I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1650 

To clarify that the Bureau of Land Management shall not require permits 

for oil and gas activities conducted on non-Federal surface estate to 

access subsurface mineral estate that is less than 50 percent federally 

owned, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 8, 2019 

Ms. CHENEY (for herself, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. HUNTER, and Mr. 

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

A BILL 

To clarify that the Bureau of Land Management shall not 

require permits for oil and gas activities conducted on 

non-Federal surface estate to access subsurface mineral 

estate that is less than 50 percent federally owned, 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 ‘‘Ending Duplicative 

5 Permitting Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ACCESS TO FEDERAL OIL AND GAS FROM NON-FED2 ERAL SURFACE ESTATE. 

3 Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

4 226) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(q) NO FEDERAL PERMIT REQUIRED FOR OIL AND

6 GAS ACTIVITIES ON CERTAIN LAND.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall not re8 quire an operator to obtain a Federal drilling permit 

9 for oil and gas exploration and production activities 

10 conducted on non-Federal surface estate, provided 

11 that— 

12 ‘‘(A) the United States holds an ownership 

13 interest of less than 50 percent of the sub14 surface mineral estate to be accessed by the 

15 proposed action; and 

16 ‘‘(B) the operator submits to the Secretary 

17 a State permit to conduct oil and gas explo18 ration and production activities on the non-Fed19 eral surface estate. 

20 ‘‘(2) NO FEDERAL ACTION.—Oil and gas explo21 ration and production activities carried out under 

22 paragraph (1)— 

23 ‘‘(A) shall require no additional Federal 

24 action; 

25 ‘‘(B) may commence 30 days after submis26 sion of the State permit to the Secretary; 


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1 ‘‘(C) are categorically excluded from any 

2 further analysis and documentation under the 

3 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

4 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 

5 ‘‘(D) shall not require any analysis under 

6 section 106 of the National Historic Preserva7 tion Act of 1966, as amended (54 U.S.C. 

8 306108); and 

9 ‘‘(E) shall not require any analysis, assess10 ment, or consultation under section 7 of the 

11 Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

12 1536). 

13 ‘‘(3) ROYALTIES AND PRODUCTION ACCOUNT14 ABILITY.—(A) Nothing in this subsection shall affect 

15 the amount of royalties due to the United States 

16 under this Act from the production of oil and gas, 

17 or alter the Secretary’s authority to conduct audits 

18 and collect civil penalties pursuant to the Federal 

19 Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982 (30 

20 U.S.C. 1711 et seq.). 

21 ‘‘(B) The Secretary may conduct on-site reviews 

22 and inspections to ensure proper accountability, 

23 measurement, and reporting of production of Fed24 eral oil and gas, and payment of royalties. 


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1 ‘‘(4) EXCEPTIONS.—This subsection shall not 

2 apply to actions on Indian lands or resources man3 aged in trust for the benefit of Indian tribes.’’. 

Æ 


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