I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1840 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct offshore oil and gas 

Lease Sale 220 as soon as practicable, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 16, 2015 

Mr. RIGELL (for himself, Mrs. COMSTOCK, Mr. GRIFFITH, Mr. HURT of Virginia, and Mr. WITTMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct offshore 

oil and gas Lease Sale 220 as soon as practicable, 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 ‘‘Virginia Jobs and En5 ergy Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LEASE SALE 220 AND OTHER OCS OIL AND GAS 

7 LEASE SALES OFFSHORE VIRGINIA. 

8 (a) CONDUCT OF LEASE SALE.—Notwithstanding in9 clusion in the current 5-year oil and gas leasing program 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 1840 IH

1 under section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 

2 Act (43 U.S.C. 1344), the Secretary of the Interior shall 

3 conduct lease sale 220 (as defined in the Draft Proposed 

4 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Pro5 gram for 2010–2015 as published in the Federal Register 

6 on January 21, 2009 (74 Fed. Reg. 3631)) under section 

7 8 of such Act (43 U.S.C. 1337) as soon as practicable, 

8 but not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 

9 this Act. 

10 (b) INCLUSION IN FUTURE LEASING PROGRAMS.— 

11 Notwithstanding inclusion in the 2017–2022 OCS Oil and 

12 Gas Leasing Program, the Secretary of the Interior shall 

13 include at least 2 lease sales in the Virginia lease sale 

14 planning area (as defined in section 4(c)(4)) in each 5- 

15 year oil and gas leasing program that applies after the 

16 current leasing program. 

17 SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF MILITARY OPERATIONS. 

18 (a) PROHIBITION.—No person may engage in any ex19 ploration, development, or production of oil or natural gas 

20 off the coast of Virginia that would conflict with any mili21 tary operation, as determined in accordance with the 

22 Memorandum of Agreement between the Department of 

23 Defense and the Department of the Interior on Mutual 

24 Concerns on the Outer Continental Shelf signed July 20, 

25 1983, and any revision or replacement for that agreement 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 1840 IH

1 that is agreed to by the Secretary of Defense and the Sec2 retary of the Interior after that date but before the date 

3 of issuance of the lease under which such exploration, de4 velopment, or production is conducted. 

5 (b) REVIEW AND UPDATING OF MOA.—The Sec6 retary of the Interior and the Secretary of Defense shall 

7 periodically review and revise such memorandum of agree8 ment to account for new offshore energy production tech9 nologies, including those that use wind energy. 

10 SEC. 4. DISPOSITION OF REVENUE. 

11 (a) PAYMENT OF NEW LEASING REVENUES TO

12 STATES.—Notwithstanding section 9 of the Outer Conti13 nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1338), of the amount 

14 of new leasing revenues received by the United States each 

15 fiscal year under any lease issued under this Act, 37.5 

16 percent shall be allocated and paid in accordance with sub17 section (b) to States that are affected States with respect 

18 to the leases under which those revenues are received by 

19 the United States. 

20 (b) ALLOCATION OF PAYMENTS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amount of new leasing 

22 revenues received by the United States with respect 

23 to a leased tract that are required to be paid to 

24 States in accordance with this subsection each fiscal 

25 year shall be allocated among and paid to States 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 1840 IH

1 that are within 200 miles of the leased tract, in 

2 amounts that are inversely proportional to the re3 spective distances between the point on the coastline 

4 of each such State that is closest to the geographic 

5 center of the lease tract, as determined by the Sec6 retary. 

7 (2) MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM ALLOCATION.— 

8 The amount allocated to a State under paragraph 

9 (1) each fiscal year with respect to a leased tract 

10 shall be— 

11 (A) in the case of a State that is the near12 est State to the geographic center of the leased 

13 tract, not less than 25 percent of the total 

14 amounts allocated with respect to the leased 

15 tract; and 

16 (B) in the case of any other State, not less 

17 than 10 percent, and not more than 15 percent, 

18 of the total amounts allocated with respect to 

19 the leased tract. 

20 (3) ADMINISTRATION.—Amounts allocated to a 

21 State under this subsection— 

22 (A) shall be available to the State without 

23 further appropriation; 

24 (B) shall remain available until expended; 

25 and 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 1840 IH

1 (C) shall be in addition to any other 

2 amounts available to the State under the Outer 

3 Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 

4 et seq.). 

5 (4) USE OF FUNDS.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

7 subparagraph (B), a State may use funds allo8 cated and paid to it under this subsection for 

9 any purpose as determined by the laws of that 

10 State. 

11 (B) RESTRICTION ON USE FOR MATCH12 ING.—Funds allocated and paid to a State 

13 under this subsection may not be used as 

14 matching funds for any other Federal program. 

15 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

16 (1) AFFECTED STATE.—The term ‘‘affected 

17 State’’ has the meaning that term has under section 

18 2 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 

19 U.S.C. 1331). 

20 (2) NEW LEASING REVENUES.—The term ‘‘new 

21 leasing revenues’’ means amounts received by the 

22 United States as bonuses, rents, and royalties under 

23 leases for oil and gas, wind, tidal, or other energy 

24 exploration, development, and production on areas of 

25 the Outer Continental Shelf that are authorized to 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 1840 IH

1 be made available for leasing as a result of enact2 ment of this Act. 

3 (3) VIRGINIA LEASE SALE PLANNING AREA.— 

4 The term ‘‘Virginia lease sale planning area’’ means 

5 the area of the outer Continental Shelf (as that term 

6 is defined in the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

7 (33 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.)) that has— 

8 (A) a boundary consisting of a straight 

9 line extending from the northernmost point of 

10 Virginia’s seaward boundary to the point on the 

11 seaward boundary of the United States exclu12 sive economic zone located at 37 degrees 17 

13 minutes 1 second North latitude, 71 degrees 5 

14 minutes 16 seconds West longitude; and 

15 (B) a southern boundary consisting of a 

16 straight line extending from the southernmost 

17 point of Virginia’s seaward boundary to the 

18 point on the seaward boundary of the United 

19 States exclusive economic zone located at 36 de20 grees 31 minutes 58 seconds North latitude, 71 

21 degrees 30 minutes 1 second West longitude. 

22 SEC. 5. OFFSHORE METEOROLOGICAL SITE TESTING AND 

23 MONITORING PROJECTS. 

24 (a) OFFSHORE METEOROLOGICAL PROJECT PERMIT25 TING.— 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 1840 IH

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte2 rior shall by regulation require that any applicant 

3 seeking to conduct an offshore meteorological site 

4 testing and monitoring project on the outer Conti5 nental Shelf (as that term is defined in the Outer 

6 Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et 

7 seq.)) must obtain a permit and right of way for the 

8 project in accordance with this subsection. 

9 (2) PERMIT AND RIGHT-OF-WAY TIMELINE AND

10 CONDITIONS.— 

11 (A) DEADLINE FOR APPROVAL.—The Sec12 retary shall decide whether to issue a permit 

13 and right of way for an offshore meteorological 

14 site testing and monitoring project within 30 

15 days after receiving an application. 

16 (B) PUBLIC COMMENT AND CONSULTA17 TION.—During the period referred to in sub18 paragraph (A), the Secretary shall— 

19 (i) provide an opportunity for submis20 sion of comments by the public; and 

21 (ii) consult with the Secretary of De22 fense, the Commandant of the Coast 

23 Guard, and the heads of other Federal, 

24 State, and local agencies that would be afVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Apr 25, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1840.IH H1840

SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 1840 IH

1 fected by issuance of the permit and right 

2 of way. 

3 (C) DENIAL OF PERMIT; OPPORTUNITY TO

4 REMEDY DEFICIENCIES.—If the application is 

5 denied, the Secretary shall provide the appli6 cant— 

7 (i) in writing, clear and comprehensive 

8 reasons why the application was not ap9 proved and detailed information concerning 

10 any deficiencies in the application; and 

11 (ii) an opportunity to remedy such de12 ficiencies. 

13 (b) NEPA EXCLUSION.—Section 102(2)(C) of the 

14 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

15 4332(2)(C)) shall not apply with respect to an offshore 

16 meteorological site testing and monitoring project. 

17 (c) PROTECTION OF INFORMATION.—The informa18 tion provided to the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to 

19 subsection (d)(3) shall be treated by the Secretary as pro20 prietary information and protected against disclosure. 

21 (d) DEFINITION OF AN OFFSHORE METEOROLOG22 ICAL SITE TESTING AND MONITORING PROJECT.—In this 

23 section, the term ‘‘offshore meteorological site testing and 

24 monitoring project’’ means a project carried out on or in 

25 the waters of the Outer Continental Shelf administered 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 1840 IH

1 by the Department of the Interior to test or monitor 

2 weather (including wind, tidal, current, and solar energy) 

3 using towers, buoys, or other temporary ocean infrastruc4 ture, that— 

5 (1) causes— 

6 (A) less than 1 acre of surface or seafloor 

7 disruption at the location of each meteorological 

8 tower or other device; and 

9 (B) not more than 5 acres of surface or 

10 seafloor disruption within the proposed area af11 fected by the project (including hazards to navi12 gation); 

13 (2) is decommissioned not more than 5 years 

14 after the date of commencement of the project, in15 cluding— 

16 (A) removal of towers, buoys, or other tem17 porary ocean infrastructure from the project 

18 site; and 

19 (B) restoration of the project site to ap20 proximately the original condition of the site; 

21 and 

22 (3) provides meteorological information ob23 tained by the project to the Secretary of the Inte24 rior. 

Æ 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS