II 

Calendar No. 588 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4761 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 10, 2006 

Received 

AUGUST 3, 2006 

Read the first time 

SEPTEMBER 5, 2006 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 

AN ACT 

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 

5 Resources Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. POLICY. 

7 It is the policy of the United States that— 


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1 (1) the United States is blessed with abundant 

2 energy resources on the outer Continental Shelf and 

3 has developed a comprehensive framework of envi4 ronmental laws and regulations and fostered the de5 velopment of state-of-the-art technology that allows 

6 for the responsible development of these resources 

7 for the benefit of its citizenry; 

8 (2) adjacent States are required by the cir9 cumstances to commit significant resources in sup10 port of exploration, development, and production ac11 tivities for mineral resources on the outer Conti12 nental Shelf, and it is fair and proper for a portion 

13 of the receipts from such activities to be shared with 

14 Adjacent States and their local coastal governments; 

15 (3) the existing laws governing the leasing and 

16 production of the mineral resources of the outer 

17 Continental Shelf have reduced the production of 

18 mineral resources, have preempted Adjacent States 

19 from being sufficiently involved in the decisions re20 garding the allowance of mineral resource develop21 ment, and have been harmful to the national inter22 est; 

23 (4) the national interest is served by granting 

24 the Adjacent States more options related to whether 


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1 or not mineral leasing should occur in the outer 

2 Continental Shelf within their Adjacent Zones; 

3 (5) it is not reasonably foreseeable that explo4 ration of a leased tract located more than 25 miles 

5 seaward of the coastline, development and produc6 tion of a natural gas discovery located more than 25 

7 miles seaward of the coastline, or development and 

8 production of an oil discovery located more than 50 

9 miles seaward of the coastline will adversely affect 

10 resources near the coastline; 

11 (6) transportation of oil from a leased tract 

12 might reasonably be foreseen, under limited cir13 cumstances, to have the potential to adversely affect 

14 resources near the coastline if the oil is within 50 

15 miles of the coastline, but such potential to adversely 

16 affect such resources is likely no greater, and prob17 ably less, than the potential impacts from tanker 

18 transportation because tanker spills usually involve 

19 large releases of oil over a brief period of time; and 

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

21 Great Lakes, Long Island Sound, Delaware Bay, 

22 Chesapeake Bay, Albemarle Sound, San Francisco 

23 Bay, and Puget Sound are not part of the outer 

24 Continental Shelf, and are not subject to leasing by 

25 the Federal Government for the exploration, developVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:38 Sep 06, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4761.PCS H4761

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1 ment, and production of any mineral resources that 

2 might lie beneath them. 

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS UNDER THE OUTER CONTINENTAL 

4 SHELF LANDS ACT. 

5 Section 2 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

6 (43 U.S.C. 1331) is amended— 

7 (1) by amending paragraph (f) to read as fol8 lows: 

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

10 State.’’; 

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

12 of paragraphs (a) through (o) and inserting a pe13 riod; 

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

15 (p) and inserting a period; 

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

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

18 to any program, plan, lease sale, leased tract or other ac19 tivity, proposed, conducted, or approved pursuant to the 

20 provisions of this Act, any State the laws of which are 

21 declared, pursuant to section 4(a)(2), to be the law of the 

22 United States for the portion of the outer Continental 

23 Shelf on which such program, plan, lease sale, leased tract 

24 or activity appertains or is, or is proposed to be, con25 ducted. For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘State’ 


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1 includes Puerto Rico and the other Territories of the 

2 United States. 

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

4 to any program, plan, lease sale, leased tract, or other ac5 tivity, proposed, conducted, or approved pursuant to the 

6 provisions of this Act, the portion of the outer Continental 

7 Shelf for which the laws of a particular Adjacent State 

8 are declared, pursuant to section 4(a)(2), to be the law 

9 of the United States. 

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

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

12 the term ‘coast line’ as defined in section 2(c) of the Sub13 merged Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1301(c)). 

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

15 State having a common boundary at the coastline with the 

16 Adjacent State.’’; and 

17 (5) in paragraph (a), by inserting after ‘‘con18 trol’’ the following: ‘‘or lying within the United 

19 States exclusive economic zone adjacent to the Terri20 tories of the United States’’. 

21 SEC. 4. DETERMINATION OF ADJACENT ZONES AND PLAN22 NING AREAS. 

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

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

25 first sentence by striking ‘‘, and the President’’ and all 


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1 that follows through the end of the sentence and inserting 

2 the following: ‘‘. The lines extending seaward and defining 

3 each State’s Adjacent Zone, and each OCS Planning Area, 

4 are as indicated on the maps for each outer Continental 

5 Shelf region entitled ‘Alaska OCS Region State Adjacent 

6 Zone and OCS Planning Areas’, ‘Pacific OCS Region 

7 State Adjacent Zones and OCS Planning Areas’, ‘Gulf of 

8 Mexico OCS Region State Adjacent Zones and OCS Plan9 ning Areas’, and ‘Atlantic OCS Region State Adjacent 

10 Zones and OCS Planning Areas’, all of which are dated 

11 September 2005 and on file in the Office of the Director, 

12 Minerals Management Service.’’. 

13 SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATION OF LEASING. 

14 Section 5 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

15 (43 U.S.C. 1334) is amended by adding at the end the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(k) VOLUNTARY PARTIAL RELINQUISHMENT OF A

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

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

20 no interest in producing and that the Secretary finds is 

21 geologically prospective. In return for any such relinquish22 ment, the Secretary shall provide to the lessee a royalty 

23 incentive for the portion of the lease retained by the lessee, 

24 in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Sec25 retary to carry out this subsection. The Secretary shall 


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1 publish final regulations implementing this subsection 

2 within 365 days after the date of the enactment of the 

3 Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act of 2006. 

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

5 than July 1, 2007, the Secretary shall publish a final regu6 lation that shall— 

7 ‘‘(1) establish procedures for entering into nat8 ural gas leases; 

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

10 available for tracts on the outer Continental Shelf 

11 that are wholly within 100 miles of the coastline 

12 within an area withdrawn from disposition by leas13 ing on the day after the date of enactment of the 

14 Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act of 2006; 

15 ‘‘(3) provide that natural gas leases shall con16 tain the same rights and obligations established for 

17 oil and gas leases, except as otherwise provided in 

18 the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act of 2006; 

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

20 bids for natural gas leases, the value of any crude 

21 oil estimated to be contained within any tract shall 

22 be excluded; 

23 ‘‘(5) provide that any crude oil produced from 

24 a well and reinjected into the leased tract shall not 

25 be subject to payment of royalty, and that the SecVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:38 Sep 06, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4761.PCS H4761

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1 retary shall consider, in setting the royalty rates for 

2 a natural gas lease, the additional cost to the lessee 

3 of not producing any crude oil; and 

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

5 to an oil and gas lease on the outer Continental 

6 Shelf shall apply to a natural gas lease unless other7 wise clearly inapplicable.’’. 

8 SEC. 6. GRANT OF LEASES BY SECRETARY. 

9 Section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

10 (43 U.S.C. 1337) is amended— 

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

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

13 may grant natural gas leases in a manner similar to 

14 the granting of oil and gas leases and under the var15 ious bidding systems available for oil and gas 

16 leases.’’; 

17 (2) by adding at the end of subsection (b) the 

18 following: 

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

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

21 of vertical depths, horizontal surface area, or a combina22 tion of the two. The Secretary may issue regulations that 

23 the Secretary determines are necessary to manage such 

24 leases consistent with the purposes of this Act.’’; 


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1 (3) by amending subsection (p)(2)(B) to read 

2 as follows: 

3 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall provide for the pay4 ment to coastal states, and their local coastal gov5 ernments, of 75 percent of Federal receipts from 

6 projects authorized under this section located par7 tially or completely within the area extending sea8 ward of State submerged lands out to 4 marine 

9 leagues from the coastline, and the payment to 

10 coastal states of 50 percent of the receipts from 

11 projects completely located in the area more than 4 

12 marine leagues from the coastline. Payments shall 

13 be based on a formula established by the Secretary 

14 by rulemaking no later than 180 days after the date 

15 of the enactment of the Deep Ocean Energy Re16 sources Act of 2006 that provides for equitable dis17 tribution, based on proximity to the project, among 

18 coastal states that have coastline that is located 

19 within 200 miles of the geographic center of the 

20 project.’’. 

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

22 ‘‘(q) NATURAL GAS LEASES.— 

23 ‘‘(1) RIGHT TO PRODUCE NATURAL GAS.—A 

24 lessee of a natural gas lease shall have the right to 

25 produce the natural gas from a field on a natural 


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1 gas leased tract if the Secretary estimates that the 

2 discovered field has at least 40 percent of the eco3 nomically recoverable Btu content of the field con4 tained within natural gas and such natural gas is ec5 onomical to produce. 

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

7 lease may not produce crude oil from the lease. 

8 ‘‘(3) ESTIMATES OF BTU CONTENT.—The Sec9 retary shall make estimates of the natural gas Btu 

10 content of discovered fields on a natural gas lease 

11 only after the completion of at least one exploration 

12 well, the data from which has been tied to the re13 sults of a three-dimensional seismic survey of the 

14 field. The Secretary may not require the lessee to 

15 further delineate any discovered field prior to mak16 ing such estimates. 

17 ‘‘(4) DEFINITION OF NATURAL GAS.—For pur18 poses of a natural gas lease, natural gas means nat19 ural gas and all substances produced in association 

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

21 liquids (other than crude oil) that are obtained by 

22 the condensation of hydrocarbon vapors and sepa23 rate out in liquid form from the produced gas 

24 stream. 


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

2 IN CERTAIN AREAS OF THE OUTER CONTINENTAL

3 SHELF.—Restrictions on joint bidders shall no longer 

4 apply to tracts located in the Alaska OCS Region. Such 

5 restrictions shall not apply to tracts in other OCS regions 

6 determined to be ‘frontier tracts’ or otherwise ‘high cost 

7 tracts’ under final regulations that shall be published by 

8 the Secretary by not later than 365 days after the date 

9 of the enactment of the Deep Ocean Energy Resources 

10 Act of 2006. 

11 ‘‘(s) ROYALTY SUSPENSION PROVISIONS.—The Sec12 retary shall agree to a request by any lessee to amend 

13 any lease issued for Central and Western Gulf of Mexico 

14 tracts during the period of January 1, 1998, through De15 cember 31, 1999, to incorporate price thresholds applica16 ble to royalty suspension provisions, or amend existing 

17 price thresholds, in the amount of $40.50 per barrel (2006 

18 dollars) for oil and for natural gas of $6.75 per million 

19 Btu (2006 dollars). Any amended lease shall impose the 

20 new or revised price thresholds effective October 1, 2005. 

21 Existing lease provisions shall prevail through September 

22 30, 2005. After the date of the enactment of the Deep 

23 Ocean Energy Resources Act of 2006, price thresholds 

24 shall apply to any royalty suspension volumes granted by 

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1 lation or for a particular lease sale, the price thresholds 

2 shall be $40.50 for oil (2006 dollars) and $6.75 for nat3 ural gas (2006 dollars). 

4 ‘‘(t) CONSERVATION OF RESOURCES FEES.— 

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

6 the enactment of the Deep Ocean Energy Resources 

7 Act of 2006, the Secretary by regulation shall estab8 lish a conservation of resources fee for producing 

9 leases that will apply to new and existing leases 

10 which shall be set at $9 per barrel for oil and $1.25 

11 per million Btu for gas. This fee shall only apply to 

12 leases in production located in more than 200 me13 ters of water for which royalties are not being paid 

14 when prices exceed $40.50 per barrel for oil and 

15 $6.75 per million Btu for natural gas in 2006, dol16 lars. This fee shall apply to production from and 

17 after October 1, 2005, and shall be treated as offset18 ting receipts. 

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

20 the enactment of the Deep Ocean Energy Resources 

21 Act of 2006, the Secretary by regulation shall estab22 lish a conservation of resources fee for nonproducing 

23 leases that will apply to new and existing leases 

24 which shall be set at $3.75 per acre per year. This 


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1 fee shall apply from and after October 1, 2005, and 

2 shall be treated as offsetting receipts.’’; 

3 (5) by striking subsection (a)(3)(A) and redes4 ignating the subsequent subparagraphs as subpara5 graphs (A) and (B), respectively; 

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

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

8 through ‘‘the Secretary’’ the first place it appears 

9 and inserting ‘‘The Secretary’’; and 

10 (7) effective October 1, 2006, in subsection 

11 (g)— 

12 (A) by striking all after ‘‘(g)’’, except para13 graph (3); 

14 (B) by striking the last sentence of para15 graph (3); and 

16 (C) by striking ‘‘(3)’’. 

17 SEC. 7. DISPOSITION OF RECEIPTS. 

18 Section 9 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

19 (43 U.S.C. 1338) is amended— 

20 (1) by designating the existing text as sub21 section (a); 

22 (2) in subsection (a) (as so designated) by in23 serting ‘‘, if not paid as otherwise provided in this 

24 title’’ after ‘‘receipts’’; and 

25 (3) by adding the following: 


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

2 COMPLETELY WITHIN 100 MILES OF THE COASTLINE.— 

3 ‘‘(1) DEPOSIT.—The Secretary shall deposit 

4 into a separate account in the Treasury the portion 

5 of OCS Receipts for each fiscal year that will be 

6 shared under paragraphs (2), (3), and (4). 

7 ‘‘(2) PHASED-IN RECEIPTS SHARING.— 

8 ‘‘(A) Beginning October 1, 2005, the Sec9 retary shall share OCS Receipts derived from 

10 the following areas: 

11 ‘‘(i) Lease tracts located on portions 

12 of the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region com13 pletely beyond 4 marine leagues from any 

14 coastline and completely within 100 miles 

15 of any coastline that are available for leas16 ing under the 2002–2007 5-Year Oil and 

17 Gas Leasing Program in effect prior to the 

18 date of the enactment of the Deep Ocean 

19 Energy Resources Act of 2006. 

20 ‘‘(ii) Lease tracts in production prior 

21 to October 1, 2005, completely beyond 4 

22 marine leagues from any coastline and 

23 completely within 100 miles of any coast24 line located on portions of the OCS that 

25 were not available for leasing under the 


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1 2002–2007 5-Year OCS Oil and Gas Leas2 ing Program in effect prior to the date of 

3 the enactment of the Deep Ocean Energy 

4 Resources Act of 2006. 

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

6 issued prior to October 1, 2005, located in 

7 the Alaska OCS Region completely beyond 

8 4 marine leagues from any coastline and 

9 completely within 100 miles of the coast10 line. 

11 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall share the fol12 lowing percentages of OCS Receipts from the 

13 leases described in subparagraph (A) derived 

14 during the fiscal year indicated: 

15 ‘‘(i) For fiscal year 2006, 4.6 percent. 

16 ‘‘(ii) For fiscal year 2007, 5.95 per17 cent. 

18 ‘‘(iii) For fiscal year 2008, 6.8 per19 cent. 

20 ‘‘(iv) For fiscal year 2009, 7.65 per21 cent. 

22 ‘‘(v) For fiscal year 2010, 10.20 per23 cent. 

24 ‘‘(vi) For fiscal year 2011, 12.75 per25 cent. 


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1 ‘‘(vii) For fiscal year 2012, 15.30 per2 cent. 

3 ‘‘(viii) For fiscal year 2013, 17.85 

4 percent. 

5 ‘‘(ix) For fiscal year 2014, 20.40 per6 cent. 

7 ‘‘(x) For fiscal year 2015, 22.95 per8 cent. 

9 ‘‘(xi) For fiscal year 2016, 25.50 per10 cent. 

11 ‘‘(xii) For fiscal year 2017, 28.05 per12 cent. 

13 ‘‘(xiii) For fiscal year 2018, 30.60 

14 percent. 

15 ‘‘(xiv) For fiscal year 2019, 33.15 

16 percent. 

17 ‘‘(xv) For fiscal year 2020, 35.70 per18 cent. 

19 ‘‘(xvi) For fiscal year 2021, 38.25 

20 percent. 

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

22 subsequent fiscal year, 42.50 percent. 

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

24 not apply to leases that could not have been 

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


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1 6(2) of the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act 

2 of 2006. 

3 ‘‘(3) IMMEDIATE RECEIPTS SHARING.—Begin4 ning October 1, 2005, the Secretary shall share 

5 42.50 percent of OCS Receipts derived from all 

6 leases located completely beyond 4 marine leagues 

7 from any coastline and completely within 100 miles 

8 of any coastline not included within the provisions of 

9 paragraph (2). 

10 ‘‘(4) RECEIPTS SHARING FROM TRACTS WITHIN

11 4 MARINE LEAGUES OF ANY COASTLINE.— 

12 ‘‘(A) AREAS DESCRIBED IN PARAGRAPH

13 (2).— 

14 ‘‘(i) Beginning October 1, 2005, and 

15 continuing through September 30, 2010, 

16 the Secretary shall share 25 percent of 

17 OCS Receipts derived from all leases lo18 cated within 4 marine leagues from any 

19 coastline within areas described in para20 graph (2). For each fiscal year after Sep21 tember 30, 2010, the Secretary shall in22 crease the percent shared in 5 percent in23 crements each fiscal year until the sharing 

24 rate for all leases located within 4 marine 

25 leagues from any coastline within areas deVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:38 Sep 06, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4761.PCS H4761

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1 scribed in paragraph (2) becomes 42.5 per2 cent. 

3 ‘‘(ii) During fiscal year 2016, the Sec4 retary shall conduct an analysis of all of 

5 the areas described in paragraph (3) and 

6 subsection (c)(3) to determine the total of 

7 OCS Receipts derived from such areas dur8 ing the period of fiscal year 2007 through 

9 fiscal year 2016. The Secretary shall sub10 tract the amount of $4 billion from the 

11 total of such OCS Receipts. If the result is 

12 a positive number, the Secretary shall di13 vide such positive number by $4 billion. 

14 The resulting quotient, not to exceed 0.5, 

15 shall then be multiplied times 25. The 

16 product of such multiplication shall be 

17 added to 42.5 and the sum shall be the 

18 percent that the Secretary shall share for 

19 fiscal year 2017 and all future years from 

20 OCS Receipts derived from all leases lo21 cated within 4 marine leagues from any 

22 coastline within areas described in para23 graph (2), unless increased by the provi24 sions of (iii). 


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1 ‘‘(iii) Beginning October 1, 2017, the 

2 Secretary shall share, in addition to the 

3 share established by (i), as modified by (ii) 

4 if any, amounts determined as follows, 

5 with the total of the amounts shared under 

6 this paragraph not to exceed in any fiscal 

7 year an amount equal to 63.75 percent of 

8 total OCS Receipts derived from all leases 

9 located within 4 marine leagues from any 

10 coastline within areas described in para11 graph (2)—25 percent of the total of OCS 

12 Receipts derived from areas described in 

13 paragraph (3) and subsection (c)(3) that 

14 exceed the following amounts for the fiscal 

15 year indicated: for fiscal year 2017 the 

16 amount of $900,000,000 and for each fis17 cal year thereafter add $100,000,000. 

18 Amounts added under this clause to be 

19 shared, if any, for any fiscal year shall be 

20 added to the sharing base for all subse21 quent years and shall be allocated among 

22 State Adjacent Zones on a basis propor23 tional to the result from the calculation in 

24 clause (i). 


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1 ‘‘(B) AREAS NOT DESCRIBED IN PARA2 GRAPH (2).—Beginning October 1, 2005, the 

3 Secretary shall share 63.75 percent of OCS re4 ceipts derived from all leases located completely 

5 or partially within 4 marine leagues from any 

6 coastline within areas not described paragraph 

7 (2). 

8 ‘‘(5) ALLOCATIONS.—The Secretary shall allo9 cate the OCS Receipts deposited into the separate 

10 account established by paragraph (1) that are 

11 shared under paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) as follows: 

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

13 bonus bids from a leased tract, including inter14 est thereon, shall be allocated at the end of 

15 each fiscal year to the Adjacent State. 

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

17 royalties from a leased tract, including interest 

18 thereon, shall be allocated at the end of each 

19 fiscal year to the Adjacent State and any other 

20 producing State or States with a leased tract 

21 within its Adjacent Zone within 100 miles of its 

22 coastline that generated royalties during the fis23 cal year, if the other producing or States have 

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1 tion of the leased tract, in which case the 

2 amount allocated for the leased tract shall be— 

3 ‘‘(i) one-third to the Adjacent State; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(ii) two-thirds to each producing 

6 State, including the Adjacent State, in7 versely proportional to the distance be8 tween the nearest point on the coastline of 

9 the producing State and the geographic 

10 center of the leased tract. 

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

12 PARTIALLY OR COMPLETELY BEYOND 100 MILES OF THE

13 COASTLINE.— 

14 ‘‘(1) DEPOSIT.—The Secretary shall deposit 

15 into a separate account in the Treasury the portion 

16 of OCS Receipts for each fiscal year that will be 

17 shared under paragraphs (2) and (3). 

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

19 ‘‘(A) Beginning October 1, 2005, the Sec20 retary shall share OCS Receipts derived from 

21 the following areas: 

22 ‘‘(i) Lease tracts located on portions 

23 of the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region partially 

24 or completely beyond 100 miles of any 

25 coastline that were available for leasing 


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

2 Leasing Program in effect prior to the 

3 date of enactment of the Deep Ocean En4 ergy Resources Act of 2006. 

5 ‘‘(ii) Lease tracts in production prior 

6 to October 1, 2005, partially or completely 

7 beyond 100 miles of any coastline located 

8 on portions of the OCS that were not 

9 available for leasing under the 2002–2007 

10 5-Year OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program 

11 in effect prior to the date of enactment of 

12 the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act of 

13 2006. 

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

15 issued prior to October 1, 2005, located in 

16 the Alaska OCS Region partially or com17 pletely beyond 100 miles of the coastline. 

18 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall share the fol19 lowing percentages of OCS Receipts from the 

20 leases described in subparagraph (A) derived 

21 during the fiscal year indicated: 

22 ‘‘(i) For fiscal year 2006, 4.6 percent. 

23 ‘‘(ii) For fiscal year 2007, 5.95 per24 cent. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) For fiscal year 2008, 6.80 per2 cent. 

3 ‘‘(iv) For fiscal year 2009, 7.65 per4 cent. 

5 ‘‘(v) For fiscal year 2010, 10.20 per6 cent. 

7 ‘‘(vi) For fiscal year 2011, 12.75 per8 cent. 

9 ‘‘(vii) For fiscal year 2012, 15.30 per10 cent. 

11 ‘‘(viii) For fiscal year 2013, 17.85 

12 percent. 

13 ‘‘(ix) For fiscal year 2014, 20.40 per14 cent. 

15 ‘‘(x) For fiscal year 2015, 22.95 per16 cent. 

17 ‘‘(xi) For fiscal year 2016, 25.50 per18 cent. 

19 ‘‘(xii) For fiscal year 2017, 28.05 per20 cent. 

21 ‘‘(xiii) For fiscal year 2018, 30.60 

22 percent. 

23 ‘‘(xiv) For fiscal year 2019, 33.15 

24 percent. 


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1 ‘‘(xv) For fiscal year 2020, 35.70 per2 cent. 

3 ‘‘(xvi) For fiscal year 2021, 38.25 

4 percent. 

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

6 subsequent fiscal year, 42.50 percent. 

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

8 not apply to leases that could not have been 

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

10 6(2) of the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act 

11 of 2006. 

12 ‘‘(3) IMMEDIATE RECEIPTS SHARING.—Begin13 ning October 1, 2005, the Secretary shall share 42.5 

14 percent of OCS Receipts derived on and after Octo15 ber 1, 2005, from all leases located partially or com16 pletely beyond 100 miles of any coastline not in17 cluded within the provisions of paragraph (2), except 

18 that the Secretary shall only share 25 percent of 

19 such OCS Receipts derived from all such leases 

20 within a State’s Adjacent Zone if no leasing is al21 lowed within any portion of that State’s Adjacent 

22 Zone located completely within 100 miles of any 

23 coastline. 

24 ‘‘(4) ALLOCATIONS.—The Secretary shall allo25 cate the OCS Receipts deposited into the separate 


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1 account established by paragraph (1) that are 

2 shared under paragraphs (2) and (3) as follows: 

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

4 bonus bids from a leased tract, including inter5 est thereon, shall be allocated at the end of 

6 each fiscal year to the Adjacent State. 

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

8 royalties from a leased tract, including interest 

9 thereon, shall be allocated at the end of each 

10 fiscal year to the Adjacent State and any other 

11 producing State or States with a leased tract 

12 within its Adjacent Zone partially or completely 

13 beyond 100 miles of its coastline that generated 

14 royalties during the fiscal year, if the other pro15 ducing State or States have a coastline point 

16 within 300 miles of any portion of the leased 

17 tract, in which case the amount allocated for 

18 the leased tract shall be— 

19 ‘‘(i) one-third to the Adjacent State; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(ii) two-thirds to each producing 

22 State, including the Adjacent State, in23 versely proportional to the distance be24 tween the nearest point on the coastline of 


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1 the producing State and the geographic 

2 center of the leased tract. 

3 ‘‘(d) TRANSMISSION OF ALLOCATIONS.— 

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

5 after the end of each fiscal year, the Secretary shall 

6 transmit— 

7 ‘‘(A) to each State 60 percent of such 

8 State’s allocations under subsections (b)(5)(A), 

9 (b)(5)(B), (c)(4)(A), and (c)(4)(B) for the im10 mediate prior fiscal year; 

11 ‘‘(B) to each coastal county-equivalent and 

12 municipal political subdivisions of such State a 

13 total of 40 percent of such State’s allocations 

14 under subsections (b)(5)(A), (b)(5)(B), 

15 (c)(4)(A), and (c)(4)(B), together with all ac16 crued interest thereon; and 

17 ‘‘(C) the remaining allocations under sub18 sections (b)(5) and (c)(4), together with all ac19 crued interest thereon. 

20 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATIONS TO COASTAL COUNTY21 EQUIVALENT POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS.—The Sec22 retary shall make an initial allocation of the OCS 

23 Receipts to be shared under paragraph (1)(B) as fol24 lows: 


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1 ‘‘(A) 25 percent shall be allocated to coast2 al county-equivalent political subdivisions that 

3 are completely more than 25 miles landward of 

4 the coastline and at least a part of which lies 

5 not more than 75 miles landward from the 

6 coastline, with the allocation among such coast7 al county-equivalent political subdivisions based 

8 on population. 

9 ‘‘(B) 75 percent shall be allocated to coast10 al county-equivalent political subdivisions that 

11 are completely or partially less than 25 miles 

12 landward of the coastline, with the allocation 

13 among such coastal county-equivalent political 

14 subdivisions to be further allocated as follows: 

15 ‘‘(i) 25 percent shall be allocated 

16 based on the ratio of such coastal county17 equivalent political subdivision’s population 

18 to the coastal population of all coastal 

19 county-equivalent political subdivisions in 

20 the State. 

21 ‘‘(ii) 25 percent shall be allocated 

22 based on the ratio of such coastal county23 equivalent political subdivision’s coastline 

24 miles to the coastline miles of all coastal 

25 county-equivalent political subdivisions in 


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1 the State as calculated by the Secretary. 

2 In such calculations, coastal county-equiva3 lent political subdivisions without a coast4 line shall be considered to have 50 percent 

5 of the average coastline miles of the coast6 al county-equivalent political subdivisions 

7 that do have coastlines. 

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

9 all coastal county-equivalent political sub10 divisions having a coastline point within 

11 300 miles of the leased tract for which 

12 OCS Receipts are being shared based on a 

13 formula that allocates the funds based on 

14 such coastal county-equivalent political 

15 subdivision’s relative distance from the 

16 leased tract. 

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

18 all coastal county-equivalent political sub19 divisions having a coastline point within 

20 300 miles of the leased tract for which 

21 OCS Receipts are being shared based on 

22 the relative level of outer Continental Shelf 

23 oil and gas activities in a coastal political 

24 subdivision compared to the level of outer 

25 Continental Shelf activities in all coastal 


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1 political subdivisions in the State. The Sec2 retary shall define the term ‘outer Conti3 nental Shelf oil and gas activities’ for pur4 poses of this subparagraph to include, but 

5 not be limited to, construction of vessels, 

6 drillships, and platforms involved in explo7 ration, production, and development on the 

8 outer Continental Shelf; support and sup9 ply bases, ports, and related activities; of10 fices of geologists, geophysicists, engineers, 

11 and other professionals involved in support 

12 of exploration, production, and develop13 ment of oil and gas on the outer Conti14 nental Shelf; pipelines and other means of 

15 transporting oil and gas production from 

16 the outer Continental Shelf; and processing 

17 and refining of oil and gas production from 

18 the outer Continental Shelf. For purposes 

19 of this subparagraph, if a coastal county20 equivalent political subdivision does not 

21 have a coastline, its coastal point shall be 

22 the point on the coastline closest to it. 

23 ‘‘(3) ALLOCATIONS TO COASTAL MUNICIPAL PO24 LITICAL SUBDIVISIONS.—The initial allocation to 

25 each coastal county-equivalent political subdivision 


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

2 coastal county-equivalent political subdivision and 

3 any coastal municipal political subdivisions located 

4 partially or wholly within the boundaries of the 

5 coastal county-equivalent political subdivision as fol6 lows: 

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 sub12 division, with the allocation to the latter based 

13 upon its population not included within the 

14 boundaries of a municipal political subdivision. 

15 ‘‘(e) INVESTMENT OF DEPOSITS.—Amounts depos16 ited under this section shall be invested by the Secretary 

17 of the Treasury in securities backed by the full faith and 

18 credit of the United States having maturities suitable to 

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

20 yielding the highest reasonably available interest rates as 

21 determined by 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 

19 Continental 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, 

8 currents, 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 

25 the Federal Government for the expenditure of such 


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1 funds, except as otherwise may be required by law. How2 ever, States may enact legislation providing for accounting 

3 for and auditing of such expenditures. Further, funds allo4 cated under this section to States and political subdivi5 sions may be used as matching funds for other Federal 

6 programs. 

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

8 future Federal statute that has the effect, as determined 

9 by the Secretary, of restricting any Federal agency from 

10 spending appropriated funds, or otherwise preventing it 

11 from fulfilling its pre-existing responsibilities as of the 

12 date of enactment of the statute, unless such responsibil13 ities have been reassigned to another Federal agency by 

14 the statute with no prevention of performance, to issue 

15 any permit or other approval impacting on the OCS oil 

16 and gas leasing program, or any lease issued thereunder, 

17 or to implement any provision of this Act shall automati18 cally prohibit any sharing of OCS Receipts under this sec19 tion directly with the States, and their coastal political 

20 subdivisions, for the duration of the restriction. The Sec21 retary shall make the determination of the existence of 

22 such restricting effects within 30 days of a petition by any 

23 outer Continental Shelf lessee or producing State. 

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


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1 ‘‘(1) COASTAL COUNTY-EQUIVALENT POLITICAL

2 SUBDIVISION.—The term ‘coastal county-equivalent 

3 political subdivision’ means a political jurisdiction 

4 immediately below the level of State government, in5 cluding a county, parish, borough in Alaska, inde6 pendent municipality not part of a county, parish, or 

7 borough in Alaska, or other equivalent subdivision of 

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

9 ‘‘(2) COASTAL MUNICIPAL POLITICAL SUBDIVI10 SION.—The term ‘coastal municipal political subdivi11 sion’ means a municipality located within and part 

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

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

14 coastal municipal political subdivision lies within the 

15 coastal zone. 

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

17 population’ means the population of all coastal coun18 ty-equivalent political subdivisions, as determined by 

19 the most recent official data of the Census Bureau. 

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

21 means that portion of a coastal State, including the 

22 entire territory of any coastal county-equivalent po23 litical subdivision at least a part of which lies, within 

24 75 miles landward from the coastline, or a greater 


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1 distance as determined by State law enacted to im2 plement this section. 

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

4 means all funds received by the Secretary to issue 

5 an outer Continental Shelf minerals lease. 

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

7 all funds received by the Secretary from production 

8 of oil or natural gas, or the sale of production taken 

9 in-kind, from an outer Continental Shelf minerals 

10 lease. 

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

12 State’ means an Adjacent State having an Adjacent 

13 Zone containing leased tracts from which OCS Re14 ceipts were derived. 

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

16 means bonus bids, royalties, and conservation of re17 sources fees.’’. 

18 SEC. 8. RESERVATION OF LANDS AND RIGHTS. 

19 Section 12 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

20 (43 U.S.C. 1341) is amended— 

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

22 following: ‘‘The President may partially or com23 pletely revise or revoke any prior withdrawal made 

24 by the President under the authority of this section. 

25 The President may not revise or revoke a withdrawal 


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1 that is extended by a State under subsection (h), nor 

2 may the President withdraw from leasing any area 

3 for which a State failed to prohibit, or petition to 

4 prohibit, leasing under subsection (g). Further, in 

5 the area of the outer Continental Shelf more than 

6 100 miles from any coastline, not more than 25 per7 cent of the acreage of any OCS Planning Area may 

8 be withdrawn from leasing under this section at any 

9 point in time. A withdrawal by the President may be 

10 for a term not to exceed 10 years. When considering 

11 potential uses of the outer Continental Shelf, to the 

12 maximum extent possible, the President shall accom13 modate competing interests and potential uses.’’; 

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

15 ‘‘(g) AVAILABILITY FOR LEASING WITHIN CERTAIN

16 AREAS OF THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF.— 

17 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION AGAINST LEASING.— 

18 ‘‘(A) UNAVAILABLE FOR LEASING WITH19 OUT STATE REQUEST.—Except as otherwise 

20 provided in this subsection, from and after en21 actment of the Deep Ocean Energy Resources 

22 Act of 2006, the Secretary shall not offer for 

23 leasing for oil and gas, or natural gas, any area 

24 within 50 miles of the coastline that was with25 drawn from disposition by leasing in the AtlanVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:38 Sep 06, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00036 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4761.PCS H4761

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1 tic OCS Region or the Pacific OCS Region, or 

2 the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region Eastern Plan3 ning Area, as depicted on the maps referred to 

4 in this subparagraph, under the ‘Memorandum 

5 on Withdrawal of Certain Areas of the United 

6 States Outer Continental Shelf from Leasing 

7 Disposition’, 34 Weekly Comp. Pres. Doc. 

8 1111, dated June 12, 1998, or any area within 

9 50 miles of the coastline not withdrawn under 

10 that Memorandum that is included within the 

11 Gulf of Mexico OCS Region Eastern Planning 

12 Area as indicated on the map entitled ‘Gulf of 

13 Mexico OCS Region State Adjacent Zones and 

14 OCS Planning Areas’ or the Florida Straits 

15 Planning Area as indicated on the map entitled 

16 ‘Atlantic OCS Region State Adjacent Zones and 

17 OCS Planning Areas’, both of which are dated 

18 September 2005 and on file in the Office of the 

19 Director, Minerals Management Service. 

20 ‘‘(B) AREAS BETWEEN 50 AND 100 MILES

21 FROM THE COASTLINE.—Unless an Adjacent 

22 State petitions under subsection (h) within one 

23 year after the date of the enactment of the 

24 Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act of 2006 for 

25 natural gas leasing or by June 30, 2009, for oil 


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1 and gas leasing, the Secretary shall offer for 

2 leasing any area more than 50 miles but less 

3 than 100 miles from the coastline that was 

4 withdrawn from disposition by leasing in the 

5 Atlantic OCS Region, the Pacific OCS Region, 

6 or the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region Eastern 

7 Planning Area, as depicted on the maps re8 ferred to in this subparagraph, under the 

9 ‘Memorandum on Withdrawal of Certain Areas 

10 of the United States Outer Continental Shelf 

11 from Leasing Disposition’, 34 Weekly Comp. 

12 Pres. Doc. 1111, dated June 12, 1998, or any 

13 area more than 50 miles but less than 100 

14 miles of the coastline not withdrawn under that 

15 Memorandum that is included within the Gulf 

16 of Mexico OCS Region Eastern Planning Area 

17 as indicated on the map entitled ‘Gulf of Mexico 

18 OCS Region State Adjacent Zones and OCS 

19 Planning Areas’ or within the Florida Straits 

20 Planning Area as indicated on the map entitled 

21 ‘Atlantic OCS Region State Adjacent Zones and 

22 OCS Planning Areas’, both of which are dated 

23 September 2005 and on file in the Office of the 

24 Director, Minerals Management Service. 


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1 ‘‘(2) REVOCATION OF WITHDRAWAL.—The pro2 visions of the ‘Memorandum on Withdrawal of Cer3 tain Areas of the United States Outer Continental 

4 Shelf from Leasing Disposition’, 34 Weekly Comp. 

5 Pres. Doc. 1111, dated June 12, 1998, are hereby 

6 revoked and are no longer in effect. The 2002–2007 

7 5-Year Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing 

8 Program is hereby amended to include the areas 

9 added to the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region Central 

10 Planning Area by this Act to the extent that such 

11 areas were included within the original boundaries of 

12 proposed Lease Sale 181. The amendment to such 

13 leasing program includes a sale in such additional 

14 areas, which shall be held no later than April 30, 

15 2007. The Final Environmental Impact Statement 

16 prepared for this area for Lease Sale 181 shall be 

17 deemed sufficient for all purposes for each lease sale 

18 in which such area is offered for lease during the 

19 2002–2007 5-Year Outer Continental Shelf Oil and 

20 Gas Leasing Program without need for supplemen21 tation. Any tract only partially added to the Gulf of 

22 Mexico OCS Region Central Planning Area by this 

23 Act shall be eligible for leasing of the part of such 

24 tract that is included within the Gulf of Mexico OCS 

25 Region Central Planning Area, and the remainder of 


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1 such tract that lies outside of the Gulf of Mexico 

2 OCS Region Central Planning Area may be devel3 oped and produced by the lessee of such partial tract 

4 using extended reach or similar drilling from a loca5 tion on a leased area. Further, any area in the OCS 

6 withdrawn from leasing may be leased, and there7 after developed and produced by the lessee using ex8 tended reach or similar drilling from a location on 

9 a leased area located in an area available for leasing. 

10 ‘‘(3) PETITION FOR LEASING.— 

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

12 State, upon concurrence of its legislature, may 

13 submit to the Secretary a petition requesting 

14 that the Secretary make available any area that 

15 is within the State’s Adjacent Zone, included 

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

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

18 the coastline of a Neighboring State for the 

19 conduct of offshore leasing, pre-leasing, and re20 lated activities with respect to natural gas leas21 ing; or (ii) is greater than 50 miles from any 

22 point on the coastline of a Neighboring State 

23 for the conduct of offshore leasing, pre-leasing, 

24 and related activities with respect to oil and gas 

25 leasing. The Adjacent State may also petition 


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1 for leasing any other area within its Adjacent 

2 Zone if leasing is allowed in the similar area of 

3 the Adjacent Zone of the applicable Neigh4 boring State, or if not allowed, if the Neigh5 boring State, acting through its Governor, ex6 presses its concurrence with the petition. The 

7 Secretary shall only consider such a petition 

8 upon making a finding that leasing is allowed 

9 in the similar area of the Adjacent Zone of the 

10 applicable Neighboring State or upon receipt of 

11 the concurrence of the Neighboring State. The 

12 date of receipt by the Secretary of such concur13 rence by the Neighboring State shall constitute 

14 the date of receipt of the petition for that area 

15 for which the concurrence applies. Except for 

16 any area described in the last sentence of para17 graph (2), a petition for leasing any part of the 

18 Alabama Adjacent Zone that is a part of the 

19 Gulf of Mexico Eastern Planning Area, as indi20 cated on the map entitled ‘Gulf of Mexico OCS 

21 Region State Adjacent Zones and OCS Plan22 ning Areas’ which is dated September 2005 and 

23 on file in the Office of the Director, Minerals 

24 Management Service, shall require the concur25 rence of both Alabama and Florida. 


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1 ‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS ON LEASING.—In its 

2 petition, a State with an Adjacent Zone that 

3 contains leased tracts may condition new leas4 ing for oil and gas, or natural gas for tracts 

5 within 25 miles of the coastline by— 

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

7 number of production platforms; 

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

9 average distance of production platforms 

10 from the coastline; 

11 ‘‘(iii) limiting permanent surface occu12 pancy on new leases to areas that are more 

13 than 10 miles from the coastline; 

14 ‘‘(iv) limiting some tracts to being 

15 produced from shore or from platforms lo16 cated on other tracts; or 

17 ‘‘(v) other conditions that the Adja18 cent State may deem appropriate as long 

19 as the Secretary does not determine that 

20 production is made economically or tech21 nically impracticable or otherwise impos22 sible. 

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

24 than 90 days after receipt of a petition under 

25 subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall approve 


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1 the petition, unless the Secretary determines 

2 that leasing the area would probably cause seri3 ous harm or damage to the marine resources of 

4 the State’s Adjacent Zone. Prior to approving 

5 the petition, the Secretary shall complete an en6 vironmental assessment that documents the an7 ticipated environmental effects of leasing in the 

8 area included within the scope of the petition. 

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

10 fails to approve or deny a petition in accordance 

11 with subparagraph (C) the petition shall be con12 sidered to be approved 90 days after receipt of 

13 the petition. 

14 ‘‘(E) AMENDMENT OF THE 5-YEAR LEAS15 ING PROGRAM.—Notwithstanding section 18, 

16 within 180 days of the approval of a petition 

17 under subparagraph (C) or (D), after the expi18 ration of the time limits in paragraph (1)(B), 

19 and within 180 days after the enactment of the 

20 Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act of 2006 for 

21 the areas made available for leasing under 

22 paragraph (2), the Secretary shall amend the 

23 current 5-Year Outer Continental Shelf Oil and 

24 Gas Leasing Program to include a lease sale or 

25 sales for at least 75 percent of the associated 


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1 areas, unless there are, from the date of ap2 proval, expiration of such time limits, or enact3 ment, as applicable, fewer than 12 months re4 maining in the current 5-Year Leasing Program 

5 in which case the Secretary shall include the as6 sociated areas within lease sales under the next 

7 5-Year Leasing Program. For purposes of 

8 amending the 5-Year Program in accordance 

9 with this section, further consultations with 

10 States shall not be required. For purposes of 

11 this section, an environmental assessment per12 formed under the provisions of the National 

13 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to assess the 

14 effects of approving the petition shall be suffi15 cient to amend the 5-Year Leasing Program. 

16 ‘‘(h) OPTION TO EXTEND WITHDRAWAL FROM LEAS17 ING WITHIN CERTAIN AREAS OF THE OUTER CONTI18 NENTAL SHELF.—A State, through its Governor and upon 

19 the concurrence of its legislature, may extend for a period 

20 of time of up to 5 years for each extension the withdrawal 

21 from leasing for all or part of any area within the State’s 

22 Adjacent Zone located more than 50 miles, but less than 

23 100 miles, from the coastline that is subject to subsection 

24 (g)(1)(B). A State may extend multiple times for any par25 ticular area but not more than once per calendar year for 


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1 any particular area. A State must prepare separate exten2 sions, with separate votes by its legislature, for oil and 

3 gas leasing and for natural gas leasing. An extension by 

4 a State may affect some areas to be withdrawn from all 

5 leasing and some areas to be withdrawn only from one 

6 type of leasing. Extensions of the withdrawal from leasing 

7 of any part of the Alabama Adjacent Zone that is more 

8 than 50 miles, but less than 100 miles, from the coastline 

9 that is a part of the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region Eastern 

10 Planning Area, as indicated on the map entitled ‘Gulf of 

11 Mexico OCS Region State Adjacent Zones and OCS Plan12 ning Areas’ which is dated September 2005 and on file 

13 in the Office of the Director, Minerals Management Serv14 ice, may be made by either Alabama or Florida. 

15 ‘‘(i) EFFECT OF OTHER LAWS.—Adoption by any 

16 Adjacent State of any constitutional provision, or enact17 ment of any State statute, that has the effect, as deter18 mined by the Secretary, of restricting either the Governor 

19 or the Legislature, or both, from exercising full discretion 

20 related to subsection (g) or (h), or both, shall automati21 cally (1) prohibit any sharing of OCS Receipts under this 

22 Act with the Adjacent State, and its coastal political sub23 divisions, and (2) prohibit the Adjacent State from exer24 cising any authority under subsection (h), for the duration 

25 of the restriction. The Secretary shall make the determinaVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:38 Sep 06, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00045 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4761.PCS H4761

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1 tion of the existence of such restricting constitutional pro2 vision or State statute within 30 days of a petition by any 

3 outer Continental Shelf lessee or coastal State. 

4 ‘‘(j) PROHIBITION ON LEASING EAST OF THE MILI5 TARY MISSION LINE.— 

6 ‘‘(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of 

7 law, from and after the enactment of the Deep 

8 Ocean Energy Resources Act of 2006, no area of the 

9 outer Continental Shelf located in the Gulf of Mexico 

10 east of the military mission line may be offered for 

11 leasing for oil and gas or natural gas. 

12 ‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘military mis13 sion line’ means a line located at 86 degrees, 

14 41minutes West Longitude, and extending south 

15 from the coast of Florida to the outer boundary of 

16 United States territorial waters in the Gulf of Mex17 ico.’’. 

18 SEC. 9. OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF LEASING PROGRAM. 

19 Section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

20 (43 U.S.C. 1344) is amended— 

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

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

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

24 viewed as a whole propose to offer for oil and gas 

25 or natural gas leasing at least 75 percent of the 


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1 available unleased acreage within each OCS Plan2 ning Area. Available unleased acreage is that portion 

3 of the outer Continental Shelf that is not under 

4 lease at the time of the proposed lease sale, and has 

5 not otherwise been made unavailable for leasing by 

6 law.’’; 

7 (2) in subsection (c), by striking so much as 

8 precedes paragraph (3) and inserting the following: 

9 ‘‘(c)(1) During the preparation of any proposed leas10 ing program under this section, the Secretary shall con11 sider and analyze leasing throughout the entire Outer 

12 Continental Shelf without regard to any other law affect13 ing such leasing. During this preparation the Secretary 

14 shall invite and consider suggestions from any interested 

15 Federal agency, including the Attorney General, in con16 sultation with the Federal Trade Commission, and from 

17 the Governor of any coastal State. The Secretary may also 

18 invite or consider any suggestions from the executive of 

19 any local government in a coastal State that have been 

20 previously submitted to the Governor of such State, and 

21 from any other person. Further, the Secretary shall con22 sult with the Secretary of Defense regarding military oper23 ational needs in the outer Continental Shelf. The Sec24 retary shall work with the Secretary of Defense to resolve 

25 any conflicts that might arise regarding offering any area 


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1 of the outer Continental Shelf for oil and gas or natural 

2 gas leasing. If the Secretaries are not able to resolve all 

3 such conflicts, any unresolved issues shall be elevated to 

4 the President for resolution. 

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

6 paragraph (1), including the consideration of the sugges7 tions received from any interested Federal agency, the 

8 Federal Trade Commission, the Governor of any coastal 

9 State, any local government of a coastal State, and any 

10 other person, the Secretary shall publish in the Federal 

11 Register a proposed leasing program accompanied by a 

12 draft environmental impact statement prepared pursuant 

13 to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. After 

14 the publishing of the proposed leasing program and during 

15 the comment period provided for on the draft environ16 mental impact statement, the Secretary shall submit a 

17 copy of the proposed program to the Governor of each af18 fected State for review and comment. The Governor may 

19 solicit comments from those executives of local govern20 ments in the Governor’s State that the Governor, in the 

21 discretion of the Governor, determines will be affected by 

22 the proposed program. If any comment by such Governor 

23 is received by the Secretary at least 15 days prior to sub24 mission to the Congress pursuant to paragraph (3) and 

25 includes a request for any modification of such proposed 


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1 program, the Secretary shall reply in writing, granting or 

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

3 request in such modified form as the Secretary considers 

4 appropriate, and stating the Secretary’s reasons therefor. 

5 All such correspondence between the Secretary and the 

6 Governor of any affected State, together with any addi7 tional information and data relating thereto, shall accom8 pany such proposed program when it is submitted to the 

9 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

13 OF OCS RECEIPTS.—Concurrent with the publication of 

14 the scoping notice at the beginning of the development of 

15 each 5-year outer Continental Shelf oil and gas leasing 

16 program, or as soon thereafter as possible, the Secretary 

17 shall— 

18 ‘‘(1) provide to each Adjacent State a current 

19 estimate of proven and potential oil and gas re20 sources located within the State’s Adjacent Zone; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(2) provide to each Adjacent State, and coast23 al political subdivisions thereof, a best-efforts projec24 tion of the OCS Receipts that the Secretary expects 

25 will be shared with each Adjacent State, and its 


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1 coastal political subdivisions, using the assumption 

2 that the unleased tracts within the State’s Adjacent 

3 Zone are fully made available for leasing, including 

4 long-term projected OCS Receipts. In addition, the 

5 Secretary shall include a macroeconomic estimate of 

6 the impact of such leasing on the national economy 

7 and each State’s economy, including investment, 

8 jobs, revenues, personal income, and other cat9 egories.’’. 

10 SEC. 10. COORDINATION WITH ADJACENT STATES. 

11 Section 19 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

12 (43 U.S.C. 1345) is amended— 

13 (1) in subsection (a) in the first sentence by in14 serting ‘‘, for any tract located within the Adjacent 

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

16 (2) by adding the following: 

17 ‘‘(f)(1) No Federal agency may permit or otherwise 

18 approve, without the concurrence of the Adjacent State, 

19 the construction of a crude oil or petroleum products (or 

20 both) pipeline within the part of the Adjacent State’s Ad21 jacent Zone that is withdrawn from oil and gas or natural 

22 gas leasing, except that such a pipeline may be approved, 

23 without such Adjacent State’s concurrence, to pass 

24 through such Adjacent Zone if at least 50 percent of the 

25 production projected to be carried by the pipeline within 


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1 its first 10 years of operation is from areas of the Adja2 cent State’s Adjacent Zone. 

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

4 its Adjacent Zone or its State waters of a natural gas pipe5 line that will transport natural gas produced from the 

6 outer Continental Shelf. However, an Adjacent State may 

7 prevent a proposed natural gas pipeline landing location 

8 if it proposes two alternate landing locations in the Adja9 cent State, acceptable to the Adjacent State, located with10 in 50 miles on either side of the proposed landing loca11 tion.’’. 

12 SEC. 11. ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES. 

13 Section 20(d) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 

14 Act (43 U.S.C. 1346) is amended— 

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

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

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

18 under this Act, the following shall apply regarding the ap19 plication of the National Environmental Policy Act of 

20 1969: 

21 ‘‘(A) Granting or directing lease suspensions 

22 and the conduct of all preliminary activities on outer 

23 Continental Shelf tracts, including seismic activities, 

24 are categorically excluded from the need to prepare 

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1 mental impact statement, and the Secretary shall 

2 not be required to analyze whether any exceptions to 

3 a categorical exclusion apply for activities conducted 

4 under the authority of this Act. 

5 ‘‘(B) The environmental impact statement de6 veloped in support of each 5-year oil and gas leasing 

7 program provides the environmental analysis for all 

8 lease sales to be conducted under the program and 

9 such sales shall not be subject to further environ10 mental analysis. 

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

12 any requirement to prepare an environmental impact 

13 statement, and the Secretary may find that explo14 ration plans are eligible for categorical exclusion due 

15 to the impacts already being considered within an 

16 environmental impact statement or due to mitigation 

17 measures included within the plan. 

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

19 preparation of the first development and production 

20 plan environmental impact statement for a leased 

21 tract within the Area, future development and pro22 duction plans for leased tracts within the Area shall 

23 only require the preparation of an environmental as24 sessment unless the most recent development and 

25 production plan environmental impact statement 


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1 within the Area was finalized more than 10 years 

2 prior to the date of the approval of the plan, in 

3 which case an environmental impact statement shall 

4 be required.’’. 

5 SEC. 13. FEDERAL ENERGY NATURAL RESOURCES EN6 HANCEMENT ACT OF 2006. 

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

8 (1) Energy and minerals exploration, develop9 ment, and production on Federal onshore and off10 shore lands, including bio-based fuel, natural gas, 

11 minerals, oil, geothermal, and power from wind, 

12 waves, currents, and thermal energy, involves signifi13 cant outlays of funds by Federal and State wildlife, 

14 fish, and natural resource management agencies for 

15 environmental studies, planning, development, moni16 toring, and management of wildlife, fish, air, water, 

17 and other natural resources. 

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

19 management agencies are funded primarily through 

20 permit and license fees paid to the States by the 

21 general public to hunt and fish, and through Federal 

22 excise taxes on equipment used for these activities. 

23 (3) Funds generated from consumptive and rec24 reational uses of wildlife, fish, and other natural re25 sources currently are inadequate to address the natVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:38 Sep 06, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00053 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4761.PCS H4761

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1 ural resources related to energy and minerals devel2 opment on Federal onshore and offshore lands. 

3 (4) Funds available to Federal agencies respon4 sible for managing Federal onshore and offshore 

5 lands and Federal-trust wildlife and fish species and 

6 their habitats are inadequate to address the natural 

7 resources related to energy and minerals develop8 ment on Federal onshore and offshore lands. 

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

10 royalties under the mineral leasing laws of the 

11 United States are paid to the Treasury through the 

12 Minerals Management Service of the Department of 

13 the Interior. 

14 (6) None of the receipts derived from sales, 

15 bonus bids, and royalties under the minerals leasing 

16 laws of the United States are paid to the Federal or 

17 State agencies to examine, monitor, and manage 

18 wildlife, fish, air, water, and other natural resources 

19 related to natural gas, oil, and mineral exploration 

20 and development. 

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

22 (1) authorize expenditures for the monitoring 

23 and management of wildlife and fish, and their habi24 tats, and air, water, and other natural resources reVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:38 Sep 06, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00054 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4761.PCS H4761

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1 lated to energy and minerals development on Fed2 eral onshore and offshore lands; 

3 (2) authorize expenditures for each fiscal year 

4 to the Secretary of the Interior and the States; and 

5 (3) use the appropriated funds to secure the 

6 necessary trained workforce or contractual services 

7 to conduct environmental studies, planning, develop8 ment, monitoring, and post-development manage9 ment of wildlife and fish and their habitats and air, 

10 water, and other natural resources that may be re11 lated to bio-based fuel, gas, mineral, oil, wind, or 

12 other energy exploration, development, transpor13 tation, transmission, and associated activities on 

14 Federal onshore and offshore lands, including, but 

15 not limited to— 

16 (A) pertinent research, surveys, and envi17 ronmental analyses conducted to identify any 

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

19 natural resources from energy and mineral ex20 ploration, development, production, and trans21 portation or transmission; 

22 (B) projects to maintain, improve, or en23 hance wildlife and fish populations and their 

24 habitats or air, water, or other natural reVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:38 Sep 06, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00055 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4761.PCS H4761

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1 sources, including activities under the Endan2 gered Species Act of 1973; 

3 (C) research, surveys, environmental anal4 yses, and projects that assist in managing, in5 cluding mitigating either onsite or offsite, or 

6 both, the impacts of energy and mineral activi7 ties on wildlife, fish, air, water, and other nat8 ural resources; and 

9 (D) projects to teach young people to live 

10 off the land. 

11 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 (1) ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘En13 hancement Program’’ means the Federal Energy 

14 Natural Resources Enhancement Program estab15 lished by this section. 

16 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the Gov17 ernor of the State. 

18 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

19 authorized to be appropriated to carry out the Enhance20 ment Program $150,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2007 

21 through 2017. 

22 (e) ESTABLISHMENT OF FEDERAL ENERGY NAT23 URAL RESOURCES ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established the 

2 Federal Energy Natural Resources Enhancement 

3 Program. 

4 (2) PAYMENT TO SECRETARY OF THE INTE5 RIOR.—Beginning with fiscal year 2007, and in each 

6 fiscal year thereafter, one-third of amounts appro7 priated for the Enhancement Program shall be avail8 able to the Secretary of the Interior for use for the 

9 purposes described in subsection (b)(3). 

10 (3) PAYMENT TO STATES.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning with fiscal 

12 year 2007, and in each fiscal year thereafter, 

13 two-thirds of amounts appropriated for the En14 hancement Program shall be available to the 

15 States for use for the purposes described in 

16 (b)(3). 

17 (B) USE OF PAYMENTS BY STATE.—Each 

18 State shall use the payments made under this 

19 paragraph only for carrying out projects and 

20 programs for the purposes described in (b)(3). 

21 (C) ENCOURAGE USE OF PRIVATE FUNDS

22 BY STATE.—Each State shall use the payments 

23 made under this paragraph to leverage private 

24 funds for carrying out projects for the purposes 

25 described in (b)(3). 


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1 (f) LIMITATION ON USE.—Amounts made available 

2 under this section may not be used for the purchase of 

3 any interest in land. 

4 (g) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning in fiscal year 

6 2008 and continuing for each fiscal year thereafter, 

7 the Secretary of the Interior and each State receiv8 ing funds from the Enhancement Fund shall submit 

9 a report to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

10 Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Re11 sources of the House of Representatives. 

12 (2) REQUIRED INFORMATION.—Reports sub13 mitted to the Congress by the Secretary of the Inte14 rior and States under this subsection shall include 

15 the following information regarding expenditures 

16 during the previous fiscal year: 

17 (A) A summary of pertinent scientific re18 search and surveys conducted to identify im19 pacts on wildlife, fish, and other natural re20 sources from energy and mineral developments. 

21 (B) A summary of projects planned and 

22 completed to maintain, improve or enhance 

23 wildlife and fish populations and their habitats 

24 or other natural resources. 


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

2 or would assist, in managing, including miti3 gating either onsite or offsite, or both, the im4 pacts of energy and mineral development on 

5 wildlife, fish, and other natural resources. 

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

7 funds used to plan, conduct, and complete the 

8 plans and programs identified in paragraphs 

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

10 SEC. 14. TERMINATION OF EFFECT OF LAWS PROHIBITING 

11 THE SPENDING OF APPROPRIATED FUNDS 

12 FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES. 

13 All provisions of existing Federal law prohibiting the 

14 spending of appropriated funds to conduct oil and natural 

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

16 to any person, for any area of the outer Continental Shelf 

17 shall have no force or effect. 

18 SEC. 15. OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF INCOMPATIBLE USE. 

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

20 construction or operation (or both) of any facility, or des21 ignate or maintain a restricted transportation corridor or 

22 operating area on the Federal outer Continental Shelf or 

23 in State waters, that will be incompatible with, as deter24 mined by the Secretary of the Interior, oil and gas or nat25 ural gas leasing and substantially full exploration and proVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:38 Sep 06, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00059 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4761.PCS H4761

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1 duction of tracts that are geologically prospective for oil 

2 or natural gas (or both). 

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

4 any facility, transportation corridor, or operating area the 

5 construction, operation, designation, or maintenance of 

6 which is or will be— 

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

8 Shelf that is unavailable for oil and gas or natural 

9 gas leasing by operation of law; 

10 (2) used for a military readiness activity (as de11 fined in section 315(f) of Public Law 107–314; 16 

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

13 (3) required in the national interest, as deter14 mined by the President. 

15 SEC. 16. REPURCHASE OF CERTAIN LEASES. 

16 (a) AUTHORITY TO REPURCHASE AND CANCEL CER17 TAIN LEASES.—The Secretary of the Interior shall repur18 chase and cancel any Federal oil and gas, geothermal, 

19 coal, oil shale, tar sands, or other mineral lease, whether 

20 onshore or offshore, but not including any outer Conti21 nental Shelf oil and gas leases that are subject to litigation 

22 in the Court of Federal Claims on January 1, 2006, if 

23 the Secretary finds that such lease qualifies for repurchase 

24 and cancellation under the regulations authorized by this 

25 section. 


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

2 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

3 publish a final regulation stating the conditions under 

4 which a lease referred to in subsection (a) would qualify 

5 for repurchase and cancellation, and the process to be fol6 lowed regarding repurchase and cancellation. Such regula7 tion shall include, but not be limited to, the following: 

8 (1) The Secretary shall repurchase and cancel 

9 a lease after written request by the lessee upon a 

10 finding by the Secretary that— 

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

12 permit or other approval complied with applica13 ble law, except the Coastal Zone Management 

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

15 terms of the lease and such permit or other ap16 proval was denied; 

17 (B) a Federal agency failed to act on a re18 quest by the lessee for a required permit, other 

19 approval, or administrative appeal within a reg20 ulatory or statutory time-frame associated with 

21 the requested action, whether advisory or man22 datory, or if none, within 180 days; or 

23 (C) a Federal agency attached a condition 

24 of approval, without agreement by the lessee, to 

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1 dition of approval was not mandated by Federal 

2 statute or regulation in effect on the date of 

3 lease issuance, or was not specifically allowed 

4 under the terms of the lease. 

5 (2) A lessee shall not be required to exhaust ad6 ministrative remedies regarding a permit request, 

7 administrative appeal, or other required request for 

8 approval for the purposes of this section. 

9 (3) The Secretary shall make a final agency de10 cision on a request by a lessee under this section 

11 within 180 days of request. 

12 (4) Compensation to a lessee to repurchase and 

13 cancel a lease under this section shall be the amount 

14 that a lessee would receive in a restitution case for 

15 a material breach of contract. 

16 (5) Compensation shall be in the form of a 

17 check or electronic transfer from the Department of 

18 the Treasury from funds deposited into miscella19 neous receipts under the authority of the same Act 

20 that authorized the issuance of the lease being re21 purchased. 

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

23 agency decision on a request by a lessee under this 

24 section within 180 days of request shall result in a 


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1 10 percent increase in the compensation due to the 

2 lessee if the lease is ultimately repurchased. 

3 (c) NO PREJUDICE.—This section shall not be inter4 preted to prejudice any other rights that the lessee would 

5 have in the absence of this section. 

6 SEC. 17. OFFSITE ENVIRONMENTAL MITIGATION. 

7 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any per8 son conducting activities under the Mineral Leasing Act 

9 (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.), the Geothermal Steam Act (30 

10 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), the Mineral Leasing Act for Ac11 quired Lands (30 U.S.C. 351 et seq.), the Weeks Act (16 

12 U.S.C. 552 et seq.), the General Mining Act of 1872 (30 

13 U.S.C. 22 et seq.), the Materials Act of 1947 (30 U.S.C. 

14 601 et seq.), or the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

15 (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.), may in satisfying any mitigation 

16 requirements associated with such activities propose miti17 gation measures on a site away from the area impacted 

18 and the Secretary of the Interior shall accept these pro19 posed measures if the Secretary finds that they generally 

20 achieve the purposes for which mitigation measures apper21 tained. 

22 SEC. 18. MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE. 

23 The bureau known as the ‘‘Minerals Management 

24 Service’’ in the Department of the Interior shall be known 

25 as the ‘‘National Ocean Resources and Royalty Service’’. 


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1 SEC. 19. 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 

8 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.) is amended by insert9 ing after section 9 the following: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 10. USE OF DECOMMISSIONED OFFSHORE OIL AND 

11 GAS PLATFORMS AND OTHER FACILITIES 

12 FOR ARTIFICIAL REEF, SCIENTIFIC RE13 SEARCH, OR 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 de17 commissioned from service for oil and gas purposes for 

18 an artificial reef, scientific research, or any other use au19 thorized under section 8(p) or any other applicable Fed20 eral law. 

21 ‘‘(b) TRANSFER REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary 

22 shall not allow the transfer of a decommissioned offshore 

23 oil and gas platform or other facility to another person 

24 unless the Secretary is satisfied that the transferee is suf25 ficiently bonded, endowed, or otherwise financially able to 

26 fulfill its obligations, 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 

7 that the Secretary may deem appropriate by regula8 tion. 

9 ‘‘(c) PLUGGING AND ABANDONMENT.—The Sec10 retary shall ensure that plugging and abandonment of 

11 wells is accomplished at an appropriate time. 

12 ‘‘(d) POTENTIAL TO PETITION TO OPT-OUT OF REG13 ULATIONS.—An Adjacent State acting through a resolu14 tion of its legislature, with concurrence of its Governor, 

15 may preliminarily petition to opt-out of the application of 

16 regulations promulgated under this section to platforms 

17 and other facilities located in the area of its Adjacent Zone 

18 within 12 miles of the coastline. Upon receipt of the pre19 liminary petition, the Secretary shall complete an environ20 mental assessment that documents the anticipated envi21 ronmental effects of approving the petition. The Secretary 

22 shall provide the environmental assessment to the State, 

23 which then has the choice of no action or confirming its 

24 petition by further action of its legislature, with the con25 currence of its Governor. The Secretary is authorized to 


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1 except such area from the application of such regulations, 

2 and shall approve any 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 

7 liable under Federal law for any costs or damages arising 

8 from such platform or other facility after the date the plat9 form or other facility is used for any purpose under sub10 section (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; 

13 or 

14 ‘‘(2) another act or omission of the person. 

15 ‘‘(f) OTHER LEASING AND USE NOT AFFECTED.— 

16 This section, and the use of any offshore oil and gas plat17 form or other facility for any purpose under subsection 

18 (a), shall not affect— 

19 ‘‘(1) the authority of the Secretary to lease any 

20 area under this Act; or 

21 ‘‘(2) any activity otherwise authorized under 

22 this Act.’’. 

23 (c) DEADLINE FOR REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of 

24 the Interior shall issue regulations under subsection (b) 


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1 by not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 

2 of this Act. 

3 (d) STUDY AND REPORT ON EFFECTS OF REMOVAL

4 OF PLATFORMS.—Not later than one year after the date 

5 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior, 

6 in consultation with other Federal agencies as the Sec7 retary deems advisable, shall study and report to the Con8 gress regarding how the removal of offshore oil and gas 

9 platforms and other facilities from the outer Continental 

10 Shelf would affect existing fish stocks and coral popu11 lations. 

12 SEC. 20. REPEAL OF REQUIREMENT TO CONDUCT COM13 PREHENSIVE INVENTORY OF OCS OIL AND 

14 NATURAL GAS RESOURCES. 

15 The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109– 

16 58) is amended— 

17 (1) by repealing section 357 (119 Stat. 720; 42 

18 U.S.C. 15912); and 

19 (2) in the table of contents in section 1(b), by 

20 striking the item relating to such section 357. 

21 SEC. 21. MINING AND PETROLEUM SCHOOLS. 

22 (a) MAINTENANCE AND RESTORATION OF EXISTING

23 AND HISTORIC PETROLEUM AND MINING ENGINEERING

24 PROGRAMS.—Public Law 98–409 (30 U.S.C. 1221 et 

25 seq.) is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 ‘‘This Act may be cited as the ‘Energy and Mineral 

3 Schools Reinvestment Act’. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 2. POLICY. 

5 ‘‘It is the policy of the United States to maintain the 

6 human capital needed to preserve and foster the economic, 

7 energy, and mineral resources security of the United 

8 States. The petroleum and mining engineering programs 

9 and the applied geology and geophysics programs at State 

10 chartered schools, universities, and institutions that 

11 produce human capital are national assets and should be 

12 assisted with Federal funds to ensure their continued 

13 health and existence. 

14 ‘‘SEC. 3. MAINTAINING AND RESTORING HISTORIC AND EX15 ISTING PETROLEUM AND MINING ENGINEER16 ING EDUCATION PROGRAMS. 

17 ‘‘(a) The Secretary of the Interior (in this Act re18 ferred to as the ‘Secretary’) shall provide funds to historic 

19 and existing State-chartered recognized petroleum or min20 ing schools to assist such schools, universities, and institu21 tions in maintaining programs in petroleum, mining, and 

22 mineral engineering education and research. All funds 

23 shall be directed only to these programs and shall be sub24 ject to the conditions of this section. Such funds shall not 

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1 thorized by section 23(d) of the Deep Ocean Energy Re2 sources Act of 2006. 

3 ‘‘(b) In this Act the term ‘historic and existing State4 chartered recognized petroleum or mining school’ means 

5 a school, university, or educational institution with the 

6 presence of an engineering program meeting the specific 

7 program criteria, established by the member societies of 

8 ABET, Inc., for petroleum, mining, or mineral engineer9 ing and that is accredited on the date of enactment of 

10 the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act of 2006 by ABET, 

11 Inc. 

12 ‘‘(c) It shall be the duty of each school, university, 

13 or institution receiving funds under this section to provide 

14 for and enhance the training of undergraduate and grad15 uate petroleum, mining, and mineral engineers through re16 search, investigations, demonstrations, and experiments. 

17 All such work shall be carried out in a manner that will 

18 enhance undergraduate education. 

19 ‘‘(d) Each school, university, or institution receiving 

20 funds under this Act shall maintain the program for which 

21 the funds are provided for 10 years after the date of the 

22 first receipt of such funds and take steps described in its 

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1 grams of study in petroleum, mining, and mineral engi2 neering. 

3 ‘‘(e) The research, investigation, demonstration, ex4 periment, and training authorized by this section may in5 clude development and production of conventional and 

6 non-conventional fuel resources, the production of metallic 

7 and non-metallic mineral resources including industrial 

8 mineral resources, and the production of stone, sand, and 

9 gravel. In all cases the work carried out with funds made 

10 available under this Act shall include a significant oppor11 tunity for participation by undergraduate students. 

12 ‘‘(f) Research funded by this Act related to energy 

13 and mineral resource development and production may in14 clude— 

15 ‘‘(1) studies of petroleum, mining, and mineral 

16 extraction and immediately related beneficiation 

17 technology; 

18 ‘‘(2) mineral economics, reclamation technology, 

19 and practices for active operations; 

20 ‘‘(3) the development of re-mining systems and 

21 technologies to facilitate reclamation that fosters the 

22 ultimate recovery of resources at abandoned petro23 leum, mining, and aggregate production sites; and 


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1 ‘‘(4) research on ways to extract petroleum and 

2 mineral resources that reduce the environmental im3 pact of those activities. 

4 ‘‘(g) Grants for basic science and engineering studies 

5 and research shall not require additional participation by 

6 funding partners. Grants for studies to demonstrate the 

7 proof of concept for science and engineering or the dem8 onstration of feasibility and implementation shall include 

9 participation by industry and may include funding from 

10 other Federal agencies. 

11 ‘‘(h)(1) No funds made available under this section 

12 shall be applied to the acquisition by purchase or lease 

13 of any land or interests therein, or the rental, purchase, 

14 construction, preservation, or repair of any building. 

15 ‘‘(2) Funding made available under this section may 

16 be used with the express approval of the Secretary for pro17 posals that will provide for maintaining or upgrading of 

18 existing laboratories and laboratory equipment. Funding 

19 for such maintenance shall not be used for university over20 head expenses. 

21 ‘‘(3) Funding made available under this Act may be 

22 used for maintaining and upgrading mines and oil and gas 

23 drilling rigs owned by a school, university, or institution 

24 described in this section that are used for undergraduate 

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1 quests for funding such mines and oil and gas drilling rigs 

2 must demonstrate that they have been owned by the 

3 school, university, or institution for 5 years prior to the 

4 date of enactment of the Deep Ocean Energy Resources 

5 Act of 2006 and have been actively used for instructional 

6 or training purposes during that time. 

7 ‘‘(4) Any funding made available under this section 

8 for research, investigation, demonstration, experiment, or 

9 training shall not be used for university overhead charges 

10 in excess of 10 percent of the amount authorized by the 

11 Secretary. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 4. FORMER AND NEW PETROLEUM AND MINING ENGI13 NEERING PROGRAMS. 

14 ‘‘(a) A school, university, or educational institution 

15 that formerly met the requirements of section 3(b) imme16 diately before the date of the enactment of the Deep Ocean 

17 Energy Resources Act of 2006, or that seeks to establish 

18 a new program described in section 3(b), shall be eligible 

19 for funding under this Act only if it— 

20 ‘‘(1) establishes a petroleum, mining, or mineral 

21 engineering program that meets the specific program 

22 criteria and is accredited as such by ABET, Inc., 

23 with particular consideration awarded to establishing 

24 programs and minority serving institutions; 


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1 ‘‘(2) agrees to the conditions of subsections (c) 

2 through (h) of section 3 and the Secretary deter3 mines that the program will strengthen and increase 

4 the number of nationally available, well-qualified fac5 ulty members in petroleum, mining, and mineral en6 gineering; and 

7 ‘‘(3) agrees to maintain the accredited program 

8 for 10 years after the date of the first receipt of 

9 funds under this Act. 

10 ‘‘(b) The Secretary shall seek the advice of the Com11 mittee established pursuant to section 11 in determining 

12 the criteria used to carry out this section. 

13 ‘‘SEC. 5. FUNDING OF CONSORTIA OF HISTORIC AND EXIST14 ING SCHOOLS. 

15 ‘‘Where appropriate, the Secretary may make funds 

16 available to consortia of schools, universities, or institu17 tions described in sections 3, 4, and 6, including those con18 sortia that include schools, universities, or institutions 

19 that are ineligible for funds under this Act if those schools, 

20 universities, or institutions, respectively, have skills, pro21 grams, or facilities specifically identified as needed by the 

22 consortia to meet the necessary expenses for purposes of— 

23 ‘‘(1) specific energy and mineral research 

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1 ning and coordinating regional petroleum, geo2 thermal, mining, and mineral engineering or 

3 beneficiation projects by two or more schools; and 

4 ‘‘(2) research into any aspects of petroleum, 

5 geothermal, mining, or mineral engineering or 

6 beneficiation problems, including but not limited to 

7 exploration, that are related to the mission of the 

8 Department of the Interior. 

9 ‘‘SEC. 6. SUPPORT FOR SCHOOLS WITH ENERGY AND MIN10 ERAL RESOURCE PROGRAMS IN PETROLEUM 

11 AND MINERAL EXPLORATION GEOLOGY, PE12 TROLEUM GEOPHYSICS, OR MINING GEO13 PHYSICS. 

14 ‘‘(a) Twelve percent of the annual outlay of funds au15 thorized by section 23(d) of the Deep Ocean Energy Re16 sources Act of 2006 may be granted to schools, univer17 sities, and institutions other than those described in sec18 tions 3 and 4, with particular consideration awarded to 

19 minority serving institutions. 

20 ‘‘(b) The Secretary shall determine the eligibility of 

21 a college or university to receive funding under this Act 

22 using criteria that include— 

23 ‘‘(1) the presence of a substantial program of 

24 undergraduate and graduate geoscience instruction 

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1 ties: petroleum geology, geothermal geology, mineral 

2 exploration geology, economic geology, industrial 

3 minerals geology, mining geology, petroleum geo4 physics, mining geophysics, geological engineering, 

5 or geophysical engineering that has a demonstrated 

6 history of achievement; 

7 ‘‘(2) evidence of institutional commitment for 

8 the purposes of this Act that includes a significant 

9 opportunity for participation by undergraduate stu10 dents in 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 

17 on the date the school, university, or institution first 

18 receives such funds; and 

19 ‘‘(5) requiring that such funding shall be for 

20 the purposes set forth in subsections (c) through (h) 

21 of section 3 and subject to the conditions set forth 

22 in section 3(h). 

23 ‘‘(c) The Secretary shall seek the advice of the Com24 mittee established pursuant to section 11 in determining 

25 the criteria used to carry out this section. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 7. DESIGNATION OF FUNDS FOR SCHOLARSHIPS AND 

2 FELLOWSHIPS. 

3 ‘‘(a) The Secretary shall utilize 10 percent of the an4 nual outlay of funds authorized by section 23(d) of the 

5 Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act of 2006 for the pur6 pose of providing merit-based scholarships for under7 graduate education, graduate fellowships, and 

8 postdoctoral fellowships. 

9 ‘‘(b) In order to receive a scholarship or a graduate 

10 fellowship, an individual student must be a lawful perma11 nent resident of the United States or a United States cit12 izen and must agree in writing to complete a course of 

13 studies and receive a degree in petroleum, mining, or min14 eral engineering, petroleum geology, geothermal geology, 

15 mining and economic geology, petroleum and mining geo16 physics, or mineral economics. 

17 ‘‘(c) The regulations required by section 9 shall re18 quire that an individual, in order to retain a scholarship 

19 or graduate fellowship, must continue in one of the course 

20 of studies listed in subsection (b) of this section, must re21 main in good academic standing, as determined by the 

22 school, institution, or university and must allow for rein23 statement of the scholarship or graduate fellowship by the 

24 Secretary, upon the recommendation of the school or insti25 tution. Such regulations may also provide for recovery of 

26 funds from an individual who fails to complete any of the 


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1 courses of study listed in subsection (b) of this section 

2 after notice that such completion is a requirement of re3 ceipt funding under this Act. 

4 ‘‘(d) To carry out this section, the Secretary shall 

5 award grants to schools, universities, and institutions that 

6 are eligible to receive funding under section 3, 4 or 6. A 

7 school, university, or institution receiving funding under 

8 this subsection shall be responsible for enforcing the re9 quirements of this section for scholarship or fellowship 

10 students and shall return to the Secretary any funds re11 covered from an individual under subsection (c). An insti12 tution seeking funds under this subsection shall describe, 

13 in its application to the Secretary for funding, the number 

14 of students that would be awarded scholarships or fellow15 ships if the application is approved, how such students 

16 would be selected, and how the provisions of this section 

17 will be enforced. 

18 ‘‘SEC. 8. FUNDING CRITERIA FOR INSTITUTIONS. 

19 ‘‘(a) Each application to the Secretary for funds 

20 under this Act shall state, among other things, the nature 

21 of the project to be undertaken; the period during which 

22 it will be pursued; the qualifications of the personnel who 

23 will direct and conduct it; the estimated costs; the impor24 tance of the project to the Nation, region, or States con25 cerned; its relation to other known research projects thereVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:38 Sep 06, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00077 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4761.PCS H4761

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1 tofore pursued or being pursued; the extent to which the 

2 proposed project will maximize the opportunity for the 

3 training of undergraduate petroleum, mining, and mineral 

4 engineers; geologists and geophysicists; and the extent of 

5 participation by nongovernmental sources in the project. 

6 ‘‘(b) No funds shall be made available under this Act 

7 except for an application approved by the Secretary. All 

8 funds shall be made available upon the basis of merit of 

9 the application, the need for the knowledge that it is ex10 pected to produce when completed, and the opportunity 

11 it provides for the undergraduate training of individuals 

12 as petroleum, mining, and mineral engineers, geologists, 

13 and geophysicists. The Secretary may use competitive re14 view by nongovernmental experts in relevant fields to de15 termine which applications to approve, to the extent prac16 ticable. 

17 ‘‘(c) Funds available under this Act shall be paid at 

18 such times and in such amounts during each fiscal year 

19 as determined by the Secretary, and upon vouchers ap20 proved by the Secretary. Each school, university, or insti21 tution that receives funds under this Act shall— 

22 ‘‘(1) establish its plan to provide for the train23 ing of individuals as petroleum, mining, and mineral 

24 engineers, geologists, and geophysicists under a curVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:38 Sep 06, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00078 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4761.PCS H4761

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1 riculum appropriate to the field of mineral resources 

2 and mineral engineering and related fields; 

3 ‘‘(2) establish policies and procedures that as4 sure that Federal funds made available under this 

5 Act for any fiscal year will supplement and, to the 

6 extent practicable, increase the level of funds that 

7 would, in the absence of such Federal funds, be 

8 made available for purposes of this Act, and in no 

9 case supplant such funds; and 

10 ‘‘(3) have an officer appointed by its governing 

11 authority who shall receive and account for all funds 

12 paid under this Act and shall make an annual report 

13 to the Secretary on or before the first day of Sep14 tember of each year, on work accomplished and the 

15 status of projects underway, together with a detailed 

16 statement of the amounts received under this Act 

17 during the preceding fiscal year, and of its disburse18 ments on schedules prescribed by the Secretary. 

19 ‘‘(d) If any of the funds received by the authorized 

20 receiving officer of a program under this Act are found 

21 by the Secretary to have been improperly diminished, lost, 

22 or misapplied, such funds shall be recovered by the Sec23 retary. 

24 ‘‘(e) Schools, universities, and institutions receiving 

25 funds under this Act are authorized and encouraged to 


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1 plan and conduct programs under this Act in cooperation 

2 with each other and with such other agencies, business en3 terprises and individuals. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 9. DUTIES OF SECRETARY. 

5 ‘‘(a) The Secretary, acting through the Assistant Sec6 retary for Land and Minerals Management, shall admin7 ister this Act and shall prescribe such rules and regula8 tions as may be necessary to carry out its provisions not 

9 later than 1 year after the enactment of the Deep Ocean 

10 Energy Resources Act of 2006. 

11 ‘‘(b)(1) There is established in the Department of the 

12 Interior, under the supervision of the Assistant Secretary 

13 for Land and Minerals Management, an office to be known 

14 as the Office of Petroleum and Mining Schools (hereafter 

15 in this Act referred to as the ‘Office’) to administer the 

16 provisions of this Act. There shall be a Director of the 

17 Office who shall be a member of the Senior Executive 

18 Service. The position of the Director shall be allocated 

19 from among the existing Senior Executive Service posi20 tions at the Department of the Interior and shall be a 

21 career reserved position as defined in section 3132(a)(8) 

22 of title 5, United States Code. 

23 ‘‘(2) The Director is authorized to appoint a Deputy 

24 Director and to employ such officers and employees as 

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1 tions. Such appointments shall be made from existing po2 sitions at the Department of the Interior, and shall be sub3 ject to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, gov4 erning appointments in the competitive service. Such posi5 tions shall be paid in accordance with the provisions of 

6 chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title 

7 relating to classification and General Schedule pay rates. 

8 ‘‘(3) In carrying out his or her functions, the Director 

9 shall assist and advise the Secretary and the Committee 

10 pursuant to section 11 of this Act by— 

11 ‘‘(A) providing professional and administrative 

12 staff support for the Committee including record13 keeping and maintaining minutes of all Committee 

14 and subcommittee meetings; 

15 ‘‘(B) coordinating the activities of the Com16 mittee with Federal agencies and departments, and 

17 the schools, universities, and institutions to which 

18 funds are provided under this Act; 

19 ‘‘(C) maintaining accurate records of funds dis20 bursed for all scholarship and fellowship grants, re21 search grants, and grants for career technical edu22 cation purposes; 

23 ‘‘(D) preparing any regulations required to im24 plement this Act; 


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1 ‘‘(E) conducting site visits at schools, univer2 sities, and institutions receiving funding under this 

3 Act; and 

4 ‘‘(F) serving as a central repository for reports 

5 and clearing house for public information on re6 search funded by this Act. 

7 ‘‘(4) The Director or an employee of the Office shall 

8 be present at each meeting of the Committee pursuant to 

9 section 11 or a subcommittee of such Committee. 

10 ‘‘(5) The Director is authorized to contract with pub11 lic or private agencies, institutions, and organizations and 

12 with individuals without regard to section 3324(a) and (b) 

13 of title 31, United States Code, and section 5 of title 41, 

14 United States Code, in carrying out his or her functions. 

15 ‘‘(6) As needed the Director shall ascertain whether 

16 the requirements of this Act have been met by schools, 

17 universities, institutions, and individuals. 

18 ‘‘(c) The Secretary, acting through the Office of Pe19 troleum and Mining Schools, shall furnish such advice and 

20 assistance as will best promote the purposes of this Act, 

21 shall participate in coordinating research, investigations, 

22 demonstrations, and experiments initiated under this Act, 

23 shall indicate to schools, universities, and institutions re24 ceiving funds under this Act such lines of inquiry that 

25 seem most important, and shall encourage and assist in 


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1 the establishment and maintenance of cooperation between 

2 such schools, universities, and institutions, other research 

3 organizations, the Department of the Interior, and other 

4 Federal agencies. 

5 ‘‘(d) The Secretary shall establish procedures— 

6 ‘‘(1) to ensure that each employee and con7 tractor of the Office established by this section and 

8 each member of the Committee pursuant to section 

9 11 of this Act shall disclose to the Secretary any fi10 nancial interests in or financial relationships with 

11 schools, universities, institutions or individuals re12 ceiving funds, scholarships or fellowships under this 

13 Act; 

14 ‘‘(2) to require any employee, contractor, or 

15 member of the Committee with a financial relation16 ship disclosed under paragraph (1) to recuse them17 selves from— 

18 ‘‘(A) any recommendation or decision re19 garding the awarding of funds, scholarships or 

20 fellowships; or 

21 ‘‘(B) any review, report, analysis or inves22 tigation regarding compliance with the provi23 sions of this Act by a school, university, institu24 tion or any individual. 


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1 ‘‘(e) On or before the first day of July of each year 

2 beginning after the date of enactment of this sentence, 

3 schools, universities, and institutions receiving funds 

4 under this Act shall certify compliance with this Act and 

5 upon request of the Director of the office established by 

6 this section provide documentation of such compliance. 

7 ‘‘(f) An individual granted a scholarship or fellowship 

8 with funds provided under this Act shall through their re9 spective school, university, or institution, advise the Direc10 tor of the office established by this Act of progress towards 

11 completion of the course of studies and upon the awarding 

12 of the degree within 30 days after the award. 

13 ‘‘(g) The regulations required by this section shall in14 clude a preference for veterans and service members who 

15 have received or will receive either the Afghanistan Cam16 paign Medal or the Iraq Campaign Medal as authorized 

17 by Public Law 108–234, and Executive Order No. 13363. 

18 ‘‘SEC. 10. COORDINATION. 

19 ‘‘(a) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to impair 

20 or modify the legal relationship existing between any of 

21 the schools, universities, and institutions under whose di22 rection a program is established with funds provided under 

23 this Act and the government of the State in which it is 

24 located. Nothing in this Act shall in any way be construed 


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1 to authorize Federal control or direction of education at 

2 any school, university, or institution. 

3 ‘‘(b) The programs authorized by this Act are in4 tended to enhance the Nation’s petroleum, mining, and 

5 mineral engineering education programs and to enhance 

6 educational programs in petroleum and mining exploration 

7 and to increase the number of individuals enrolled in and 

8 completing these programs. To achieve this intent, the 

9 Secretary and the Committee pursuant to section 11 shall 

10 receive the continuing advice and cooperation of all agen11 cies of the Federal Government concerned with the identi12 fication, exploration, and development of energy and min13 eral resources. 

14 ‘‘(c) Nothing in this Act is intended to give or shall 

15 be construed as giving the Secretary any authority over 

16 mining and mineral resources research conducted by any 

17 agency of the Federal Government, or as repealing or di18 minishing existing authorities or responsibilities of any 

19 agency of the Federal Government to plan and conduct, 

20 contract for, or assist in research in its area of responsi21 bility and concern with regard to mining and mineral re22 sources. 

23 ‘‘(d) The schools, universities, and institutions receiv24 ing funding under this Act shall make detailed reports to 

25 the Office of Petroleum and Mining Schools on projects 


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1 completed, in progress, or planned with funds provided 

2 under this Act. All such reports shall be available to the 

3 public on not less than an annual basis through the Office 

4 of Petroleum and Mining Schools. All uses, products, proc5 esses, and other developments resulting from any re6 search, demonstration, or experiment funded in whole or 

7 in part under this Act shall be made available promptly 

8 to the general public, subject to exception or limitation, 

9 if any, as the Secretary may find necessary in the interest 

10 of national security, and subject to the applicable Federal 

11 law governing patents. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 11. COMMITTEE ON PETROLEUM, MINING, AND MIN13 ERAL ENGINEERING AND ENERGY AND MIN14 ERAL RESOURCE EDUCATION. 

15 ‘‘(a) The Secretary shall appoint a Committee on Pe16 troleum, Mining, and Mineral Engineering and Energy 

17 and Mineral Resource Education composed of— 

18 ‘‘(1) the Assistant Secretary of the Interior re19 sponsible for land and minerals management and 

20 not more than 16 other persons who are knowledge21 able in the fields of mining and mineral resources re22 search, including 2 university administrators one of 

23 whom shall be from historic and existing petroleum 

24 and mining schools; a community, technical, or tribal 

25 college administrator; a career technical education 


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1 educator; 6 representatives equally distributed from 

2 the petroleum, mining, and aggregate industries; a 

3 working miner; a working oilfield worker; a rep4 resentative of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact 

5 Commission; a representative from the Interstate 

6 Mining Compact Commission; a representative from 

7 the Western Governors Association; a representative 

8 of the State geologists, and a representative of a 

9 State mining and reclamation agency. In making 

10 these 16 appointments, the Secretary shall consult 

11 with interested groups. 

12 ‘‘(2) The Assistant Secretary for Land and 

13 Minerals Management, in the capacity of the Chair14 man of the Committee, may have present during 

15 meetings of the Committee representatives of Fed16 eral agencies with responsibility for energy and min17 erals resources management, energy and mineral re18 source investigations, energy and mineral commodity 

19 information, international trade in energy and min20 eral commodities, mining safety regulation and mine 

21 safety research, and research into the development, 

22 production, and utilization of energy and mineral 

23 commodities. These representatives shall serve as 

24 technical advisors to the committee and shall have 

25 no voting responsibilities. 


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1 ‘‘(b) The Committee shall consult with, and make rec2 ommendations to, the Secretary on policy matters relating 

3 to carrying out this Act. The Secretary shall consult with 

4 and carefully consider recommendations of the Committee 

5 in such matters. 

6 ‘‘(c) Committee members, other than officers or em7 ployees of Federal, State, or local governments, shall be, 

8 for each day (including traveltime) during which they are 

9 performing Committee business, paid at a rate fixed by 

10 the Secretary but not in excess of the daily equivalent of 

11 the maximum rate of pay for level IV of the Executive 

12 Schedule under section 5136 of title 5, United States 

13 Code, and shall be fully reimbursed for travel, subsistence, 

14 and related expenses. 

15 ‘‘(d) The Committee shall be chaired by the Assistant 

16 Secretary of the Interior responsible for land and minerals 

17 management. There shall also be elected a Vice Chairman 

18 by the Committee from among the members referred to 

19 in this section. The Vice Chairman shall perform such du20 ties as are determined to be appropriate by the committee, 

21 except that the Chairman of the Committee must person22 ally preside at all meetings of the full Committee. The 

23 Committee may organize itself into such subcommittees as 

24 the Committee may deem appropriate. 


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1 ‘‘(e) Following completion of the report required by 

2 section 385 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Com3 mittee shall consider the recommendations of the report, 

4 ongoing efforts in the schools, universities, and institu5 tions receiving funding under this Act, the Federal and 

6 State Governments, and the private sector, and shall for7 mulate and recommend to the Secretary a national plan 

8 for a program utilizing the fiscal resources provided under 

9 this Act. The Committee shall submit such plan to the 

10 Secretary for approval. Upon approval, the plan shall 

11 guide the Secretary and the Committee in their actions 

12 under this Act. 

13 ‘‘(f) Section 10 of the Federal Advisory Committee 

14 Act (5 U.S.C. App. 2) shall not apply to the Committee. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 12. CAREER TECHNICAL EDUCATION. 

16 ‘‘(a) Up to 25 percent of the annual outlay of funds 

17 authorized by section 23(d) of the Deep Ocean Energy Re18 sources Act of 2006 may be granted to schools or institu19 tions including, but not limited to, colleges, universities, 

20 community colleges, tribal colleges and universities, tech21 nical institutes, secondary schools, other than those de22 scribed in sections 3, 4, 5, and 6, and jointly sponsored 

23 apprenticeship and training programs that are authorized 

24 by Federal law. 


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1 ‘‘(b) The Secretary shall determine the eligibility of 

2 a school or institution to receive funding under this section 

3 using criteria that include— 

4 ‘‘(1) the presence of a State-approved program 

5 in mining engineering technology, petroleum engi6 neering technology, industrial engineering tech7 nology, or industrial technology that— 

8 ‘‘(A) is focused on technology and its use 

9 in energy and mineral production and related 

10 maintenance, operational safety, or energy in11 frastructure protection and security; 

12 ‘‘(B) prepares students for advanced or su13 pervisory roles in the mining industry or the pe14 troleum industry; and 

15 ‘‘(C) grants either an associate’s degree or 

16 a baccalaureate degree in one of the subjects 

17 listed in subparagraph (A); 

18 ‘‘(2) the presence of a program, including a sec19 ondary school vocational education program or ca20 reer academy, that provides training for individuals 

21 entering the petroleum, coal mining, or mineral min22 ing industries; or 

23 ‘‘(3) the presence of a State-approved program 

24 of career technical education at a secondary school, 


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1 offered cooperatively with a community college in 

2 one of the industrial sectors of— 

3 ‘‘(A) agriculture, forestry, or fisheries; 

4 ‘‘(B) utilities; 

5 ‘‘(C) construction; 

6 ‘‘(D) manufacturing; and 

7 ‘‘(E) transportation and warehousing. 

8 ‘‘(c) Schools or institutions receiving funds under this 

9 section must show evidence of an institutional commit10 ment for the purposes of career technical education and 

11 provide evidence that the school or institution has received 

12 or will receive industry cooperation in the form of equip13 ment, employee time, or donations of funds to support the 

14 activities that are within the scope of this section. 

15 ‘‘(d) Schools or institutions receiving funds under 

16 this section must agree to maintain the programs for 

17 which the funding is sought for a period of 10 years begin18 ning on the date the school or institution receives such 

19 funds, unless the Secretary finds that a shorter period of 

20 time is appropriate for the local labor market or is re21 quired by State authorities. 

22 ‘‘(e) Schools or institutions receiving funds under this 

23 section may combine these funds with State funds, and 

24 other Federal funds where allowed by law, to carry out 

25 programs described in this section, however the use of the 


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1 funds received under this section must be reported to the 

2 Secretary not less than annually. 

3 ‘‘(f) The Secretary shall seek the advice of the Com4 mittee established pursuant to section 11 in determining 

5 the criteria used to carry out this section. 

6 ‘‘SEC. 13. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR WORKFORCE EN7 HANCEMENT. 

8 ‘‘(a) PHYSICAL SCIENCE, ENGINEERING AND TECH9 NOLOGY SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.— 

10 ‘‘(1) From the amount of funds available to 

11 carry out this section, the Secretary shall use 30 

12 percent of that amount to provide financial assist13 ance for education in physical sciences, engineering, 

14 and engineering or industrial technology and dis15 ciplines that, as determined by the Secretary, are 

16 critical to the functions of the Department of the In17 terior and are needed in the Department of the Inte18 rior workforce. 

19 ‘‘(2) The Secretary of the Interior may award 

20 a scholarship in accordance with this section to a 

21 person who— 

22 ‘‘(A) is a citizen of the United States; 

23 ‘‘(B) is pursuing an undergraduate or ad24 vanced degree in a critical skill or discipline deVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:38 Sep 06, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00092 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4761.PCS H4761

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1 scribed in paragraph (1) at an institution of 

2 higher education; and 

3 ‘‘(C) enters into a service agreement with 

4 the Secretary of the Interior as described in 

5 subsection (e). 

6 ‘‘(3) The amount of the financial assistance 

7 provided under a scholarship awarded to a person 

8 under this subsection shall be the amount deter9 mined by the Secretary of the Interior as being nec10 essary to pay all educational expenses incurred by 

11 that person, including tuition, fees, cost of books, 

12 laboratory expenses, and expenses of room and 

13 board. The expenses paid, however, shall be limited 

14 to those educational expenses normally incurred by 

15 students at the institution of higher education in16 volved. 

17 ‘‘(b) SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM FOR STUDENTS AT18 TENDING MINORITY SERVING HIGHER EDUCATION INSTI19 TUTIONS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) From the amount of funds available to 

21 carry out this section, the Secretary shall use 35 

22 percent of that amount to award scholarships in ac23 cordance with this section to persons who— 

24 ‘‘(A) are enrolled in a Minority Serving 

25 Higher Education Institutions. 


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1 ‘‘(B) are citizens or nationals of the 

2 United States; 

3 ‘‘(C) are pursuing an undergraduate or ad4 vanced degree in agriculture, engineering, engi5 neering or industrial technology, or physical 

6 sciences, or other discipline that is found by the 

7 Secretary to be critical to the functions of the 

8 Department of the Interior and are needed in 

9 the Department of the Interior workforce; and 

10 ‘‘(D) enter into a service agreement with 

11 the Secretary of the Interior as described in 

12 subsection (e). 

13 ‘‘(2) The amount of the financial assistance 

14 provided under a scholarship awarded to a person 

15 under this subsection shall be the amount deter16 mined by the Secretary of the Interior as being nec17 essary to pay all educational expenses incurred by 

18 that person, including tuition, fees, cost of books, 

19 laboratory expenses, and expenses of room and 

20 board. The expenses paid, however, shall be limited 

21 to those educational expenses normally incurred by 

22 students at the institution of higher education in23 volved. 

24 ‘‘(c) EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS WITH MINORITY

25 SERVING HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) The Secretary shall require the director of 

2 each Bureau and Office, to foster the participation 

3 of Minority Serving Higher Education Institutions 

4 in any regulatory activity, land management activity, 

5 science activity, engineering or industrial technology 

6 activity, or engineering activity carried out by the 

7 Department of the Interior. 

8 ‘‘(2) From the amount of funds available to 

9 carry out this section, the Secretary shall use 35 

10 percent of that amount to support activities at Mi11 nority Serving Higher Education Institutions by— 

12 ‘‘(A) funding faculty and students in these 

13 institutions in collaborative research projects 

14 that are directly related to the Departmental or 

15 Bureau missions; 

16 ‘‘(B) allowing equipment transfer to Mi17 nority Serving Higher Education Institutions as 

18 a part of a collaborative research program di19 rectly related to a Departmental or Bureau mis20 sion; 

21 ‘‘(C) allowing faculty and students at these 

22 Minority Serving Higher Education Institutions 

23 to participate Departmental and Bureau train24 ing activities; 


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1 ‘‘(D) funding paid internships in Depart2 mental and Bureau facilities for students at Mi3 nority Serving Higher Education Institutions; 

4 ‘‘(E) assigning Departmental and Bureau 

5 personnel to positions located at Minority Serv6 ing Higher Educational Institutions to serve as 

7 mentors to students interested in a science, 

8 technology or engineering disciplines related to 

9 the mission of the Department or the Bureaus. 

10 ‘‘(d) SERVICE AGREEMENT FOR RECIPIENTS OF AS11 SISTANCE.— 

12 ‘‘(1) To receive financial assistance under sub13 section (a) or (b) of this section— 

14 ‘‘(A) in the case of an employee of the De15 partment of the Interior, the employee shall 

16 enter into a written agreement to continue in 

17 the employment of the department for the pe18 riod of obligated service determined under para19 graph (2); and 

20 ‘‘(B) in the case of a person not an em21 ployee of the Department of the Interior, the 

22 person shall enter into a written agreement to 

23 accept and continue employment in the Depart24 ment of the Interior for the period of obligated 

25 service determined under paragraph (2). 


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1 ‘‘(2) For the purposes of this section, the period 

2 of obligated service for a recipient of a scholarship 

3 under this section shall be the period determined by 

4 the Secretary of the Interior as being appropriate to 

5 obtain adequate service in exchange for the financial 

6 assistance provided under the scholarship. In no 

7 event may the period of service required of a recipi8 ent be less than the total period of pursuit of a de9 gree that is covered by the scholarship. The period 

10 of obligated service is in addition to any other period 

11 for which the recipient is obligated to serve in the 

12 civil service of the United States. 

13 ‘‘(3) An agreement entered into under this sub14 section by a person pursuing an academic degree 

15 shall include any terms and conditions that the Sec16 retary of the Interior determines necessary to pro17 tect the interests of the United States or otherwise 

18 appropriate for carrying out this section. 

19 ‘‘(e) REFUND FOR PERIOD OF UNSERVED OBLI20 GATED SERVICE.— 

21 ‘‘(1) A person who voluntarily terminates serv22 ice before the end of the period of obligated service 

23 required under an agreement entered into under 

24 subsection (d) shall refund to the United States an 

25 amount determined by the Secretary of the Interior 


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1 as being appropriate to obtain adequate service in 

2 exchange for financial assistance. 

3 ‘‘(2) An obligation to reimburse the United 

4 States imposed under paragraph (1) is for all pur5 poses a debt owed to the United States. 

6 ‘‘(3) The Secretary of the Interior may waive, 

7 in whole or in part, a refund required under para8 graph (1) if the Secretary determines that recovery 

9 would be against equity and good conscience or 

10 would be contrary to the best interests of the United 

11 States. 

12 ‘‘(4) A discharge in bankruptcy under title 11, 

13 United States Code, that is entered less than five 

14 years after the termination of an agreement under 

15 this section does not discharge the person signing 

16 such agreement from a debt arising under such 

17 agreement or under this subsection. 

18 ‘‘(f) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER PROGRAMS.—The 

19 Secretary of the Interior shall coordinate the provision of 

20 financial assistance under the authority of this section 

21 with the provision of financial assistance under the au22 thorities provided in this Act in order to maximize the ben23 efits derived by the Department of Interior from the exer24 cise of all such authorities. 


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1 ‘‘(g) REPORT.—Not later than September 1 of each 

2 year, the Secretary of the Interior shall submit to the Con3 gress a report on the status of the assistance program car4 ried out under this section. The report shall describe the 

5 programs within the Department designed to recruit and 

6 retain a workforce on a short-term basis and on a long7 term basis. 

8 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section: 

9 ‘‘(1) The term ‘Minority Serving Higher Edu10 cation Institutions’ means a Hispanic-serving insti11 tution, historically Black college or university, Alas12 ka Native-serving institution, tribal college or uni13 versity, or insular area school. 

14 ‘‘(2) The term ‘Hispanic-serving institution’ has 

15 the meaning given the term in section 502(a) of the 

16 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

17 1101a(a)). 

18 ‘‘(3) The term ‘historically Black college or uni19 versity’ has the meaning given the term ‘part B in20 stitution’ in section 322 of the Higher Education 

21 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061). 

22 ‘‘(4) The term ‘tribal college or university’ has 

23 the meaning given the term ‘Tribal College or Uni24 versity’ in section 316(b)(3) of the Higher Edu25 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c). 


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1 ‘‘(5) The term ‘institution of higher education’ 

2 has the meaning given such term in section 101 of 

3 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

4 1001). 

5 ‘‘(6) The term ‘Alaska Native-serving institu6 tion’ has the meaning given the term in section 317 

7 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

8 1059d). 

9 ‘‘(7) The term ‘insular area school’ means an 

10 academic institution or university in American 

11 Samoa, Guam, The Northern Mariana Islands, 

12 Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, or any other 

13 territory or possession of the United States. 

14 ‘‘(i) FUNDING.—To implement this section, the Sec15 retary shall use 3 percent of the annual outlay authorized 

16 by section 23(d) of the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act 

17 of 2006.’’. 

18 (b) FUNDING FOR ENERGY RESEARCH.— 

19 (1) Using 20 percent of the funds authorized by 

20 subsection (d), the Secretary of Energy, through the 

21 energy supply research and development programs of 

22 the Department of Energy, and in consultation with 

23 the Office of Science of the Department of Energy, 

24 shall carry out a program to award grants to institu25 tions of higher education on the basis of competitive, 


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1 merit-based review, for the purpose of conducting re2 search on advanced energy technologies with the po3 tential to transform the energy systems of the 

4 United States so as to— 

5 (A) reduce dependence on foreign energy 

6 supplies; 

7 (B) reduce or eliminate emissions of green8 house gases; 

9 (C) reduce negative environmental effects 

10 associated with energy production, storage, and 

11 use; and 

12 (D) enhance the competitiveness of United 

13 States energy technology exports. 

14 (2) Awards made under this subsection may in15 clude funding for— 

16 (A) energy efficiency; 

17 (B) renewable energy, including solar, 

18 wind, and biofuels; and 

19 (C) nuclear, hydrogen, and any other en20 ergy research that could accomplish the purpose 

21 set forth in paragraph (1). 

22 (3) The Secretary of Energy may require or au23 thorize grantees under this subsection to partner 

24 with industry, but only to the extent that such a re25 quirement does not prevent long-range, potentially 


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1 pathbreaking research from being funded under this 

2 subsection. 

3 (4) An institution of higher education seeking 

4 funding under this subsection shall submit an appli5 cation at such time, in such manner, and containing 

6 such information as the Secretary of Energy may re7 quire. 

8 (5) In this subsection, the term ‘‘institution of 

9 higher education’’ has the meaning given that term 

10 in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 

11 1965. 

12 (c) FUNDING FOR ENERGY SCHOLARSHIPS.— 

13 (1) Using 5 percent of the funds authorized by 

14 subsection (d), the Secretary of Energy, through the 

15 energy supply research and development programs of 

16 the Department of Energy, and in consultation with 

17 the Office of Science of the Department of Energy, 

18 shall carry out a program to award grants to institu19 tions of higher education on the basis of competitive, 

20 merit-based review, to grant graduate traineeships to 

21 Ph.D. students who are citizens of the United States 

22 who will carry out research on advanced energy tech23 nologies to accomplish the purpose set forth in sub24 section (c)(1). 


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1 (2) Awards made under this subsection may in2 clude funding for— 

3 (A) energy efficiency; 

4 (B) renewable energy, including solar, 

5 wind, and biofuels; and 

6 (C) nuclear, hydrogen, and any other en7 ergy research that would accomplish the pur8 pose set forth in subsection (c)(1) that is not el9 igible for funding under section 7 of the Energy 

10 and Mineral Schools Reinvestment Act. 

11 (3) An institution of higher education seeking 

12 funding under this subsection shall submit an appli13 cation at such time, in such manner, and containing 

14 such information as the Secretary of Energy may re15 quire. 

16 (4) In this subsection, the term ‘‘institution of 

17 higher education’’ has the meaning given that term 

18 in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 

19 1965. 

20 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

21 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

22 $150,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2007 through 2017. 

23 SEC. 22. ONSHORE AND OFFSHORE MINERAL LEASE FEES. 

24 Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the Depart25 ment of the Interior is prohibited from charging fees appliVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:38 Sep 06, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00103 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4761.PCS H4761

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1 cable to actions on Federal onshore and offshore oil and 

2 gas, coal, geothermal, and other mineral leases, including 

3 transportation of any production from such leases, if such 

4 fees were not established in final regulations prior to the 

5 date of issuance of the lease. 

6 SEC. 23. OCS REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS. 

7 The headquarters for the Gulf of Mexico Region shall 

8 permanently be located within the State of Louisiana with9 in 25 miles of the center of Jackson Square, New Orleans, 

10 Louisiana. Further, not later than July 1, 2008, the Sec11 retary of the Interior shall establish the headquarters for 

12 the Atlantic OCS Region and the headquarters for the Pa13 cific OCS Region within a State bordering the Atlantic 

14 OCS Region and a State bordering the Pacific OCS Re15 gion, respectively, from among the States bordering those 

16 Regions, that petitions by no later than January 1, 2008, 

17 for leasing, for oil and gas or natural gas, covering at least 

18 40 percent of the area of its Adjacent Zone within 100 

19 miles of the coastline. Such Atlantic and Pacific OCS Re20 gions headquarters shall be located within 25 miles of the 

21 coastline and each MMS OCS regional headquarters shall 

22 be the permanent duty station for all Minerals Manage23 ment Service personnel that on a daily basis spend on av24 erage 60 percent or more of their time in performance of 

25 duties in support of the activities of the respective Region, 


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1 except that the Minerals Management Service may house 

2 regional inspection staff in other locations. Each OCS Re3 gion shall each be led by a Regional Director who shall 

4 be an employee within the Senior Executive Service. 

5 SEC. 24. NATIONAL GEO FUND ACT OF 2006. 

6 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the 

7 ‘‘National Geo Fund Act of 2006’’. 

8 (b) PURPOSES.—The purpose of this section is to 

9 provide for the management of geologic programs, geologic 

10 mapping, geophysical and other seismic studies, seismic 

11 monitoring programs, and the preservation and use of geo12 logic and geophysical data, geothermal and geopressure 

13 energy resource management, unconventional energy re14 sources management, and renewable energy management 

15 associated with ocean wave, current, and thermal re16 sources. 

17 (c) STATE DEFINED.—In this section the term 

18 ‘‘State’’ means the agency of a State designated by its 

19 Governor or State law to perform the functions and activi20 ties described in subsection (b). 

21 (d) STRATEGIC UNCONVENTIONAL RESOURCES.— 

22 (1) PROGRAM.—The Secretary of the Interior 

23 shall establish a program for production of fuels 

24 from strategic unconventional resources, and produc25 tion of oil and gas resources using CO2 enhanced reVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:38 Sep 06, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00105 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4761.PCS H4761

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1 covery. The program shall focus initially on activities 

2 and domestic resources most likely to result in sig3 nificant production in the near future, and shall in4 clude work necessary to improve extraction tech5 niques, including surface and in situ operations. The 

6 program shall include characterization and assess7 ment of potential resources, a sampling program, 

8 appropriate laboratory and other analyses and test9 ing, and assessment of methods for exploration and 

10 development of these strategic unconventional re11 sources. 

12 (2) PILOT PROJECTS.—The program created in 

13 paragraph (1) shall include, but not be limited to, 

14 pilot projects on (A) the Maverick Basin heavy oil 

15 and tar sands formations of Texas, including the 

16 San Miguel deposits, (B) the Greater Green River 

17 Basin heavy oil, oil shale, tar sands, and coal depos18 its of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, (C) the shale, 

19 tar sands, heavy oil, and coal deposits in the Ala20 bama-Mississippi-Tennessee region, (D) the shale, 

21 tar sands, heavy oil, and coal deposits in the Ohio 

22 River valley, and (E) strategic unconventional re23 sources in California. The Secretary shall identify 

24 and report to Congress on feasible incentives to fos25 ter recovery of unconventional fuels by private indusVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:38 Sep 06, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00106 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4761.PCS H4761

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1 try within the United States. Such incentives may 

2 include, but are not limited to, long-term contracts 

3 for the purchase of unconventional fuels for defense 

4 purposes, Federal grants and loan guarantees for 

5 necessary capital expenditures, and favorable terms 

6 for the leasing of Government lands containing un7 conventional resources. 

8 (3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

9 (A) STRATEGIC UNCONVENTIONAL RE10 SOURCES.—The term ‘‘strategic unconventional 

11 resources’’ means hydrocarbon resources, in12 cluding heavy oil, oil shale, tar sands, and coal 

13 deposits, from which liquid fuels may be pro14 duced. 

15 (B) IN SITU EXTRACTION METHODS.—The 

16 term ‘‘in situ extraction methods’’ means recov17 ery techniques that are applied to the resources 

18 while they are still in the ground, and are in 

19 commercial use or advanced stages of develop20 ment. Such techniques include, but are not lim21 ited to, steam flooding, steam-assisted gravity 

22 drainage (including combination with electric 

23 power generation where appropriate), cyclic 

24 steam stimulation, air injection, and chemical 

25 treatment. 


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1 (4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

2 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

3 this subsection for each of fiscal years 2007 through 

4 2011 not less than $35,000,000. Each pilot project 

5 shall be allocated not less than $4,000,000 per year 

6 in each of fiscal years 2007 through 2011. 

7 (e) SUPPORT OF GEOTHERMAL AND GEOPRESSURE

8 OIL AND GAS ENERGY PRODUCTION.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 

10 out a grant program in support of geothermal and 

11 geopressure oil and gas energy production. The pro12 gram shall include grants for a total of not less than 

13 three assessments of the use of innovative geo14 thermal techniques such as organic rankine cycle 

15 systems at marginal, unproductive, and productive 

16 oil and gas wells, and not less than one assessment 

17 of the use of innovative geopressure techniques. The 

18 Secretary shall, to the extent practicable and in the 

19 public interest, make awards that— 

20 (A) include not less than five oil or gas 

21 well sites per project award; 

22 (B) use a range of oil or gas well hot water 

23 source temperatures from 150 degrees Fahr24 enheit to 300 degrees Fahrenheit; 

25 (C) use existing or new oil or gas wells; 


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1 (D) cover a range of sizes from 175 kilo2 watts to one megawatt; 

3 (E) are located at a range of sites includ4 ing tribal lands, Federal lease, State, or pri5 vately owned sites; 

6 (F) can be replicated at a wide range of 

7 sites; 

8 (G) facilitate identification of optimum 

9 techniques among competing alternatives; 

10 (H) include business commercialization 

11 plans that have the potential for production of 

12 equipment at high volumes and operation and 

13 support at a large number of sites; and 

14 (I) satisfy other criteria that the Secretary 

15 determines are necessary to carry out the pro16 gram. 

17 The Secretary shall give preference to assessments 

18 that address multiple elements contained in subpara19 graphs (A) through (I). 

20 (2) GRANT AWARDS.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each grant award for 

22 assessment of innovative geothermal or 

23 geopressure technology such as organic rankine 

24 cycle systems at oil and gas wells made by the 

25 Secretary under this section shall include— 


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1 (i) necessary and appropriate site en2 gineering study; 

3 (ii) detailed economic assessment of 

4 site specific conditions; 

5 (iii) appropriate feasibility studies to 

6 determine ability for replication; 

7 (iv) design or adaptation of existing 

8 technology for site specific circumstances 

9 or conditions; 

10 (v) installation of equipment, service, 

11 and support; and 

12 (vi) monitoring for a minimum of one 

13 year after commissioning date. 

14 (3) COMPETITIVE GRANT SELECTION.—Not less 

15 than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 

16 this Act, the Secretary shall conduct a national solic17 itation for applications for grants under the pro18 gram. Grant recipients shall be selected on a com19 petitive basis based on criteria in subsection (b). 

20 (4) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 

21 costs of grants under this subsection shall be pro22 vided from funds made available to carry out this 

23 section. The Federal share of the cost of a project 

24 carried out with such a grant shall not exceed 50 

25 percent of such cost. 


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1 (5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

2 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

3 this subsection for each of fiscal years 2007 through 

4 2011 not less than $5,000,000. No funds authorized 

5 under this section may be used for the purposes of 

6 drilling new wells. 

7 (6) AMENDMENT.—Section 4 of the Geothermal 

8 Steam Act of 1970 (30 USC 1003) is amended by 

9 adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(h) GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES CO-PRODUCED

11 WITH THE MINERALS.—Any person who holds a lease or 

12 who operates a cooperative or unit plan under the Mineral 

13 Leasing Act, in the absence of an existing lease for geo14 thermal resources under this Act, shall upon notice to the 

15 Secretary have the right to utilize any geothermal re16 sources co-produced with the minerals for which the lease 

17 was issued during the operation of that lease or coopera18 tive or unit plan, for the generating of electricity to oper19 ate the lease. Any electricity that is produced in excess 

20 of that which is required to operate the lease and that 

21 is sold for purposes outside of the boundary of the lease 

22 shall be subject to the requirements of section 5.’’. 

23 (f) LIQUID FUELS GRANT PROGRAM.— 

24 (1) PROGRAM.—The Secretary of the Interior 

25 shall establish a grant program for facilities for coalVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:38 Sep 06, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00111 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4761.PCS H4761

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1 to-liquids, petroleum coke-to-liquids, oil shale, tar 

2 sands, heavy oil, and Alaska natural gas-to-liquids 

3 and to assess the production of low-rank coal water 

4 fuel (in this subsection referred to as ‘‘LRCWF’’). 

5 (2) LRCWF.—The LRCWF grant project loca6 tion shall use lignite coal from fields near the 

7 Tombigbee River within 60 miles of a land-grant col8 lege and shall be allocated $15,000,000 for expendi9 ture during fiscal year 2007. 

10 (3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

11 (A) COAL-TO-LIQUIDS FRONT-END ENGI12 NEERING AND DESIGN.—The terms ‘‘coal-to-liq13 uids front-end engineering and design’’ and 

14 ‘‘FEED’’ mean those expenditures necessary to 

15 engineer, design, and obtain permits for a facil16 ity for a particular geographic location which 

17 will utilize a process or technique to produce 

18 liquid fuels from coal resources. 

19 (B) LOW-RANK COAL WATER FUEL.—In 

20 this subsection the term ‘‘low-rank coal water 

21 fuel’’ means a liquid fuel produced from hydro22 thermal treatment of lignite and sub-bituminous 

23 coals. 

24 (4) GRANT PROVISIONS.—All grants shall re25 quire a 50 percent non-Federal cost share. The first 


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1 4 FEED grant recipients who receive full project 

2 construction financing commitments, based on ear3 liest calendar date, shall not be required to repay 

4 any of their grants. The next 4 FEED grant recipi5 ents who receive such commitments shall be required 

6 to repay 25 percent of the grant. The next 4 FEED 

7 grant recipients who receive such commitments shall 

8 be required to repay 50 percent of the grant, and 

9 the remaining FEED grant recipients shall be re10 quired to repay 75 percent of the grant. The 

11 LRCWF recipient shall not be required to repay the 

12 grant. Any required repayment shall be paid as part 

13 of the closing process for any construction financing 

14 relating to the grant. No repayment shall require the 

15 payment of interest if repaid within 5 years of the 

16 issuance of the grant. FEED grants shall be limited 

17 to a maximum of $1,000,000 per 1,000 barrels per 

18 day of liquid fuels production capacity, not to exceed 

19 $25 million per year. 

20 (5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

21 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

22 this subsection— 

23 (A) $65,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; and 

24 (B) $37,500,000 for each of fiscal years 

25 2008 through 2013. 


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1 (g) RENEWABLE ENERGY FROM OCEAN WAVE, CUR2 RENT, AND THERMAL RESOURCES.— 

3 (1) PROGRAM.—The Secretary of the Interior 

4 shall establish a grant program for the production of 

5 renewable energy from ocean waves, currents, and 

6 thermal resources. 

7 (2) GRANT PROVISIONS.—All grants under this 

8 subsection shall require a 50 percent non-Federal 

9 cost share. 

10 (3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

11 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

12 this subsection funds for each of fiscal years 2007 

13 through 2011 in the amount of not less than 

14 $20,000,000 each year, and thereafter in such 

15 amounts as the Secretary may find appropriate. 

16 (h) AMENDMENT TO THE SURFACE MINING CON17 TROL AND RECLAMATION ACT OF 1977.—Section 507 of 

18 the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 

19 (30 U.S.C. 1267) is amended by adding at the end the 

20 following: 

21 ‘‘(i) Any person who provides the regulatory authority 

22 with a map under subsection (b)(13) or (b)(14) shall not 

23 be liable to any other person in any way for the accuracy 

24 or completeness of any such map which was not prepared 

25 and certified by or on behalf of such person.’’. 


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1 SEC. 25. LEASES FOR AREAS LOCATED WITHIN 100 MILES 

2 OF CALIFORNIA OR FLORIDA. 

3 (a) AUTHORIZATION TO CANCEL AND EXCHANGE

4 CERTAIN EXISTING OIL AND GAS LEASES; PROHIBITION

5 ON SUBMITTAL OF EXPLORATION PLANS FOR CERTAIN

6 LEASES PRIOR TO JUNE 30, 2010.— 

7 (1) AUTHORITY.—Within 2 years after the date 

8 of enactment of this Act, the lessee of an existing oil 

9 and gas lease for an area located completely within 

10 100 miles of the coastline within the California or 

11 Florida Adjacent Zones shall have the option, with12 out compensation, of exchanging such lease for a 

13 new oil and gas lease having a primary term of 5 

14 years. For the area subject to the new lease, the les15 see may select any unleased tract on the outer Con16 tinental Shelf that is in an area available for leasing. 

17 Further, with the permission of the relevant Gov18 ernor, such a lessee may convert its existing oil and 

19 gas lease into a natural gas lease having a primary 

20 term of 5 years and covering the same area as the 

21 existing lease or another area within the same 

22 State’s Adjacent Zone within 100 miles of the coast23 line. 

24 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS.—The Secretary 

25 of the Interior shall establish a reasonable adminis26 trative process to implement paragraph (1). ExVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:38 Sep 06, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00115 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4761.PCS H4761

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1 changes and conversions under subsection (a), in2 cluding the issuance of new leases, shall not be con3 sidered to be major Federal actions for purposes of 

4 the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

5 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). Further, such actions con6 ducted in accordance with this section are deemed to 

7 be in compliance all provisions of the Outer Conti8 nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.). 

9 (3) OPERATING RESTRICTIONS.—A new lease 

10 issued in exchange for an existing lease under this 

11 section shall be subject to such national defense op12 erating stipulations on the OCS tract covered by the 

13 new lease as may be applicable upon issuance. 

14 (4) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give pri15 ority in the lease exchange process based on the 

16 amount of the original bonus bid paid for the 

17 issuance of each lease to be exchanged. The Sec18 retary shall allow leases covering partial tracts to be 

19 exchanged for leases covering full tracts conditioned 

20 upon payment of additional bonus bids on a per-acre 

21 basis as determined by the average per acre of the 

22 original bonus bid per acre for the partial tract 

23 being exchanged. 

24 (5) EXPLORATION PLANS.—Any exploration 

25 plan submitted to the Secretary of the Interior after 


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1 the date of the enactment of this Act and before 

2 July 1, 2010, for an oil and gas lease for an area 

3 wholly within 100 miles of the coastline within the 

4 California Adjacent Zone or Florida Adjacent Zone 

5 shall not be treated as received by the Secretary 

6 until the earlier of July 1, 2010, or the date on 

7 which a petition by the Adjacent State for oil and 

8 gas leasing covering the area within which is located 

9 the area subject to the oil and gas lease was ap10 proved. 

11 (b) FURTHER LEASE CANCELLATION AND EX12 CHANGE PROVISIONS.— 

13 (1) CANCELLATION OF LEASE.—As part of the 

14 lease exchange process under this section, the Sec15 retary shall cancel a lease that is exchanged under 

16 this section. 

17 (2) CONSENT OF LESSEES.—All lessees holding 

18 an interest in a lease must consent to cancellation 

19 of their leasehold interests in order for the lease to 

20 be cancelled and exchanged under this section. 

21 (3) WAIVER OF RIGHTS.—As a prerequisite to 

22 the exchange of a lease under this section, the lessee 

23 must waive any rights to bring any litigation against 

24 the United States related to the transaction. 


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1 (4) PLUGGING AND ABANDONMENT.—The plug2 ging and abandonment requirements for any wells 

3 located on any lease to be cancelled and exchanged 

4 under this section must be complied with by the les5 sees prior to the cancellation and exchange. 

6 (c) AREA PARTIALLY WITHIN 100 MILES OF FLOR7 IDA.—An existing oil and gas lease for an area located 

8 partially within 100 miles of the coastline within the Flor9 ida n Adjacent Zone may only be developed and produced 

10 using wells drilled from well-head locations at least 100 

11 miles from the coastline to any bottom-hole location on 

12 the area of the lease. This subsection shall not apply if 

13 Florida has petitioned for leasing closer to the coastline 

14 than 100 miles. 

15 (d) EXISTING OIL AND GAS LEASE DEFINED.—In 

16 this section the term ‘‘existing oil and gas lease’’ means 

17 an oil and gas lease in effect on the date of the enactment 

18 of this Act. 

19 SEC. 26. COASTAL IMPACT ASSISTANCE. 

20 Section 31 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

21 (43 U.S.C. 1356a) is repealed. 

22 SEC. 27. OIL SHALE AND TAR SANDS AMENDMENTS. 

23 (a) REPEAL OF REQUIREMENT TO ESTABLISH PAY24 MENTS.—Section 369(o) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 


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1 (Public Law 109–58; 119 Stat. 728; 42 U.S.C. 15927) 

2 is repealed. 

3 (b) TREATMENT OF REVENUES.—Section 21 of the 

4 Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 241) is amended by add5 ing at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(e) REVENUES.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the provi8 sions of section 35, all revenues received from and 

9 under an oil shale or tar sands lease shall be dis10 posed of as provided in this subsection. 

11 ‘‘(2) ROYALTY RATES FOR COMMERCIAL

12 LEASES.— 

13 ‘‘(A) ROYALTY RATES.—The Secretary 

14 shall model the royalty schedule for oil shale 

15 and tar sands leases based on the royalty pro16 gram currently in effect for the production of 

17 synthetic crude oil from oil sands in the Prov18 ince of Alberta, Canada. 

19 ‘‘(B) REDUCTION.—The Secretary shall re20 duce any royalty otherwise required to be paid 

21 under subparagraph (A) under any oil shale or 

22 tar sands lease on a sliding scale based upon 

23 market price, with a 10 percent reduction if the 

24 average futures price of NYMEX Light Sweet 

25 Crude, or a similar index, drops, for the preVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:38 Sep 06, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00119 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4761.PCS H4761

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1 vious quarter year, below $50 (in January 1, 

2 2006, dollars), and an 80 percent reduction if 

3 the average price drops below $30 (in January 

4 1, 2006, dollars) for the quarter previous to the 

5 one in which the production is sold. 

6 ‘‘(3) DISPOSITION OF REVENUES.— 

7 ‘‘(A) DEPOSIT.—The Secretary shall de8 posit into a separate account in the Treasury 

9 all revenues derived from any oil shale or tar 

10 sands lease. 

11 ‘‘(B) ALLOCATIONS TO STATES AND LOCAL

12 POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS.—The Secretary shall 

13 allocate 50 percent of the revenues deposited 

14 into the account established under subpara15 graph (A) to the State within the boundaries of 

16 which the leased lands are located, with a por17 tion of that to be paid directly by the Secretary 

18 to the State’s local political subdivisions as pro19 vided in this paragraph. 

20 ‘‘(C) TRANSMISSION OF ALLOCATIONS.— 

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the 

22 last business day of the month after the 

23 month in which the revenues were received, 

24 the Secretary shall transmit— 


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1 ‘‘(I) to each State two-thirds of 

2 such State’s allocations under sub3 paragraph (B), and in accordance 

4 with clauses (ii) and (iii) to certain 

5 county-equivalent and municipal polit6 ical subdivisions of such State a total 

7 of one-third of such State’s allocations 

8 under subparagraph (B), together 

9 with all accrued interest thereon; and 

10 ‘‘(II) the remaining balance of 

11 such revenues deposited into the ac12 count that are not allocated under 

13 subparagraph (B), together with in14 terest thereon, shall be transmitted to 

15 the miscellaneous receipts account of 

16 the Treasury, except that until a lease 

17 has been in production for 20 years 

18 50 percent of such remaining balance 

19 derived from a lease shall be paid in 

20 accordance with subclause (I). 

21 ‘‘(ii) ALLOCATIONS TO CERTAIN

22 COUNTY-EQUIVALENT POLITICAL SUBDIVI23 SIONS.—The Secretary shall under clause 

24 (i)(I) make equitable allocations of the rev25 enues to county-equivalent political subVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:38 Sep 06, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00121 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4761.PCS H4761

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1 divisions that the Secretary determines are 

2 closely associated with the leasing and pro3 duction of oil shale and tar sands, under a 

4 formula that the Secretary shall determine 

5 by regulation. 

6 ‘‘(iii) ALLOCATIONS TO MUNICIPAL

7 POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS.—The initial al8 location to each county-equivalent political 

9 subdivision under clause (ii) shall be fur10 ther allocated to the county-equivalent po11 litical subdivision and any municipal polit12 ical subdivisions located partially or wholly 

13 within the boundaries of the county-equiva14 lent political subdivision on an equitable 

15 basis under a formula that the Secretary 

16 shall determine by regulation. 

17 ‘‘(D) INVESTMENT OF DEPOSITS.—The de18 posits in the Treasury account established 

19 under this section shall be invested by the Sec20 retary of the Treasury in securities backed by 

21 the full faith and credit of the United States 

22 having maturities suitable to the needs of the 

23 account and yielding the highest reasonably 

24 available interest rates as determined by the 

25 Secretary of the Treasury. 


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1 ‘‘(E) USE OF FUNDS.—A recipient of 

2 funds under this subsection may use the funds 

3 for any lawful purpose as determined by State 

4 law. Funds allocated under this subsection to 

5 States and local political subdivisions may be 

6 used as matching funds for other Federal pro7 grams without limitation. Funds allocated to 

8 local political subdivisions under this subsection 

9 may not be used in calculation of payments to 

10 such local political subdivisions under programs 

11 for payments in lieu of taxes or other similar 

12 programs. 

13 ‘‘(F) NO ACCOUNTING REQUIRED.—No re14 cipient of funds under this subsection shall be 

15 required to account to the Federal Government 

16 for the expenditure of such funds, except as 

17 otherwise may be required by law. 

18 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

19 ‘‘(A) COUNTY-EQUIVALENT POLITICAL

20 SUBDIVISION.—The term ‘county-equivalent po21 litical subdivision’ means a political jurisdiction 

22 immediately below the level of State govern23 ment, including a county, parish, borough in 

24 Alaska, independent municipality not part of a 


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1 county, parish, or borough in Alaska, or other 

2 equivalent subdivision of a State. 

3 ‘‘(B) MUNICIPAL POLITICAL SUBDIVI4 SION.—The term ‘municipal political subdivi5 sion’ means a municipality located within and 

6 part of a county, parish, borough in Alaska, or 

7 other equivalent subdivision of a State.’’. 

8 SEC. 28. AVAILABILITY OF OCS RECEIPTS TO PROVIDE PAY9 MENTS UNDER SECURE RURAL SCHOOLS 

10 AND COMMUNITY SELF-DETERMINATION ACT 

11 OF 2000. 

12 Section 9 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

13 (43 U.S.C. 1338) is amended by inserting after subsection 

14 (i), as added by section 7 of this Act, the following new 

15 subsection: 

16 ‘‘(j) CONDITIONAL AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS FOR

17 PAYMENTS UNDER SECURE RURAL SCHOOLS AND COM18 MUNITY SELF-DETERMINATION ACT OF 2000.— 

19 ‘‘(1) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Subject to 

20 paragraph (2), but notwithstanding any other provi21 sion of this section, $50,000,000 of OCS Receipts 

22 shall be available to the Secretary of the Treasury 

23 for each of fiscal years 2007 through 2012 to make 

24 payments under sections 102 and 103 of the Secure 

25 Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination 


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1 Act of 2000 (Public Law 106–393; 16 U.S.C. 500 

2 note). The Secretary of the Treasury shall use the 

3 funds made available by this subsection to make 

4 such payments in lieu of using funds in the Treas5 ury not otherwise appropriated, as otherwise author6 ized by sections 102(b)(3) and 103(b)(2) of such 

7 Act. 

8 ‘‘(2) CONDITION ON AVAILABILITY.—OCS Re9 ceipts shall be available under paragraph (1) for a 

10 fiscal year only if— 

11 ‘‘(A) title I of the Secure Rural Schools 

12 and Community Self-Determination Act of 

13 2000 has been reauthorized through at least 

14 that fiscal year; and 

15 ‘‘(B) the authority to initiate projects 

16 under titles II and III of such Act has been ex17 tended through at least that fiscal year.’’. 

18 SEC. 29. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS TO BUY AND BUILD 

19 AMERICAN. 

20 (a) BUY AND BUILD AMERICAN.—It is the intention 

21 of the Congress that this Act, among other things, result 

22 in a healthy and growing American industrial, manufac23 turing, transportation, and service sector employing the 

24 vast talents of America’s workforce to assist in the devel25 opment of affordable energy from the Outer Continental 


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1 Shelf. Moreover, the Congress intends to monitor the de2 ployment of personnel and material in the Outer Conti3 nental Shelf to encourage the development of American 

4 technology and manufacturing to enable United States 

5 workers to benefit from this Act by good jobs and careers, 

6 as well as the establishment of important industrial facili7 ties to support expanded access to American resources. 

8 (b) SAFEGUARD FOR EXTRAORDINARY ABILITY.— 

9 Section 30(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

10 (43 U.S.C. 1356(a)) is amended in the matter preceding 

11 paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘regulations which’’ and insert12 ing ‘‘regulations that shall be supplemental and com13 plimentary with and under no circumstances a substi14 tution for the provisions of the Constitution and laws of 

15 the United States extended to the subsoil and seabed of 

16 the outer Continental Shelf pursuant to section 4(a)(1) 

17 of this Act, except insofar as such laws would otherwise 

18 apply to individuals who have extraordinary ability in the 

19 sciences, arts, education, or business, which has been dem20 onstrated by sustained national or international acclaim, 

21 and that’’. 


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1 SEC. 30. AVAILABILITY OF OCS RECEIPTS TO PROVIDE 

2 FUNDS FOR TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUC3 TURE OF THE NATION’S CAPITAL. 

4 Section 9 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

5 (43. U.S.C. 1338) is further amended by adding at the 

6 end the following new subsection: 

7 ‘‘(k) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS FOR IMPROVEMENTS

8 TO THE TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE NA9 TION’S CAPITAL.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 

10 this section, $150,000,000 of OCS Receipts shall be avail11 able to the Secretary of the Treasury for each of fiscal 

12 years 2007 through 2016 to make payments, subject to 

13 appropriations, to the Washington Metropolitan Area 

14 Transit Authority (as defined in the National Capital 

15 Transportation Act of 1969) (sec. 9—1111.01 et seq., 

16 D.C. Official Code) to finance in part the capital and pre17 ventive maintenance projects included in the Capital Im18 provement Program approved by the Board of Directors 

19 of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. 

Passed the House of Representatives June 29, 2006. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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Calendar No. 588 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4761 

AN ACT 

To provide for exploration, development, and proouter Continental Shelf, and for other purposes. duction activities for mineral resources on the 

SEPTEMBER 5, 2006 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 


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