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[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 600 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 600

To promote the diligent development of Federal oil and gas leases, and 
                          for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 16, 2011

  Mr. Menendez (for himself, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Nelson of Florida, Mr. 
 Whitehouse, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Franken, and Mr. Merkley) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                      Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To promote the diligent development of Federal oil and gas leases, and 
                          for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Use It or Lose It Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. DILIGENT DEVELOPMENT OF FEDERAL OIL AND GAS LEASES.

    (a) Clarification of Existing Law.--Each lease that authorizes the 
exploration for or production of oil or natural gas under a provision 
of law described in subsection (b) shall be diligently developed by the 
person holding the lease in order to ensure timely production from the 
lease.
    (b) Covered Provisions.--Subsection (a) shall apply to--
            (1) section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226); 
        and
            (2) the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 
        et seq.).

SEC. 3. NONPRODUCING LEASE FEE.

    (a) Onshore Oil and Gas Leases.--Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing 
Act (30 U.S.C. 226) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(q) Nonproducing Lease Fee.--In the case of any lease for oil or 
gas issued on or after the date of enactment of this subsection, as a 
condition of the lease, the Secretary shall require the lessee to pay 
an annual fee of $4 per acre on the acres covered by the lease if 
production is not occurring.''.
    (b) Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leases.--Section 8 of the 
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337(d)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``(d) No bid'' and inserting the following:
    ``(d) Due Diligence.--
            ``(1) In general.--No bid''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Nonproducing lease fee.--In the case of any lease for 
        oil or gas issued on or after the date of enactment of this 
        paragraph, as a condition of the lease, the Secretary shall 
        require the lessee to pay an annual fee of $4 per acre on the 
        acres covered by the lease if production is not occurring.''.

SEC. 4. REGULATIONS.

    In the case of leases covered by this Act and the amendments made 
by this Act, not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall issue regulations that--
            (1) set forth requirements and benchmarks for oil and gas 
        development that will ensure that leaseholders--
                    (A) diligently develop each lease; and
                    (B) to the maximum extent practicable, produce oil 
                and gas from each lease during the primary term of the 
                lease;
            (2) require each leaseholder to submit to the Secretary a 
        diligent development plan describing how the lessee will meet 
        the benchmarks;
            (3) in establishing requirements under paragraphs (1) and 
        (2), take into account the differences in development 
        conditions and circumstances in the areas to be developed; and
            (4) implement the fee requirements established by the 
        amendments made by section 3.
                                 <all>
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