I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4761 

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

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

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 15, 2006 

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

A BILL 

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

Shelf, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Domestic Energy Pro5 duction through Offshore Exploration and Equitable 

6 Treatment of State Holdings Act of 2006’’. 

7 SEC. 2. POLICY. 

8 It is the policy of the United States that— 
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1 (1) adjacent States are required by the cir2 cumstances to commit significant resources in sup3 port of exploration, development, and production ac4 tivities for mineral resources on the outer Conti5 nental Shelf, and it is fair and proper for a portion 

6 of the receipts from such activities to be shared with 

7 Adjacent States and their local coastal governments; 

8 (2) the existing laws governing the leasing and 

9 production of the mineral resources of the outer 

10 Continental Shelf have reduced the production of 

11 mineral resources, have preempted Adjacent States 

12 from being sufficiently involved in the decisions re13 garding the allowance of mineral resource develop14 ment, and have been harmful to the national inter15 est; 

16 (3) the national interest is served by granting 

17 the Adjacent States more options related to whether 

18 or not mineral leasing should occur in the outer 

19 Continental Shelf within their Adjacent Zones; 

20 (4) it is not reasonably foreseeable that explo21 ration of a leased tract located more than 25 miles 

22 seaward of the coastline, development and produc23 tion of a natural gas discovery located more than 25 

24 miles seaward of the coastline, or development and 

25 production of an oil discovery located more than 50 
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1 miles seaward of the coastline will adversely affect 

2 resources near the coastline; 

3 (5) transportation of oil from a leased tract 

4 might reasonably be foreseen, under limited cir5 cumstances, to have the potential to adversely affect 

6 resources near the coastline if the oil is within 50 

7 miles of the coastline, but such potential to adversely 

8 affect such resources is likely no greater, and prob9 ably less, than the potential impacts from tanker 

10 transportation because tanker spills usually involve 

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

12 (6) among other bodies of inland waters, the 

13 Great Lakes, Long Island Sound, Delaware Bay, 

14 Chesapeake Bay, Albemarle Sound, San Francisco 

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

16 Continental Shelf, and are not subject to leasing by 

17 the Federal Government for the exploration, develop18 ment, and production of any mineral resources that 

19 might lie beneath them. 

20 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS UNDER THE OUTER CONTINENTAL 

21 SHELF LANDS ACT. 

22 Section 2 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

23 (43 U.S.C. 1331) is amended— 

24 (1) by amending paragraph (f) to read as fol25 lows: 
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1 ‘‘(f) The term ‘affected State’ means the Adjacent 

2 State.’’; 

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

4 of paragraphs (a) through (o) and inserting a pe5 riod; 

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

7 (p) and inserting a period; 

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

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

10 to any program, plan, lease sale, leased tract or other ac11 tivity, proposed, conducted, or approved pursuant to the 

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

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

14 United States for the portion of the outer Continental 

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

16 or activity appertains or is, or is proposed to be, con17 ducted. For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘State’ 

18 includes Puerto Rico and the other Territories of the 

19 United States. 

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

21 to any program, plan, lease sale, leased tract, or other ac22 tivity, proposed, conducted, or approved pursuant to the 

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

24 Shelf for which the laws of a particular Adjacent State 
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1 are declared, pursuant to section 4(a)(2), to be the law 

2 of the United States. 

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

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

5 the term ‘coast line’ as defined in section 2(c) of the Sub6 merged Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1301(c)). 

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

8 state having a common boundary at the coastline with the 

9 Adjacent State.’’; and 

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

12 States exclusive economic zone adjacent to the Terri13 tories of the United States’’. 

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

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

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

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

19 that follows through the end of the sentence and inserting 

20 the following: ‘‘The lines extending seaward and defining 

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

22 are as indicated on the maps for each outer Continental 

23 Shelf region entitled ‘Alaska OCS Region State Adjacent 

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

25 State Adjacent Zones and OCS Planning Areas’, ‘Gulf of 
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1 Mexico OCS Region State Adjacent Zones and OCS Plan2 ning Areas’, and ‘Atlantic OCS Region State Adjacent 

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

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

5 Minerals Management Service.’’. 

6 SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATION OF LEASING. 

7 Section 5 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

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

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(k) VOLUNTARY PARTIAL RELINQUISHMENT OF A

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

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

13 no interest in producing and that the Secretary finds is 

14 geologically prospective. In return for any such relinquish15 ment, the Secretary shall provide to the lessee a royalty 

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

17 in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Sec18 retary to carry out this subsection. The Secretary shall 

19 publish final regulations implementing this subsection 

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

21 Domestic Energy Production through Offshore Explo22 ration and Equitable Treatment of State Holdings Act of 

23 2006. 
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1 ‘‘(l) NATURAL GAS LEASE REGULATIONS.—Not later 

2 than July 1, 2007, the Secretary shall publish a final regu3 lation that shall— 

4 ‘‘(1) establish procedures for entering into nat5 ural gas leases; 

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

7 available for tracts on the outer Continental Shelf 

8 that are wholly within 125 miles of the coastline 

9 within an area withdrawn from disposition by leas10 ing on the day after the date of enactment of the 

11 Domestic Energy Production through Offshore Ex12 ploration and Equitable Treatment of State Hold13 ings Act of 2006; 

14 ‘‘(3) provide that natural gas leases shall con15 tain the same rights and obligations established for 

16 oil and gas leases, except as otherwise provided in 

17 the Domestic Energy Production through Offshore 

18 Exploration and Equitable Treatment of State Hold19 ings Act of 2006; 

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

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

22 oil estimated to be contained within any tract shall 

23 be excluded; 

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

25 a well and reinjected into the leased tract shall not 
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1 be subject to payment of royalty, and that the Sec2 retary shall consider, in setting the royalty rates for 

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

4 of not producing any crude oil; and 

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

6 to an oil and gas lease on the outer Continental 

7 Shelf shall apply to a natural gas lease unless other8 wise clearly inapplicable.’’. 

9 SEC. 6. GRANT OF LEASES BY SECRETARY. 

10 Section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

11 (43 U.S.C. 1337) is amended— 

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

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

14 may grant natural gas leases in a manner similar to 

15 the granting of oil and gas leases and under the var16 ious bidding systems available for oil and gas 

17 leases.’’; 

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

19 following: ‘‘The Secretary may issue more than one 

20 lease for a given tract if each lease applies to a sepa21 rate and distinct range of vertical depths, horizontal 

22 surface area, or a combination of the two. The Sec23 retary may issue regulations that the Secretary de24 termines are necessary to manage such leases con25 sistent with the purposes of this Act.’’; 
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1 (3) in subsection (p)(2)(B)— 

2 (A) by striking ‘‘27’’ and inserting ‘‘50’’; 

3 and 

4 (B) by striking ‘‘15’’ and inserting ‘‘200’’; 

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

6 ‘‘(q) NATURAL GAS LEASES.— 

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

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

9 produce the natural gas from a natural gas leased 

10 tract if the Secretary estimates that the discovered 

11 field has at least 40 percent of the economically re12 coverable Btu content of the field contained within 

13 natural gas and such natural gas is economical to 

14 produce. 

15 ‘‘(2) RIGHT TO PRODUCE CRUDE OIL.—A lessee 

16 of a natural gas lease may produce crude oil from 

17 the lease unless the Governor and the legislature of 

18 the Adjacent State object to such production within 

19 180 days after receipt of written notice from the les20 see of intent to produce crude oil from the lease. If 

21 the leased tract is located within 50 miles of the 

22 nearest point on the coastline of a Neighboring 

23 State, the Governor and legislature of the Neigh24 boring State shall also receive such notice and have 
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1 the right to object to such production within 180 

2 days after receipt of such notice. 

3 ‘‘(3) ESTIMATES OF BTU CONTENT.—The Sec4 retary shall make estimates of the natural gas Btu 

5 content of discovered fields on a natural gas lease 

6 only after the completion of at least one exploration 

7 well, the data from which has been tied to the re8 sults of a three-dimensional seismic survey of the 

9 field. The Secretary may not require the lessee to 

10 further delineate any discovered field prior to mak11 ing such estimates. 

12 ‘‘(4) TRANSPORTATION OF CRUDE OIL.—If an 

13 Adjacent State or any applicable Neighboring State 

14 does not object to production of crude oil from a 

15 natural gas lease, the lessee shall be permitted to 

16 transport the crude oil from the leased tract through 

17 Adjacent State waters, and Neighboring State wa18 ters if applicable, to facilities onshore in the Adja19 cent State, and Neighboring State if applicable, un20 less the lessee agreed to other arrangements with 

21 the Adjacent State or Neighboring State, or both. 

22 ‘‘(5) REPURCHASE OF CERTAIN NATURAL GAS

23 LEASES.—Upon request of the lessee and certifi24 cation by the Secretary of the Interior that a natural 

25 gas lease contains all or part of a commercial oil and 
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1 gas discovery that is not allowed to be produced be2 cause it does not meet the standard set in paragraph 

3 (1), the Secretary of the Treasury shall repurchase 

4 the lease by issuance of a check or electronic pay5 ment from OCS Receipts to the lessee in full com6 pensation for the repurchase. The Secretary shall re7 coup from the State and local governments any 

8 funds previously shared with them that were derived 

9 from the repurchased lease. Such recoupment shall 

10 only be from the State and local governments’ 

11 shares of OCS receipts that are payable after the 

12 date of repurchase. 

13 ‘‘(6) AMOUNT OF COMPENSATION.—Repurchase 

14 compensation for each lease repurchased under the 

15 authority of this section shall be in the amount of 

16 the lesser of the original bonus bid paid for the lease 

17 or, if the lessee is not the original lessee, the com18 pensation paid by the current lessee to obtain its in19 terest in the lease. In addition, the lessee shall be 

20 compensated for any expenses directly attributable 

21 to the lease that the lessee incurs after acquisition 

22 of its interest in the lease to be repurchased, includ23 ing rentals, seismic acquisition costs, drilling costs, 

24 and other reasonable expenses on the lease, includ25 ing expenses incurred in the repurchase process, to 
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1 the extent that the lessee has not previously been 

2 compensated by the United States for such expenses. 

3 The lessee shall not be compensated for general 

4 overhead expenses or employee salaries. 

5 ‘‘(7) PRIORITY RIGHT TO OBTAIN FUTURE OIL

6 AND GAS LEASE.—The lessee, or a designee of the 

7 lessee, of a repurchased natural gas leased tract 

8 shall have the right to repurchase such tract as an 

9 oil and gas lease, on a noncompetitive basis, by re10 paying the amount received by the lessee if the tract 

11 is made available for lease under an oil and gas 

12 lease within 30 years after the repurchase. 

13 ‘‘(8) DEFINITION OF NATURAL GAS.—For pur14 poses of a natural gas lease, natural gas means nat15 ural gas and all substances produced in association 

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

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

18 the condensation of hydrocarbon vapors and sepa19 rate out in liquid form from the produced gas 

20 stream. 

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

22 IN CERTAIN AREAS OF THE OUTER CONTINENTAL

23 SHELF.—Restrictions on joint bidders shall no longer 

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

25 restrictions shall not apply to tracts in other OCS regions 
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1 determined to be ‘frontier tracts’ or otherwise ‘high cost 

2 tracts’ under final regulations that shall be published by 

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

4 of the enactment of the Domestic Energy Production 

5 through Offshore Exploration and Equitable Treatment of 

6 State Holdings Act of 2006.’’; 

7 (5) by striking subsection (a)(3)(A) and redes8 ignating the subsequent subparagraphs as subpara9 graphs (A) and (B), respectively; 

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

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

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

13 and inserting ‘‘The Secretary’’; and 

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

15 (g)— 

16 (A) by striking all after ‘‘(g)’’, except para17 graph (3); 

18 (B) by striking the last sentence of para19 graph (3); and 

20 (C) by striking ‘‘(3)’’. 

21 SEC. 7. DISPOSITION OF RECEIPTS. 

22 Section 9 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

23 (43 U.S.C. 1338) is amended— 

24 (1) by designating the existing text as sub25 section (a); 
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1 (2) in subsection (a) (as so designated) by in2 serting ‘‘, if not paid as otherwise provided in this 

3 title’’ after ‘‘receipts’’; and 

4 (3) by adding the following: 

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

6 COMPLETELY WITHIN 100 MILES OF THE COASTLINE.— 

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

8 into a separate account in the Treasury the portion 

9 of OCS Receipts for each fiscal year that will be 

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

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

12 ‘‘(A) Beginning October 1, 2005, the Sec13 retary shall share OCS Receipts derived from 

14 the following areas: 

15 ‘‘(i) Lease tracts located on portions 

16 of the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region com17 pletely beyond 4 marine leagues from any 

18 coastline and completely within 100 miles 

19 of any coastline that are available for leas20 ing under the 2002–2007 5-Year Oil and 

21 Gas Leasing Program in effect prior to the 

22 date of the enactment of the Domestic En23 ergy Production through Offshore Explo24 ration and Equitable Treatment of State 

25 Holdings Act of 2006. 
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1 ‘‘(ii) Lease tracts in production prior 

2 to October 1, 2005, completely beyond 4 

3 marine leagues from any coastline and 

4 completely within 100 miles of any coast5 line located on portions of the OCS that 

6 were not available for leasing under the 

7 2002–2007 5-Year OCS Oil and Gas Leas8 ing Program in effect prior to the date of 

9 the enactment of the Domestic Energy 

10 Production through Offshore Exploration 

11 and Equitable Treatment of State Hold12 ings Act of 2006. 

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

14 issued prior to October 1, 2005, located in 

15 the Alaska OCS Region completely beyond 

16 4 marine leagues from any coastline and 

17 completely within 100 miles of the coast18 line. 

19 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall share the fol20 lowing percentages of OCS Receipts from the 

21 leases described in subparagraph (A) derived 

22 during the fiscal year indicated: 

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

24 ‘‘(ii) For fiscal year 2007, 7.0 per25 cent. 
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1 ‘‘(iii) For fiscal year 2008, 8.0 per2 cent. 

3 ‘‘(iv) For fiscal year 2009, 9.0 per4 cent. 

5 ‘‘(v) For fiscal year 2010, 12.0 per6 cent. 

7 ‘‘(vi) For fiscal year 2011, 15.0 per8 cent. 

9 ‘‘(vii) For fiscal year 2012, 18.0 per10 cent. 

11 ‘‘(viii) For fiscal year 2013, 21.0 per12 cent. 

13 ‘‘(ix) For fiscal year 2014, 24.0 per14 cent. 

15 ‘‘(x) For fiscal year 2015, 27.0 per16 cent. 

17 ‘‘(xi) For fiscal year 2016, 30.0 per18 cent. 

19 ‘‘(xii) For fiscal year 2017, 33.0 per20 cent. 

21 ‘‘(xiii) For fiscal year 2018, 36.0 per22 cent. 

23 ‘‘(xiv) For fiscal year 2019, 39.0 per24 cent. 
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1 ‘‘(xv) For fiscal year 2020, 42.0 per2 cent. 

3 ‘‘(xvi) For fiscal year 2021, 45.0 per4 cent. 

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

6 subsequent fiscal year, 50.0 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 Domestic Energy Production 

11 through Offshore Exploration and Equitable 

12 Treatment of State Holdings Act of 2006. 

13 ‘‘(3) IMMEDIATE RECEIPTS SHARING.—Begin14 ning October 1, 2005, the Secretary shall share 50 

15 percent of OCS Receipts derived from all leases lo16 cated completely beyond 4 marine leagues from any 

17 coastline and completely within 100 miles of any 

18 coastline not included within the provisions of para19 graph (2). 

20 ‘‘(4) RECEIPTS SHARING FROM TRACTS WITHIN

21 4 MARINE LEAGUES OF ANY COASTLINE.—Beginning 

22 October 1, 2005, the Secretary shall share 75 per23 cent of OCS Receipts derived from all leases located 

24 completely or partially within 4 marine leagues from 

25 any coastline. 
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1 ‘‘(5) ALLOCATIONS.—The Secretary shall allo2 cate the OCS Receipts deposited into the separate 

3 account established by paragraph (1) that are 

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

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

6 bonus bids from a leased tract, including inter7 est thereon, shall be allocated at the end of 

8 each fiscal year as follows: 

9 ‘‘(i) 87.5 percent to the Adjacent 

10 State. 

11 ‘‘(ii) 6.25 percent into the Treasury, 

12 which shall be allocated to the account es13 tablished by section 14 of the Domestic 

14 Energy Production through Offshore Ex15 ploration and Equitable Treatment of 

16 State Holdings Act of 2006. 

17 ‘‘(iii) 5 percent into the account es18 tablished by section 23 of the Domestic 

19 Energy Production through Offshore Ex20 ploration and Equitable Treatment of 

21 State Holdings Act of 2006. 

22 ‘‘(iv) 1.25 percent into the account es23 tablished by section 26 of the Domestic 

24 Energy Production through Offshore Ex-
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1 ploration and Equitable Treatment of 

2 State Holdings Act of 2006. 

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

4 royalties from a leased tract, including interest 

5 thereon, shall be allocated at the end of each 

6 fiscal year as follows: 

7 ‘‘(i) 87.5 percent to the Adjacent 

8 State and any other producing State or 

9 States with a leased tract within its Adja10 cent Zone within 100 miles of its coastline 

11 that generated royalties during the fiscal 

12 year, if the other producing or States have 

13 a coastline point within 300 miles of any 

14 portion of the leased tract, in which case 

15 the amount allocated for the leased tract 

16 shall be— 

17 ‘‘(I) one-third to the Adjacent 

18 State; and 

19 ‘‘(II) two-thirds to each pro20 ducing State, including the Adjacent 

21 State, inversely proportional to the 

22 distance between the nearest point on 

23 the coastline of the producing State 

24 and the geographic center of the 

25 leased tract. 
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1 ‘‘(ii) 6.25 percent into the Treasury, 

2 which shall be allocated to the account es3 tablished by section 14 of the Domestic 

4 Energy Production through Offshore Ex5 ploration and Equitable Treatment of 

6 State Holdings Act of 2006. 

7 ‘‘(iii) 5 percent into the account es8 tablished by section 23 of the Domestic 

9 Energy Production through Offshore Ex10 ploration and Equitable Treatment of 

11 State Holdings Act of 2006. 

12 ‘‘(iv) 1.25 percent into the account es13 tablished by section 26 of the Domestic 

14 Energy Production through Offshore Ex15 ploration and Equitable Treatment of 

16 State Holdings Act of 2006. 

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

18 PARTIALLY OR COMPLETELY BEYOND 100 MILES OF THE

19 COASTLINE.— 

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

21 into a separate account in the Treasury the portion 

22 of OCS Receipts for each fiscal year that will be 

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

24 ‘‘(2) PHASED-IN RECEIPTS SHARING.— 
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1 ‘‘(A) Beginning October 1, 2005, the Sec2 retary shall share OCS Receipts derived from 

3 the following areas: 

4 ‘‘(i) Lease tracts located on portions 

5 of the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region partially 

6 or completely beyond 100 miles of any 

7 coastline that are available for leasing 

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

9 Leasing Program in effect prior to the 

10 date of enactment of the Domestic Energy 

11 Production through Offshore Exploration 

12 and Equitable Treatment of State Hold13 ings Act of 2006. 

14 ‘‘(ii) Lease tracts in production prior 

15 to October 1, 2005, partially or completely 

16 beyond 100 miles of any coastline located 

17 on portions of the OCS that were not 

18 available for leasing under the 2002–2007 

19 5-Year OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program 

20 in effect prior to the date of enactment of 

21 the Domestic Energy Production through 

22 Offshore Exploration and Equitable Treat23 ment of State Holdings Act of 2006. 

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

25 issued prior to October 1, 2005, located in 
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1 the Alaska OCS Region partially or com2 pletely beyond 100 miles of the coastline. 

3 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall share the fol4 lowing percentages of OCS Receipts from the 

5 leases described in subparagraph (A) derived 

6 during the fiscal year indicated: 

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

8 ‘‘(ii) For fiscal year 2007, 7.0 per9 cent. 

10 ‘‘(iii) For fiscal year 2008, 8.0 per11 cent. 

12 ‘‘(iv) For fiscal year 2009, 9.0 per13 cent. 

14 ‘‘(v) For fiscal year 2010, 12.0 per15 cent. 

16 ‘‘(vi) For fiscal year 2011, 15.0 per17 cent. 

18 ‘‘(vii) For fiscal year 2012, 18.0 per19 cent. 

20 ‘‘(viii) For fiscal year 2013, 21.0 per21 cent. 

22 ‘‘(ix) For fiscal year 2014, 24.0 per23 cent. 

24 ‘‘(x) For fiscal year 2015, 27.0 per25 cent. 
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1 ‘‘(xi) For fiscal year 2016, 30.0 per2 cent. 

3 ‘‘(xii) For fiscal year 2017, 33.0 per4 cent. 

5 ‘‘(xiii) For fiscal year 2018, 36.0 per6 cent. 

7 ‘‘(xiv) For fiscal year 2019, 39.0 per8 cent. 

9 ‘‘(xv) For fiscal year 2020, 42.0 per10 cent. 

11 ‘‘(xvi) For fiscal year 2021, 45.0 per12 cent. 

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

14 subsequent fiscal year, 50.0 percent. 

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

16 not apply to leases that could not have been 

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

18 6(2) of the Domestic Energy Production 

19 through Offshore Exploration and Equitable 

20 Treatment of State Holdings Act of 2006. 

21 ‘‘(3) IMMEDIATE RECEIPTS SHARING.—Begin22 ning October 1, 2005, the Secretary shall share 50 

23 percent of OCS Receipts derived on and after Octo24 ber 1, 2005, from all leases located partially or com-
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1 pletely beyond 100 miles of any coastline not in2 cluded within the provisions of paragraph (2). 

3 ‘‘(4) ALLOCATIONS.—The Secretary shall allo4 cate the OCS Receipts deposited into the separate 

5 account established by paragraph (1) that are 

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

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

8 bonus bids from a leased tract, including inter9 est thereon, shall be allocated at the end of 

10 each fiscal year as follows: 

11 ‘‘(i) 87.5 percent to the Adjacent 

12 State. 

13 ‘‘(ii) 6.25 percent into the Treasury, 

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

16 Energy Production through Offshore Ex17 ploration and Equitable Treatment of 

18 State Holdings Act of 2006. 

19 ‘‘(iii) 5 percent into the account es20 tablished by section 23 of the Domestic 

21 Energy Production through Offshore Ex22 ploration and Equitable Treatment of 

23 State Holdings Act of 2006. 

24 ‘‘(iv) 1.25 percent into the account es25 tablished by section 26 of the Domestic 
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1 Energy Production through Offshore Ex2 ploration and Equitable Treatment of 

3 State Holdings Act of 2006. 

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

5 royalties from a leased tract, including interest 

6 thereon, shall be allocated at the end of each 

7 fiscal year as follows: 

8 ‘‘(i) 87.5 percent to the Adjacent 

9 State and any other producing State or 

10 States with a leased tract within its Adja11 cent Zone partially or completely beyond 

12 100 miles of its coastline that generated 

13 royalties during the fiscal year, if the other 

14 producing State or States have a coastline 

15 point within 300 miles of any portion of 

16 the leased tract, in which case the amount 

17 allocated for the leased tract shall be— 

18 ‘‘(I) one-third to the Adjacent 

19 State; and 

20 ‘‘(II) two-thirds to each pro21 ducing State, including the Adjacent 

22 State, inversely proportional to the 

23 distance between the nearest point on 

24 the coastline of the producing State 
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1 and the geographic center of the 

2 leased tract. 

3 ‘‘(ii) 6.25 percent into the account es4 tablished by section 14 of the Domestic 

5 Energy Production through Offshore Ex6 ploration and Equitable Treatment of 

7 State Holdings Act of 2006. 

8 ‘‘(iii) 5 percent into the account es9 tablished by section 23 of the Domestic 

10 Energy Production through Offshore Ex11 ploration and Equitable Treatment of 

12 State Holdings Act of 2006. 

13 ‘‘(iv) 1.25 percent into the account es14 tablished by section 26 of the Domestic 

15 Energy Production through Offshore Ex16 ploration and Equitable Treatment of 

17 State Holdings Act of 2006. 

18 ‘‘(d) TRANSMISSION OF ALLOCATIONS.— 

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

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

21 transmit— 

22 ‘‘(A) to each State two-thirds of such 

23 State’s allocations under subsections 

24 (b)(5)(A)(i), (b)(5)(B)(i), (c)(4)(A)(i), and 

25 (c)(4)(B)(i) for the immediate prior fiscal year; 
27 

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1 ‘‘(B) to coastal county-equivalent and mu2 nicipal political subdivisions of such State a 

3 total of one-third of such State’s allocations 

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

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

6 accrued interest thereon; and 

7 ‘‘(C) the remaining allocations under sub8 sections (b)(5) and (c)(4), together with all ac9 crued interest thereon. 

10 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATIONS TO COASTAL COUNTY11 EQUIVALENT POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS.—The Sec12 retary shall make an initial allocation of the OCS 

13 Receipts to be shared under paragraph (1)(B) as fol14 lows: 

15 ‘‘(A) 25 percent shall be allocated based on 

16 the ratio of such coastal county-equivalent polit17 ical subdivision’s population to the coastal pop18 ulation of all coastal county-equivalent political 

19 subdivisions in the State. 

20 ‘‘(B) 25 percent shall be allocated based on 

21 the ratio of such coastal county-equivalent polit22 ical subdivision’s coastline miles to the coastline 

23 miles of all coastal county-equivalent political 

24 subdivisions in the State as calculated by the 

25 Secretary. In such calculations, coastal county- 
28 

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1 equivalent political subdivisions without a coast2 line shall be considered to have 50 percent of 

3 the average coastline miles of the coastal coun4 ty-equivalent political subdivisions that do have 

5 coastlines. 

6 ‘‘(C) 25 percent shall be allocated to all 

7 coastal county-equivalent political subdivisions 

8 having a coastline point within 300 miles of the 

9 leased tract for which OCS Receipts are being 

10 shared based on a formula that allocates the 

11 funds based on such coastal county-equivalent 

12 political subdivision’s relative distance from the 

13 leased tract. 

14 ‘‘(D) 25 percent shall be allocated to all 

15 coastal county-equivalent political subdivisions 

16 having a coastline point within 300 miles of the 

17 leased tract for which OCS Receipts are being 

18 shared based on the relative level of outer Con19 tinental Shelf oil and gas activities in a coastal 

20 political subdivision compared to the level of 

21 outer Continental Shelf activities in all coastal 

22 political subdivisions in the State. The Sec23 retary shall define the term ‘outer Continental 

24 Shelf oil and gas activities’ for purposes of this 

25 subparagraph to include, but not be limited to, 
29 

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1 construction of vessels, drillships, and platforms 

2 involved in exploration, production, and develop3 ment on the outer Continental Shelf; support 

4 and supply bases, ports, and related activities; 

5 offices of geologists, geophysicists, engineers, 

6 and other professionals involved in support of 

7 exploration, production, and development of oil 

8 and gas on the outer Continental Shelf; pipe9 lines and other means of transporting oil and 

10 gas production from the outer Continental 

11 Shelf; and processing and refining of oil and 

12 gas production from the outer Continental 

13 Shelf. For purposes of this subparagraph, if a 

14 coastal county-equivalent political subdivision 

15 does not have a coastline, its coastal point shall 

16 be the point on the coastline closest to it. 

17 ‘‘(3) ALLOCATIONS TO COASTAL MUNICIPAL PO18 LITICAL SUBDIVISIONS.—The initial allocation to 

19 each coastal county-equivalent political subdivision 

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

21 coastal county-equivalent political subdivision and 

22 any coastal municipal political subdivisions located 

23 partially or wholly within the boundaries of the 

24 coastal county-equivalent political subdivision as fol25 lows: 
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•HR 4761 IH 

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

2 coastal county-equivalent political subdivision. 

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

4 capita basis to the municipal political subdivi5 sions and the county-equivalent political sub6 division, with the allocation to the latter based 

7 upon its population not included within the 

8 boundaries of a municipal political subdivision. 

9 ‘‘(e) INVESTMENT OF DEPOSITS.—Amounts depos10 ited under this section shall be invested by the Secretary 

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

12 credit of the United States having maturities suitable to 

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

14 yielding the highest reasonably available interest rates as 

15 determined by the Secretary of the Treasury. 

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

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

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

19 institutions of higher learning and otherwise support 

20 public education, including career technical edu21 cation. 

22 ‘‘(2) To make transportation infrastructure im23 provements. 

24 ‘‘(3) To reduce taxes. 

25 ‘‘(4) To promote and provide for— 
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1 ‘‘(A) coastal or environmental restoration; 

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

3 enhancement; 

4 ‘‘(C) waterways maintenance; 

5 ‘‘(D) shore protection; and 

6 ‘‘(E) marine and oceanographic education 

7 and research. 

8 ‘‘(5) To improve infrastructure associated with 

9 energy production activities conducted on the outer 

10 Continental Shelf. 

11 ‘‘(6) To fund energy demonstration projects 

12 and supporting infrastructure for energy projects. 

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

14 State law. 

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

16 funds under this section shall be required to account to 

17 the Federal Government for the expenditure of such 

18 funds, except as otherwise may be required by law. How19 ever, States may enact legislation providing for accounting 

20 for and auditing of such expenditures. Further, funds allo21 cated under this section to States and political subdivi22 sions may be used as matching funds for other Federal 

23 programs. 

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

25 future Federal statute that has the effect, as determined 
32 

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1 by the Secretary, of restricting any Federal agency from 

2 spending appropriated funds, or otherwise preventing it 

3 from fulfilling its pre-existing responsibilities as of the 

4 date of enactment of the statute, unless such responsibil5 ities have been reassigned to another Federal agency by 

6 the statute with no prevention of performance, to issue 

7 any permit or other approval impacting on the OCS oil 

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

9 or to implement any provision of this Act shall automati10 cally prohibit any sharing of OCS Receipts under this sec11 tion directly with the States, and their coastal political 

12 subdivisions, for the duration of the restriction. The Sec13 retary shall make the determination of the existence of 

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

15 outer Continental Shelf lessee or producing State. 

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

17 ‘‘(1) COASTAL COUNTY-EQUIVALENT POLITICAL

18 SUBDIVISION.—The term ‘coastal county-equivalent 

19 political subdivision’ means a political jurisdiction 

20 immediately below the level of State government, in21 cluding a county, parish, borough in Alaska, inde22 pendent municipality not part of a county, parish, or 

23 borough in Alaska, or other equivalent subdivision of 

24 a coastal State, that lies within the coastal zone. 
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1 ‘‘(2) COASTAL MUNICIPAL POLITICAL SUBDIVI2 SION.—The term ‘coastal municipal political subdivi3 sion’ means a municipality located within and part 

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

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

6 coastal municipal political subdivision lies within the 

7 coastal zone. 

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

9 population’ means the population of all coastal coun10 ty-equivalent political subdivisions, as determined by 

11 the most recent official data of the Census Bureau. 

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

13 means that portion of a coastal State, including the 

14 entire territory of any coastal county-equivalent po15 litical subdivision at least a part of which lies, within 

16 75 miles landward from the coastline, or a greater 

17 distance as determined by State law enacted to im18 plement this section. 

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

20 means all funds received by the Secretary to issue 

21 an outer Continental Shelf minerals lease. 

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

23 all funds received by the Secretary from production 

24 of oil or natural gas, or the sale of production taken 
34 

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1 in-kind, from an outer Continental Shelf minerals 

2 lease. 

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

4 State’ means an Adjacent State having an Adjacent 

5 Zone containing leased tracts from which OCS Re6 ceipts were derived. 

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

8 means bonus bids and royalties.’’. 

9 SEC. 8. REVIEW OF OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF EXPLO10 RATION PLANS. 

11 Subsections (c) and (d) of section 11 of the Outer 

12 Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1340) are amend13 ed to read as follows: 

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

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

16 prior to commencing exploration pursuant to any oil 

17 and gas lease issued or maintained under this Act, 

18 the holder thereof shall submit an exploration plan 

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

20 the Secretary for review which shall include all infor21 mation and documentation required under para22 graphs (2) and (3). The Secretary shall review the 

23 plan for completeness within 10 days of submission. 

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

25 the Secretary shall notify the lessee with a detailed 
35 

•HR 4761 IH 

1 explanation and require such modifications of such 

2 plan as are necessary to achieve completeness. The 

3 Secretary shall have 10 days to review a modified 

4 plan for completeness. Such plan may apply to more 

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

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

7 acting under a unitization, pooling, or drilling agree8 ment, and the lessee shall certify that such plan is 

9 consistent with the terms of the lease and is con10 sistent with all statutory and regulatory require11 ments in effect on the date of issuance of the lease. 

12 The Secretary shall have 30 days from the date the 

13 plan is deemed complete to conduct a review of the 

14 plan. If the Secretary finds the plan is not con15 sistent with the lease and all such statutory and reg16 ulatory requirements, the Secretary shall notify the 

17 lessee with a detailed explanation of such modifica18 tions of such plan as are necessary to achieve com19 pliance. The Secretary shall have 30 days to review 

20 any modified plan submitted by the lessee. The les21 see shall not take any action under the exploration 

22 plan within the 30-day review period, or thereafter 

23 until the plan has been modified to achieve compli24 ance as so notified. 
36 

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

2 subsection shall include, in the degree of detail 

3 which the Secretary may by regulation require— 

4 ‘‘(A) a schedule of anticipated exploration 

5 activities to be undertaken; 

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

7 for such activities; 

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

9 drilled; and 

10 ‘‘(D) such other information deemed perti11 nent by the Secretary. 

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

13 that such plan be accompanied by a general state14 ment of development and production intentions 

15 which shall be for planning purposes only and which 

16 shall not be binding on any party. 

17 ‘‘(d) PLAN REVISIONS; CONDUCT OF EXPLORATION

18 ACTIVITIES.— 

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

20 plan under this subsection is submitted to the Sec21 retary, the process to be used for the review of such 

22 revision shall be the same as set forth in subsection 

23 (c) of this section. 

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

25 lease shall be conducted in accordance with an explo-
37 

•HR 4761 IH 

1 ration plan or a revised plan which has been sub2 mitted to and reviewed by the Secretary.’’. 

3 SEC. 9. RESERVATION OF LANDS AND RIGHTS. 

4 Section 12 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

5 (43 U.S.C. 1341) is amended— 

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

7 following: ‘‘The President may partially or com8 pletely revise or revoke any prior withdrawal made 

9 by the President under the authority of this section. 

10 The President may not revise or revoke a withdrawal 

11 that was initiated by a petition from a State and ap12 proved by the Secretary of the Interior under sub13 section (h). A withdrawal by the President may be 

14 for a term not to exceed 10 years. In considering a 

15 potential withdrawal under this subsection, to the 

16 maximum extent practicable the President shall ac17 commodate competing interests and potential uses of 

18 the outer Continental Shelf.’’; 

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

20 ‘‘(g) OPTION TO PETITION FOR LEASING WITHIN

21 CERTAIN AREAS OF THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF.— 

22 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION AGAINST LEASING.—Except 

23 as otherwise provided in this subsection, prior to 

24 June 30, 2012, the Secretary shall not offer for leas25 ing for oil and gas, or for natural gas, any area 
38 

•HR 4761 IH 

1 withdrawn from disposition by leasing in the Atlan2 tic OCS Region or the Pacific OCS Region, or the 

3 Gulf of Mexico OCS Region Eastern Planning Area, 

4 as depicted on the map referred to within this para5 graph, under the ‘Memorandum on Withdrawal of 

6 Certain Areas of the United States Outer Conti7 nental Shelf from Leasing Disposition’, 34 Weekly 

8 Comp. Pres. Doc. 1111, dated June 12, 1998, or 

9 any area not withdrawn under that Memorandum 

10 that is included within the Gulf of Mexico OCS Re11 gion Eastern Planning Area as indicated on the map 

12 entitled ‘Gulf of Mexico OCS Region State Adjacent 

13 Zones and OCS Planning Areas’ or within the Flor14 ida Straits Planning Area as indicated on the map 

15 entitled ‘Atlantic OCS Region State Adjacent Zones 

16 and OCS Planning Areas’, both of which are dated 

17 September 2005 and on file in the Office of the Di18 rector, Minerals Management Service. 

19 ‘‘(2) REVOCATION OF WITHDRAWAL.—The pro20 visions of the ‘Memorandum on Withdrawal of Cer21 tain Areas of the United States Outer Continental 

22 Shelf from Leasing Disposition’, 34 Weekly Comp. 

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

24 revoked and are no longer in effect regarding any 

25 areas included within the Gulf of Mexico OCS Re-
39 

•HR 4761 IH 

1 gion Central Planning Area as indicated on the map 

2 entitled ‘Gulf of Mexico OCS Region State Adjacent 

3 Zones and OCS Planning Areas’ dated September 

4 2005 and on file in the Office of the Director, Min5 erals Management Service. The 2002–2007 5-Year 

6 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Pro7 gram is hereby amended to include the areas added 

8 to the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region Central Planning 

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

10 included within the original boundaries of proposed 

11 Lease Sale 181. The amendment to such leasing 

12 program includes two sales in such additional areas, 

13 one of which shall be held in January 2007 and one 

14 of which shall be held in June 2007. The Final En15 vironmental Impact Statement prepared for this 

16 area for Lease Sale 181 shall be deemed sufficient 

17 for all purposes for each lease sale in which such 

18 area is offered for lease during the 2002–2007 5- 

19 Year Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing 

20 Program without need for supplementation. Any 

21 tract only partially added to the Gulf of Mexico OCS 

22 Region Central Planning Area by this Act shall be 

23 eligible for leasing of the part of such tract that is 

24 included within the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region Cen25 tral Planning Area, and the remainder of such tract 
40 

•HR 4761 IH 

1 that lies outside of the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region 

2 Central Planning Area may be developed and pro3 duced by the lessee of such partial tract using ex4 tended reach or similar drilling from a location on 

5 a leased area. 

6 ‘‘(3) PETITION FOR LEASING.— 

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

8 State, upon concurrence of its legislature, may 

9 submit to the Secretary a petition requesting 

10 that the Secretary make available any area that 

11 is within the State’s Adjacent Zone, included 

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

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

14 the coastline of a Neighboring State for the 

15 conduct of offshore leasing, pre-leasing, and re16 lated activities with respect to natural gas leas17 ing; or (ii) is greater than 50 miles from any 

18 point on the coastline of a Neighboring State 

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

20 and related activities with respect to oil and gas 

21 leasing. The Adjacent State may also petition 

22 for leasing any other area within its Adjacent 

23 Zone if leasing is allowed in the similar area of 

24 the Adjacent Zone of the applicable Neigh25 boring State, or if not allowed, if the Neigh-
41 

•HR 4761 IH 

1 boring State, acting through its Governor, ex2 presses its concurrence with the petition. The 

3 Secretary shall only consider such a petition 

4 upon making a finding that leasing is allowed 

5 in the similar area of the Adjacent Zone of the 

6 applicable Neighboring State or upon receipt of 

7 the concurrence of the Neighboring State. The 

8 date of receipt by the Secretary of such concur9 rence by the Neighboring State shall constitute 

10 the date of receipt of the petition for that area 

11 for which the concurrence applies. A petition 

12 for leasing any part of the Alabama Adjacent 

13 Zone that is a part of the Gulf of Mexico East14 ern Planning Area, as indicated on the map en15 titled ‘Gulf of Mexico OCS Region State Adja16 cent Zones and OCS Planning Areas’ which is 

17 dated September 2005 and on file in the Office 

18 of the Director, Minerals Management Service, 

19 shall require the concurrence of both Alabama 

20 and Florida. 

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

22 petition, a State with an Adjacent Zone that 

23 contains leased tracts may condition oil and 

24 gas, or natural gas, new leasing for tracts with25 in 25 miles of the coastline by— 
42 

•HR 4761 IH 

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

2 number of production platforms; 

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

4 average distance of production platforms 

5 from the coastline; 

6 ‘‘(iii) limiting permanent surface occu7 pancy on new leases to areas that are more 

8 than 10 miles from the coastline; 

9 ‘‘(iv) limiting some tracts to being 

10 produced from shore or from platforms lo11 cated on other tracts; or 

12 ‘‘(v) other conditions that the Adja13 cent State may deem appropriate as long 

14 as the Secretary does not determine that 

15 production is made economically or tech16 nically impracticable or otherwise impos17 sible. 

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

19 than 90 days after receipt of a petition under 

20 subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall approve 

21 the petition, unless the Secretary determines 

22 that leasing the area would probably cause seri23 ous harm or damage to the marine resources of 

24 the State’s Adjacent Zone. Prior to approving 

25 the petition, the Secretary shall complete an en-
43 

•HR 4761 IH 

1 vironmental assessment that documents the an2 ticipated environmental effects of leasing in the 

3 area included within the scope of the petition. 

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

5 fails to approve or deny a petition in accordance 

6 with subparagraph (C) the petition shall be con7 sidered to be approved 90 days after receipt of 

8 the petition. 

9 ‘‘(E) AMENDMENT OF THE 5-YEAR LEAS10 ING PROGRAM.—Notwithstanding section 18, 

11 within 180 days of the approval of a petition 

12 under subparagraph (C) or (D), the Secretary 

13 shall amend the current 5-Year Outer Conti14 nental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program to 

15 include a lease sale or sales for the entire area 

16 covered by the approved petition, unless there 

17 are, from the date of approval, fewer than 12 

18 months remaining in the current 5-Year Leas19 ing Program in which case the Secretary shall 

20 include the areas covered by the approved peti21 tion within lease sales under the next 5-Year 

22 Leasing Program. For purposes of amending 

23 the 5-Year Program in accordance with this 

24 section, further consultations with States shall 

25 not be required. The environmental assessment 
44 

•HR 4761 IH 

1 performed under the provisions of the National 

2 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to assess the 

3 effects of approving the petition shall be suffi4 cient to amend the 5-Year Leasing Program. 

5 ‘‘(h) OPTION TO PETITION FOR EXTENSION OF

6 WITHDRAWAL FROM LEASING WITHIN CERTAIN AREAS

7 OF THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF.— 

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

9 upon the concurrence of its legislature, may submit 

10 to the Secretary petitions requesting that the Sec11 retary extend for a period of time of up to 5 years 

12 for each petition the withdrawal from leasing for all 

13 or part of any area within the State’s Adjacent Zone 

14 within 125 miles of the coastline that is subject to 

15 subsection (g)(1). A State may petition multiple 

16 times for any particular area but not more than 

17 once per calendar year for any particular area. A 

18 State must submit separate petitions, with separate 

19 votes by its legislature, for areas within 50 miles of 

20 the coastline, areas more than 50 miles but not ex21 ceeding 100 miles from the coastline, and areas ex22 ceeding 100 miles but not exceeding 125 miles from 

23 the coastline. A petition of a State may apply to ei24 ther oil and gas leasing or natural gas leasing, or 

25 both, and may request some areas to be withdrawn 
45 

•HR 4761 IH 

1 from all leasing and some areas to be withdrawn 

2 only from one type of leasing. A petition for extend3 ing the withdrawal from leasing of any part of the 

4 Alabama Adjacent Zone that is a part of the Gulf 

5 of Mexico OCS Region Eastern Planning Area, as 

6 indicated on the map entitled ‘Gulf of Mexico OCS 

7 Region State Adjacent Zones and OCS Planning 

8 Areas’ which is dated September 2005 and on file in 

9 the Office of the Director, Minerals Management 

10 Service, may be made by either Alabama or Florida. 

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

12 shall perform an environmental assessment under 

13 the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to 

14 assess the effects of approving the petition under 

15 paragraph (1). Not later than 90 days after receipt 

16 of the petition, the Secretary shall approve the peti17 tion, unless the Secretary determines that extending 

18 the withdrawal from leasing would probably cause 

19 serious harm or damage to the marine resources of 

20 the State’s Adjacent Zone. The Secretary shall not 

21 approve a petition from a State that extends the re22 maining period of a withdrawal of an area from leas23 ing for a total of more than 10 years. However, the 

24 Secretary may approve petitions to extend the with25 drawal from leasing of any area ad infinitum, sub-
46 

•HR 4761 IH 

1 ject only to the limitations contained in this sub2 section. 

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

4 to approve or deny a petition in accordance with 

5 paragraph (2) the petition shall be considered to be 

6 approved 90 days after receipt of the petition. 

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

8 Adjacent State of any constitutional provision, or enact9 ment of any State statute, that has the effect, as deter10 mined by the Secretary, of restricting either the Governor 

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

12 related to subsection (g) or (h), or both, shall automati13 cally (1) prohibit any sharing of OCS Receipts under this 

14 Act with the Adjacent State, and its coastal political sub15 divisions, and (2) prohibit the Adjacent State from exer16 cising any authority under subsection (h), for the duration 

17 of the restriction. The Secretary shall make the determina18 tion of the existence of such restricting constitutional pro19 vision or State statute within 30 days of a petition by any 

20 outer Continental Shelf lessee or coastal State.’’. 

21 SEC. 10. OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF LEASING PROGRAM. 

22 Section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

23 (43 U.S.C. 1344) is amended— 

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

25 paragraph (3) the following: ‘‘The Secretary shall, in 
47 

•HR 4761 IH 

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

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

3 or natural gas leasing at least 75 percent of the 

4 available unleased acreage within each OCS Plan5 ning Area. Available unleased acreage is that portion 

6 of the outer Continental Shelf that is not under 

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

8 not otherwise been made unavailable for leasing by 

9 law.’’; 

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

11 precedes paragraph (3) and inserting the following: 

12 ‘‘(c)(1) During the preparation of any proposed leas13 ing program under this section, the Secretary shall con14 sider and analyze leasing throughout the entire Outer 

15 Continental Shelf without regard to any other law affect16 ing such leasing. During this preparation the Secretary 

17 shall invite and consider suggestions from any interested 

18 Federal agency, including the Attorney General, in con19 sultation with the Federal Trade Commission, and from 

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

21 invite or consider any suggestions from the executive of 

22 any local government in a coastal State that have been 

23 previously submitted to the Governor of such State, and 

24 from any other person. Further, the Secretary shall con25 sult with the Secretary of Defense regarding military oper-
48 

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1 ational needs in the outer Continental Shelf. The Sec2 retary shall work with the Secretary of Defense to resolve 

3 any conflicts that might arise regarding offering any area 

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

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

6 such conflicts, any unresolved issues shall be elevated to 

7 the President for resolution. 

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

9 paragraph (1), including the consideration of the sugges10 tions received from any interested Federal agency, the 

11 Federal Trade Commission, the Governor of any coastal 

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

13 other person, the Secretary shall publish in the Federal 

14 Register a proposed leasing program accompanied by a 

15 draft environmental impact statement prepared pursuant 

16 to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. After 

17 the publishing of the proposed leasing program and during 

18 the comment period provided for on the draft environ19 mental impact statement, the Secretary shall submit a 

20 copy of the proposed program to the Governor of each af21 fected State for review and comment. The Governor may 

22 solicit comments from those executives of local govern23 ments in the Governor’s State that the Governor, in the 

24 discretion of the Governor, determines will be affected by 

25 the proposed program. If any comment by such Governor 
49 

•HR 4761 IH 

1 is received by the Secretary at least 15 days prior to sub2 mission to the Congress pursuant to paragraph (3) and 

3 includes a request for any modification of such proposed 

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

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

6 request in such modified form as the Secretary considers 

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

8 All such correspondence between the Secretary and the 

9 Governor of any affected State, together with any addi10 tional information and data relating thereto, shall accom11 pany such proposed program when it is submitted to the 

12 Congress.’’; and 

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

14 ‘‘(i) PROJECTION OF STATE ADJACENT ZONE RE15 SOURCES AND STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT SHARES

16 OF OCS RECEIPTS.—Concurrent with the publication of 

17 the scoping notice at the beginning of the development of 

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

19 program, or as soon thereafter as possible, the secretary 

20 shall— 

21 ‘‘(1) provide to each Adjacent State a cur22 rent estimate of proven and potential oil and 

23 gas resources located within the State’s Adja24 cent Zone; and 
50 

•HR 4761 IH 

1 ‘‘(2) provide to each Adjacent State, and 

2 coastal political subdivisions thereof, a best-ef3 forts projection of the OCS Receipts that the 

4 Secretary expects will be shared with each Ad5 jacent State, and its coastal political subdivi6 sions, using the assumption that the unleased 

7 tracts within the State’s Adjacent Zone are 

8 fully made available for leasing, including long9 term projected OCS Receipts. In addition, the 

10 Secretary shall include a macroeconomic esti11 mate of the impact of such leasing on the na12 tional economy and each State’s economy, in13 cluding investment, jobs, revenues, personal in14 come, and other categories.’’. 

15 SEC. 11. COORDINATION WITH ADJACENT STATES. 

16 Section 19 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

17 (43 U.S.C. 1345) is amended— 

18 (1) in subsection (a) in the first sentence by in19 serting ‘‘, for any tract located within the Adjacent 

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

21 (2) by adding the following: 

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

23 approve, without the concurrence of the Adjacent State, 

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

25 both) pipeline within the part of the Adjacent State’s Ad-
51 

•HR 4761 IH 

1 jacent Zone that is not available by law for oil and gas 

2 or natural gas leasing, except that such a pipeline may 

3 be approved to pass through such Adjacent Zone if at least 

4 50 percent of the production projected to be carried by 

5 the pipeline within its first 10 years of operation is from 

6 areas of the Adjacent State’s Adjacent Zone. 

7 ‘‘(2) No State may prohibit the construction 

8 within its Adjacent Zone or its State waters of a 

9 natural gas pipeline that will transport natural gas 

10 produced from the outer Continental Shelf. How11 ever, an Adjacent State may prevent a proposed nat12 ural gas pipeline landing location if it proposes two 

13 alternate landing locations in the Adjacent State, ac14 ceptable to the Adjacent State, located within 50 

15 miles on either side of the proposed landing loca16 tion.’’. 

17 SEC. 12. ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES. 

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

19 Act (43 U.S.C. 1346) is amended— 

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

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

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

23 actions under this Act, the following shall apply re24 garding the application of the National Environ25 mental Policy Act of 1969: 
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1 ‘‘(A) Granting or directing lease suspen2 sions and the conduct of all preliminary activi3 ties on outer Continental Shelf tracts, including 

4 seismic activities, are categorically excluded 

5 from the need to prepare either an environ6 mental assessment or an environmental impact 

7 statement, and the Secretary shall not be re8 quired to analyze whether any exceptions to a 

9 categorical exclusion apply for activities con10 ducted under the authority of this Act. 

11 ‘‘(B) The environmental impact statement 

12 developed in support of each 5-year oil and gas 

13 leasing program provides the environmental 

14 analysis for all lease sales to be conducted 

15 under the program and such sales shall not be 

16 subject to further environmental analysis. 

17 ‘‘(C) Exploration plans shall not be subject 

18 to any requirement to prepare an environmental 

19 impact statement, and the Secretary may find 

20 that exploration plans are eligible for categor21 ical exclusion due to the impacts already being 

22 considered within an environmental impact 

23 statement or due to mitigation measures in24 cluded within the plan. 
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1 ‘‘(D) Within each OCS Planning Area, 

2 after the preparation of the first development 

3 and production plan environmental impact 

4 statement for a leased tract within the Area, fu5 ture development and production plans for 

6 leased tracts within the Area shall only require 

7 the preparation of an environmental assessment 

8 unless the most recent development and produc9 tion plan environmental impact statement with10 in the Area was finalized more than 10 years 

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

12 which case an environmental impact statement 

13 shall be required.’’. 

14 SEC. 13. REVIEW OF OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF DEVEL15 OPMENT AND PRODUCTION PLANS. 

16 Section 25 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

17 (43 U.S.C. 1351(a)) is amended to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 25. REVIEW OF OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF DEVEL19 OPMENT AND PRODUCTION PLANS. 

20 ‘‘(a) DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION PLANS; SUB21 MISSION TO SECRETARY; STATEMENT OF FACILITIES AND

22 OPERATION; SUBMISSION TO GOVERNORS OF AFFECTED

23 STATES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) Prior to development and production pur25 suant to an oil and gas lease issued on or after Sep-
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1 tember 18, 1978, for any area of the outer Conti2 nental Shelf, or issued or maintained prior to Sep3 tember 18, 1978, for any area of the outer Conti4 nental Shelf, with respect to which no oil or gas has 

5 been discovered in paying quantities prior to Sep6 tember 18, 1978, the lessee shall submit a develop7 ment and production plan (hereinafter in this sec8 tion referred to as a ‘plan’) to the Secretary for re9 view. 

10 ‘‘(2) A plan shall be accompanied by a state11 ment describing all facilities and operations, other 

12 than those on the outer Continental Shelf, proposed 

13 by the lessee and known by the lessee (whether or 

14 not owned or operated by such lessee) that will be 

15 constructed or utilized in the development and pro16 duction of oil or gas from the lease area, including 

17 the location and site of such facilities and oper18 ations, the land, labor, material, and energy require19 ments associated with such facilities and operations, 

20 and all environmental and safety safeguards to be 

21 implemented. 

22 ‘‘(3) Except for any privileged or proprietary 

23 information (as such term is defined in regulations 

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

25 days after receipt of a plan and statement, shall— 
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1 ‘‘(A) submit such plan and statement to 

2 the Governor of any affected State, and upon 

3 request to the executive of any affected local 

4 government; and 

5 ‘‘(B) make such plan and statement avail6 able to any appropriate interstate regional enti7 ty and the public. 

8 ‘‘(b) DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION ACTIVITIES

9 IN ACCORDANCE WITH PLAN AS LEASE REQUIREMENT.— 

10 After enactment of the Domestic Energy Production 

11 through Offshore Exploration and Equitable Treatment of 

12 State Holdings Act of 2006, no oil and gas lease may be 

13 issued pursuant to this Act in any region of the outer Con14 tinental Shelf, unless such lease requires that development 

15 and production activities be carried out in accordance with 

16 a plan that complies with the requirements of this section. 

17 This section shall also apply to leases that do not have 

18 an approved development and production plan as of the 

19 date of enactment of the Domestic Energy Production 

20 through Offshore Exploration and Equitable Treatment of 

21 State Holdings Act of 2006. 

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

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

24 forth, in the degree of detail established by regulations 

25 issued by the Secretary— 
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1 ‘‘(1) the general work to be performed; 

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

3 located on the outer Continental Shelf that are pro4 posed by the lessee or known by the lessee (whether 

5 or not owned or operated by such lessee) to be di6 rectly related to the proposed development, including 

7 the location and size of such facilities and oper8 ations, and the land, labor, material, and energy re9 quirements associated with such facilities and oper10 ations; 

11 ‘‘(3) the environmental safeguards to be imple12 mented on the outer Continental Shelf and how such 

13 safeguards are to be implemented; 

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

15 such standards are to be met; 

16 ‘‘(5) an expected rate of development and pro17 duction and a time schedule for performance; and 

18 ‘‘(6) such other relevant information as the Sec19 retary may by regulation require. 

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

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

22 development and production plan pursuant to any oil 

23 and gas lease issued or maintained under this Act, 

24 the lessee shall certify that the plan is consistent 

25 with the terms of the lease and that it is consistent 
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1 with all statutory and regulatory requirements in ef2 fect on the date of issuance of the lease. The plan 

3 shall include all required information and docu4 mentation required under subsection (c). 

5 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall review the plan for 

6 completeness within 30 days of submission. If the 

7 Secretary finds that the plan is not complete, the 

8 Secretary shall notify the lessee with a detailed ex9 planation of such modifications of such plan as are 

10 necessary to achieve completeness. The Secretary 

11 shall have 30 days to review a modified plan for 

12 completeness. 

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

14 ‘‘(1) After a determination that a plan is com15 plete, the Secretary shall have 120 days to conduct 

16 a review of the plan, to ensure that it is consistent 

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

18 with all such statutory and regulatory requirements 

19 applicable to the lease. The review shall ensure that 

20 the plan is consistent with lease terms, and statutory 

21 and regulatory requirements applicable to the lease, 

22 related to national security or national defense, in23 cluding any military operating stipulations or other 

24 restrictions. The Secretary shall seek the assistance 

25 of the Department of Defense in the conduct of the 
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1 review of any plan prepared under this section for 

2 a lease containing military operating stipulations or 

3 other restrictions and shall accept the assistance of 

4 the Department of Defense in the conduct of the re5 view of any plan prepared under this section for any 

6 other lease when the Secretary of Defense requests 

7 an opportunity to participate in the review. If the 

8 Secretary finds that the plan is not consistent, the 

9 Secretary shall notify the lessee with a detailed ex10 planation of such modifications of such plan as are 

11 necessary to achieve consistency. 

12 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall have 120 days to re13 view a modified plan. 

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

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

16 thereafter until the plan has been modified to 

17 achieve compliance as so notified. 

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

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

20 plan without further review or approval by the Sec21 retary. 

22 ‘‘(f) REVIEW OF REVISION OF THE APPROVED

23 PLAN.—The lessee may submit to the Secretary any revi24 sion of a plan if the lessee determines that such revision 

25 will lead to greater recovery of oil and natural gas, im-
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1 prove the efficiency, safety, and environmental protection 

2 of the recovery operation, is the only means available to 

3 avoid substantial economic hardship to the lessee, or is 

4 otherwise not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, 

5 to the extent such revision is consistent with protection 

6 of the human, marine, and coastal environments. The 

7 process to be used for the review of any such revision shall 

8 be the same as that set forth in subsections (d) and (e). 

9 ‘‘(g) CANCELLATION OF LEASE ON FAILURE TO SUB10 MIT PLAN OR COMPLY WITH A PLAN.—Whenever the 

11 owner of any lease fails to submit a plan in accordance 

12 with regulations issued under this section, or fails to com13 ply with a plan, the lease may be canceled in accordance 

14 with section 5(c) and (d). Termination of a lease because 

15 of failure to comply with a plan, including required modi16 fications or revisions, shall not entitle a lessee to any com17 pensation. 

18 ‘‘(h) PRODUCTION AND TRANSPORTATION OF NAT19 URAL GAS; SUBMISSION OF PLAN TO FEDERAL ENERGY

20 REGULATORY COMMISSION; IMPACT STATEMENT.—If any 

21 development and production plan submitted to the Sec22 retary pursuant to this section provides for the production 

23 and transportation of natural gas, the lessee shall contem24 poraneously submit to the Federal Energy Regulatory 

25 Commission that portion of such plan that relates to the 
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1 facilities for transportation of natural gas. The Secretary 

2 and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission shall 

3 agree as to which of them shall prepare an environmental 

4 impact statement pursuant to the National Environmental 

5 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) applicable 

6 to such portion of such plan, or conduct studies as to the 

7 effect on the environment of implementing it. Thereafter, 

8 the findings and recommendations by the agency pre9 paring such environmental impact statement or con10 ducting such studies pursuant to such agreement shall be 

11 adopted by the other agency, and such other agency shall 

12 not independently prepare another environmental impact 

13 statement or duplicate such studies with respect to such 

14 portion of such plan, but the Federal Energy Regulatory 

15 Commission, in connection with its review of an applica16 tion for a certificate of public convenience and necessity 

17 applicable to such transportation facilities pursuant to sec18 tion 7 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717f), may pre19 pare such environmental studies or statement relevant to 

20 certification of such transportation facilities as have not 

21 been covered by an environmental impact statement or 

22 studies prepared by the Secretary. The Secretary, in con23 sultation with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commis24 sion, shall promulgate rules to implement this subsection, 

25 but the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission shall re-
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1 tain sole authority with respect to rules and procedures 

2 applicable to the filing of any application with the Com3 mission and to all aspects of the Commission’s review of, 

4 and action on, any such application.’’. 

5 SEC. 14. FEDERAL ENERGY NATURAL RESOURCES EN6 HANCEMENT FUND 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 nat-
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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) establish a fund for the monitoring and 

23 management of wildlife and fish, and their habitats, 

24 and air, water, and other natural resources related 
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1 to energy and minerals development on Federal on2 shore and offshore lands; 

3 (2) make available receipts derived from sales, 

4 bonus bids, and royalties from onshore and offshore 

5 gas, mineral, oil, and any additional form of energy 

6 exploration and development under the laws of the 

7 United States for the purposes of such fund; 

8 (3) distribute funds from such fund each fiscal 

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

10 and 

11 (4) use the distributed funds to secure the nec12 essary trained workforce or contractual services to 

13 conduct environmental studies, planning, develop14 ment, monitoring, and post-development manage15 ment of wildlife and fish and their habitats and air, 

16 water, and other natural resources that may be re17 lated to bio-based fuel, gas, mineral, oil, wind, or 

18 other energy exploration, development, transpor19 tation, transmission, and associated activities on 

20 Federal onshore and offshore lands, including, but 

21 not limited to— 

22 (A) pertinent research, surveys, and envi23 ronmental analyses conducted to identify any 

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

25 natural resources from energy and mineral ex-
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1 ploration, development, production, and trans2 portation or transmission; 

3 (B) projects to maintain, improve, or en4 hance wildlife and fish populations and their 

5 habitats or air, water, or other natural re6 sources, including activities under the Endan7 gered Species Act of 1973; 

8 (C) research, surveys, environmental anal9 yses, and projects that assist in managing, in10 cluding mitigating either onsite or offsite, or 

11 both, the impacts of energy and mineral activi12 ties on wildlife, fish, air, water, and other nat13 ural resources; and 

14 (D) projects to teach young people to live 

15 off the land. 

16 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 (1) ENHANCEMENT FUND.—The term ‘‘En18 hancement Fund’’ means the Federal Energy Nat19 ural Resources Enhancement Fund established by 

20 subsection (d). 

21 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

22 government agency primarily responsible for fish 

23 and wildlife trust resources within a State. 

24 (d) ESTABLISHMENT AND USE OF FEDERAL ENERGY

25 NATURAL RESOURCES ENHANCEMENT FUND.— 
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1 (1) ENHANCEMENT FUND.—There is estab2 lished in the Treasury a separate account to be 

3 known as the ‘‘Federal Energy Natural Resources 

4 Enhancement Fund’’. 

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

6 shall deposit in the Enhancement Fund— 

7 (A) such sums as are provided by sections 

8 9(b)(5)(A)(ii), 9(b)(5)(B)(ii), 9(c)(4)(A)(ii), and 

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

10 Lands Act, as amended by this Act; 

11 (B)(i) during the period of October 1, 

12 2006, through September 30, 2015, 0.5 percent 

13 of all sums paid into the Treasury under sec14 tion 35 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

15 191), and 

16 (ii) beginning October 1, 2015, and there17 after, 2.5 percent of all sums paid into the 

18 Treasury under section 35 of the Mineral Leas19 ing Act (30 U.S.C. 191); and 

20 (C)(i) during the period of October 1, 

21 2006, through September 30, 2015, 0.5 percent 

22 of all sums paid into the Treasury from receipts 

23 derived from bonus bids and royalties from 

24 other mineral leasing on public lands, and 
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1 (ii) beginning October 1, 2015, and there2 after, 2.5 percent of all sums paid into the 

3 Treasury from receipts derived from bonus bids 

4 and royalties from other mineral leasing on 

5 public lands. 

6 (3) INVESTMENTS.—The Secretary of the 

7 Treasury shall invest the amounts deposited under 

8 paragraph (2) and all accrued interest on the 

9 amounts deposited under paragraph (2) only in in10 terest bearing obligations of the United States or in 

11 obligations guaranteed as to both principal and in12 terest by the United States. 

13 (4) PAYMENT TO SECRETARY OF THE INTE14 RIOR.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning with fiscal 

16 year 2007, and in each fiscal year thereafter, 

17 one-third of amounts deposited into the En18 hancement Fund, together with the interest 

19 thereon, shall be available, without fiscal year 

20 limitations, to the Secretary of the Interior for 

21 use for the purposes described in (b)(4). 

22 (B) WITHDRAWALS AND TRANSFER OF

23 FUNDS.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall 

24 withdraw such amounts from the Enhancement 

25 Fund as the Secretary of the Interior may re-
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1 quest, subject to the limitation in (A), and 

2 transfer such amounts to the Secretary of the 

3 Interior to be used, at the discretion of the Sec4 retary of the Interior, by the Minerals Manage5 ment Service, the Bureau of Land Manage6 ment, and the United States Fish and Wildlife 

7 Service for use for the purposes described in 

8 subsection (b)(4). 

9 (5) PAYMENT TO STATES.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning with fiscal 

11 year 2007, and in each fiscal year thereafter, 

12 two-thirds of amounts deposited into the En13 hancement Fund, together with the interest 

14 thereon, shall be available, without fiscal year 

15 limitations, to the States for use for the pur16 poses described in (b)(4). 

17 (B) WITHDRAWALS AND TRANSFER OF

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

19 year, the Secretary of the Treasury shall with20 draw amounts from the Enhancement Fund 

21 and transfer such amounts to the States based 

22 on the proportion of all receipts that were col23 lected the previous fiscal year from Federal 

24 leases within the boundaries of each State and 

25 each State’s outer Continental Shelf Adjacent 
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1 Zone as determined in accordance with section 

2 4(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

3 (43 U.S.C. 1333(a)), as amended by this Act. 

4 (C) USE OF PAYMENTS BY STATE.—Each 

5 State shall use the payments made under sub6 paragraph (B) only for carrying out projects 

7 and programs for the purposes described in 

8 (b)(4). 

9 (D) ENCOURAGE USE OF PRIVATE FUNDS

10 BY STATE.—Each State shall use the payments 

11 made under subparagraph (B) to leverage pri12 vate funds for carrying out projects for the pur13 poses described in (b)(4). 

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

15 this section may not be used for the purchase of any inter16 est in land. 

17 (f) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 

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

19 2008 and continuing for each fiscal year thereafter, 

20 the Secretary of the Interior and each State receiv21 ing funds from the Enhancement Fund shall submit 

22 a report to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

23 Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Re24 sources of the House of Representatives. 
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1 (2) REQUIRED INFORMATION.—Reports sub2 mitted to the Congress by the Secretary of the Inte3 rior and States under this subsection shall include 

4 the following information regarding expenditures 

5 during the previous fiscal year: 

6 (A) A summary of pertinent scientific re7 search and surveys conducted to identify im8 pacts on wildlife, fish, and other natural re9 sources from energy and mineral developments. 

10 (B) A summary of projects planned and 

11 completed to maintain, improve or enhance 

12 wildlife and fish populations and their habitats 

13 or other natural resources. 

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

15 or would assist, in managing, including miti16 gating either onsite or offsite, or both, the im17 pacts of energy and mineral development on 

18 wildlife, fish, and other natural resources. 

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

20 funds used to plan, conduct, and complete the 

21 plans and programs identified in paragraphs 

22 (2)(A) and (2)(B). 
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1 SEC. 15. TERMINATION OF EFFECT OF LAWS PROHIBITING 

2 THE SPENDING OF APPROPRIATED FUNDS 

3 FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES. 

4 All provisions of existing Federal law prohibiting the 

5 spending of appropriated funds to conduct oil and natural 

6 gas leasing and preleasing activities for any area of the 

7 outer Continental Shelf shall have no force or effect. 

8 SEC. 16. OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF INCOMPATIBLE USE. 

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

10 construction or operation (or both) of any facility, or des11 ignate or maintain a restricted transportation corridor or 

12 operating area on the Federal outer Continental Shelf or 

13 in State waters, that will be incompatible with, as deter14 mined by the Secretary of the Interior, oil and gas or nat15 ural gas leasing and substantially full exploration and pro16 duction of tracts that are geologically prospective for oil 

17 or natural gas (or both). 

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

19 any facility, transportation corridor, or operating area the 

20 construction, operation, designation, or maintenance of 

21 which is or will be— 

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

23 Shelf that is unavailable for oil and gas or natural 

24 gas leasing by operation of law; 
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1 (2) used for a military readiness activity (as de2 fined in section 315(f) of Public Law 107–314; 16 

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

4 (3) required in the national interest, as deter5 mined by the President. 

6 SEC. 17. REPURCHASE OF CERTAIN LEASES. 

7 (a) AUTHORITY TO REPURCHASE AND CANCEL CER8 TAIN LEASES.—The Secretary of the Interior shall repur9 chase and cancel any Federal oil and gas, geothermal, 

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

11 onshore or offshore, if the Secretary finds that such lease 

12 qualifies for repurchase and cancellation under the regula13 tions authorized by this section. 

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

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

16 publish a final regulation stating the conditions under 

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

18 for repurchase and cancellation, and the process to be fol19 lowed regarding repurchase and cancellation. Such regula20 tion shall include, but not be limited to, the following: 

21 (1) The Secretary shall repurchase and cancel 

22 a lease after written request by the lessee upon a 

23 finding by the Secretary that— 

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

25 permit or other approval complied with applica-
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1 ble law, except the Coastal Zone Management 

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

3 terms of the lease and such permit or other ap4 proval was denied; 

5 (B) a Federal agency failed to act on a re6 quest by the lessee for a required permit, other 

7 approval, or administrative appeal within a reg8 ulatory or statutory time-frame associated with 

9 the requested action, whether advisory or man10 datory, or if none, within 180 days; or 

11 (C) a Federal agency attached a condition 

12 of approval, without agreement by the lessee, to 

13 a required permit or other approval if such con14 dition of approval was not mandated by Federal 

15 statute or regulation in effect on the date of 

16 lease issuance, or was not specifically allowed 

17 under the terms of the lease. 

18 (2) A lessee shall not be required to exhaust ad19 ministrative remedies regarding a permit request, 

20 administrative appeal, or other required request for 

21 approval for the purposes of this section. 

22 (3) The Secretary shall make a final agency de23 cision on a request by a lessee under this section 

24 within 180 days of request. 
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1 (4) Compensation to a lessee to repurchase and 

2 cancel a lease under this section shall be the amount 

3 that a lessee would receive in a restitution case for 

4 a material breach of contract. 

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

6 check or electronic transfer from the Department of 

7 the Treasury from funds deposited into miscella8 neous receipts under the authority of the same Act 

9 that authorized the issuance of the lease being re10 purchased. 

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

12 agency decision on a request by a lessee under this 

13 section within 180 days of request shall result in a 

14 10 percent increase in the compensation due to the 

15 lessee if the lease is ultimately repurchased. 

16 (c) NO PREJUDICE.—This section shall not be inter17 preted to prejudice any other rights that the lessee would 

18 have in the absence of this section. 

19 SEC. 18. OFFSITE ENVIRONMENTAL MITIGATION. 

20 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any per21 son conducting activities under the Mineral Leasing Act 

22 (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.), the Geothermal Steam Act (30 

23 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), the Mineral Leasing Act for Ac24 quired Lands (30 U.S.C. 351 et seq.), the Weeks Act (16 

25 U.S.C. 552 et seq.), the General Mining Act of 1872 (30 
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1 U.S.C. 22 et seq.), the Materials Act of 1947 (30 U.S.C. 

2 601 et seq.), or the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

3 (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.), may in satisfying any mitigation 

4 requirements associated with such activities propose miti5 gation measures on a site away from the area impacted 

6 and the Secretary of the Interior shall accept these pro7 posed measures if the Secretary finds that they generally 

8 achieve the purposes for which mitigation measures apper9 tained. 

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

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

12 226(g)) is amended to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(g) REGULATION OF SURFACE-DISTURBING ACTIVI14 TIES.— 

15 ‘‘(1) REGULATION OF SURFACE-DISTURBING

16 ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary of the Interior, or for 

17 National Forest lands, the Secretary of Agriculture, 

18 shall regulate all surface-disturbing activities con19 ducted pursuant to any lease issued under this Act, 

20 and shall determine reclamation and other actions as 

21 required in the interest of conservation of surface re22 sources. 

23 ‘‘(2) SUBMISSION OF EXPLORATION PLAN; COM24 PLETION REVIEW; COMPLIANCE REVIEW.— 
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1 ‘‘(A) Prior to beginning oil and gas explo2 ration activities, a lessee shall submit an explo3 ration plan to the Secretary of the Interior for 

4 review. 

5 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall review the plan 

6 for completeness within 10 days of submission. 

7 ‘‘(C) In the event the exploration plan is 

8 determined to be incomplete, the Secretary shall 

9 notify the lessee in writing and specify the 

10 items or information needed to complete the ex11 ploration plan. 

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

13 review any modified exploration plan submitted 

14 by the lessee. 

15 ‘‘(E) To be deemed complete, an explo16 ration plan shall include, in the degree of detail 

17 to be determined by the Secretary by rule or 

18 regulation— 

19 ‘‘(i) a drilling plan containing a de20 scription of the drilling program; 

21 ‘‘(ii) the surface and projected com22 pletion zone location; 

23 ‘‘(iii) pertinent geologic data; 
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1 ‘‘(iv) expected hazards, and proposed 

2 mitigation measures to address such haz3 ards; 

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

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

7 used for such activities; 

8 ‘‘(vii) a certification from the lessee 

9 stating that the exploration plan complies 

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

12 issuance of the lease; 

13 ‘‘(viii) evidence that the lessee has se14 cured an adequate bond, surety, or other 

15 financial arrangement prior to commence16 ment of any surface disturbing activity; 

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

18 and timely reclamation of the lease tract; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(x) such other relevant information 

21 as the Secretary may by regulation require. 

22 ‘‘(F) Upon a determination that the explo23 ration plan is complete, the Secretary shall have 

24 30 days from the date the plan is deemed com25 plete to conduct a review of the plan. 
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1 ‘‘(G) If the Secretary finds the exploration 

2 plan is not consistent with all statutory and 

3 regulatory requirements in effect on the date of 

4 issuance of the lease, the Secretary shall notify 

5 the lessee with a detailed explanation of such 

6 modifications of the exploration plan as are nec7 essary to achieve compliance. 

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

9 under the exploration plan within a 30 day re10 view period, or thereafter until the plan has 

11 been modified to achieve compliance as so noti12 fied. 

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

14 by this subsection, a lessee may operate pursu15 ant to the plan without further review or ap16 proval by the Secretary. 

17 ‘‘(3) PLAN REVISIONS; CONDUCT OF EXPLO18 RATION ACTIVITIES.— 

19 ‘‘(A) If a significant revision of an explo20 ration plan under this subsection is submitted 

21 to the Secretary, the process to be used for the 

22 review of such revision shall be the same as set 

23 forth in paragraph (1) of this subsection. 

24 ‘‘(B) All exploration activities pursuant to 

25 any lease shall be conducted in accordance with 
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1 an exploration plan that has been submitted to 

2 and reviewed by the Secretary or a revision of 

3 such plan. 

4 ‘‘(4) SUBMISSION OF DEVELOPMENT AND PRO5 DUCTION PLAN; COMPLETENESS REVIEW; COMPLI6 ANCE REVIEW.— 

7 ‘‘(A) Prior to beginning oil and gas devel8 opment and production activities, a lessee shall 

9 submit a development and exploration plan to 

10 the Secretary of the Interior. Upon submission, 

11 such plans shall be subject to a review for com12 pleteness. 

13 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall review the plan 

14 for completeness within 30 days of submission. 

15 ‘‘(C) In the event a development and pro16 duction plan is determined to be incomplete, the 

17 Secretary shall notify the lessee in writing and 

18 specify the items or information needed to com19 plete the plan. 

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

21 review for completeness any modified develop22 ment and production plan submitted by the les23 see. 

24 ‘‘(E) To be deemed complete, a develop25 ment and production plan shall include, in the 
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1 degree of detail to be determined by the Sec2 retary by rule or regulation— 

3 ‘‘(i) a drilling plan containing a de4 scription of the drilling program; 

5 ‘‘(ii) the surface and projected com6 pletion zone location; 

7 ‘‘(iii) pertinent geologic data; 

8 ‘‘(iv) expected hazards, and proposed 

9 mitigation measures to address such haz10 ards; 

11 ‘‘(v) a statement describing all facili12 ties and operations proposed by the lessee 

13 and known by the lessee (whether or not 

14 owned or operated by such lessee) that 

15 shall be constructed or utilized in the de16 velopment and production of oil or gas 

17 from the leases areas, including the loca18 tion and site of such facilities and oper19 ations, the land, labor, material, and en20 ergy requirements associated with such fa21 cilities and operations; 

22 ‘‘(vi) the general work to be per23 formed; 

24 ‘‘(vii) the environmental safeguards to 

25 be implemented in connection with the de-
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1 velopment and production and how such 

2 safeguards are to be implemented; 

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

4 and how such standards are to be met; 

5 ‘‘(ix) an expected rate of development 

6 and production and a time schedule for 

7 performance; 

8 ‘‘(x) a certification from the lessee 

9 stating that the development and produc10 tion plan complies with all lease, regu11 latory, and statutory requirements in effect 

12 on the date of issuance of the lease; 

13 ‘‘(xi) evidence that the lessee has se14 cured an adequate bond, surety, or other 

15 financial arrangement prior to commence16 ment of any surface disturbing activity; 

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

18 and timely reclamation of the lease tract; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(xiii) such other relevant information 

21 as the Secretary may by regulation require. 

22 ‘‘(F) Upon a determination that the devel23 opment and production plan is complete, the 

24 Secretary shall have 120 days from the date the 
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1 plan is deemed complete to conduct a review of 

2 the plan. 

3 ‘‘(G) If the Secretary finds the develop4 ment and production plan is not consistent with 

5 all statutory and regulatory requirements in ef6 fect on the date of issuance of the lease, the 

7 Secretary shall notify the lessee with a detailed 

8 explanation of such modifications of the devel9 opment and production plan as are necessary to 

10 achieve compliance. 

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

12 under the development and production plan 

13 within a 120 day review period, or thereafter 

14 until the plan has been modified to achieve 

15 compliance as so notified. 

16 ‘‘(5) PLAN REVISIONS; CONDUCT OF DEVELOP17 MENT AND PRODUCTION ACTIVITIES.— 

18 ‘‘(A) If a significant revision of a develop19 ment and production plan under this subsection 

20 is submitted to the Secretary, the process to be 

21 used for the review of such revision shall be the 

22 same as set forth in paragraph (4) of this sub23 section. 

24 ‘‘(B) All development and production ac25 tivities pursuant to any lease shall be conducted 
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1 in accordance with an exploration plan that has 

2 been submitted to and reviewed by the Sec3 retary or a revision of such plan. 

4 ‘‘(6) CANCELLATION OF LEASE ON FAILURE TO

5 SUBMIT PLAN OR COMPLY WITH APPROVED PLAN.— 

6 Whenever the owner of any lease fails to submit a 

7 plan in accordance with regulations issued under 

8 this section, or fails to comply with a plan, the lease 

9 may be canceled in accordance with section 31. Ter10 mination of a lease because of failure to comply with 

11 a plan, including required modifications or revisions, 

12 shall not entitle a lessee to any compensation.’’. 

13 SEC. 20. MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE. 

14 The bureau known as the ‘‘Minerals Management 

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

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

17 SEC. 21. AUTHORITY TO USE DECOMMISSIONED OFFSHORE 

18 OIL AND GAS PLATFORMS AND OTHER FA19 CILITIES FOR MARICULTURE, ARTIFICIAL 

20 REEF, SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, OR OTHER 

21 USES. 

22 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the 

23 ‘‘Rigs to Reefs Act of 2005’’. 
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1 (b) IN GENERAL.—The Outer Continental Shelf 

2 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.) is amended by insert3 ing after section 9 the following: 

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

5 GAS PLATFORMS AND OTHER FACILITIES 

6 FOR MARICULTURE, ARTIFICIAL REEF, SCI7 ENTIFIC RESEARCH, OR OTHER USES. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall issue regula9 tions under which the Secretary may authorize use of an 

10 offshore oil and gas platform or other facility that is de11 commissioned from service for oil and gas purposes for 

12 culture of marine organisms, an artificial reef, scientific 

13 research, or any other use authorized under section 8(p). 

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

15 shall not allow the transfer of a decommissioned offshore 

16 oil and gas platform or other facility to another person 

17 unless the Secretary is satisfied that the transferee is suf18 ficiently bonded, endowed, or otherwise financially able to 

19 fulfill its obligations, including but not limited to— 

20 ‘‘(1) ongoing maintenance of the platform or 

21 other facility; 

22 ‘‘(2) any liability obligations that might arise; 

23 ‘‘(3) removal of the platform or other facility if 

24 determined necessary by the Secretary; and 
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1 ‘‘(4) any other requirements and obligations 

2 that the Secretary may deem appropriate by regula3 tion. 

4 ‘‘(c) PLUGGING AND ABANDONMENT.—The Sec5 retary shall ensure that obligations of a lessee regarding 

6 the plugging and abandonment of wells are unaffected by 

7 implementation of this section. 

8 ‘‘(d) POTENTIAL TO PETITION TO OPT-OUT OF REG9 ULATIONS.—An Adjacent State acting through a resolu10 tion of its legislature, with concurrence of its Governor, 

11 may petition to opt-out of the application of regulations 

12 promulgated under this section to platforms and other fa13 cilities located in the area of its Adjacent Zone within 25 

14 miles of the coastline. The Secretary is authorized to ex15 cept such area from the application of such regulations, 

16 and shall approve such petition, unless the Secretary finds 

17 that approving the petition would probably cause serious 

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

19 Adjacent Zone. Prior to acting on the petition, the Sec20 retary shall complete an environmental assessment that 

21 documents the anticipated environmental effects of ap22 proving the petition. 

23 ‘‘(e) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY.—A person that had 

24 used an offshore oil and gas platform or other facility for 

25 oil and gas purposes and that no longer has any ownership 
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1 or control of the platform or other facility shall not be 

2 liable under Federal law for any costs or damages arising 

3 from such platform or other facility after the date the plat4 form or other facility is used for any purpose under sub5 section (a), unless such costs or damages arise from— 

6 ‘‘(1) use of the platform or other facility by the 

7 person for development or production of oil or gas; 

8 or 

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

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

11 This section, and the use of any offshore oil and gas plat12 form or other facility for any purpose under subsection 

13 (a), shall not affect— 

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

15 area under this Act; or 

16 ‘‘(2) any activity otherwise authorized under 

17 this Act.’’. 

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

19 the Interior shall issue regulations under subsection (b) 

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

21 of this Act. 

22 (d) STUDY AND REPORT ON EFFECTS OF REMOVAL

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

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

25 in consultation with other Federal agencies as the Sec-
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1 retary deems advisable, shall study and report to the Con2 gress regarding how the removal of offshore oil and gas 

3 platforms and other facilities from the outer Continental 

4 Shelf would affect existing fish stocks and coral popu5 lations. 

6 SEC. 22. REPEAL OF REQUIREMENT TO CONDUCT COM7 PREHENSIVE INVENTORY OF OCS OIL AND 

8 NATURAL GAS RESOURCES. 

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

10 58) is amended— 

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

12 U.S.C. 15912); and 

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

14 striking the item relating to such section 357. 

15 SEC. 23. MINING AND PETROLEUM SCHOOLS. 

16 (a) FEDERAL ENERGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES

17 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND.— 

18 (1) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND.— 

19 There is established in the Treasury a separate ac20 count to be known as the ‘‘Federal Energy And 

21 Mineral Resources Professional Development Fund’’ 

22 (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Professional De23 velopment Fund’’). 
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1 (2) FUNDING.—The Secretary of the Treasury 

2 shall deposit in the Professional Development 

3 Fund— 

4 (A) such sums as are provided by sections 

5 9(b)(5)(A)(iii), 9(b)(5)(B)(iii), 9(c)(4)(A)(iii), 

6 and 9(c)(4)(B)(iii) of the Outer Continental 

7 Shelf Lands Act, as amended by this Act; 

8 (B)(i) during the period of October 1, 

9 2006, through September 30, 2015, 0.4 percent 

10 of all sums paid into the Treasury under sec11 tion 35 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

12 191), and 

13 (ii) beginning October 1, 2015, and there14 after, 2.0 percent of all sums paid into the 

15 Treasury under section 35 of the Mineral Leas16 ing Act (30 U.S.C. 191); 

17 (C)(i) during the period of October 1, 

18 2006, through September 30, 2015, 0.4 percent 

19 of all sums paid into the Treasury from receipts 

20 derived from bonus bids and royalties from 

21 other mineral leasing on public lands, and 

22 (ii) beginning October 1, 2015, and there23 after, 2.0 percent of all sums paid into the 

24 Treasury from receipts derived from bonus bids 
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1 and royalties from other mineral leasing on 

2 public lands; 

3 (D) donations received under paragraph 

4 (4); 

5 (E) amounts referred to in section 2325 of 

6 the Revised Statutes; and 

7 (F) funds received under section 10 of the 

8 Energy and Mineral Schools Reinvestment Act, 

9 as amended by this Act. 

10 (3) INVESTMENTS.—The Secretary of the 

11 Treasury shall invest the amounts deposited under 

12 paragraph (2) and all accrued interest on the 

13 amounts deposited under paragraph (2) only in in14 terest bearing obligations of the United States or in 

15 obligations guaranteed as to both principal and in16 terest by the United States. 

17 (4) DONATIONS.—The Secretary of the Interior 

18 may solicit and accept donations of funds for deposit 

19 into the Professional Development Fund. 

20 (5) AVAILABILITY TO SECRETARY OF THE IN21 TERIOR.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning with fiscal 

23 year 2007, and in each fiscal year thereafter, 

24 the amounts deposited into the Professional De25 velopment Fund, together with the interest 
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1 thereon, shall be available, without fiscal year 

2 limitations, to the Secretary of the Interior for 

3 use to carry out the Energy and Mineral 

4 Schools Reinvestment Act. 

5 (B) WITHDRAWALS AND TRANSFER OF

6 FUNDS.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall 

7 withdraw such amounts from the Professional 

8 Development Fund as the Secretary of the Inte9 rior may request and transfer such amounts to 

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

11 discretion of the Secretary to carry out the En12 ergy and Mineral Schools Reinvestment Act. 

13 (b) MAINTENANCE AND RESTORATION OF EXISTING

14 AND HISTORIC PETROLEUM AND MINING ENGINEERING

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

16 seq.) is amended to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

19 Schools Reinvestment Act’. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 2. POLICY. 

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

22 human capital needed to preserve and foster the economic, 

23 energy, and mineral resources security of the United 

24 States. The petroleum and mining engineering programs 

25 and the applied geology and geophysics programs at State 
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1 chartered schools, universities, and institutions that 

2 produce human capital are national assets and should be 

3 assisted with Federal funds to ensure their continued 

4 health and existence. 

5 ‘‘SEC. 3. MAINTAINING AND RESTORING HISTORIC AND EX6 ISTING PETROLEUM AND MINING ENGINEER7 ING EDUCATION PROGRAMS. 

8 ‘‘(a) Using the funds in the Federal Energy And Min9 eral Resources Professional Development Fund, the Sec10 retary of the Interior (in this Act referred to as the ‘Sec11 retary’) shall provide funds to each historic and existing 

12 State-chartered recognized petroleum or mining school to 

13 assist such schools, universities, and institutions in main14 taining programs in petroleum, mining, and mineral engi15 neering education and research. All funds shall be directed 

16 only to these programs and shall be subject to the condi17 tions of this section. Such funds shall not be less than 

18 35 percent of the annual outlay of funds under this Act. 

19 ‘‘(b) In this Act the term ‘historic and existing State20 chartered recognized petroleum or mining school’ means 

21 a school, university, or educational institution with the 

22 presence of an engineering program meeting the specific 

23 program criteria, established by the member societies of 

24 ABET, Inc., for petroleum, mining, or mineral engineer25 ing and that is accredited on the date of enactment of 
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1 the Domestic Energy Production through Offshore Explo2 ration and Equitable Treatment of State Holdings Act of 

3 2006 by ABET, Inc. 

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

5 or institution receiving funds under this section to provide 

6 for and enhance the training of undergraduate and grad7 uate petroleum, mining, and mineral engineers through re8 search, investigations, demonstrations, and experiments. 

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

10 enhance undergraduate education. 

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

12 funds under this Act shall maintain the program for which 

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

14 first receipt of such funds take steps agreed to by the Sec15 retary, to increase the number of undergraduate students 

16 enrolled in and completing the programs of study in petro17 leum, mining, and mineral engineering. 

18 ‘‘(e) The research, investigation, demonstration, ex19 periment, and training authorized by this section may in20 clude development and production of conventional and 

21 non-conventional fuel resources, the production of metallic 

22 and non-metallic mineral resources including industrial 

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

24 gravel. In all cases the work carried out with funds made 
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1 available under this Act shall include a significant oppor2 tunity for participation by undergraduate students. 

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

4 and mineral resource development and production may in5 clude studies of petroleum, mining, and mineral extraction 

6 and immediately related beneficiation technology; mineral 

7 economics, reclamation technology and practices for active 

8 operations, and the development of re-mining systems and 

9 technologies to facilitate reclamation that fosters the ulti10 mate recovery of resources at abandoned petroleum, min11 ing, and aggregate production sites. 

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

13 and research shall not require additional participation by 

14 funding partners. Grants for studies to demonstrate the 

15 proof of concept for science and engineering or the dem16 onstration of feasibility and implementation shall include 

17 participation by industry and may include funding from 

18 other Federal agencies. 

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

20 shall be applied to the acquisition by purchase or lease 

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

22 construction, preservation, or repair of any building. 

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

24 be used with the express approval of the Secretary for pro25 posals that will provide for maintaining or upgrading of 
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1 existing laboratories and laboratory equipment. Funding 

2 for such maintenance shall not be used for university over3 head expenses. 

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

5 used for maintaining and upgrading mines and oil and gas 

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

7 described in this section that are used for undergraduate 

8 and graduate training and worker safety training. All re9 quests for funding such mines and oil and gas drilling rigs 

10 must demonstrate that they have been owned by the 

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

12 date of enactment of the Domestic Energy Production 

13 through Offshore Exploration and Equitable Treatment of 

14 State Holdings Act of 2006 and have been actively used 

15 for instructional or training purposes during that time. 

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

17 for research, investigation, demonstration, experiment, or 

18 training shall not be used for university overhead charges 

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

20 Secretary. 

21 ‘‘SEC. 4. FORMER AND NEW PETROLEUM AND MINING ENGI22 NEERING PROGRAMS. 

23 ‘‘A school, university, or educational institution that 

24 formerly met the requirements of section 3(b) immediately 

25 before the date of the enactment of the Domestic Energy 
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1 Production through Offshore Exploration and Equitable 

2 Treatment of State Holdings Act of 2006, or that seeks 

3 to establish a new program described in section 3(b), shall 

4 be eligible for funding under this Act only if it— 

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

6 engineering program that meets the specific program 

7 criteria and is accredited as such by ABET, Inc.; 

8 ‘‘(2) agrees to the conditions of subsections (c), 

9 (d), and (e) of section 3 and the Secretary, as ad10 vised by the Committee established by section 11, 

11 determines that the program will strengthen and in12 crease the number of nationally available, well13 qualified faculty members in petroleum, mining, and 

14 mineral engineering; and 

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

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

17 funds under this Act. 

18 ‘‘SEC. 5. FUNDING OF CONSORTIA OF HISTORIC AND EXIST19 ING SCHOOLS. 

20 ‘‘(a) Where appropriate, the Secretary may make 

21 funds available to consortia of schools, universities, or in22 stitutions described in sections 3, 4, and 6 to meet the 

23 necessary expenses for purposes of— 

24 ‘‘(1) specific energy and mineral research 

25 projects of broad application that could not other-
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1 wise be undertaken, including the expenses of plan2 ning and coordinating regional petroleum, mining, 

3 and mineral engineering projects by two or more 

4 schools; and 

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

6 mining, or mineral engineering problems, including 

7 but not limited to exploration, that are related to the 

8 mission of the Department of the Interior and that 

9 are considered by the Committee to be desirable. 

10 ‘‘(b) Each application for funds under subsection (a) 

11 shall state, among other things, the nature of the project 

12 to be undertaken; the period during which it will be pur13 sued; the qualifications of the personnel who will direct 

14 and conduct it; the estimated costs; the importance of the 

15 project to the Nation, region, or States concerned; its rela16 tion to other known research projects theretofore pursued 

17 or being pursued; the extent to which the proposed project 

18 will maximize the opportunity for the training of under19 graduate petroleum, mining, and mineral engineers; and 

20 the extent of participation by nongovernmental sources in 

21 the project. 

22 ‘‘(c) No funds shall be made available under this sec23 tion except for a project approved by the Secretary. All 

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

25 the project, the need for the knowledge that it is expected 
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1 to produce when completed, and the opportunity it pro2 vides for the undergraduate training of individuals as pe3 troleum, mining, and mineral engineers. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 6. SUPPORT FOR SCHOOLS WITH ENERGY AND MIN5 ERAL RESOURCE PROGRAMS IN PETROLEUM 

6 AND MINERAL EXPLORATION GEOLOGY, PE7 TROLEUM GEOPHYSICS, OR MINING GEO8 PHYSICS. 

9 ‘‘(a) Up to 20 percent of the annual outlay of funds 

10 under this Act may be granted to schools, universities, and 

11 institutions other than those described in sections 3 and 

12 4. 

13 ‘‘(b) The Secretary, as advised by the Committee es14 tablished by section 11, shall determine the eligibility of 

15 a college or university to receive funding under this Act 

16 using criteria that include— 

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

18 undergraduate and graduate geoscience instruction 

19 and research in one or more of the following special20 ties: petroleum geology, mineral exploration geology, 

21 economic geology, industrial minerals geology, min22 ing geology, petroleum geophysics, mining geo23 physics, geological engineering, or geophysical engi24 neering that has a demonstrated history of achieve25 ment; 
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1 ‘‘(2) evidence of institutional commitment for 

2 the purposes of this Act that includes a significant 

3 opportunity for participation by undergraduate stu4 dents in research; 

5 ‘‘(3) evidence that such school, university, or in6 stitution has or can obtain significant industrial co7 operation in activities within the scope of this Act; 

8 ‘‘(4) agreement by the school, university, or in9 stitution to maintain the programs for which the 

10 funding is sought for the 10-year period beginning 

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

12 receives such funds; and 

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

14 the purposes set forth in subsections (e), (f), and (g) 

15 of section 3 and subject to the conditions set forth 

16 in section 3(h). 

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

18 FELLOWSHIPS. 

19 ‘‘(a) The Secretary shall utilize not more than 30 per20 cent of the annual outlay of funds under this Act for the 

21 purpose of providing merit-based scholarships for under22 graduate education, graduate fellowships, and 

23 postdoctoral fellowships. 

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

25 fellowship, an individual student must be a lawful perma-
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1 nent resident of the United States or a United States cit2 izen and must agree in writing to complete a course of 

3 studies and receive a degree in petroleum, mining, or min4 eral engineering, petroleum geology, mining and economic 

5 geology, petroleum and mining geophysics, or mineral eco6 nomics. 

7 ‘‘(c) The regulations required by section 9 shall re8 quire that an individual, in order to retain a scholarship 

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

10 of studies listed in subsection (b) of this section, must re11 main in good academic standing, as determined by the 

12 school, institution, or university and must allow for rein13 statement of the scholarship or graduate fellowship by the 

14 Secretary, upon the recommendation of the school or insti15 tution. Such regulations may also provide for recovery of 

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

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

18 after notice that such completion is a requirement of re19 ceipt funding under this Act. 

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

21 ‘‘(a) Funds available under this Act shall be paid at 

22 such times and in such amounts during each fiscal year 

23 as determined by the Secretary, and upon vouchers ap24 proved by the Secretary. Each school, university, or insti25 tution that receives funds under this Act shall— 
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1 ‘‘(1) establish its plan to provide for the train2 ing of individuals as petroleum or mineral engineers 

3 and scientists under a curriculum appropriate to the 

4 field of mineral resources and mineral engineering 

5 and related fields; 

6 ‘‘(2) establish policies and procedures that as7 sure that Federal funds made available under this 

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

9 extent practicable, increase the level of funds that 

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

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

12 case supplant such funds; and 

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

14 authority who shall receive and account for all funds 

15 paid under this Act and shall make an annual report 

16 to the Secretary on or before the first day of Sep17 tember of each year, on work accomplished and the 

18 status of projects underway, together with a detailed 

19 statement of the amounts received under this Act 

20 during the preceding fiscal year, and of its disburse21 ments on schedules prescribed by the Secretary. 

22 ‘‘(b) If any of the funds received by the authorized 

23 receiving officer of a program under this Act are found 

24 by the Secretary to have been improperly diminished, lost, 
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1 or misapplied, such funds shall be recovered by the Sec2 retary. 

3 ‘‘(c) Schools, universities, and institutions receiving 

4 funds under this Act are authorized and encouraged to 

5 plan and conduct programs under this Act in cooperation 

6 with each other and with such other agencies, business en7 terprises and individuals. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 9. DUTIES OF SECRETARY. 

9 ‘‘(a) The Secretary, acting through the Assistant Sec10 retary for Land and Minerals Management, shall admin11 ister this Act and, after consultation with other interested 

12 Federal agencies, shall prescribe such rules and regula13 tions as may be necessary to carry out its provisions not 

14 later than 1 year after the enactment of the Domestic En15 ergy Production through Offshore Exploration and Equi16 table Treatment of State Holdings Act of 2006. 

17 ‘‘(b) The Secretary shall furnish such advice and as18 sistance as will best promote the purposes of this Act, 

19 shall participate in coordinating research, investigations, 

20 demonstrations, and experiments initiated under this Act, 

21 shall indicate to schools, universities, and institutions re22 ceiving funds under this Act such lines of inquiry that 

23 seem most important, and shall encourage and assist in 

24 the establishment and maintenance of cooperation between 

25 such schools, universities, and institutions, other research 
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1 organizations, the Department of the Interior, and other 

2 Federal agencies. 

3 ‘‘(c) On or before the first day of July of each year 

4 beginning after the date of enactment of this sentence, 

5 schools, universities, and institutions receiving funds 

6 under this Act shall certify compliance with this Act. An 

7 individual granted a scholarship or fellowship with funds 

8 provided under this Act, shall through their respective 

9 school, university, or institution, advise the Secretary upon 

10 completion of the course of studies and the awarding of 

11 the degree within 30 days after the award. As needed the 

12 Secretary shall ascertain whether the requirements of this 

13 Act have been met by schools, universities, and institutions 

14 and individuals. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 10. COORDINATION. 

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

17 or modify the legal relationship existing between any of 

18 the schools, universities, and institutions under whose di19 rection a program is established with funds provided under 

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

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

22 to authorize Federal control or direction of education at 

23 any school, university, or institution. 

24 ‘‘(b) The programs authorized by this Act are in25 tended to enhance the Nation’s petroleum, mining, and 
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1 mineral engineering education programs and to enhance 

2 educational programs in petroleum and mining exploration 

3 and to increase the number of individuals enrolled in and 

4 completing these programs. To achieve this intent, the 

5 Secretary and the Committee established by section 11 

6 shall receive the continuing advice and cooperation of all 

7 agencies of the Federal Government concerned with the 

8 identification, exploration, and development energy and 

9 mineral resources. 

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

11 be construed as giving the Secretary any authority over 

12 mining and mineral resources research conducted by any 

13 agency of the Federal Government, or as repealing or di14 minishing existing authorities or responsibilities of any 

15 agency of the Federal Government to plan and conduct, 

16 contract for, or assist in research in its area of responsi17 bility and concern with regard to mining and mineral re18 sources. 

19 ‘‘(d) The schools, universities, and institutions receiv20 ing funding under this Act shall generally make publicly 

21 available the information and reports on projects com22 pleted, in progress, or planned with funds provided under 

23 this Act. This information shall be made available on an 

24 annual basis. All uses, products, processes, patents, and 

25 other developments resulting from any research, dem-
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1 onstration, or experiment funded in whole or in part under 

2 this Act shall be made available promptly to the general 

3 public, subject to exception or limitation, if any, as the 

4 Secretary may find necessary in the interest of national 

5 security. Schools, universities, and institutions receiving 

6 patents for inventions funded in whole or in part under 

7 this Act shall be governed by the applicable Federal law, 

8 except that one percent of gross revenues derived from 

9 such patents shall be paid by the schools and the institu10 tions to the Federal Energy and Mineral Resources Pro11 fessional Development Fund established by section 23(a) 

12 of the Domestic Energy Production through Offshore Ex13 ploration and Equitable Treatment of State Holdings Act 

14 of 2006. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 11. COMMITTEE ON PETROLEUM, MINING, AND MIN16 ERAL ENGINEERING AND ENERGY AND MIN17 ERAL RESOURCE EDUCATION. 

18 ‘‘(a) The Secretary shall appoint a Committee on Pe19 troleum, Mining, and Mineral Engineering and Energy 

20 and Mineral Resource Education composed of— 

21 ‘‘(1) the Assistant Secretary of the Interior re22 sponsible for land and minerals management and 

23 not more than 16 other persons who are knowledge24 able in the fields of mining and mineral resources re25 search, including 2 university administrators one of 
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1 whom shall be from historic and existing petroleum 

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

3 college administrator; a career technical education 

4 educator; 6 representatives equally distributed from 

5 the petroleum, mining, and aggregate industries; a 

6 working miner; a working oilfield worker; a rep7 resentative of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact 

8 Commission; a representative from the Interstate 

9 Mining Compact Commission; a representative from 

10 the Western Governors Association; a representative 

11 of the State geologists, and a representative of a 

12 State mining and reclamation agency. In making 

13 these 16 appointments, the Secretary shall consult 

14 with interested groups. 

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

16 Minerals Management, in the capacity of the Chair17 man of the Committee, may have present during 

18 meetings of the Committee representatives of Fed19 eral agencies with responsibility for energy and min20 erals resources management, energy and mineral re21 source investigations, energy and mineral commodity 

22 information, international trade in energy and min23 eral commodities, mining regulation and mine safety 

24 research, and research into the development, produc25 tion, and utilization of energy and mineral commod-
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1 ities. These representatives shall serve as technical 

2 advisors to the committee and shall have no voting 

3 responsibilities. 

4 ‘‘(b) The Committee shall consult with, and make rec5 ommendations to, the Secretary on all matters relating to 

6 funding energy and mineral resources research and the 

7 awarding and allocation of funding made under this Act. 

8 The Secretary shall consult with and carefully consider 

9 recommendations of the Committee in such matters. 

10 ‘‘(c) Committee members, other than officers or em11 ployees of Federal, State, or local governments, shall be, 

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

13 performing Committee business, paid at a rate fixed by 

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

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

16 Schedule under section 5136 of title 5, United States 

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

18 and related expenses. 

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

20 Secretary of the Interior responsible for land and minerals 

21 management. There shall also be elected a Vice Chairman 

22 by the Committee from among the members referred to 

23 in this section. The Vice Chairman shall perform such du24 ties as are determined to be appropriate by the committee, 

25 except that the Chairman of the Committee must person-
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1 ally preside at all meetings of the full Committee. The 

2 Committee may organize itself into such subcommittees as 

3 the Committee may deem appropriate. 

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

5 section 385 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Com6 mittee shall consider the recommendations of the report, 

7 ongoing efforts in the schools, universities, and institu8 tions receiving funding under this Act, the Federal and 

9 State Governments, and the private sector, and shall for10 mulate and recommend to the Secretary a national plan 

11 for a program utilizing the fiscal resources provided under 

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

13 Secretary for approval. Upon approval, the plan shall 

14 guide the Secretary and the Committee in their actions 

15 under this Act. 

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

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

18 ‘‘SEC. 12. CAREER TECHNICAL EDUCATION. 

19 ‘‘(a) Up to 15 percent of the annual outlay of funds 

20 under this Act may be granted to schools or institutions 

21 including, but not limited to, colleges, universities, commu22 nity colleges, tribal colleges, technical institutes, and sec23 ondary schools, other than those described in sections 3, 

24 4, 5, and 6. 
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1 ‘‘(b) The Secretary, as advised by the Committee es2 tablished under section 11, shall determine the eligibility 

3 of a school or institution to receive funding under this sec4 tion using criteria that include— 

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

6 training, including vocational education for individ7 uals seeking to enter the oil and gas, coal mining, 

8 or mineral mining industries in a skilled technical 

9 trade offered by the schools or institutions referred 

10 to in subsection (a); or 

11 ‘‘(2) the presence of a State-approved program 

12 of career technical education at a secondary school, 

13 offered cooperatively with a schools or institutions 

14 referred to in subsection (a) in one of the industrial 

15 sectors of— 

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

17 ‘‘(B) utilities; 

18 ‘‘(C) construction; 

19 ‘‘(D) manufacturing; and 

20 ‘‘(E) transportation and warehousing. 

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

22 section must show evidence of an institutional commit23 ment for the purposes career technical education and pro24 vide evidence that the school or institution can obtain in-
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1 dustrial cooperation in activities within the scope of this 

2 Act. 

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

4 this section must agree to maintain the programs for 

5 which the funding is sought for a period of 10 years begin6 ning on the date the school or institution receives such 

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

8 time is appropriate for the local labor market or is re9 quired by State authorities.’’. 

10 SEC. 24. ONSHORE AND OFFSHORE MINERAL LEASE FEES. 

11 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the De12 partment of the Interior is prohibited from charging fees 

13 applicable to actions on Federal onshore and offshore oil 

14 and gas, coal, geothermal, and other mineral leases, in15 cluding transportation of any production from such leases, 

16 if such fees were not established in final regulations prior 

17 to the date of issuance of the lease. 

18 SEC. 25. OCS REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS. 

19 The headquarters for the Gulf of Mexico Region shall 

20 permanently be located within the State of Louisiana with21 in 25 miles of the center of Jackson Square, New Orleans, 

22 Louisiana. Further, not later than July 1, 2008, the Sec23 retary of the Interior shall establish the headquarters for 

24 the Atlantic OCS Region and the headquarters for the Pa25 cific OCS Region within a State bordering the Atlantic 
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1 OCS Region and a State bordering the Pacific OCS Re2 gion, respectively, from among the States bordering those 

3 Regions, that petitions by no later than January 1, 2008, 

4 for leasing, for oil and gas or natural gas, covering at least 

5 40 percent of the area of its Adjacent Zone within 100 

6 miles of the coastline. Such Atlantic and Pacific OCS Re7 gions headquarters shall be located within 25 miles of the 

8 coastline and each MMS OCS regional headquarters shall 

9 be the permanent duty station for all Minerals Manage10 ment Service personnel that on a daily basis spend on av11 erage 60 percent or more of their time in performance of 

12 duties in support of the activities of the respective Region, 

13 except that the Minerals Management Service may house 

14 regional inspection staff in other locations. Each OCS Re15 gion shall each be led by a Regional Director who shall 

16 be an employee within the Senior Executive Service. 

17 SEC. 26. NATIONAL GEOLOGIC DATA AND MAPPING FUND 

18 ACT OF 2005. 

19 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the 

20 ‘‘National Geologic Data and Mapping Fund Act of 

21 2006’’. 

22 (b) PURPOSES.—The purpose of this section is to— 

23 (1) establish a fund to provide funding for geo24 logic mapping and the preservation and use of geo25 logic data; 
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1 (2) make available receipts derived from sales, 

2 bonus bids, and royalties from onshore and offshore 

3 gas, minerals, oil, and any additional form of energy 

4 exploration and development under the laws of the 

5 United States for the purposes of the such fund; 

6 (3) distribute funds from such fund each fiscal 

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

8 and 

9 (4) use the distributed funds to secure the nec10 essary trained workforce, contractual services, and 

11 other support, including maintenance and capital in12 vestments, to conduct geologic mapping and preserve 

13 and make geologic data available for use. 

14 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 (1) GEOLOGIC FUND.—The term ‘‘Geologic 

16 Fund’’ means the National Geologic Data and Map17 ping Fund established by subsection (d). 

18 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

19 geological survey, the agency that acts as the State 

20 geological survey, or any other State government 

21 agency primarily responsible for geologic mapping or 

22 geologic data preservation (or both) within a State. 

23 (d) ESTABLISHMENT AND USE OF NATIONAL GEO24 LOGIC DATA AND MAPPING FUND.— 
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1 (1) GEOLOGIC FUND.—There is established in 

2 the Treasury a separate account to be known as the 

3 ‘‘National Geologic Data and Mapping Fund’’. 

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

5 shall deposit in the Enhancement Fund— 

6 (A) such sums as are provided by sections 

7 9(b)(5)(A)(iv), 9(b)(5)(B)(iv), 9(c)(4)(A)(iv), 

8 and 9(c)(4)(B)(iv) of the Outer Continental 

9 Shelf Lands Act, as amended by this Act; 

10 (B)(i) during the period of October 1, 

11 2006, through September 30, 2015, 0.1 percent 

12 of all sums paid into the Treasury under sec13 tion 35 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

14 191), and 

15 (ii) beginning October 1, 2015, and there16 after, 0.5 percent of all sums paid into the 

17 Treasury under section 35 of the Mineral Leas18 ing Act (30 U.S.C. 191); and 

19 (C)(i) during the period of October 1, 

20 2006, through September 30, 2015, 0.1 percent 

21 of all sums paid into the Treasury from receipts 

22 derived from bonus bids and royalties from 

23 other mineral leasing on public lands, and 

24 (ii) beginning October 1, 2015, and there25 after, 0.5 percent of all sums paid into the 
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1 Treasury from receipts derived from bonus bids 

2 and royalties from other mineral leasing on 

3 public lands. 

4 (3) INVESTMENTS.—The Secretary of the 

5 Treasury shall invest the amounts deposited under 

6 paragraph (2) and all accrued interest on the 

7 amounts deposited under paragraph (2) only in in8 terest bearing obligations of the United States or in 

9 obligations guaranteed as to both principal and in10 terest by the United States. 

11 (4) AVAILABILITY TO SECRETARY OF THE IN12 TERIOR.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning with fiscal 

14 year 2007, and in each fiscal year thereafter, 

15 one-third of amounts deposited into the Geo16 logic Fund, together with the interest thereon, 

17 shall be available, without fiscal year limita18 tions, to the Secretary of the Interior for use 

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

20 (B) WITHDRAWALS AND TRANSFER OF

21 FUNDS.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall 

22 withdraw such amounts from the Geologic Fund 

23 as the Secretary of the Interior may request, 

24 subject to the limitation in subparagraph (A), 

25 and transfer such amounts to the Secretary of 
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1 the Interior to be used, at the discretion of the 

2 Secretary of the Interior, by the Minerals Man3 agement Service, the Bureau of Land Manage4 ment, and the United States Geological Survey 

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

6 No funds distributed from the Geologic Fund 

7 may be used to purchase an interest in land. 

8 (5) PAYMENT TO STATES.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning with fiscal 

10 year 2007, and in each fiscal year thereafter, 

11 two-thirds of amounts deposited into the Geo12 logic Fund, together with the interest thereon, 

13 shall be available, without fiscal year limita14 tions, to the States for use for the purposes de15 scribed in subsection (b)(4). 

16 (B) WITHDRAWALS AND TRANSFER OF

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

18 year, the Secretary of the Treasury shall with19 draw amounts from the Geologic Fund and 

20 transfer such amounts to the States based on 

21 a formula devised by the Secretary of the Inte22 rior based on the relative geologic mapping and 

23 data preservation needs of the States. 

24 (C) USE OF PAYMENTS BY STATES.—Each 

25 State shall use the payments made under sub-
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1 paragraph (B) only for carrying out projects 

2 and programs for the purposes described in 

3 subsection (b)(4). No funds distributed from 

4 the Geologic Fund may be used to purchase an 

5 interest in land. 

6 (D) ENCOURAGEMENT OF USE OF PRIVATE

7 FUNDS BY STATES.—Each State shall use the 

8 payments made under subparagraph (B) to le9 verage private funds for carrying out projects 

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

11 (e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Beginning in fiscal year 

12 2008 and continuing for each fiscal year thereafter, the 

13 Secretary of the Interior and each State receiving funds 

14 from the Geologic Fund shall submit a report to the Com15 mittee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate 

16 and the Committee on Resources of the House of Rep17 resentatives. Reports submitted to the Congress by the 

18 Secretary of the Interior and the States shall include de19 tailed information regarding expenditures during the pre20 vious fiscal year. 

21 SEC. 27. LEASES FOR AREAS LOCATED WITHIN 100 MILES 

22 OF CALIFORNIA OR FLORIDA. 

23 (a) AUTHORIZATION TO CANCEL AND EXCHANGE

24 CERTAIN EXISTING OIL AND GAS LEASES; PROHIBITION
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1 ON SUBMITTAL OF EXPLORATION PLANS FOR CERTAIN

2 LEASES PRIOR TO JUNE 30, 2012.— 

3 (1) AUTHORITY.—Effective 180 days after the 

4 date of enactment of this subtitle, the lessee of an 

5 existing oil and gas lease for an area located com6 pletely within 100 miles of the coastline within the 

7 California or Florida Adjacent Zones shall have the 

8 option, without compensation, of exchanging such 

9 lease for a new oil and gas lease having a primary 

10 term of 5 years. For the area subject to the new 

11 lease, the lessee may select any unleased tract at 

12 least part of which is located within the area be13 tween 100 and 125 miles from the coastline, and 

14 completely beyond 100 miles from the coastline, 

15 within the same Adjacent State’s Adjacent Zone as 

16 the lease being exchanged. 

17 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS.—The Secretary 

18 of the Interior shall establish a reasonable adminis19 trative process through which a lessee may exercise 

20 its option to exchange an oil and gas lease for a new 

21 oil and gas lease as provided for in this section. 

22 Such exchanges, including the issuance of new 

23 leases, shall not be considered to be major Federal 

24 actions for purposes of the National Environmental 

25 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). Fur-
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1 ther, such exchanges conducted in accordance with 

2 this section are deemed to be in compliance all provi3 sions of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 

4 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.). The Secretary shall issue a 

5 new lease in exchange for the lease being exchanged 

6 notwithstanding that the area that will be subject to 

7 the lease may be withdrawn from leasing under the 

8 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act or otherwise un9 available for leasing under the provisions of any 

10 other law. 

11 (3) OPERATING RESTRICTIONS.—A new lease 

12 issued in exchange for an existing lease under this 

13 section shall be subject to such national defense op14 erating restrictions on the OCS tract covered by the 

15 new lease as may be applicable upon issuance. 

16 (4) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give pri17 ority in the lease exchange process based on the 

18 amount of the original bonus bid paid for the 

19 issuance of each lease to be exchanged. The Sec20 retary shall allow leases covering partial tracts to be 

21 exchanged for leases covering full tracts conditioned 

22 upon payment of additional bonus bids on a per-acre 

23 basis as determined by the average per acre of the 

24 original bonus bid per acre for the partial tract 

25 being exchanged. 
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1 (5) EXPLORATION PLANS.—Any exploration 

2 plan submitted to the Secretary of the Interior after 

3 the date of the enactment of this Act and before 

4 July 1, 2012, for an oil and gas lease for an area 

5 wholly within 100 miles of the coastline within the 

6 California Adjacent Zone or Florida Adjacent Zone 

7 shall not be treated as received by the Secretary 

8 until the earlier of July 1, 2012, or the date on 

9 which a petition by the Adjacent State for oil and 

10 gas leasing covering the area within which is located 

11 the area subject to the oil and gas lease was ap12 proved. 

13 (b) FURTHER LEASE CANCELLATION AND EX14 CHANGE PROVISIONS.— 

15 (1) CANCELLATION OF LEASE.—As part of the 

16 lease exchange process under this section, the Sec17 retary shall cancel a lease that is exchanged under 

18 this section. 

19 (2) CONSENT OF LESSEES.—All lessees holding 

20 an interest in a lease must consent to cancellation 

21 of their leasehold interests in order for the lease to 

22 be cancelled and exchanged under this section. 

23 (3) WAIVER OF RIGHTS.—As a prerequisite to 

24 the exchange of a lease under this section, the lessee 
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1 must waive any rights to bring any litigation against 

2 the United States related to the transaction. 

3 (4) PLUGGING AND ABANDONMENT.—The plug4 ging and abandonment requirements for any wells 

5 located on any lease to be cancelled and exchanged 

6 under this section must be complied with by the les7 sees prior to the cancellation and exchange. 

8 (c) AREA PARTIALLY WITHIN 100 MILES OF FLOR9 IDA.—An existing oil and gas lease for an area located 

10 partially within 100 miles of the coastline within the Flor11 ida Adjacent Zone may only be developed and produced 

12 using wells drilled from well-head locations at least 100 

13 miles from the coastline to any bottom-hole location on 

14 the area of the lease. 

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. 28. COASTAL IMPACT ASSISTANCE. 

20 Section 31 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

21 (43 U.S.C. 1356a) is repealed. 

22 SEC. 29. 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) INITIAL PRODUCTION.—For the first 

14 10 years after initial production under each oil 

15 shale or tar sands lease issued under the com16 mercial leasing program established under sub17 section (d), the Secretary shall set the royalty 

18 rate at not less than 1 percent nor more than 

19 3 percent of the gross value of production. 

20 However, the initial production period royalty 

21 rate set by the Secretary shall not apply to pro22 duction occurring more than 15 years after the 

23 date of issuance of the lease. 

24 ‘‘(B) SUBSEQUENT PERIODS.—After the 

25 periods of time specified in subparagraph (A), 
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1 the Secretary shall set the royalty rate on each 

2 oil shale or tar sands lease issued under the 

3 commercial leasing program established under 

4 subsection (d) at not less than 6 percent nor 

5 more than 9 percent of the gross value of pro6 duction. 

7 ‘‘(C) REDUCTION.—The Secretary shall re8 duce any royalty otherwise required to be paid 

9 under subparagraphs (A) and (B) under any oil 

10 shale or tar sands lease on a sliding scale based 

11 upon market price, with a 10 percent reduction 

12 if the monthly average price of NYMEX West 

13 Texas Intermediate crude oil at Cushing, Okla14 homa, (WTI) drops below $50 (in 2005 dollars) 

15 for the month in which the production is sold, 

16 and an 80 percent reduction if the monthly av17 erage price of WTI drops below $30 (in 2005 

18 dollars) for the month in which the production 

19 is sold. 

20 ‘‘(3) DISPOSITION OF REVENUES.— 

21 ‘‘(A) DEPOSIT.—The Secretary shall de22 posit into a separate account in the Treasury 

23 all revenues derived from any oil shale or tar 

24 sands lease. 
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1 ‘‘(B) ALLOCATIONS TO STATES AND LOCAL

2 POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS.—The Secretary shall 

3 allocate 50 percent of the revenues deposited 

4 into the account established under subpara5 graph (A) to the State within the boundaries of 

6 which the leased lands are located, with a por7 tion of that to be paid directly by the Secretary 

8 to the State’s local political subdivisions as pro9 vided in this paragraph. 

10 ‘‘(C) TRANSMISSION OF ALLOCATIONS.— 

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the 

12 last business day of the month after the 

13 month in which the revenues were received, 

14 the Secretary shall transmit— 

15 ‘‘(I) to each State two-thirds of 

16 such State’s allocations under sub17 paragraph (B), and in accordance 

18 with clauses (ii) and (iii) to certain 

19 county-equivalent and municipal polit20 ical subdivisions of such State a total 

21 of one-third of such State’s allocations 

22 under subparagraph (B), together 

23 with all accrued interest thereon; and 

24 ‘‘(II) the remaining balance of 

25 such revenues deposited into the ac-
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1 count that are not allocated under 

2 subparagraph (B), together with in3 terest thereon, shall be transmitted to 

4 the miscellaneous receipts account of 

5 the Treasury, except that until a lease 

6 has been in production for 20 years 

7 50 percent of such remaining balance 

8 derived from a lease shall be paid in 

9 accordance with subclause (I). 

10 ‘‘(ii) ALLOCATIONS TO CERTAIN

11 COUNTY-EQUIVALENT POLITICAL SUBDIVI12 SIONS.—The Secretary shall under clause 

13 (i)(I) make equitable allocations of the rev14 enues to county-equivalent political sub15 divisions that the Secretary determines are 

16 closely associated with the leasing and pro17 duction of oil shale and tar sands, under a 

18 formula that the Secretary shall determine 

19 by regulation. 

20 ‘‘(iii) ALLOCATIONS TO MUNICIPAL

21 POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS.—The initial al22 location to each county-equivalent political 

23 subdivision under clause (ii) shall be fur24 ther allocated to the county-equivalent po25 litical subdivision and any municipal polit-
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1 ical subdivisions located partially or wholly 

2 within the boundaries of the county-equiva3 lent political subdivision on an equitable 

4 basis under a formula that the Secretary 

5 shall determine by regulation. 

6 ‘‘(D) INVESTMENT OF DEPOSITS.—The de7 posits in the Treasury account established 

8 under this section shall be invested by the Sec9 retary of the Treasury in securities backed by 

10 the full faith and credit of the United States 

11 having maturities suitable to the needs of the 

12 account and yielding the highest reasonably 

13 available interest rates as determined by the 

14 Secretary of the Treasury. 

15 ‘‘(E) USE OF FUNDS.—A recipient of 

16 funds under this subsection may use the funds 

17 for any lawful purpose as determined by State 

18 law. Funds allocated under this subsection to 

19 States and local political subdivisions may be 

20 used as matching funds for other Federal pro21 grams without limitation. Funds allocated to 

22 local political subdivisions under this subsection 

23 may not be used in calculation of payments to 

24 such local political subdivisions under programs 
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1 for payments in lieu of taxes or other similar 

2 programs. 

3 ‘‘(F) NO ACCOUNTING REQUIRED.—No re4 cipient of funds under this subsection shall be 

5 required to account to the Federal Government 

6 for the expenditure of such funds, except as 

7 otherwise may be required by law. 

8 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

9 ‘‘(A) COUNTY-EQUIVALENT POLITICAL

10 SUBDIVISION.—The term ‘county-equivalent po11 litical subdivision’ means a political jurisdiction 

12 immediately below the level of State govern13 ment, including a county, parish, borough in 

14 Alaska, independent municipality not part of a 

15 county, parish, or borough in Alaska, or other 

16 equivalent subdivision of a State. 

17 ‘‘(B) MUNICIPAL POLITICAL SUBDIVI18 SION.—The term ‘municipal political subdivi19 sion’ means a municipality located within and 

20 part of a county, parish, borough in Alaska, or 

21 other equivalent subdivision of a State.’’. 

Æ