IB 

Union Calendar No. 552 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5577 

[Report No. 114–713] 

To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to authorize the Secretary 

of the Interior to conduct offshore oil and gas lease sales through 

Internet-based live lease sales, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 24, 2016 

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana (for himself and Mr. LOWENTHAL) introduced the 

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

SEPTEMBER 6, 2016 

Additional sponsors: Mr. BOUSTANY, Mr. ABRAHAM, Mr. FLEMING, and Mr. 

GENE GREEN of Texas 

SEPTEMBER 6, 2016 

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

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

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

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on June 24, 2016] 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 5577 RH

A BILL 

To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct offshore 

oil and gas lease sales through Internet-based live lease 

sales, and for other purposes. 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 5577 RH

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 ‘‘Innovation in Offshore 

5 Leasing Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. INTERNET-BASED OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASE 

7 SALES. 

8 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—Section 8 of the Outer Conti9 nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337) is amended by 

10 adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(q) INTERNET-BASED OIL AND GAS LEASE SALES.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to modernize the 

13 Nation’s offshore leasing program to ensure the best 

14 return to the Federal taxpayer, reduce fraud, and en15 sure a fair and competitive leasing process, the Sec16 retary may conduct lease sales under this section 

17 through Internet-based, sealed-bidding methods. 

18 ‘‘(2) SALE REQUIREMENTS.—Sales conducted 

19 under paragraph (1) shall ensure— 

20 ‘‘(A) a publicly and freely accessible digital 

21 delivery of the bid reading process, such as live 

22 Internet streaming, and an option for bidders to 

23 submit bids electronically; 

24 ‘‘(B) a bidder verification process that dis25 closes to bidders, by no later than 5 p.m. Central 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 5577 RH

1 Time of the day before each sale, a list of all bids 

2 submitted (including the person submitting each 

3 bid) on each lease tract without disclosing bid 

4 amounts; 

5 ‘‘(C) the ability for a bidder to correct a 

6 possible misreading of a submitted bid; 

7 ‘‘(D) a designee from within the Office of 

8 the Solicitor of the Department of the Interior to 

9 act as an independent, third-party observer who 

10 will be present during the bid reading process to 

11 prevent wrongdoing, independently certify the 

12 bidding process, and maintain transparency; 

13 ‘‘(E) data security measures to ensure bid14 der data is kept secure; and 

15 ‘‘(F) a participant survey soliciting vol16 untary feedback from bidders on the bidding 

17 process. 

18 ‘‘(3) TRANSPARENCY IN SALE-DAY STATISTICS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary shall 

20 publicly disclose statistical data regarding each 

21 lease sale under this subsection, on the day the 

22 sale is executed. 

23 ‘‘(B) INCLUDED DATA.—Among data dis24 closed, the Secretary shall include— 

25 ‘‘(i) the total value of high bids; 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 5577 RH

1 ‘‘(ii) the number of tracts offered; 

2 ‘‘(iii) the number of acres offered; 

3 ‘‘(iv) the number of tracts receiving 

4 bids; 

5 ‘‘(v) the number of acres receiving bids; 

6 ‘‘(vi) the total number of bids; 

7 ‘‘(vii) the average number of bids per 

8 tract; 

9 ‘‘(viii) the total number of bidders par10 ticipating; 

11 ‘‘(ix) bidding statistics by water depth; 

12 ‘‘(x) the name of the entity that sub13 mitted each bid, the amount of the bid, and 

14 the tract for which the bid was submitted; 

15 ‘‘(xi) of tracts receiving bids, the num16 ber of bids per tract by water depth; 

17 ‘‘(xii) the tract receiving the greatest 

18 number of bids; 

19 ‘‘(xiii) the tract receiving the highest 

20 bid; and 

21 ‘‘(xiv) any other statistical data that 

22 may be disclosed in accordance with this 

23 Act. 

24 ‘‘(C) DATA TRANSPARENCY.—The Secretary 

25 shall ensure all data regarding lease sales under 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 5577 RH

1 this subsection is publicly available and easily 

2 accessible, free of charge, on the Internet, includ3 ing for download and aggregation in machine4 readable format.’’. 

5 (b) MODERNIZING LEASING THROUGH COLLABORA6 TION.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Before conducting the first 

8 Internet-based lease sale under the amendment made 

9 by this section, the Secretary of the Interior shall 

10 issue a request for information from each company 

11 present for bidding at the ten most recent oil and gas 

12 lease sales conducted by the Secretary under the Outer 

13 Continental Shelf Lands Act, in order to provide the 

14 bidding public sufficient opportunity to share innova15 tive ideas, methods, and concerns regarding Internet16 based leasing. 

17 (2) INTEGRATION OF INFORMATION.—The Sec18 retary shall review, evaluate, and integrate sugges19 tions and concerns collected under paragraph (1) as 

20 the Secretary works to modernize the offshore leasing 

21 process through Internet-based leasing options. 

22 (3) USER WORKSHOP.—The Secretary shall con23 duct not less than one user workshop with viable bid24 ders prior to conducting an Internet-based lease sale 

25 to provide the bidding public with an opportunity to 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 5577 RH

1 beta test any prototype of an Internet-based leasing 

2 platform. 

3 (c) DEADLINE FOR GULF OF MEXICO LEASE SALE.— 

4 Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment 

5 of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall conduct at 

6 least one Internet-based lease sale under the amendment 

7 made by subsection (a) for leasable acreage in the Gulf of 

8 Mexico. 

9 (d) EVALUATING INTERNET-BASED OFFSHORE LEAS10 ING.—Not later than 90 days after the third Internet-based 

11 lease sale conducted under the amendment made by sub12 section (a), the Secretary of the Interior shall analyze all 

13 such Internet-based lease sales and transmit to Congress a 

14 thorough analysis of the sales. The analysis shall include— 

15 (1) estimates of increases or decreases in such 

16 lease sales, compared to sales conducted by non-Inter17 net-based bidding, in— 

18 (A) the number of bidders; 

19 (B) the average amount of bids; 

20 (C) the highest bid; and 

21 (D) the lowest bid; 

22 (2) an estimate of the total cost or savings to the 

23 Department of the Interior as a result of such sales, 

24 compared to sales conducted by non-Internet-based 

25 bidding; 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 5577 RH

1 (3) voluntary and anonymous feedback from per2 sons participating in such sales, on the Internet-based 

3 leasing process and potential areas for improvement 

4 in such sales; and 

5 (4) an evaluation of the demonstrated or ex6 pected effectiveness of different structures for lease 

7 sales that may provide an opportunity to better maxi8 mize bidder participation, ensure the highest return 

9 to the Federal taxpayers, minimize opportunities for 

10 fraud or collusion, and ensure the security and integ11 rity of the leasing process. 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS

SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 552 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5577 

[Report No. 114–713] 

A BILL 

To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

poses. Internet-based live lease sales, and for other purduct offshore oil and gas lease sales through to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conSEPTEMBER 6, 2016 

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


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS