IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1941 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2019 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

AN ACT 

To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to prohibit 

the Secretary of the Interior including in any leasing 

program certain planning areas, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Coastal and Marine 

3 Economies Protection Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. PUBLICATION OF INSPECTION RESULTS. 

5 Section 22(c) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 

6 Act (43 U.S.C. 1348(c)) is amended— 

7 (1) by striking ‘‘The’’ and inserting the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The’’; and 

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

11 ‘‘(b) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall make the 

12 following available to the public: 

13 ‘‘(1) Any reports produced under this sub14 section. 

15 ‘‘(2) The following information about each pay16 ment made into the Ocean Energy Safety Fund 

17 under subsection (g): 

18 ‘‘(A) The facility that was inspected. 

19 ‘‘(B) The name of the operator of such fa20 cility. 

21 ‘‘(C) The amount of the payment.’’. 

22 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON LEASING IN CERTAIN PLANNING 

23 AREAS. 

24 Section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

25 is amended by redesignating subsections (g) and (h) as 


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1 subsections (h) and (i) respectively, and by inserting after 

2 subsection (f) the following: 

3 ‘‘(g) The Secretary shall not include in any leasing 

4 program under this section any area within the Atlantic 

5 Region planning areas or the Pacific Region planning 

6 areas, as such planning areas are described in the docu7 ment entitled ‘Draft Proposed Program Outer Continental 

8 Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program 2019–2024’, dated 

9 January 2018.’’. 

10 SEC. 4. INSPECTION FEE COLLECTION. 

11 Section 22 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

12 (43 U.S.C. 1348) is amended by adding at the end the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(g) INSPECTION FEES.— 

15 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of the 

16 Interior shall collect from the operators of facilities 

17 subject to inspection under subsection (c) non-re18 fundable fees for such inspections— 

19 ‘‘(A) at an aggregate level equal to the 

20 amount necessary to offset the annual expenses 

21 of inspections of outer Continental Shelf facili22 ties (including mobile offshore drilling units) by 

23 the Secretary of the Interior; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) using a schedule that reflects the dif2 ferences in complexity among the classes of fa3 cilities to be inspected. 

4 ‘‘(2) OCEAN ENERGY SAFETY FUND.—There is 

5 established in the Treasury a fund, to be known as 

6 the ‘Ocean Energy Safety Fund’ (referred to in this 

7 subsection as the ‘Fund’), into which shall be depos8 ited all amounts collected as fees under paragraph 

9 (1) and which shall be available as provided under 

10 paragraph (3). 

11 ‘‘(3) AVAILABILITY OF FEES.—Notwithstanding 

12 section 3302 of title 31, United States Code, all 

13 amounts deposited in the Fund— 

14 ‘‘(A) shall be credited as offsetting collec15 tions; 

16 ‘‘(B) shall be available for expenditure for 

17 purposes of carrying out inspections of outer 

18 Continental Shelf facilities (including mobile 

19 offshore drilling units) and the administration 

20 of the inspection program under this section; 

21 ‘‘(C) shall be available only to the extent 

22 provided for in advance in an appropriations 

23 Act; and 

24 ‘‘(D) shall remain available until expended. 


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1 ‘‘(4) ADJUSTMENT FOR INFLATION.—For each 

2 fiscal year beginning after fiscal year 2020, the Sec3 retary shall adjust each dollar amount specified in 

4 this subsection for inflation based on the change in 

5 the Consumer Price Index from fiscal year 2020. 

6 ‘‘(5) ANNUAL FEES.—Annual fees shall be col7 lected under this subsection for facilities that are 

8 above the waterline, excluding drilling rigs, and are 

9 in place at the start of the fiscal year. Fees for fiscal 

10 year 2020 shall be— 

11 ‘‘(A) $11,500 for facilities with no wells, 

12 but with processing equipment or gathering 

13 lines; 

14 ‘‘(B) $18,500 for facilities with 1 to 10 

15 wells, with any combination of active or inactive 

16 wells; and 

17 ‘‘(C) $34,500 for facilities with more than 

18 10 wells, with any combination of active or in19 active wells. 

20 ‘‘(6) FEES FOR DRILLING RIGS.—Fees shall be 

21 collected under this subsection for drilling rigs on a 

22 per inspection basis. Fees for fiscal year 2020 shall 

23 be— 

24 ‘‘(A) $33,500 per inspection for rigs oper25 ating in water depths of 500 feet or more; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) $18,500 per inspection for rigs oper2 ating in water depths of less than 500 feet. 

3 ‘‘(7) FEES FOR NON-RIG UNITS.—Fees shall be 

4 collected under this subsection for well operations 

5 conducted via non-rig units as outlined in subparts 

6 D, E, F, and Q of part 250 of title 30, Code of Fed7 eral Regulations, on a per inspection basis. Fees for 

8 fiscal year 2020 shall be— 

9 ‘‘(A) $13,260 per inspection for non-rig 

10 units operating in water depths of 2,500 feet or 

11 more; 

12 ‘‘(B) $11,530 per inspection for non-rig 

13 units operating in water depths between 500 

14 and 2,499 feet; and 

15 ‘‘(C) $4,470 per inspection for non-rig 

16 units operating in water depths of less than 500 

17 feet. 

18 ‘‘(8) BILLING.—The Secretary shall bill des19 ignated operators under paragraph (5) annually, 

20 with payment required within 30 days of billing. The 

21 Secretary shall bill designated operators under para22 graph (6) within 30 days of the end of the month 

23 in which the inspection occurred, with payment re24 quired within 30 days after billing.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

2 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

3 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 

4 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

5 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

6 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

7 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro8 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 

9 vote on passage. 

10 SEC. 6. RISK TO NATIONAL SECURITY. 

11 The Secretary of the Interior, after consulting with 

12 the Secretary of Defense, shall report to Congress on 

13 whether this Act poses a risk to national security due to 

14 potential increase in dependence on foreign oil. 

15 SEC. 7. STUDYING THE IMPACTS OF OFFSHORE DRILLING 

16 ON COASTAL COMMUNITIES AND COASTAL 

17 ECONOMIES. 

18 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

19 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 

20 submit to the Committee on Natural Resources of the 

21 House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy 

22 and Natural Resources of the Senate a report on the im23 pacts of offshore drilling on coastal communities and 

24 coastal economies. 

25 (b) CONTENTS.—The report required by subsection 

26 (a) shall— 


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1 (1) address how oil and gas companies interact 

2 with local stakeholders in advance of a siting deci3 sion, including their meetings with fishermen; 

4 (2) investigate the impacts of offshore drilling 

5 on tourism, including tradeoffs during normal oper6 ations and economic impacts after a spill; 

7 (3) describe how the Bureau of Ocean Energy 

8 Management works with other agencies, including 

9 the National Marine Fisheries Service, to include 

10 stakeholder input in advance of a siting decision; 

11 (4) address how quickly response teams can 

12 mitigate environmental damage after a spill and how 

13 long regional ecosystems take to recover following a 

14 spill; 

15 (5) describe any limitations on the quantity of 

16 comparative data available on impacts to regions of 

17 the Outer Continental Shelf that have not been sited 

18 for drilling; 

19 (6) describe the impacts on commercial and rec20 reational fisheries from offshore drilling; and 

21 (7) address the economic impacts of oil spills on 

22 the food supply of a region, including those food 

23 sources that are distinctive to a region’s culture. 


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1 SEC. 8. MORATORIUM ON SEISMIC ACTIVITIES RELATED TO 

2 OIL, GAS, AND METHANE HYDRATE EXPLO3 RATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE NORTH 

4 ATLANTIC, MID-ATLANTIC, SOUTH ATLANTIC, 

5 AND STRAITS OF FLORIDA PLANNING AREAS. 

6 Section 11 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

7 (43 U.S.C. 1340) is amended by adding at the end the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(i) MORATORIUM ON SEISMIC ACTIVITIES RELATED

10 TO OIL, GAS, AND METHANE HYDRATE EXPLORATION

11 AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC, MID-AT12 LANTIC, SOUTH ATLANTIC, AND STRAITS OF FLORIDA

13 PLANNING AREAS.—Notwithstanding any other provision 

14 of law, no agency of the United States or person may con15 duct or authorize any other person to conduct geological 

16 or geophysical activities in support of oil, gas, or methane 

17 hydrate exploration and development in any area located 

18 in the North Atlantic, Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic, and 

19 Straits of Florida Planning Areas of the outer Continental 

20 Shelf.’’. 

21 SEC. 9. ECONOMIC IMPACT STUDY. 

22 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

23 of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall conduct a 

24 study to determine the potential economic impact of off25 shore drilling on tourism, commercial fishing, recreational 


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1 fishing, boating, transportation, and other waterfront-re2 lated and coastal-related business. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 11, 

2019. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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