the United States having matu4 rities suitable to the needs of the account and 

5 yielding the highest reasonably available interest 

6 rates as determined by the Secretary of the 

7 Treasury. 

8 ‘‘(E) USE OF FUNDS.—A recipient of funds 

9 under this subsection may use the funds for any 

10 lawful purpose as determined by State law. 

11 Funds allocated under this subsection to States 

12 and local political subdivisions may be used as 

13 matching funds for other Federal programs with14 out limitation. Funds allocated to local political 

15 subdivisions under this subsection may not be 

16 used in calculation of payments to such local po17 litical subdivisions under programs for payments 

18 in lieu of taxes or other similar programs. 

19 ‘‘(F) NO ACCOUNTING REQUIRED.—No re20 cipient of funds under this subsection shall be re21 quired to account to the Federal Government for 

22 the expenditure of such funds, except as otherwise 

23 may be required by law. 

24 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(A) COUNTY-EQUIVALENT POLITICAL SUB2 DIVISION.—The term ‘county-equivalent political 

3 subdivision’ means a political jurisdiction imme4 diately below the level of State government, in5 cluding a county, parish, borough in Alaska, 

6 independent municipality not part of a county, 

7 parish, or borough in Alaska, or other equivalent 

8 subdivision of a State. 

9 ‘‘(B) MUNICIPAL POLITICAL SUBDIVISION.— 

10 The term ‘municipal political subdivision’ means 

11 a municipality located within and part of a 

12 county, parish, borough in Alaska, or other 

13 equivalent subdivision of a State.’’. 

14 SEC. 30. AVAILABILITY OF OCS RECEIPTS TO PROVIDE PAY15 MENTS UNDER SECURE RURAL SCHOOLS AND 

16 COMMUNITY SELF-DETERMINATION ACT OF 

17 2000. 

18 Section 9 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

19 (43 U.S.C. 1338) is amended by inserting after subsection 

20 (i), as added by section 7 of this Act, the following new 

21 subsection: 

22 ‘‘(j) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS FOR PAYMENTS UNDER

23 SECURE RURAL SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITY SELF-DETER24 MINATION ACT OF 2000.—Notwithstanding any other provi25 sion of this section, $50,000,000 of OCS Receipts shall be 


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1 available to the Secretary of the Treasury for each of fiscal 

2 years 2007 through 2012 to make payments under sections 

3 102 and 103 of the Secure Rural Schools and Community 

4 Self-Determination Act of 2000 (Public Law 106–393; 16 

5 U.S.C. 500 note). The Secretary of the Treasury shall use 

6 the funds made available by this subsection to make such 

7 payments in lieu of using funds in the Treasury not other8 wise appropriated, as otherwise authorized by sections 

9 102(b)(3) and 103(b)(2) of such Act.’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 295 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4761 

[Report No. 109

–531] 

A BILL 

To provide for exploration, development, and proouter Continental Shelf, and for other purposes. duction activities for mineral resources on the 

JUNE 26, 2006 

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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