II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3280 

To increase refining capacity and the supply of fuel, to open and preserve 

access to oil and gas, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 17, 2008 

Mr. INHOFE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To increase refining capacity and the supply of fuel, to 

open and preserve access to oil and gas, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘American Affordable Fuels Act of 2008’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—INCREASING REFINING CAPACITY AND FUEL SUPPLY 

Sec. 101. Definitions. 

Sec. 102. Collaborative permitting process for domestic fuels facilities. 


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Sec. 103. Evaluation of Fischer-Tropsch diesel and jet fuel as an emission control strategy. 

Sec. 104. Economic development assistance to support commercial-scale cellulosic biomass ethanol projects and coal-to-liquids facilities on 

BRAC property and Indian land. 

Sec. 105. Alternative hydrocarbon and renewable reserves disclosures classification system. 

Sec. 106. Extension of election to expense certain refineries. 

Sec. 107. Expansion of special allowance to cellulosic biofuel plant property. 

Sec. 108. Authorization of appropriations. 

TITLE II—OPENING AND PRESERVING ACCESS TO OIL AND GAS 

Subtitle A—Deep Ocean Energy Resources 

Sec. 201. Policy. 

Sec. 202. Definitions under the Submerged Lands Act. 

Sec. 203. Seaward boundaries of States. 

Sec. 204. Exceptions from rights of States. 

Sec. 205. Definitions under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. 

Sec. 206. Determination of adjacent zones and planning areas. 

Sec. 207. Administration of leasing. 

Sec. 208. Grant of leases by Secretary. 

Sec. 209. Disposition of receipts. 

Sec. 210. Reservation of land and rights. 

Sec. 211. Outer Continental Shelf leasing program. 

Sec. 212. Coordination with adjacent States. 

Sec. 213. Environmental studies. 

Sec. 214. Federal energy natural resources enhancement. 

Sec. 215. Termination of effect of laws prohibiting the spending of appropriated funds for certain purposes. 

Sec. 216. Outer Continental Shelf incompatible use. 

Sec. 217. Repurchase of certain leases. 

Sec. 218. Offsite environmental mitigation. 

Sec. 219. Minerals Management Service. 

Sec. 220. Authority to use decommissioned offshore oil and gas platforms and 

other facilities for artificial reef, scientific research, or other 

uses. 

Sec. 221. Repeal of requirement to conduct comprehensive inventory of OCS oil 

and natural gas resources. 

Sec. 222. Mining and petroleum schools. 

Sec. 223. Onshore and offshore mineral lease fees. 

Sec. 224. OCS regional headquarters. 

Sec. 225. National Geo Fund Act of 2008. 

Sec. 226. Leases for areas located within 100 miles of California or Florida. 

Sec. 227. Coastal impact assistance. 

Sec. 228. Oil shale and tar sands. 

Sec. 229. Availability of OCS receipts to provide payments under Secure Rural 

Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000. 

Sec. 230. Sense of Congress to buy and build American. 

Sec. 231. Repeal of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006. 

Subtitle B—Leasing Program for Land Within Coastal Plain 

Sec. 241. Definitions. 

Sec. 242. Leasing program for land within the Coastal Plain. 


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Sec. 243. Lease sales. 

Sec. 244. Grant of leases by the Secretary. 

Sec. 245. Lease terms and conditions. 

Sec. 246. Coastal Plain environmental protection. 

Sec. 247. Expedited judicial review. 

Sec. 248. Rights-of-way and easements across Coastal Plain. 

Sec. 249. Conveyance. 

Sec. 250. Local government impact aid and community service assistance. 

Sec. 251. Prohibition on exports. 

Sec. 252. Allocation of revenues. 

Subtitle C—Oil Shale 

Sec. 261. Removal of prohibition on final regulations for commercial leasing 

program for oil shale resources on public land. 

Subtitle D—Alternative Fuels and Fuels Derived From Tar Sands 

Sec. 271. Procurement and acquisition of alternative fuels and fuels derived 

from tar sands. 

Subtitle E—Percentage Depletion From Marginal Wells 

Sec. 281. Elimination of taxable income limit on percentage depletion for oil 

and natural gas produced from marginal wells. 

TITLE III—EXPANDING NATURAL GAS AS A MAINSTREAM 

TRANSPORTATION FUEL 

Sec. 301. Renewable fuel program. 

Sec. 302. New qualified alternative fuel motor vehicle credit allowed for dual 

fueled automobiles. 

Sec. 303. Natural gas vehicle research, development, and demonstration 

projects. 

Sec. 304. Development of low-emission natural gas transportation-fueled vehicles. 

Sec. 305. Natural gas conversion emission certifications. 

1 TITLE I—INCREASING REFINING 

2 CAPACITY AND FUEL SUPPLY 

3 SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this title: 

5 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis6 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ7 mental Protection Agency. 

8 (2) COAL-TO-LIQUID.—The term ‘‘coal-to-liq9 uid’’ means— 


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1 (A) with respect to a process or tech2 nology, the use of a feedstock, the majority of 

3 which is derived from the coal resources of the 

4 United States, using the class of reactions 

5 known as Fischer-Tropsch, to produce synthetic 

6 fuel suitable for transportation; and 

7 (B) with respect to a facility, the portion 

8 of a facility related to producing the inputs for 

9 the Fischer-Tropsch process, or the finished 

10 fuel from the Fischer-Tropsch process, using a 

11 feedstock that is primarily domestic coal at the 

12 Fischer-Tropsch facility. 

13 (3) DOMESTIC FUELS FACILITY.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘domestic 

15 fuels facility’’ means— 

16 (i) a coal liquification or coal-to-liquid 

17 facility at which coal is processed into syn18 thetic crude oil or any other transportation 

19 fuel; 

20 (ii) a facility that produces a renew21 able fuel (as defined in section 211(o)(1) 

22 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

23 7545(o)(1))); and 


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1 (iii) a facility at which crude oil is re2 fined into transportation fuel or other pe3 troleum products. 

4 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘domestic 

5 fuels facility’’ includes a domestic fuels facility 

6 expansion. 

7 (4) DOMESTIC FUELS FACILITY EXPANSION.— 

8 The term ‘‘domestic fuels facility expansion’’ means 

9 a physical change in a domestic fuels facility that re10 sults in an increase in the capacity of the domestic 

11 fuels facility. 

12 (5) DOMESTIC FUELS FACILITY PERMITTING

13 AGREEMENT.—The term ‘‘domestic fuels facility per14 mitting agreement’’ means an agreement entered 

15 into between the Administrator and a State or In16 dian tribe under section 102. 

17 (6) DOMESTIC FUELS PRODUCER.—The term 

18 ‘‘domestic fuels producer’’ means an individual or 

19 entity that— 

20 (A) owns or operates a domestic fuels facil21 ity; or 

22 (B) seeks to become an owner or operator 

23 of a domestic fuels facility. 

24 (7) INDIAN LAND.—The term ‘‘Indian land’’ 

25 has the meaning given the term ‘‘Indian lands’’ in 


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1 section 3 of the Native American Business Develop2 ment, Trade Promotion, and Tourism Act of 2000 

3 (25 U.S.C. 4302). 

4 (8) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

5 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 

6 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

7 Act (25 U.S.C. 450b). 

8 (9) PERMIT.—The term ‘‘permit’’ means any 

9 permit, license, approval, variance, or other form of 

10 authorization that a refiner is required to obtain— 

11 (A) under any Federal law; or 

12 (B) from a State or Indian tribal govern13 ment agency delegated with authority by the 

14 Federal Government, or authorized under Fed15 eral law to issue permits. 

16 (10) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

17 means the Secretary of Energy. 

18 (11) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 

19 (A) a State; 

20 (B) the District of Columbia; 

21 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 

22 and 

23 (D) any other territory or possession of the 

24 United States. 


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1 SEC. 102. COLLABORATIVE PERMITTING PROCESS FOR DO2 MESTIC FUELS FACILITIES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—At the request of the Governor 

4 of a State or the governing body of an Indian tribe, the 

5 Administrator shall enter into a domestic fuels facility per6 mitting agreement with the State or Indian tribe under 

7 which the process for obtaining all permits necessary for 

8 the construction and operation of a domestic fuels facility 

9 shall be improved using a systematic interdisciplinary 

10 multimedia approach as provided in this section. 

11 (b) AUTHORITY OF ADMINISTRATOR.—Under a do12 mestic fuels facility permitting agreement— 

13 (1) the Administrator shall have authority, as 

14 applicable and necessary, to— 

15 (A) accept from a refiner a consolidated 

16 application for all permits that the domestic 

17 fuels producer is required to obtain to construct 

18 and operate a domestic fuels facility; 

19 (B) establish a schedule under which each 

20 Federal, State, or Indian tribal government 

21 agency that is required to make any determina22 tion to authorize the issuance of a permit 

23 shall— 

24 (i) concurrently consider, to the max25 imum extent practicable, each determina26 tion to be made; and 


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1 (ii) complete each step in the permit2 ting process; and 

3 (C) issue a consolidated permit that com4 bines all permits that the domestic fuels pro5 ducer is required to obtain; and 

6 (2) the Administrator shall provide to State and 

7 Indian tribal government agencies— 

8 (A) financial assistance in such amounts as 

9 the agencies reasonably require to hire such ad10 ditional personnel as are necessary to enable 

11 the government agencies to comply with the ap12 plicable schedule established under paragraph 

13 (1)(B); and 

14 (B) technical, legal, and other assistance in 

15 complying with the domestic fuels facility per16 mitting agreement. 

17 (c) AGREEMENT BY THE STATE.—Under a domestic 

18 fuels facility permitting agreement, a State or governing 

19 body of an Indian tribe shall agree that— 

20 (1) the Administrator shall have each of the au21 thorities described in subsection (b); and 

22 (2) each State or Indian tribal government 

23 agency shall— 

24 (A) make such structural and operational 

25 changes in the agencies as are necessary to enVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:32 Jul 18, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3280.IS S3280

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1 able the agencies to carry out consolidated 

2 project-wide permit reviews concurrently and in 

3 coordination with the Environmental Protection 

4 Agency and other Federal agencies; and 

5 (B) comply, to the maximum extent prac6 ticable, with the applicable schedule established 

7 under subsection (b)(1)(B). 

8 (d) INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator and a 

10 State or governing body of an Indian tribe shall in11 corporate an interdisciplinary approach, to the max12 imum extent practicable, in the development, review, 

13 and approval of domestic fuels facility permits sub14 ject to this section. 

15 (2) OPTIONS.—Among other options, the inter16 disciplinary approach may include use of— 

17 (A) environmental management practices; 

18 and 

19 (B) third party contractors. 

20 (e) DEADLINES.— 

21 (1) NEW DOMESTIC FUELS FACILITIES.—In the 

22 case of a consolidated permit for the construction of 

23 a new domestic fuels facility, the Administrator and 

24 the State or governing body of an Indian tribe shall 


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1 approve or disapprove the consolidated permit not 

2 later than— 

3 (A) 360 days after the date of the receipt 

4 of the administratively complete application for 

5 the consolidated permit; or 

6 (B) on agreement of the applicant, the Ad7 ministrator, and the State or governing body of 

8 the Indian tribe, 90 days after the expiration of 

9 the deadline established under subparagraph 

10 (A). 

11 (2) EXPANSION OF EXISTING DOMESTIC FUELS

12 FACILITIES.—In the case of a consolidated permit 

13 for the expansion of an existing domestic fuels facil14 ity, the Administrator and the State or governing 

15 body of an Indian tribe shall approve or disapprove 

16 the consolidated permit not later than— 

17 (A) 120 days after the date of the receipt 

18 of the administratively complete application for 

19 the consolidated permit; or 

20 (B) on agreement of the applicant, the Ad21 ministrator, and the State or governing body of 

22 the Indian tribe, 30 days after the expiration of 

23 the deadline established under subparagraph 

24 (A). 


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1 (f) FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Each Federal agency that 

2 is required to make any determination to authorize the 

3 issuance of a permit shall comply with the applicable 

4 schedule established under subsection (b)(1)(B). 

5 (g) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Any civil action for review 

6 of any determination of any Federal, State, or Indian trib7 al government agency in a permitting process conducted 

8 under a domestic fuels facility permitting agreement 

9 brought by any individual or entity shall be brought exclu10 sively in the United States district court for the district 

11 in which the domestic fuels facility is located or proposed 

12 to be located. 

13 (h) EFFICIENT PERMIT REVIEW.—In order to reduce 

14 the duplication of procedures, the Administrator shall use 

15 State permitting and monitoring procedures to satisfy 

16 substantially equivalent Federal requirements under this 

17 section. 

18 (i) SEVERABILITY.—If 1 or more permits that are re19 quired for the construction or operation of a domestic fuels 

20 facility are not approved on or before any deadline estab21 lished under subsection (e), the Administrator may issue 

22 a consolidated permit that combines all other permits that 

23 the domestic fuels producer is required to obtain other 

24 than any permits that are not approved. 


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1 (j) SAVINGS.—Nothing in this section affects the op2 eration or implementation of otherwise applicable law re3 garding permits necessary for the construction and oper4 ation of a domestic fuels facility. 

5 (k) CONSULTATION WITH LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.— 

6 Congress encourages the Administrator, States, and tribal 

7 governments to consult, to the maximum extent prac8 ticable, with local governments in carrying out this sec9 tion. 

10 (l) EFFECT ON LOCAL AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this 

11 section affects— 

12 (1) the authority of a local government with re13 spect to the issuance of permits; or 

14 (2) any requirement or ordinance of a local gov15 ernment (such as zoning regulations). 

16 SEC. 103. EVALUATION OF FISCHER-TROPSCH DIESEL AND 

17 JET FUEL AS AN EMISSION CONTROL STRAT18 EGY. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—In cooperation with the Secretary 

20 of Energy, the Secretary of Defense, the Administrator 

21 of the Federal Aviation Administration, Secretary of 

22 Health and Human Services, and Fischer-Tropsch indus23 try representatives, the Administrator shall— 

24 (1) conduct a research and demonstration pro25 gram to evaluate the air quality benefits of ultraVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:32 Jul 18, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3280.IS S3280

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1 clean Fischer-Tropsch transportation fuel, including 

2 diesel and jet fuel; 

3 (2) evaluate the use of ultra-clean Fischer4 Tropsch transportation fuel as a mechanism for re5 ducing engine exhaust emissions; and 

6 (3) submit recommendations to Congress on the 

7 most effective use and associated benefits of these 

8 ultra-clean fuels for reducing public exposure to ex9 haust emissions. 

10 (b) GUIDANCE AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT.—The Ad11 ministrator shall, to the extent necessary, issue any guid12 ance or technical support documents that would facilitate 

13 the effective use and associated benefit of Fischer-Tropsch 

14 fuel and blends. 

15 (c) REQUIREMENTS.—The program described in sub16 section (a) shall consider— 

17 (1) the use of neat (100 percent) Fischer18 Tropsch fuel and blends with conventional crude oil19 derived fuel for heavy-duty and light-duty diesel en20 gines and the aviation sector; and 

21 (2) the production costs associated with domes22 tic production of those ultra clean fuel and prices for 

23 consumers. 

24 (d) REPORTS.—The Administrator shall submit to 

25 the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the 


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1 Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of 

2 the House of Representatives— 

3 (1) not later than 180 days after the date of 

4 enactment of this Act, an interim report on actions 

5 taken to carry out this section; and 

6 (2) not later than 1 year after the date of en7 actment of this Act, a final report on actions taken 

8 to carry out this section. 

9 SEC. 104. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE TO SUP10 PORT COMMERCIAL-SCALE CELLULOSIC BIO11 MASS ETHANOL PROJECTS AND COAL-TO-LIQ12 UIDS FACILITIES ON BRAC PROPERTY AND 

13 INDIAN LAND. 

14 (a) PRIORITY.—Notwithstanding section 206 of the 

15 Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 

16 U.S.C. 3146), in awarding funds made available to carry 

17 out section 209(c)(1) of that Act (42 U.S.C. 3149(c)(1)) 

18 pursuant to section 702 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 3232), 

19 the Secretary and the Economic Development Administra20 tion shall give priority to projects to support commercial21 scale cellulosic biomass ethanol projects and coal-to-liquids 

22 facilities. 

23 (b) FEDERAL SHARE.—Except as provided in sub24 section (c)(3)(B) and notwithstanding the Public Works 

25 and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3121 


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1 et seq.), the Federal share of a project to support a com2 mercial-scale biomass ethanol facility or coal-to-liquid fa3 cility shall be— 

4 (1) 80 percent of the project cost; or 

5 (2) for a project carried out on Indian land, 

6 100 percent of the project cost. 

7 (c) ADDITIONAL AWARD.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make an 

9 additional award in connection with a grant made to 

10 a recipient (including any Indian tribe for use on In11 dian land) for a project to support a commercial12 scale biomass ethanol facility or coal-to-liquid facil13 ity. 

14 (2) AMOUNT.—The amount of an additional 

15 award shall be 10 percent of the amount of the 

16 grant for the project. 

17 (3) USE.—An additional award under this sub18 section shall be used— 

19 (A) to carry out any eligible purpose under 

20 the Public Works and Economic Development 

21 Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3121 et seq.); 

22 (B) notwithstanding section 204 of that 

23 Act (42 U.S.C. 3144), to pay up to 100 percent 

24 of the cost of an eligible project or activity 

25 under that Act; or 


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1 (C) to meet the non-Federal share require2 ments of that Act or any other Act. 

3 (4) NON-FEDERAL SOURCE.—For the purpose 

4 of paragraph (3)(C), an additional award shall be 

5 treated as funds from a non-Federal source. 

6 (5) FUNDING.—The Secretary shall use to 

7 carry out this subsection any amounts made avail8 able— 

9 (A) for economic development assistance 

10 programs; or 

11 (B) under section 702 of the Public Works 

12 and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 

13 U.S.C. 3232). 

14 SEC. 105. ALTERNATIVE HYDROCARBON AND RENEWABLE 

15 RESERVES DISCLOSURES CLASSIFICATION 

16 SYSTEM. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Securities and Exchange 

18 Commission shall appoint a task force composed of gov19 ernment and private sector representatives, including ex20 perts in the field of dedicated energy crop feedstocks for 

21 cellulosic biofuels production, to analyze, and submit to 

22 Congress a report (including recommendations) on— 

23 (1) modernization of the hydrocarbon reserves 

24 disclosures classification system of the Commission 

25 to reflect advances in reserves recovery from nonVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:32 Jul 18, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3280.IS S3280

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1 traditional sources (such as deep water, oil shale, tar 

2 sands, and renewable reserves for cellulosic biofuels 

3 feedstocks); and 

4 (2) the creation of a renewable reserves classi5 fication system for cellulosic biofuels feedstocks. 

6 (b) DEADLINE FOR REPORT.—The Commission shall 

7 submit the report required under subsection (a) not later 

8 than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 

9 SEC. 106. EXTENSION OF ELECTION TO EXPENSE CERTAIN 

10 REFINERIES. 

11 Paragraph (1) of section 179C(c) of the Internal Rev12 enue Code of 1986 is amended— 

13 (1) by striking ‘‘January 1, 2012’’ in subpara14 graph (B) and inserting ‘‘January 1, 2014’’, and 

15 (2) by striking ‘‘January 1, 2008’’ each place 

16 it appears in subparagraph (F) and inserting ‘‘Janu17 ary 1, 2010’’. 

18 SEC. 107. EXPANSION OF SPECIAL ALLOWANCE TO CEL19 LULOSIC BIOFUEL PLANT PROPERTY. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (3) of section 168(l) 

21 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read 

22 as follows: 

23 ‘‘(3) CELLULOSIC BIOFUEL.—The term ‘cel24 lulosic biofuel’ means any alcohol, ether, ester, or 

25 hydrocarbon produced from any lignocellulosic or 


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1 hemicellulosic matter that is available on a renew2 able or recurring basis.’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Subsection (l) of 

4 section 168 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘cellulosic biomass ethanol’’ 

7 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘cellulosic 

8 biofuel’’, 

9 (2) by striking ‘‘CELLULOSIC BIOMASS ETH10 ANOL’’ in the heading of such subsection and insert11 ing ‘‘CELLULOSIC BIOFUEL’’, and 

12 (3) by striking ‘‘CELLULOSIC BIOMASS ETH13 ANOL’’ in the heading of paragraph (2) thereof and 

14 inserting ‘‘CELLULOSIC BIOFUEL’’. 

15 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

16 this section shall apply to property placed in service after 

17 the date of the enactment of this Act, in taxable years 

18 ending after such date. 

19 SEC. 108. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

20 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

21 as are necessary to carry out this title and the amend22 ments made by this title. 


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1 TITLE II—OPENING AND PRE2 SERVING ACCESS TO OIL AND 

3 GAS 

4 Subtitle A—Deep Ocean Energy 

5 Resources 

6 SEC. 201. POLICY. 

7 It is the policy of the United States that— 

8 (1) the United States is blessed with abundant 

9 energy resources on the outer Continental Shelf and 

10 has developed a comprehensive framework of envi11 ronmental laws (including regulations) and fostered 

12 the development of state-of-the-art technology that 

13 allows for the responsible development of those re14 sources for the benefit of the citizens of the United 

15 States; 

16 (2) adjacent States (as defined in section 2 of 

17 the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 

18 1331)) are required to commit significant resources 

19 in support of exploration, development, and produc20 tion activities for mineral resources on the outer 

21 Continental Shelf, and it is fair and proper for a 

22 portion of the receipts from the activities to be 

23 shared with adjacent States and local coastal gov24 ernments; 


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1 (3) the existing laws governing the leasing and 

2 production of the mineral resources of the outer 

3 Continental Shelf have— 

4 (A) reduced the production of mineral re5 sources; 

6 (B) preempted adjacent States from being 

7 sufficiently involved in the decisions regarding 

8 the allowance of mineral resource development; 

9 and 

10 (C) been harmful to the national interest; 

11 (4) the national interest is served by granting 

12 the adjacent States more options relating to whether 

13 or not mineral leasing should occur in the outer 

14 Continental Shelf within the Adjacent Zones (as de15 fined in section 2 of the Outer Continental Shelf 

16 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331)) of the adjacent States; 

17 (5) it is not reasonably foreseeable that explo18 ration of a leased tract located more than 25 miles 

19 seaward of the coastline, development and produc20 tion of a natural gas discovery located more than 25 

21 miles seaward of the coastline, or development and 

22 production of an oil discovery located more than 50 

23 miles seaward of the coastline will adversely affect 

24 resources near the coastline; 


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1 (6) transportation of oil from a leased tract 

2 might reasonably be foreseen, under limited cir3 cumstances, to have the potential to adversely affect 

4 resources near the coastline if the oil is within 50 

5 miles of the coastline, but the potential to adversely 

6 affect those resources is likely no greater, and prob7 ably less, than the potential impacts from tanker 

8 transportation because tanker spills usually involve 

9 large releases of oil over a brief period of time; and 

10 (7) among other bodies of inland waters, the 

11 Great Lakes, Long Island Sound, Delaware Bay, 

12 Chesapeake Bay, Albemarle Sound, San Francisco 

13 Bay, and Puget Sound are not part of the outer 

14 Continental Shelf, and are not subject to leasing by 

15 the Federal Government for the exploration, develop16 ment, and production of any mineral resources that 

17 might lie beneath those bodies of water. 

18 SEC. 202. DEFINITIONS UNDER THE SUBMERGED LANDS 

19 ACT. 

20 Section 2 of the Submerged Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 

21 1301) is amended— 

22 (1) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘three geo23 graphical miles distant’’ and all that follows through 

24 ‘‘beyond three geographical miles,’’ and inserting 


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1 ‘‘12 nautical miles distant from the coast line of the 

2 State;’’; 

3 (2) by striking subsection (b); 

4 (3) by redesignating subsections (c) through (f) 

5 as subsections (b) through (e), respectively; and 

6 (4) by striking subsection (g) and inserting the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(f) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means the 

9 Secretary of the Interior. 

10 ‘‘(g) STATE.—The term ‘State’ has the meaning 

11 given the term in section 2 of the Outer Continental Shelf 

12 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331).’’. 

13 SEC. 203. SEAWARD BOUNDARIES OF STATES. 

14 Section 4 of the Submerged Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 

15 1312) is amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 4. SEAWARD BOUNDARIES OF STATES. 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The seaward boundary of each 

18 coastal State is approved and confirmed as a line 12 nau19 tical miles distant from the coast line of the coastal State 

20 or, in the case of the Great Lakes, to the international 

21 boundary. 

22 ‘‘(b) OFFSHORE STATE BOUNDARIES.—Extension 

23 and delineation of lateral offshore State boundaries under 

24 this Act shall follow the lines used to determine the Adja25 cent Zones of coastal States under the Outer Continental 


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1 Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) to the extent 

2 the lines extend 12 nautical miles from the nearest coast3 line.’’. 

4 SEC. 204. EXCEPTIONS FROM RIGHTS OF STATES. 

5 Section 5 of the Submerged Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 

6 1313) is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating subsections (a) through (c) 

8 as paragraphs (1) through (3), respectively, and in9 denting appropriately; 

10 (2) by striking ‘‘SEC.’’ and all that follows 

11 through ‘‘There is excepted’’ and inserting the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 5. EXCEPTIONS FROM RIGHTS OF STATES. 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is excepted’’; and 

15 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION OF OIL AND GAS MINERAL

17 RIGHTS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is excepted from the 

19 operation of sections 3 and 4 all of the oil and gas 

20 mineral rights for land beneath the navigable waters 

21 that are located within the expanded offshore State 

22 seaward boundaries established under this Act. 

23 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF.— 

24 Those oil and gas mineral rights shall— 

25 ‘‘(A) remain Federal property; 


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1 ‘‘(B) be considered to be part of the Fed2 eral outer Continental Shelf for purposes of the 

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

4 1331 et seq.); 

5 ‘‘(C) be subject to leasing under the au6 thority of that Act; and 

7 ‘‘(D) be subject to laws applicable to the 

8 leasing of the oil and gas resources of the Fed9 eral outer Continental Shelf. 

10 ‘‘(3) EXISTING LEASES.—Except as otherwise 

11 provided in the American Affordable Fuels Act of 

12 2008 and amendments made by that Act, all Federal 

13 oil and gas leases in existence as of the date of en14 actment of that Act within the expanded offshore 

15 State seaward boundaries shall continue unchanged 

16 by that Act and amendments made by that Act. 

17 ‘‘(4) TAXATION.—A State may exercise all of 

18 the sovereign powers of the State relating to tax19 ation within the entire extent of the expanded off20 shore boundaries of the State.’’. 

21 SEC. 205. DEFINITIONS UNDER THE OUTER CONTINENTAL 

22 SHELF LANDS ACT. 

23 Section 2 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

24 (43 U.S.C. 1331) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting before the 

2 semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘or lying within 

3 the United States exclusive economic zone adjacent 

4 to the territories of the United States’’; 

5 (2) by striking the semicolon at the end of each 

6 of subsections (a) through (o) and inserting a pe7 riod; 

8 (3) by striking subsection (f) and inserting the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(f) AFFECTED STATE; ADJACENT STATE.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The terms ‘affected State’ 

12 and ‘adjacent State’ mean, with respect to any pro13 gram, plan, lease sale, leased tract, or other activity 

14 proposed, conducted, or approved pursuant to this 

15 Act, any State the laws of which are declared, pur16 suant to section 4(a)(2), to be the law of the United 

17 States for the portion of the outer Continental Shelf 

18 on which the program, plan, lease sale, leased tract, 

19 or activity appertains or is, or is proposed to be, 

20 conducted. 

21 ‘‘(2) STATE.—In this subsection, the term 

22 ‘State’ includes Puerto Rico and other territories of 

23 the United States.’’; 

24 (4) in subsection (p), by striking ‘‘; and’’ at the 

25 end and inserting a period; and 


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1 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(r) ADJACENT ZONE.—The term ‘Adjacent Zone’ 

3 means, with respect to any program, plan, lease sale, 

4 leased tract, or other activity proposed, conducted, or ap5 proved pursuant to this Act, the portion of the outer Con6 tinental Shelf for which the laws of a particular adjacent 

7 State are declared pursuant to section 4(a)(2), to be the 

8 law of the United States. 

9 ‘‘(s) BONUS BIDS.—The term ‘bonus bids’ means all 

10 funds received by the Secretary to issue an outer Conti11 nental Shelf minerals lease. 

12 ‘‘(t) COASTLINE.—The term ‘coastline’ has the mean13 ing given the term ‘coast line’ in section 2 of the Sub14 merged Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1301). 

15 ‘‘(u) MILE.—The term ‘mile’ means a statute mile. 

16 ‘‘(v) NEIGHBORING STATE.—The term ‘neighboring 

17 State’ means a coastal State having a common boundary 

18 at the coastline with an adjacent State. 

19 ‘‘(w) OCS PLANNING AREA.—The term ‘OCS Plan20 ning Area’ means an outer Continental Shelf planning 

21 area established by the Secretary under this Act. 

22 ‘‘(x) OCS RECEIPTS.—The term ‘OCS Receipts’ 

23 means bonus bids, royalties, and conservation of resources 

24 fees imposed under section 8(t). 


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1 ‘‘(y) ROYALTIES.—The term ‘royalties’ means all 

2 funds received by the Secretary from production of oil or 

3 natural gas, or the sale of production taken in-kind, from 

4 an outer Continental Shelf minerals lease.’’. 

5 SEC. 206. DETERMINATION OF ADJACENT ZONES AND 

6 PLANNING AREAS. 

7 Section 4(a)(2)(A) of the Outer Continental Shelf 

8 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1333(a)(2)(A)) is amended— 

9 (1) by designating the first, second, and third 

10 sentences as clause (i), (iii), and (iv), respectively; 

11 (2) in clause (i) (as so designated), by striking 

12 ‘‘, and the President’’ and all that follows through 

13 the end of the sentence; and 

14 (3) by inserting after clause (i) (as so des15 ignated) the following: 

16 ‘‘(ii) ADJACENT ZONES AND PLAN17 NING AREAS.—The lines extending seaward 

18 and defining the Adjacent Zone of each 

19 State, and each Planning Area of the outer 

20 Continental Shelf, shall be as indicated on 

21 the maps for each outer Continental Shelf 

22 region entitled— 

23 ‘‘(I) ‘Alaska OCS Region State 

24 Adjacent Zone and OCS Planning 

25 Areas’; 


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1 ‘‘(II) ‘Pacific OCS Region State 

2 Adjacent Zones and OCS Planning 

3 Areas’; 

4 ‘‘(III) ‘Gulf of Mexico OCS Re5 gion State Adjacent Zones and OCS 

6 Planning Areas’; and 

7 ‘‘(IV) ‘Atlantic OCS Region 

8 State Adjacent Zones and OCS Plan9 ning Areas’; 

10 all of which are dated September 2005 and 

11 on file in the Office of the Director of the 

12 Minerals Management Service.’’. 

13 SEC. 207. ADMINISTRATION OF LEASING. 

14 Section 5 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

15 (43 U.S.C. 1334) is amended by adding at the end the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(k) VOLUNTARY PARTIAL RELINQUISHMENT OF A

18 LEASE.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any lessee of a producing 

20 lease may relinquish to the Secretary any portion of 

21 a lease that— 

22 ‘‘(A) the lessee has no interest in pro23 ducing; and 

24 ‘‘(B) the Secretary finds is geologically 

25 prospective. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ROYALTY INCENTIVE.—In return for any 

2 relinquishment, the Secretary shall provide to the 

3 lessee a royalty incentive for the portion of the lease 

4 retained by the lessee, in accordance with regula5 tions promulgated by the Secretary to carry out this 

6 subsection. 

7 ‘‘(3) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year 

8 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 

9 Secretary shall promulgate final regulations to carry 

10 out this subsection. 

11 ‘‘(l) NATURAL GAS LEASE REGULATIONS.—Not later 

12 than July 1, 2010, the Secretary shall promulgate final 

13 regulations that shall— 

14 ‘‘(1) establish procedures for entering into nat15 ural gas leases; 

16 ‘‘(2) ensure that natural gas leases are only 

17 available for tracts on the outer Continental Shelf 

18 that are wholly within 100 miles of the coastline 

19 within an area withdrawn from disposition by leas20 ing on the day after the date of enactment of this 

21 subsection; 

22 ‘‘(3) provide that natural gas leases shall con23 tain the same rights and obligations established for 

24 oil and gas leases, except as otherwise provided in 


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1 the American Affordable Fuels Act of 2008 and 

2 amendments made by that Act; 

3 ‘‘(4) provide that, in reviewing the adequacy of 

4 bids for natural gas leases, the value of any crude 

5 oil estimated to be contained within any tract shall 

6 be excluded; 

7 ‘‘(5)(A) provide that any crude oil produced 

8 from a well and reinjected into the leased tract shall 

9 not be subject to payment of royalty; and 

10 ‘‘(B) require the Secretary to consider, in set11 ting the royalty rates for a natural gas lease, the ad12 ditional cost to the lessee of not producing any crude 

13 oil; and 

14 ‘‘(6) provide that any Federal law that applies 

15 to an oil and gas lease on the outer Continental 

16 Shelf shall apply to a natural gas lease unless other17 wise clearly inapplicable.’’. 

18 SEC. 208. GRANT OF LEASES BY SECRETARY. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8 of the Outer Conti20 nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337) is amended— 

21 (1) in subsection (a)— 

22 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting after 

23 the first sentence the following: ‘‘The Secretary 

24 may grant natural gas leases in a manner simi25 lar to the granting of oil and gas leases, and 


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1 under the various bidding systems available for 

2 oil and gas leases, under this Act.’’; and 

3 (B) in paragraph (3)— 

4 (i) by striking subparagraph (A); 

5 (ii) by redesignating subparagraphs 

6 (B) and (C) as subparagraphs (A) and 

7 (B), respectively; and 

8 (iii) in subparagraph (A) (as so redes9 ignated), by striking ‘‘In the Western’’ and 

10 all that follows through ‘‘the Secretary’’ 

11 the first place it appears and inserting 

12 ‘‘The Secretary’’; 

13 (2) in subsection (b)— 

14 (A) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

15 after the semicolon at the end; 

16 (B) in paragraph (7), by striking the pe17 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

18 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(8) at the option of the Secretary— 

20 ‘‘(A) issue more than 1 lease for a given 

21 tract if each lease applies to a separate and dis22 tinct range of vertical depths, horizontal surface 

23 area, or both; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) promulgate such regulations as the 

2 Secretary determines are necessary to manage 

3 those leases consistent with this Act.’’. 

4 (3) in subsection (p)(2), by striking subpara5 graph (B) and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(B) PAYMENTS TO COASTAL STATES AND

7 LOCAL COASTAL GOVERNMENTS.— 

8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

9 shall provide for— 

10 ‘‘(I) the payment to coastal 

11 States, and the local coastal govern12 ments of the coastal States, of 75 per13 cent of Federal receipts from projects 

14 authorized under this section located 

15 partially or completely within the area 

16 extending seaward of State submerged 

17 land out to 4 marine leagues from the 

18 coastline; and 

19 ‘‘(II) the payment to coastal 

20 States of 50 percent of the receipts 

21 from projects completely located in 

22 the area more than 4 marine leagues 

23 from the coastline. 

24 ‘‘(ii) PAYMENT FORMULA.—Payments 

25 shall be based on a formula established by 


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1 the Secretary by rulemaking not later than 

2 180 days after the date of enactment of 

3 the American Affordable Fuels Act of 

4 2008 that provides for equitable distribu5 tion, based on proximity to the project, 

6 among coastal States that have coastline 

7 that is located within 200 miles of the geo8 graphic center of the project.’’; and 

9 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(q) NATURAL GAS LEASES.— 

11 ‘‘(1) RIGHT TO PRODUCE NATURAL GAS.—A 

12 lessee of a natural gas lease shall have the right to 

13 produce the natural gas from a field on a natural 

14 gas leased tract if the Secretary estimates that the 

15 discovered field has at least 40 percent of the eco16 nomically recoverable Btu content of the field con17 taining the natural gas and the natural gas is eco18 nomical to produce. 

19 ‘‘(2) CRUDE OIL.—A lessee of a natural gas 

20 lease may not produce crude oil from the lease un21 less the Governor of the adjacent State agrees to the 

22 production. 

23 ‘‘(3) ESTIMATES OF BTU CONTENT.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

25 make estimates of the natural gas Btu content 


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1 of discovered fields on a natural gas lease only 

2 after the completion of at least 1 exploration 

3 well, the data from which has been tied to the 

4 results of a 3-dimensional seismic survey of the 

5 field. 

6 ‘‘(B) FURTHER DELINEATION.—The Sec7 retary may not require the lessee to further de8 lineate any discovered field prior to making the 

9 estimates. 

10 ‘‘(4) NATURAL GAS.—For purposes of a natural 

11 gas lease, natural gas means natural gas and all 

12 substances produced in association with gas, includ13 ing hydrocarbon liquids (other than crude oil) that 

14 are obtained by the condensation of hydrocarbon va15 pors and separated out in liquid form from the pro16 duced gas stream. 

17 ‘‘(r) REMOVAL OF RESTRICTIONS ON JOINT BIDDING

18 IN CERTAIN AREAS OF THE OUTER CONTINENTAL

19 SHELF.— 

20 ‘‘(1) ALASKA OCS REGION.—Restrictions on 

21 joint bidders shall not apply to tracts located in the 

22 Alaska OCS Region. 

23 ‘‘(2) OTHER OCS REGIONS.—The restrictions 

24 shall not apply to tracts in other OCS regions deter25 mined to be frontier tracts or otherwise high cost 


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1 tracts under final regulations that shall be promul2 gated by the Secretary by not later than 1 year after 

3 the date of enactment of the American Affordable 

4 Fuels Act of 2008. 

5 ‘‘(s) ROYALTY SUSPENSION PROVISIONS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Effective beginning on the 

7 date of enactment of the American Affordable Fuels 

8 Act of 2008, price thresholds shall apply to any roy9 alty suspension volumes granted by the Secretary. 

10 ‘‘(2) PRICE THRESHOLDS.—Unless otherwise 

11 set by the Secretary by regulation or for a particular 

12 lease sale, the price thresholds shall be— 

13 ‘‘(A) $40.50 for oil (January 1, 2006 dol14 lars); and 

15 ‘‘(B) $6.75 for natural gas (January 1, 

16 2006 dollars). 

17 ‘‘(t) CONSERVATION OF RESOURCES FEES.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

19 the date of enactment of the American Affordable 

20 Fuels Act of 2008, the Secretary by regulation shall 

21 establish a conservation of resources fee for nonpro22 ducing leases that will apply to new and existing 

23 leases which shall be set at $3.75 per acre per year. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATION.—The fee shall apply on 

2 and after October 1, 2008, and shall be treated as 

3 offsetting receipts.’’. 

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

5 (1) Section 8(g) of the Outer Continental Shelf 

6 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337(g)) is amended— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘(g)’’ and all that follows 

8 through ‘‘(3) Whenever’’ and inserting the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(g) COMMON POTENTIALLY HYDROCARBON-BEAR11 ING AREAS.—If’’; 

12 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking the last 

13 sentence; and 

14 (C) by striking paragraphs (4) through 

15 (7). 

16 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

17 by paragraph (1) take effect on October 1, 2008. 

18 SEC. 209. DISPOSITION OF RECEIPTS. 

19 Section 9 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

20 (43 U.S.C. 1338) is amended to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 9. DISPOSITION OF RECEIPTS. 

22 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 ‘‘(1) COASTAL COUNTY-EQUIVALENT POLITICAL

24 SUBDIVISION.—The term ‘coastal county-equivalent 

25 political subdivision’ means a political jurisdiction 


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1 immediately below the level of State government (in2 cluding a county, parish, borough in Alaska, inde3 pendent municipality that is not part of a county, 

4 parish, or borough in Alaska, or other equivalent 

5 subdivision of a coastal State) that lies within the 

6 coastal zone. 

7 ‘‘(2) COASTAL MUNICIPAL POLITICAL SUBDIVI8 SION.—The term ‘coastal municipal political subdivi9 sion’ means a municipality located within and part 

10 of a county, parish, borough in Alaska, or other 

11 equivalent subdivision of a State, all or part of which 

12 coastal municipal political subdivision lies within the 

13 coastal zone. 

14 ‘‘(3) COASTAL POPULATION.—The term ‘coastal 

15 population’ means the population of all coastal coun16 ty-equivalent political subdivisions, as determined by 

17 the most recent official data of the Census Bureau. 

18 ‘‘(4) COASTAL ZONE.—The term ‘coastal zone’ 

19 means the portion of a coastal State (including the 

20 entire territory of any coastal county-equivalent po21 litical subdivision) at least a part of which lies with22 in 75 miles landward from the coastline, or a greater 

23 distance as determined by State law enacted to im24 plement this section. 


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1 ‘‘(5) PRODUCING STATE.—The term ‘producing 

2 State’ means an adjacent State having an Adjacent 

3 Zone containing leased tracts from which OCS Re4 ceipts were derived. 

5 ‘‘(b) DEPOSIT IN TREASURY.—Except as otherwise 

6 provided in this Act, effective beginning June 5, 1950, all 

7 rentals, royalties, and other sums paid to the Secretary 

8 or the Secretary of the Navy under any lease on the outer 

9 Continental Shelf shall be deposited in the Treasury and 

10 credited to miscellaneous receipts. 

11 ‘‘(c) TREATMENT OF OCS RECEIPTS FROM TRACTS

12 COMPLETELY WITHIN 100 MILES OF THE COASTLINE.— 

13 ‘‘(1) DEPOSIT.—The Secretary shall deposit 

14 into a separate account in the Treasury the portion 

15 of OCS Receipts for each fiscal year that will be 

16 shared under paragraphs (2), (3), and (4). 

17 ‘‘(2) PHASED-IN RECEIPTS SHARING.— 

18 ‘‘(A) COVERED AREAS.—Effective begin19 ning October 1, 2008, the Secretary shall share 

20 OCS Receipts derived from the following areas: 

21 ‘‘(i) Lease tracts located on portions 

22 of the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region com23 pletely beyond 4 marine leagues from any 

24 coastline and completely within 100 miles 

25 of any coastline that were available for 


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1 leasing under the 2002–2007 5-Year OCS 

2 Oil and Gas Leasing Program. 

3 ‘‘(ii) Lease tracts in production prior 

4 to October 1, 2008, completely beyond 4 

5 marine leagues from any coastline and 

6 completely within 100 miles of any coast7 line located on portions of the OCS that 

8 were not available for leasing under the 

9 2002–2007 5-Year OCS Oil and Gas Leas10 ing Program. 

11 ‘‘(iii) Lease tracts for which leases are 

12 issued prior to October 1, 2008, located in 

13 the Alaska OCS Region completely beyond 

14 4 marine leagues from any coastline and 

15 completely within 100 miles of the coast16 line. 

17 ‘‘(B) PERCENTAGES.—The Secretary shall 

18 share the following percentages of OCS Re19 ceipts from the leases described in subpara20 graph (A) derived during the fiscal year indi21 cated: 

22 ‘‘(i) For fiscal year 2009, 5 percent. 

23 ‘‘(ii) For fiscal year 2010, 8 percent. 

24 ‘‘(iii) For fiscal year 2011, 11 per25 cent. 


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1 ‘‘(iv) For fiscal year 2012, 14 percent. 

2 ‘‘(v) For fiscal year 2013, 17 percent. 

3 ‘‘(vi) For fiscal year 2014, 20 percent. 

4 ‘‘(vii) For fiscal year 2015, 23 per5 cent. 

6 ‘‘(viii) For fiscal year 2016, 26 per7 cent. 

8 ‘‘(ix) For fiscal year 2017, 29 percent. 

9 ‘‘(x) For fiscal year 2018, 32 percent. 

10 ‘‘(xi) For fiscal year 2019, 35 percent. 

11 ‘‘(xii) For fiscal year 2020 and each 

12 subsequent fiscal year, 37.5 percent. 

13 ‘‘(C) NONAPPLICATION.—This paragraph 

14 shall not apply to leases that could not have 

15 been issued but for section 5(k) or the amend16 ments made by section 205 of the American Af17 fordable Fuels Act of 2008. 

18 ‘‘(3) IMMEDIATE RECEIPTS SHARING.—Effec19 tive beginning October 1, 2008, the Secretary shall 

20 share 37.50 percent of OCS Receipts derived from 

21 all leases located completely beyond 4 marine 

22 leagues from any coastline and completely within 

23 100 miles of any coastline not included under para24 graph (2). 


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1 ‘‘(4) RECEIPTS SHARING FROM TRACTS WITHIN

2 4 MARINE LEAGUES OF ANY COASTLINE.— 

3 ‘‘(A) AREAS COVERED BY PHASED-IN RE4 CEIPTS SHARING.— 

5 ‘‘(i) INITIAL PERIOD.—For each of 

6 fiscal years 2009 and 2010, the Secretary 

7 shall share 25 percent of OCS Receipts de8 rived from all leases located within 4 ma9 rine leagues from any coastline within an 

10 area described in paragraph (2). 

11 ‘‘(ii) SUBSEQUENT PERIOD.—For fis12 cal year 2011 and each fiscal year there13 after, the Secretary shall increase the per14 cent shared in 5 percent increments each 

15 fiscal year until the sharing rate for all 

16 leases located within 4 marine leagues 

17 from any coastline within areas described 

18 in paragraph (2) is 75 percent. 

19 ‘‘(B) OTHER AREAS.—For fiscal year 2009 

20 and each fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary 

21 shall share 75 percent of OCS receipts derived 

22 from all leases located completely or partially 

23 within 4 marine leagues from any coastline 

24 within an area not described paragraph (2). 

25 ‘‘(5) ALLOCATIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

2 allocate the OCS Receipts deposited into the 

3 separate account established by paragraph (1) 

4 that are shared under paragraphs (2), (3), and 

5 (4) in accordance with this paragraph. 

6 ‘‘(B) BONUS BIDS.—Deposits derived from 

7 bonus bids from a leased tract (including inter8 est on the deposits) shall be allocated at the 

9 end of each fiscal year to the adjacent State. 

10 ‘‘(C) ROYALTIES.—Deposits derived from 

11 royalties from a leased tract (including interest 

12 on the deposits) shall be allocated at the end of 

13 each fiscal year to the adjacent State and any 

14 other producing State with a leased tract within 

15 the Adjacent Zone of the producing State with16 in 100 miles of coastline of the producing State 

17 that generated royalties during the fiscal year, 

18 if the other producing State has a coastline 

19 point within 300 miles of any portion of the 

20 leased tract, in which case the amount allocated 

21 for the leased tract shall be— 

‘‘(i) 1 22 ⁄3 to the adjacent State; and 

‘‘(ii) 2 23 ⁄3 to each producing State (in24 cluding the adjacent State), inversely pro25 portional to the distance between the nearVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:32 Jul 18, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00042 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3280.IS S3280

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1 est point on the coastline of the producing 

2 State and the geographic center of the 

3 leased tract. 

4 ‘‘(d) TREATMENT OF OCS RECEIPTS FROM TRACTS

5 PARTIALLY OR COMPLETELY BEYOND 100 MILES OF THE

6 COASTLINE.— 

7 ‘‘(1) DEPOSIT.—The Secretary shall deposit 

8 into a separate account in the Treasury the portion 

9 of OCS Receipts for each fiscal year that will be 

10 shared under paragraphs (2) and (3). 

11 ‘‘(2) PHASED-IN RECEIPTS SHARING.— 

12 ‘‘(A) COVERED AREAS.—Effective begin13 ning October 1, 2008, the Secretary shall share 

14 OCS Receipts derived from the following areas: 

15 ‘‘(i) Lease tracts located on portions 

16 of the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region partially 

17 or completely beyond 100 miles of any 

18 coastline that were available for leasing 

19 under the 2002–2007 5-Year OCS Oil and 

20 Gas Leasing Program. 

21 ‘‘(ii) Lease tracts in production prior 

22 to October 1, 2008, partially or completely 

23 beyond 100 miles of any coastline located 

24 on portions of the outer Continental Shelf 

25 that were not available for leasing under 


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1 the 2002–2007 5-Year OCS Oil and Gas 

2 Leasing Program. 

3 ‘‘(iii) Lease tracts for which leases are 

4 issued prior to October 1, 2008, located in 

5 the Alaska OCS Region partially or com6 pletely beyond 100 miles of the coastline. 

7 ‘‘(B) PERCENTAGES.—The Secretary shall 

8 share the following percentages of OCS Re9 ceipts from the leases described in subpara10 graph (A) derived during the fiscal year indi11 cated: 

12 ‘‘(i) For fiscal year 2009, 5 percent. 

13 ‘‘(ii) For fiscal year 2010, 8 percent. 

14 ‘‘(iii) For fiscal year 2011, 11 per15 cent. 

16 ‘‘(iv) For fiscal year 2012, 14 percent. 

17 ‘‘(v) For fiscal year 2013, 17 percent. 

18 ‘‘(vi) For fiscal year 2014, 20 percent. 

19 ‘‘(vii) For fiscal year 2015, 23 per20 cent. 

21 ‘‘(viii) For fiscal year 2016, 26 per22 cent. 

23 ‘‘(ix) For fiscal year 2017, 29 percent. 

24 ‘‘(x) For fiscal year 2018, 32 percent. 

25 ‘‘(xi) For fiscal year 2019, 35 percent. 


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1 ‘‘(xii) For fiscal year 2020 and each 

2 subsequent fiscal year, 37.5 percent. 

3 ‘‘(C) NONAPPLICATION.—This paragraph 

4 shall not apply to leases that could not have 

5 been issued but for section 5(k) or the amend6 ments made by section 205 of the American Af7 fordable Fuels Act of 2008. 

8 ‘‘(3) IMMEDIATE RECEIPTS SHARING.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

10 subparagraph (B), effective beginning October 

11 1, 2008, the Secretary shall share 37.50 per12 cent of OCS Receipts derived from all leases lo13 cated completely beyond 4 marine leagues from 

14 any coastline and completely within 100 miles 

15 of any coastline not included under paragraph 

16 (2). 

17 ‘‘(B) STATES THAT PROHIBIT LEASING

18 WITHIN 100 MILES OF COASTLINES.—The Sec19 retary shall only share 25 percent of OCS Re20 ceipts derived from all leases described in sub21 paragraph (A) within the Adjacent Zone of a 

22 State if no leasing is allowed within any portion 

23 of the Adjacent Zone of the State located com24 pletely within 100 miles of any coastline. 

25 ‘‘(4) ALLOCATIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

2 allocate the OCS Receipts deposited into the 

3 separate account established by paragraph (1) 

4 that are shared under paragraphs (2) and (3) 

5 in accordance with this paragraph. 

6 ‘‘(B) BONUS BIDS.—Deposits derived from 

7 bonus bids from a leased tract (including inter8 est on the deposits) shall be allocated at the 

9 end of each fiscal year to the adjacent State. 

10 ‘‘(C) ROYALTIES.—Deposits derived from 

11 royalties from a leased tract (including interest 

12 on the deposits) shall be allocated at the end of 

13 each fiscal year to the adjacent State and any 

14 other producing State with a leased tract within 

15 the Adjacent Zone of the producing State be16 yond 100 miles of coastline of the producing 

17 State that generated royalties during the fiscal 

18 year, if the other producing State has a coast19 line point within 300 miles of any portion of the 

20 leased tract, in which case the amount allocated 

21 for the leased tract shall be— 

‘‘(i) 1 22 ⁄3 to the adjacent State; and 

‘‘(ii) 2 23 ⁄3 to each producing State (in24 cluding the adjacent State), inversely pro25 portional to the distance between the nearVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:32 Jul 18, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00046 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3280.IS S3280

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1 est point on the coastline of the producing 

2 State and the geographic center of the 

3 leased tract. 

4 ‘‘(e) TRANSMISSION OF ALLOCATIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF OUTER CONTINENTAL

6 SHELF OIL AND GAS ACTIVITIES.—In this sub7 section, the term ‘outer Continental Shelf oil and 

8 gas activities’ includes— 

9 ‘‘(A) construction of vessels, drill ships, 

10 and platforms involved in exploration, produc11 tion, and development on the outer Continental 

12 Shelf; 

13 ‘‘(B) support and supply bases, ports, and 

14 related activities; 

15 ‘‘(C) offices of geologists, geophysicists, en16 gineers, and other professionals involved in sup17 port of exploration, production, and develop18 ment of oil and gas on the outer Continental 

19 Shelf; 

20 ‘‘(D) pipelines and other means of trans21 porting oil and gas production from the outer 

22 Continental Shelf; and 

23 ‘‘(E) processing and refining of oil and gas 

24 production from the outer Continental Shelf. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION AMONG STATES AND POLIT2 ICAL SUBDIVISIONS.—Not later than 90 days after 

3 the end of each fiscal year, the Secretary shall trans4 mit— 

5 ‘‘(A) to each State 60 percent of the allo6 cations of the State under subsections (c)(5) 

7 and (d)(4) for the immediate prior fiscal year; 

8 ‘‘(B) to each coastal county-equivalent and 

9 municipal political subdivision of the State a 

10 total of 40 percent of the allocations of the 

11 State under subsections (c)(5) and (d)(4), to12 gether with all accrued interest on the amounts; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(C) the remaining allocations under sub15 sections (b)(5) and (c)(4), together with all ac16 crued interest on the amounts. 

17 ‘‘(3) ALLOCATIONS TO COASTAL COUNTY18 EQUIVALENT POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS.—The Sec19 retary shall make an initial allocation of the OCS 

20 Receipts to be shared under paragraph (2)(B) as fol21 lows: 

22 ‘‘(A) 25 percent shall be allocated to coast23 al county-equivalent political subdivisions that 

24 are completely more than 25 miles landward of 

25 the coastline and at least a part of which lies 


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1 not more than 75 miles landward from the 

2 coastline, with the allocation among the coastal 

3 county-equivalent political subdivisions based on 

4 population. 

5 ‘‘(B) 75 percent shall be allocated to coast6 al county-equivalent political subdivisions that 

7 are completely or partially less than 25 miles 

8 landward of the coastline, with the allocation 

9 among such coastal county-equivalent political 

10 subdivisions to be allocated as follows: 

11 ‘‘(i) 25 percent shall be allocated 

12 based on the ratio of the population of the 

13 coastal county-equivalent political subdivi14 sion to the coastal population of all coastal 

15 county-equivalent political subdivisions in 

16 the State. 

17 ‘‘(ii)(I) 25 percent shall be allocated 

18 based on the ratio of the coastline miles of 

19 the coastal county-equivalent political sub20 division to the coastline miles of all coastal 

21 county-equivalent political subdivisions in 

22 the State, as calculated by the Secretary. 

23 ‘‘(II) In the calculations, coastal coun24 ty-equivalent political subdivisions without 

25 a coastline shall be considered to have 50 


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1 percent of the average coastline miles of 

2 the coastal county-equivalent political sub3 divisions that do have coastlines. 

4 ‘‘(iii) 25 percent shall be allocated to 

5 all coastal county-equivalent political sub6 divisions having a coastline point within 

7 300 miles of the leased tract for which 

8 OCS Receipts are being shared based on a 

9 formula that allocates the funds based on 

10 the relative distance from the leased tract 

11 of the coastal county-equivalent political 

12 subdivision. 

13 ‘‘(iv)(I) 25 percent shall be allocated 

14 to all coastal county-equivalent political 

15 subdivisions having a coastline point within 

16 300 miles of the leased tract for which 

17 OCS Receipts are being shared based on 

18 the relative level of outer Continental Shelf 

19 oil and gas activities in a coastal political 

20 subdivision compared to the level of outer 

21 Continental Shelf activities in all coastal 

22 political subdivisions in the State. 

23 ‘‘(II) For purposes of this subpara24 graph, if a coastal county-equivalent polit25 ical subdivision does not have a coastline, 


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1 the coastal point of the coastal county2 equivalent political subdivision shall be the 

3 point on the coastline closest to the coastal 

4 county-equivalent political subdivision. 

5 ‘‘(4) ALLOCATIONS TO COASTAL MUNICIPAL PO6 LITICAL SUBDIVISIONS.—The initial allocation to 

7 each coastal county-equivalent political subdivision 

8 under paragraph (2) shall be allocated to the coastal 

9 county-equivalent political subdivision and any coast10 al municipal political subdivision located partially or 

11 wholly within the boundaries of the coastal county12 equivalent political subdivision as follows: 

‘‘(A) 1 13 ⁄3 shall be allocated to the coastal 

14 county-equivalent political subdivision. 

‘‘(B) 2 15 ⁄3 shall be allocated on a per capita 

16 basis to the municipal political subdivisions and 

17 the county-equivalent political subdivision, with 

18 the allocation to the county-equivalent political 

19 subdivision based on the population of the coun20 ty-equivalent political subdivision not included 

21 within the boundaries of a municipal political 

22 subdivision. 

23 ‘‘(f) INVESTMENT OF DEPOSITS.—Amounts depos24 ited under this section shall be invested by the Secretary 

25 of the Treasury in securities backed by the full faith and 


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1 credit of the United States having maturities suitable to 

2 the needs of the account in which the amounts are depos3 ited and yielding the highest reasonably available interest 

4 rates, as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury. 

5 ‘‘(g) USE OF FUNDS.—A recipient of funds under 

6 this section may use the funds— 

7 ‘‘(1) to reduce in-State college tuition at public 

8 institutions of higher learning and otherwise support 

9 public education, including career technical edu10 cation; 

11 ‘‘(2) to make transportation infrastructure im12 provements; 

13 ‘‘(3) to reduce taxes; 

14 ‘‘(4) to promote, fund, and provide for— 

15 ‘‘(A) coastal or environmental restoration; 

16 ‘‘(B) fish, wildlife, and marine life habitat 

17 enhancement; 

18 ‘‘(C) waterways construction and mainte19 nance; 

20 ‘‘(D) levee construction and maintenance 

21 and shore protection; and 

22 ‘‘(E) marine and oceanographic education 

23 and research; 

24 ‘‘(5) to promote, fund, and provide for— 


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1 ‘‘(A) infrastructure associated with energy 

2 production activities conducted on the outer 

3 Continental Shelf; 

4 ‘‘(B) energy demonstration projects; 

5 ‘‘(C) supporting infrastructure for shore6 based energy projects; 

7 ‘‘(D) State geologic programs, including 

8 geologic mapping and data storage programs, 

9 and State geophysical data acquisition; 

10 ‘‘(E) State seismic monitoring programs, 

11 including operation of monitoring stations; 

12 ‘‘(F) development of oil and gas resources 

13 through enhanced recovery techniques; 

14 ‘‘(G) alternative energy development, in15 cluding biofuels, coal-to-liquids, oil shale, tar 

16 sands, geothermal, geopressure, wind, waves, 

17 currents, hydro, and other renewable energy; 

18 ‘‘(H) energy efficiency and conservation 

19 programs; and 

20 ‘‘(I) front-end engineering and design for 

21 facilities that produce liquid fuels from hydro22 carbons and other biological matter; 

23 ‘‘(6) to promote, fund, and provide for— 

24 ‘‘(A) historic preservation programs and 

25 projects; 


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1 ‘‘(B) natural disaster planning and re2 sponse; and 

3 ‘‘(C) hurricane and natural disaster insur4 ance programs; and 

5 ‘‘(7) any other purpose as determined by State 

6 law. 

7 ‘‘(h) NO ACCOUNTING REQUIRED.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No recipient of funds 

9 under this section shall be required to account to the 

10 Federal Government for the expenditure of the 

11 funds, except as may otherwise required by law. 

12 ‘‘(2) STATE ACCOUNTING AND AUDITING.—A 

13 State may enact legislation providing for accounting 

14 for and auditing of expenditures of funds under this 

15 section. 

16 ‘‘(3) MATCHING FUNDS FOR OTHER PRO17 GRAMS.—Funds allocated under this section to 

18 States and political subdivisions may be used as 

19 matching funds for other Federal programs. 

20 ‘‘(i) EFFECT OF FUTURE LAWS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

22 enactment of any future Federal law that has the ef23 fect, as determined by the Secretary, of restricting 

24 any Federal agency from spending appropriated 

25 funds, or otherwise preventing the agency from fulVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:32 Jul 18, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00054 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3280.IS S3280

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1 filling the preexisting responsibilities of the agency 

2 as of the date of enactment of the American Afford3 able Fuels Act of 2008 to issue any permit or other 

4 approval impacting on the outer Continental Shelf 

5 oil and gas leasing program or any lease issued 

6 under the program, or to implement any provision of 

7 the American Affordable Fuels Act of 2008, shall 

8 prohibit any sharing of OCS Receipts under this sec9 tion directly with the States, and the coastal political 

10 subdivisions of the States, for the duration of the re11 striction. 

12 ‘‘(2) NONAPPLICATION.—Paragraph (1) shall 

13 not apply if the responsibilities of a Federal agency 

14 have been reassigned to another Federal agency by 

15 the law with no prevention of performance, as deter16 mined by the Secretary. 

17 ‘‘(3) TIMING.—The Secretary shall make the 

18 determination of the existence of restricting effects 

19 described in paragraph (1) not later than 30 days 

20 after the date of receipt of a petition by any outer 

21 Continental Shelf lessee or producing State.’’. 

22 SEC. 210. RESERVATION OF LAND AND RIGHTS. 

23 Section 12 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

24 (43 U.S.C. 1341) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘Sec. 12’’ and all that follows 

2 through ‘‘The President’’ and inserting the fol3 lowing: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 12. RESERVATIONS. 

5 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY OF THE PRESIDENT.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President’’; and 

7 (2) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(2) WITHDRAWALS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) BY THE PRESIDENT.—The President 

11 may partially or completely revise or revoke any 

12 prior withdrawal made by the President under 

13 this section. 

14 ‘‘(B) INITIATED BY A STATE.—The Presi15 dent may not revise or revoke a withdrawal that 

16 was initiated by a petition from a State and ap17 proved by the Secretary under subsection (h). 

18 ‘‘(C) FAILURE TO PROHIBIT LEASING.— 

19 The President may not withdraw from leasing 

20 any area for which a State failed to prohibit, or 

21 petition to prohibit, leasing under subsection 

22 (g). 

23 ‘‘(3) MAXIMUM AREA WITHDRAWN.—In the 

24 case of any area of the outer Continental Shelf that 

25 is more than 100 miles from any coastline, the 


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1 President may not withdraw from leasing more than 

2 25 percent of the acreage of any OCS Planning 

3 Area. 

4 ‘‘(4) LENGTH OF WITHDRAWAL.—A withdrawal 

5 by the President may be for a term of not to exceed 

6 10 years. 

7 ‘‘(5) CONSIDERATIONS.—When considering po8 tential uses of the outer Continental Shelf, to the 

9 maximum extent practicable, the President shall ac10 commodate competing interests and potential uses.’’; 

11 and 

12 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(g) AVAILABILITY FOR LEASING WITHIN CERTAIN

14 AREAS OF THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF.— 

15 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION AGAINST LEASING.— 

16 ‘‘(A) UNAVAILABLE FOR LEASING WITH17 OUT STATE REQUEST.—Except as otherwise 

18 provided in this subsection, beginning on the 

19 date of enactment of this subsection, the Sec20 retary shall not offer for leasing for oil and gas, 

21 or natural gas— 

22 ‘‘(i) any area within 50 miles of the 

23 coastline that was withdrawn from disposi24 tion by leasing in the Atlantic OCS Re25 gion, the Pacific OCS Region, or the Gulf 


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1 of Mexico OCS Region Eastern Planning 

2 Area, as depicted on the maps referred to 

3 in this subparagraph, under the ‘Memo4 randum on Withdrawal of Certain Areas of 

5 the United States Outer Continental Shelf 

6 from Leasing Disposition’, 34 Weekly 

7 Comp. Pres. Doc. 1111, dated June 12, 

8 1998; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) any area within 50 miles of the 

10 coastline not withdrawn under that Memo11 randum that is included within the Gulf of 

12 Mexico OCS Region Eastern Planning 

13 Area as indicated on the map entitled ‘Gulf 

14 of Mexico OCS Region State Adjacent 

15 Zones and OCS Planning Areas’ or the 

16 Florida Straits Planning Area as indicated 

17 on the map entitled ‘Atlantic OCS Region 

18 State Adjacent Zones and OCS Planning 

19 Areas’, both of which are dated September 

20 2005 and on file in the Office of the Direc21 tor, National Ocean Resources and Royalty 

22 Service. 

23 ‘‘(B) AREAS BETWEEN 50 AND 100 MILES

24 FROM THE COASTLINE.—Unless an adjacent 

25 State petitions under subsection (h) within 1 


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1 year after the date of enactment of this sub2 section for natural gas leasing or by June 30, 

3 2010, for oil and gas leasing, the Secretary 

4 shall offer for leasing— 

5 ‘‘(i) any area more than 50 miles but 

6 less than 100 miles from the coastline that 

7 was withdrawn from disposition by leasing 

8 in the Atlantic OCS Region, the Pacific 

9 OCS Region, or the Gulf of Mexico OCS 

10 Region Eastern Planning Area, as depicted 

11 on the maps referred to in this subpara12 graph, under the ‘Memorandum on With13 drawal of Certain Areas of the United 

14 States Outer Continental Shelf from Leas15 ing Disposition’, 34 Weekly Comp. Pres. 

16 Doc. 1111, dated June 12, 1998; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) any area more than 50 miles but 

18 less than 100 miles from the coastline not 

19 withdrawn under that Memorandum that 

20 is included within the Gulf of Mexico OCS 

21 Region Eastern Planning Area as indicated 

22 on the map entitled ‘Gulf of Mexico OCS 

23 Region State Adjacent Zones and OCS 

24 Planning Areas’ or within the Florida 

25 Straits Planning Area as indicated on the 


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1 map entitled ‘Atlantic OCS Region State 

2 Adjacent Zones and OCS Planning Areas’, 

3 both of which are dated September 2005 

4 and on file in the Office of the Director, 

5 National Ocean Resources and Royalty 

6 Service. 

7 ‘‘(2) REVOCATION OF WITHDRAWAL.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The ‘Memorandum on 

9 Withdrawal of Certain Areas of the United 

10 States Outer Continental Shelf from Leasing 

11 Disposition’, 34 Weekly Comp. Pres. Doc. 

12 1111, dated June 12, 1998, is revoked and no 

13 longer in effect. 

14 ‘‘(B) TRACTS PARTIALLY ADDED.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Any tract only 

16 partially added to the Gulf of Mexico OCS 

17 Region Central Planning Area by this Act 

18 shall be eligible for leasing of the part of 

19 the tract that is included within the Gulf 

20 of Mexico OCS Region Central Planning 

21 Area. 

22 ‘‘(ii) REMAINDER OF TRACT.—The re23 mainder of a tract described in clause (i) 

24 that lies outside of the Gulf of Mexico OCS 

25 Region Central Planning Area may be deVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:32 Jul 18, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00060 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3280.IS S3280

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1 veloped and produced by the lessee of the 

2 partial tract using extended reach or simi3 lar drilling from a location on a leased 

4 area. 

5 ‘‘(C) USE OF TRACTS.—Any area in the 

6 OCS withdrawn from leasing may be leased, 

7 and thereafter developed and produced by the 

8 lessee using extended reach or similar drilling 

9 from a location on a leased area located in an 

10 area available for leasing. 

11 ‘‘(3) PETITION FOR LEASING.— 

12 ‘‘(A) PETITIONS.— 

13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Governor of a 

14 State, with the concurrence of the legisla15 ture of the State, may submit to the Sec16 retary a petition requesting that the Sec17 retary make available any area that is 

18 within the Adjacent Zone of the State, in19 cluded under paragraph (1), and that— 

20 ‘‘(I) is greater than 25 miles 

21 from any point on the coastline of a 

22 neighboring State for the conduct of 

23 offshore leasing, pre-leasing, and re24 lated activities with respect to natural 

25 gas leasing; or 


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1 ‘‘(II) is greater than 50 miles 

2 from any point on the coastline of a 

3 neighboring State for the conduct of 

4 offshore leasing, pre-leasing, and re5 lated activities with respect to oil and 

6 gas leasing. 

7 ‘‘(ii) OTHER LEASING.—The adjacent 

8 State may petition for leasing any other 

9 area within the Adjacent Zone of the 

10 State— 

11 ‘‘(I) if leasing is allowed in the 

12 similar area of the Adjacent Zone of 

13 the applicable neighboring State; or 

14 ‘‘(II) if leasing is not allowed, if 

15 the neighboring State, acting through 

16 the Governor of the neighboring 

17 State, expresses the concurrence of 

18 the neighboring State with the peti19 tion. 

20 ‘‘(iii) SECRETARIAL FINDING.—The 

21 Secretary shall only consider a petition 

22 under clause (ii) after— 

23 ‘‘(I) making a finding that leas24 ing is allowed in the similar area of 


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1 the Adjacent Zone of the applicable 

2 neighboring State; or 

3 ‘‘(II) receiving the concurrence of 

4 the neighboring State. 

5 ‘‘(iv) DATE OF RECEIPT.—The date of 

6 receipt by the Secretary of a concurrence 

7 by a neighboring State shall constitute the 

8 date of receipt of the petition for the State 

9 for which the concurrence applies. 

10 ‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS ON LEASING.—In its 

11 petition, a State with an Adjacent Zone that 

12 contains leased tracts may condition new leas13 ing for oil and gas, or natural gas, for tracts 

14 within 25 miles of the coastline by— 

15 ‘‘(i) requiring a net reduction in the 

16 number of production platforms; 

17 ‘‘(ii) requiring a net increase in the 

18 average distance of production platforms 

19 from the coastline; 

20 ‘‘(iii) limiting permanent surface occu21 pancy on new leases to areas that are more 

22 than 10 miles from the coastline; 

23 ‘‘(iv) limiting certain tracts to being 

24 produced from shore or from platforms lo25 cated on other tracts; or 


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1 ‘‘(v) other conditions that the adja2 cent State may consider appropriate if the 

3 Secretary does not determine that produc4 tion is made economically or technically 

5 impracticable or otherwise impossible. 

6 ‘‘(C) ACTION BY SECRETARY.— 

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 

8 days after receipt of a petition of a State 

9 under subparagraph (A), the Secretary 

10 shall approve the petition, unless the Sec11 retary determines that leasing the area 

12 would probably cause serious harm or 

13 damage to the marine resources of the Ad14 jacent Zone of the State. 

15 ‘‘(ii) ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESS16 MENT.—Prior to approving the petition, 

17 the Secretary shall complete an environ18 mental assessment under the National En19 vironmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

20 4321 et seq.) that documents the antici21 pated environmental effects of leasing in 

22 the area included within the scope of the 

23 petition. 

24 ‘‘(D) FAILURE TO ACT.—If the Secretary 

25 fails to approve or deny a petition in accordance 


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1 with subparagraph (C), the petition shall be 

2 considered to be approved 90 days after the re3 ceipt of the petition. 

4 ‘‘(E) AMENDMENT OF 5-YEAR LEASING

5 PROGRAM.— 

6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro7 vided in clause (ii), notwithstanding section 

8 18, not later than 180 days after the ap9 proval of a petition under subparagraph 

10 (C) or (D), after the expiration of the time 

11 limits established by paragraph (1)(B), 

12 and not later than 180 days after the en13 actment of this subsection for the areas 

14 made available for leasing under paragraph 

15 (2), the Secretary shall amend the 5-Year 

16 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leas17 ing Program (in effect on the date of en18 actment of this subsection) to include 1 or 

19 more lease sales for at least 75 percent of 

20 the associated areas. 

21 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.— 

22 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The Sec23 retary shall not make the amendment 

24 described in clause (i) if there are, 

25 from the date of approval, expiration 


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1 of the time limits, or the date of en2 actment of this subsection, as applica3 ble, less than 1 year remaining in the 

4 5-Year Leasing Program described in 

5 clause (i). 

6 ‘‘(II) SUBSEQUENT LEASING

7 PROGRAM.—In a case described in 

8 subclause (I), the Secretary shall in9 clude the associated areas within lease 

10 sales under the next 5-Year Outer 

11 Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leas12 ing Program. 

13 ‘‘(iii) NO FURTHER CONSULTATIONS

14 REQUIRED.—For purposes of amending 

15 the 5-Year Outer Continental Shelf Oil and 

16 Gas Leasing Program in accordance with 

17 this section, further consultations with 

18 States shall not be required. 

19 ‘‘(iv) ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESS20 MENT.—For purposes of this section, an 

21 environmental assessment performed under 

22 the National Environmental Policy Act of 

23 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) to assess 

24 the effects of approving the petition shall 

25 be sufficient to support the amendment of 


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1 the 5-Year Outer Continental Shelf Oil and 

2 Gas Leasing Program. 

3 ‘‘(h) OPTION TO PETITION FOR EXTENSION OF

4 WITHDRAWAL FROM LEASING WITHIN CERTAIN AREAS

5 OF OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Governor of a State, 

7 with the concurrence of the legislature of the State, 

8 may submit to the Secretary a petition requesting 

9 that the Secretary extend, for a period of not more 

10 than 5 years, the withdrawal from leasing for all or 

11 part of any area within the Adjacent Zone of the 

12 State located more than 50 miles, but less than 100 

13 miles, from the coastline that is subject to sub14 section (g)(1)(B). 

15 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON PETITIONS.—A State may 

16 petition not more than once per calendar year for 

17 any particular area. 

18 ‘‘(3) SEPARATE PETITIONS.—A State shall sub19 mit separate petitions, with separate votes by the 

20 legislature of the State, for oil and gas leasing and 

21 for natural gas leasing. 

22 ‘‘(4) SCOPE OF PETITIONS.—A petition of a 

23 State may request certain areas to be withdrawn 

24 from all leasing and certain areas to be withdrawn 

25 only from 1 type of leasing. 


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1 ‘‘(i) EFFECT OF OTHER LAWS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Adoption by any adjacent 

3 State of any constitutional provision, or enactment 

4 of any State law, that has the effect, as determined 

5 by the Secretary, of restricting the Governor or the 

6 legislature, or both, of the State from exercising full 

7 discretion relating to subsection (g) or (h) shall for 

8 the duration of the restriction— 

9 ‘‘(A) prohibit any sharing of OCS receipts 

10 (as that term is defined in section 9(a)) under 

11 this Act with the adjacent State, and the coast12 al political subdivisions of the adjacent State; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(B) prohibit the adjacent State from exer15 cising any authority under subsection (h). 

16 ‘‘(2) TIMING.—The Secretary shall make the 

17 determination of the existence of a restricting con18 stitutional provision or State statute not later than 

19 30 days after receipt of a petition by any outer Con20 tinental Shelf lessee or coastal State. 

21 ‘‘(j) PROHIBITION ON LEASING EAST OF THE MILI22 TARY MISSION LINE.— 

23 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF MILITARY MISSION

24 LINE.—In this subsection, the term ‘military mission 

25 line’ means a line located at 86 degrees, 41 minutes 


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1 West Longitude, and extending south from the coast 

2 of the State of Florida to the outer boundary of 

3 United States territorial waters in the Gulf of Mex4 ico. 

5 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION.—Notwithstanding any other 

6 provision of law, during the period beginning on the 

7 date of enactment of this subsection and ending on 

8 January 1, 2022, no area of the outer Continental 

9 Shelf located in the Gulf of Mexico east of the mili10 tary mission line may be offered for leasing for oil 

11 and gas or natural gas unless a waiver is issued by 

12 the Secretary of Defense. 

13 ‘‘(3) DISPOSITION OF RECEIPTS.—If a waiver 

14 described in paragraph (2) is granted, 62.5 percent 

15 of the OCS Receipts from a lease within the area 

16 issued as a result of the waiver shall be paid annu17 ally to the National Guards of all States having a 

18 point that is within 1,000 miles of the lease, allo19 cated among the States on a per capita basis relative 

20 to the entire population of the States.’’. 

21 SEC. 211. OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF LEASING PROGRAM. 

22 Section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

23 (43 U.S.C. 1344) is amended— 

24 (1) in subsection (a)(3)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘(3) The Secretary’’ and 

2 inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(3) TIMING AND LOCATION OF LEASING.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary’’; and 

5 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(B) LEASE SALES.— 

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For each 5-year 

8 program, the Secretary shall include lease 

9 sales that, if viewed as a whole, propose to 

10 offer for oil and gas or natural gas leasing 

11 at least 75 percent of the available un12 leased acreage within each OCS Planning 

13 Area. 

14 ‘‘(ii) AVAILABLE UNLEASED ACRE15 AGE.—For the purpose of clause (i), avail16 able unleased acreage shall be that portion 

17 of the outer Continental Shelf that is not 

18 under lease at the time of the proposed 

19 lease sale, and has not otherwise been 

20 made unavailable for leasing by law.’’; 

21 (2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘(c)(1)’’ and 

22 all that follows through the end of paragraph (2) 

23 and inserting the following: 

24 ‘‘(c) PROPOSED LEASING PROGRAM.— 

25 ‘‘(1) CONSIDERATION AND ANALYSIS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—During the prepara2 tion of any proposed leasing program under this 

3 section, the Secretary shall consider and ana4 lyze leasing throughout the entire outer Conti5 nental Shelf without regard to any other law af6 fecting the leasing. 

7 ‘‘(B) SUGGESTIONS FROM FEDERAL AGEN8 CIES AND COASTAL STATES.—During the prep9 aration of the program, the Secretary shall in10 vite and consider suggestions from any inter11 ested Federal agency, including the Department 

12 of Justice, in consultation with the Federal 

13 Trade Commission, and from the Governor of 

14 any coastal State. 

15 ‘‘(C) SUGGESTIONS FROM LOCAL GOVERN16 MENTS.—The Secretary may invite or consider 

17 any suggestions from the executive of any local 

18 government in a coastal State that have been 

19 previously submitted to the Governor of the 

20 State, and from any other person. 

21 ‘‘(D) COORDINATION WITH SECRETARY OF

22 DEFENSE.— 

23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

24 shall consult with the Secretary of Defense 


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1 regarding military operational needs in the 

2 outer Continental Shelf. 

3 ‘‘(ii) CONFLICTS.—The Secretary 

4 shall work with the Secretary of Defense to 

5 resolve any conflicts that might arise re6 garding offering any area of the outer 

7 Continental Shelf for oil and gas or nat8 ural gas leasing. 

9 ‘‘(iii) UNRESOLVED ISSUES.—If the 

10 Secretaries are not able to resolve all of 

11 the conflicts, any unresolved issues shall be 

12 elevated to the President for resolution. 

13 ‘‘(2) REVIEW AND COMMENT ON PROPOSED

14 LEASING PROGRAM.— 

15 ‘‘(A) PUBLICATION.—After the consider16 ation and analysis required by paragraph (1) 

17 (including the consideration of the suggestions 

18 received from any interested Federal agency, 

19 the Federal Trade Commission, the Governor of 

20 any coastal State, any local government of a 

21 coastal State, and any other individual or enti22 ty), the Secretary shall publish in the Federal 

23 Register a description of a proposed leasing 

24 program accompanied by a draft environmental 

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1 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

2 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

3 ‘‘(B) COPY TO AFFECTED STATES.—After 

4 publication of the proposed leasing program 

5 and during the comment period provided for on 

6 the draft environmental impact statement, the 

7 Secretary shall submit a copy of the proposed 

8 program to the Governor of each affected State 

9 for review and comment. 

10 ‘‘(C) COMMENTS FROM LOCAL GOVERN11 MENTS.—The Governor may solicit comments 

12 from those executives of local governments in 

13 the State of the Governor that the Governor, in 

14 the discretion of the Governor, determines will 

15 be affected by the proposed program. 

16 ‘‘(D) REQUEST FOR MODIFICATION BY

17 GOVERNOR.— 

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If any comment 

19 by the Governor is received by the Sec20 retary at least 15 days prior to submission 

21 to Congress pursuant to paragraph (3) and 

22 includes a request for any modification of 

23 the proposed program, the Secretary shall 

24 reply in writing— 


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1 ‘‘(I) granting or denying the re2 quest in whole or in part, or granting 

3 the request in such modified form as 

4 the Secretary considers appropriate; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(II) stating the reasons for the 

7 decision of the Secretary. 

8 ‘‘(ii) CORRESPONDENCE.—All cor9 respondence between the Secretary and the 

10 Governor of any affected State described in 

11 clause (i), together with any additional in12 formation and data related to the cor13 respondence, shall accompany the proposed 

14 program when the proposed program is 

15 submitted to Congress.’’; and 

16 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(i) PROJECTION OF STATE ADJACENT ZONE RE18 SOURCES AND STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT SHARES

19 OF OCS RECEIPTS.—Concurrent with the publication of 

20 the notice of scope at the beginning of the development 

21 of each 5-year outer Continental Shelf oil and gas leasing 

22 program or as soon as practicable thereafter, the Sec23 retary shall— 

24 ‘‘(1) provide to each adjacent State a current 

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1 sources located within the Adjacent Zone of the 

2 State; and 

3 ‘‘(2) provide to each adjacent State, and coastal 

4 political subdivisions of the State— 

5 ‘‘(A) an estimate of the OCS Receipts that 

6 the Secretary expects will be shared with each 

7 adjacent State, and the coastal political subdivi8 sions of the State, using the assumption that 

9 the unleased tracts within the Adjacent Zone of 

10 the State are fully made available for leasing, 

11 including long-term projected OCS Receipts; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(B) a macroeconomic estimate of the im14 pact of the leasing on the national economy and 

15 the economy of each State, including the impact 

16 on investment, jobs, revenues, personal income, 

17 and other categories.’’. 

18 SEC. 212. COORDINATION WITH ADJACENT STATES. 

19 Section 19 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

20 (43 U.S.C. 1345) is amended— 

21 (1) in the first sentence of subsection (a), by in22 serting ‘‘, for any tract located within the Adjacent 

23 Zone of the adjacent State,’’ after ‘‘government’’; 

24 and 

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


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1 ‘‘(f) CONSTRUCTION OF PIPELINES.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para3 graph (2), no Federal agency may permit or other4 wise approve, without the concurrence of the adja5 cent State, the construction of a pipeline for crude 

6 oil or petroleum products, or both, within the part 

7 of the Adjacent Zone of the adjacent State that is 

8 withdrawn from oil and gas or natural gas leasing. 

9 ‘‘(2) CONSTRUCTION WITHOUT CONCUR10 RENCE.—A pipeline may be approved, without the 

11 concurrence of the adjacent State, to pass through 

12 the Adjacent Zone of the adjacent State if at least 

13 50 percent of the production projected to be carried 

14 by the pipeline during the first 10 years of operation 

15 is from areas of the Adjacent Zone of the adjacent 

16 State. 

17 ‘‘(3) NATURAL GAS PIPELINES.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

19 subparagraph (B), no State may prohibit the 

20 construction within the Adjacent Zone or wa21 ters of the State of a natural gas pipeline that 

22 will transport natural gas produced from the 

23 outer Continental Shelf. 

24 ‘‘(B) ALTERNATE LOCATION.—An adjacent 

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1 line landing location if the State proposes 2 al2 ternate landing locations in the adjacent State, 

3 acceptable to the adjacent State, located within 

4 50 miles on either side of the proposed landing 

5 location.’’. 

6 SEC. 213. ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES. 

7 Section 20(d) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 

8 Act (43 U.S.C. 1346(d)) is amended— 

9 (1) by striking ‘‘(d) The Secretary’’ and insert10 ing the following: 

11 ‘‘(d) ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary’’; and 

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

14 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION OF NATIONAL ENVIRON15 MENTAL POLICY ACT OF 1969.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of each 

17 program, lease sale, lease, and action under this 

18 Act, this paragraph shall apply regarding the 

19 application of the National Environmental Pol20 icy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

21 ‘‘(B) LEASE SUSPENSIONS AND PRELIMI22 NARY ACTIVITIES.— 

23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The granting or 

24 directing of a lease suspension and the 

25 conduct of all preliminary activities on 


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1 outer Continental Shelf tracts (including 

2 seismic activities) shall be categorically ex3 cluded from the need to prepare an envi4 ronmental assessment or an environmental 

5 impact statement. 

6 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTIONS.—The Secretary 

7 shall not be required to analyze whether 

8 any exceptions to a categorical exclusion 

9 apply to activities conducted under this 

10 Act. 

11 ‘‘(C) FURTHER ENVIRONMENTAL ANAL12 YSIS.—The environmental impact statement de13 veloped in support of each 5-year oil and gas 

14 leasing program shall provide the environmental 

15 analysis for all lease sales to be conducted 

16 under the program and such sales shall not be 

17 subject to further environmental analysis. 

18 ‘‘(D) EXPLORATION PLANS.— 

19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Exploration plans 

20 shall not be subject to any requirement to 

21 prepare an environmental impact state22 ment. 

23 ‘‘(ii) CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION.—The 

24 Secretary may find that exploration plans 

25 are eligible for categorical exclusion due to 


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1 the impacts already being considered with2 in an environmental impact statement or 

3 due to mitigation measures included within 

4 the plan. 

5 ‘‘(E) FURTHER DEVELOPMENT AND PRO6 DUCTION PLANS.— 

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro8 vided in clause (ii), within each OCS Plan9 ning Area, after the preparation of the 

10 first development and production plan en11 vironmental impact statement for a leased 

12 tract within the OCS Planning Area, fu13 ture development and production plans for 

14 leased tracts within the Area shall only re15 quire the preparation of an environmental 

16 assessment. 

17 ‘‘(ii) OLDER STATEMENTS.—If the 

18 most recent development and production 

19 plan environmental impact statement with20 in the OCS Planning Area was finalized 

21 more than 10 years before the date of the 

22 approval of the plan, an environmental im23 pact statement shall be required.’’. 


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1 SEC. 214. FEDERAL ENERGY NATURAL RESOURCES EN2 HANCEMENT. 

3 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

4 (1) energy and minerals exploration, develop5 ment, and production on Federal onshore and off6 shore land (including biobased fuel, natural gas, 

7 minerals, oil, geothermal, and power from wind, 

8 waves, currents, and thermal energy) involves sig9 nificant outlays of funds by Federal and State wild10 life, fish, and natural resource management agencies 

11 for environmental studies, planning, development, 

12 monitoring, and management of wildlife, fish, air, 

13 water, and other natural resources; 

14 (2) State wildlife, fish, and natural resource 

15 management agencies are funded primarily through 

16 permit and license fees paid to the States by the 

17 general public to hunt and fish, and through Federal 

18 excise taxes on equipment used for those activities; 

19 (3) funds generated from consumptive and rec20 reational uses of wildlife, fish, and other natural re21 sources are inadequate to address the natural re22 sources related to energy and minerals development 

23 on Federal onshore and offshore land; 

24 (4) funds made available to Federal agencies 

25 responsible for managing Federal onshore and off26 shore land and Federal-trust wildlife and fish species 


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1 and habitats are inadequate to address the natural 

2 resources related to energy and minerals develop3 ment on Federal onshore and offshore land; 

4 (5) receipts derived from sales, bonus bids, and 

5 royalties under the mineral leasing laws of the 

6 United States are paid to the Treasury through the 

7 Minerals Management Service of the Department of 

8 the Interior; and 

9 (6) none of the receipts derived from sales, 

10 bonus bids, and royalties under the minerals leasing 

11 laws of the United States are paid to Federal or 

12 State agencies to examine, monitor, and manage 

13 wildlife, fish, air, water, and other natural resources 

14 related to natural gas, oil, and mineral exploration 

15 and development. 

16 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are— 

17 (1) to authorize expenditures for the monitoring 

18 and management of wildlife and fish, and habitat, 

19 and air, water, and other natural resources related 

20 to energy and minerals development on Federal on21 shore and offshore land; 

22 (2) to authorize expenditures for each fiscal 

23 year to the Secretary of the Interior and the States; 

24 and 


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1 (3) to use funds made available under this sec2 tion to secure the necessary trained workforce or 

3 contractual services to conduct environmental stud4 ies, planning, development, monitoring, and post-de5 velopment management of wildlife and fish and habi6 tat and air, water, and other natural resources that 

7 may be related to biobased fuel, gas, mineral, oil, 

8 wind, or other energy exploration, development, 

9 transportation, transmission, and associated activi10 ties on Federal onshore and offshore land, includ11 ing— 

12 (A) pertinent research, surveys, and envi13 ronmental analyses conducted to identify any 

14 impact on wildlife, fish, air, water, and other 

15 natural resources from energy and mineral ex16 ploration, development, production, and trans17 portation or transmission; 

18 (B) projects to maintain, improve, or en19 hance wildlife and fish populations and habitat 

20 or air, water, or other natural resources, includ21 ing activities under the Endangered Species Act 

22 of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); 

23 (C) research, surveys, environmental anal24 yses, and projects that assist in managing (in25 cluding mitigating onsite or offsite, or both) the 


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1 impacts of energy and mineral activities on 

2 wildlife, fish, air, water, and other natural re3 sources; and 

4 (D) projects to teach young people to live 

5 off the land. 

6 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 (1) ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘en8 hancement program’’ means the Federal energy nat9 ural resources enhancement program established by 

10 this section. 

11 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the Gov12 ernor of the State. 

13 (d) ESTABLISHMENT OF FEDERAL ENERGY NAT14 URAL RESOURCES ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established the 

16 Federal energy natural resources enhancement pro17 gram. 

18 (2) PAYMENT TO SECRETARY OF THE INTE19 RIOR.—For fiscal year 2009 and each fiscal year 

thereafter, 1 20 ⁄3 of the amounts made available for the 

21 enhancement program shall be available to the Sec22 retary of the Interior for use for the purposes de23 scribed in subsection (b)(3). 

24 (3) PAYMENT TO STATES.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—For fiscal year 2009 

and each fiscal year thereafter, 2 2 ⁄3 of the 

3 amounts made available for the enhancement 

4 program shall be available to the States for use 

5 for the purposes described in subsection (b)(3). 

6 (B) USE OF PAYMENTS BY STATE.—Each 

7 State shall use the payments made under this 

8 paragraph only for carrying out projects and 

9 programs for the purposes described in sub10 section (b)(3). 

11 (C) ENCOURAGE USE OF PRIVATE FUNDS

12 BY STATE.—Each State shall use the payments 

13 made under this paragraph to leverage private 

14 funds for carrying out projects for the purposes 

15 described in subsection (b)(3). 

16 (e) LIMITATION ON USE.—Amounts made available 

17 under this section may not be used for the purchase of 

18 any interest in land. 

19 (f) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—During fiscal year 

20 2010 and each fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary of the 

21 Interior and each State receiving funds from the Enhance22 ment Fund shall submit to the Committee on Energy and 

23 Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on 

24 Natural Resources of the House of Representatives a reVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:32 Jul 18, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00084 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3280.IS S3280

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1 port describing the expenditures made available under this 

2 section during the previous fiscal year, including— 

3 (1) a summary of pertinent scientific research 

4 and surveys conducted to identify impacts on wild5 life, fish, and other natural resources from energy 

6 and mineral developments; 

7 (2) a summary of projects planned and com8 pleted to maintain, improve or enhance wildlife and 

9 fish populations and habitat or other natural re10 sources; 

11 (3) a list of additional actions that assist, or 

12 would assist, in managing (including mitigating on13 site or offsite, or both) the impacts of energy and 

14 mineral development on wildlife, fish, and other nat15 ural resources; and 

16 (4) a summary of non-Federal funds used to 

17 plan, conduct, and complete the plans and programs 

18 identified in paragraphs (1) and (2). 

19 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

20 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

21 $150,000,000 for fiscal year 2009 and each fiscal year 

22 thereafter. 


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1 SEC. 215. TERMINATION OF EFFECT OF LAWS PROHIBITING 

2 THE SPENDING OF APPROPRIATED FUNDS 

3 FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES. 

4 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, each pro5 vision of Federal law in effect on the date of enactment 

6 of this Act that prohibits the spending of Federal funds 

7 to conduct oil and natural gas leasing and preleasing ac8 tivities, or to issue a lease to any individual or entity, for 

9 any area of the outer Continental Shelf shall have no force 

10 or effect. 

11 SEC. 216. OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF INCOMPATIBLE 

12 USE. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

14 (b), no Federal agency may permit construction or oper15 ation of any facility, or designate or maintain a restricted 

16 transportation corridor or operating area on the Federal 

17 outer Continental Shelf or in State waters, that will be 

18 incompatible with, as determined by the Secretary of the 

19 Interior, oil and gas or natural gas leasing and substan20 tially full exploration and production of tracts that are 

21 geologically prospective for oil or natural gas. 

22 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to 

23 any facility, transportation corridor, or operating area the 

24 construction, operation, designation, or maintenance of 

25 which is or will be— 


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1 (1) located in an area of the outer Continental 

2 Shelf that is unavailable for oil and gas or natural 

3 gas leasing by operation of law; 

4 (2) used for a military readiness activity (as de5 fined in section 315(f) of division A of Public Law 

6 107–314; 16 U.S.C. 703 note); or 

7 (3) required in the national interest, as deter8 mined by the President. 

9 SEC. 217. REPURCHASE OF CERTAIN LEASES. 

10 (a) AUTHORITY TO REPURCHASE AND CANCEL CER11 TAIN LEASES.—The Secretary of the Interior shall repur12 chase and cancel any Federal oil and gas, geothermal, 

13 coal, oil shale, tar sands, or other mineral lease, whether 

14 onshore or offshore, but not including any outer Conti15 nental Shelf oil or gas lease that was subject to litigation 

16 in the Court of Federal Claims on January 1, 2006, if 

17 the Secretary finds that the lease qualifies for repurchase 

18 and cancellation under the regulations authorized by this 

19 section. 

20 (b) REGULATIONS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

22 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

23 shall publish final regulations providing the condi24 tions under which a lease referred to in subsection 

25 (a) would qualify for repurchase and cancellation, 


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1 and the process to be followed regarding repurchase 

2 and cancellation. 

3 (2) REQUIRED FINDINGS.—Under the regula4 tions, on a written request by the lessee, the Sec5 retary shall repurchase and cancel a lease on a find6 ing by the Secretary that— 

7 (A) a request by the lessee for a required 

8 permit or other approval complied with applica9 ble law (other than the Coastal Zone Manage10 ment Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.)), 

11 and terms of the lease and the permit or other 

12 approval were denied; 

13 (B) a Federal agency failed to act on a re14 quest by the lessee for a required permit, other 

15 approval, or administrative appeal within a reg16 ulatory or statutory time-frame associated with 

17 the requested action, whether mandatory or dis18 cretionary, or if none, within 180 days; or 

19 (C) a Federal agency attached a condition 

20 of approval, without agreement by the lessee, to 

21 a required permit or other approval if the con22 dition of approval was not mandated by Federal 

23 law (including regulations) in effect on the date 

24 of lease issuance, or was not specifically allowed 

25 under the terms of the lease. 


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1 (3) ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES.—Under the 

2 regulations, a lessee shall not be required to exhaust 

3 administrative remedies regarding a permit request, 

4 administrative appeal, or other required request for 

5 approval for the purposes of this section. 

6 (4) FINAL AGENCY DECISION.—The Secretary 

7 shall make a final agency decision on a request by 

8 a lessee under this section not later than 180 days 

9 after the date of the request. 

10 (5) COMPENSATION.— 

11 (A) AMOUNT.—Compensation to a lessee 

12 to repurchase and cancel a lease under this sec13 tion shall be the amount that a lessee would re14 ceive in a restitution case for a material breach 

15 of contract. 

16 (B) FORM.—Compensation shall be in the 

17 form of a check or electronic transfer from the 

18 Department of the Treasury from funds depos19 ited into miscellaneous receipts under the au20 thority of the same Act that authorized the 

21 issuance of the lease being repurchased. 

22 (C) FINAL AGENCY DECISION.—Failure of 

23 the Secretary to make a final agency decision 

24 on a request by a lessee under this section with25 in 180 days after the date of the request shall 


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1 result in a 10 percent increase in the compensa2 tion due to the lessee if the lease is ultimately 

3 repurchased. 

4 (c) NO PREJUDICE.—This section does not prejudice 

5 any other rights that the lessee would have in the absence 

6 of this section. 

7 SEC. 218. OFFSITE ENVIRONMENTAL MITIGATION. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi9 sion of law— 

10 (1) any person conducting activities under a law 

11 described in subsection (b) may, in satisfying any 

12 mitigation requirements associated with the activi13 ties, propose mitigation measures on a site away 

14 from the area impacted; and 

15 (2) the Secretary of the Interior shall accept 

16 those proposed measures if the Secretary finds that 

17 the measures generally achieve the purposes for 

18 which the mitigation measures were applied. 

19 (b) COVERED LAWS.—Subsection (a) applies to— 

20 (1) the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et 

21 seq.); 

22 (2) the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 

23 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.); 


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1 (3) the Act of August 7, 1947 (commonly 

2 known as the ‘‘Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired 

3 Lands’’) (30 U.S.C. 351 et seq.); 

4 (4) the Act of March 1, 1911 (commonly known 

5 as the ‘‘Weeks Law’’) (16 U.S.C. 480 et seq.); 

6 (5) sections 2318 through 2352 of the Revised 

7 Statutes (commonly known as the ‘‘Mining Law of 

8 1872’’) (30 U.S.C. 21 et seq.); 

9 (6) the Act of July 31, 1947 (commonly known 

10 as the ‘‘Materials Act of 1947’’) (30 U.S.C. 601 et 

11 seq.); and 

12 (7) the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 

13 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) 

14 SEC. 219. MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE. 

15 The bureau known as the ‘‘Minerals Management 

16 Service’’ in the Department of the Interior shall be known 

17 as the ‘‘National Ocean Resources and Royalty Service’’. 

18 SEC. 220. AUTHORITY TO USE DECOMMISSIONED OFF19 SHORE OIL AND GAS PLATFORMS AND 

20 OTHER FACILITIES FOR ARTIFICIAL REEF, 

21 SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, OR OTHER USES. 

22 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the 

23 ‘‘Rigs to Reefs Act of 2008’’. 


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1 (b) IN GENERAL.—The Outer Continental Shelf 

2 Lands Act is amended by inserting after section 9 (43 

3 U.S.C. 1338) the following: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 10. USE OF DECOMMISSIONED OFFSHORE OIL AND 

5 GAS PLATFORMS AND OTHER FACILITIES 

6 FOR ARTIFICIAL REEF, SCIENTIFIC RE7 SEARCH, OR OTHER USES. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsections (b) 

9 through (f), the Secretary shall promulgate regulations 

10 under which the Secretary may authorize use of an off11 shore oil and gas platform or other facility that is decom12 missioned from service for oil and gas purposes for an arti13 ficial reef, scientific research, or any other use authorized 

14 under section 8(p) or any other applicable Federal law. 

15 ‘‘(b) TRANSFER REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary 

16 shall not allow the transfer of a decommissioned offshore 

17 oil and gas platform or other facility to another person 

18 unless the Secretary is satisfied that the transferee is suf19 ficiently bonded, endowed, or otherwise financially able to 

20 fulfill the obligations of the transferee, including— 

21 ‘‘(1) ongoing maintenance of the platform or 

22 other facility; 

23 ‘‘(2) any liability obligations that might arise; 

24 ‘‘(3) removal of the platform or other facility if 

25 determined necessary by the Secretary; and 


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1 ‘‘(4) any other requirements and obligations 

2 that the Secretary may, by regulation, determine to 

3 be appropriate. 

4 ‘‘(c) PLUGGING AND ABANDONMENT.—The Sec5 retary shall ensure that plugging and abandonment of 

6 wells is accomplished at an appropriate time under this 

7 section. 

8 ‘‘(d) POTENTIAL TO PETITION TO OPT-OUT OF REG9 ULATIONS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An adjacent State, with the 

11 concurrence of the Governor and legislature of the 

12 State, may preliminarily petition to opt-out of the 

13 application of regulations promulgated under this 

14 section to platforms and other facilities located in 

15 the area of the Adjacent Zone of the State within 12 

16 miles of the coastline. 

17 ‘‘(2) ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—On receipt of the pre19 liminary petition, the Secretary shall complete 

20 an environmental assessment that documents 

21 the anticipated environmental effects of approv22 ing the petition. 

23 ‘‘(B) PROVISION TO STATE.—The Sec24 retary shall provide the environmental assess25 ment to the State, which shall have the choice 


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1 of no action or confirming the petition of the 

2 State by further action, with the concurrence of 

3 the Governor and legislature of the State. 

4 ‘‘(C) EXCEPTED AREAS.—The Secretary— 

5 ‘‘(i) may except an area from the ap6 plication of such regulations; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) shall approve any confirmed peti8 tion. 

9 ‘‘(e) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY.—A person that had 

10 used an offshore oil and gas platform or other facility for 

11 oil and gas purposes and that no longer has any ownership 

12 or control of the platform or other facility shall not be 

13 liable under Federal law for any costs or damages arising 

14 from the platform or other facility after the date the plat15 form or other facility is used for any purpose under sub16 section (a), unless the costs or damages arise from— 

17 ‘‘(1) use of the platform or other facility by the 

18 person for development or production of oil or gas; 

19 or 

20 ‘‘(2) another act or omission of the person. 

21 ‘‘(f) OTHER LEASING AND USE NOT AFFECTED.— 

22 This section, and the use of any offshore oil and gas plat23 form or other facility for any purpose under subsection 

24 (a), shall not affect— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the authority of the Secretary to lease any 

2 area under this Act; or 

3 ‘‘(2) any activity otherwise authorized under 

4 this Act. 

5 ‘‘(g) DEADLINE FOR REGULATIONS.—Not later than 

6 180 days after the date of enactment of the American Af7 fordable Fuels Act of 2008, the Secretary of the Interior 

8 shall promulgate such regulations as are necessary to 

9 carry out this section.’’. 

10 (c) STUDY AND REPORT ON EFFECTS OF REMOVAL

11 OF PLATFORMS.—Not later than 1 year after the date of 

12 enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior, in 

13 consultation with other Federal agencies as the Secretary 

14 considers advisable, shall conduct a study and submit a 

15 report to Congress regarding how the removal of offshore 

16 oil and gas platforms and other facilities from the outer 

17 Continental Shelf would affect fish stocks and coral popu18 lations. 

19 SEC. 221. REPEAL OF REQUIREMENT TO CONDUCT COM20 PREHENSIVE INVENTORY OF OCS OIL AND 

21 NATURAL GAS RESOURCES. 

22 Section 357 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

23 U.S.C. 15912) is repealed. 


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1 SEC. 222. MINING AND PETROLEUM SCHOOLS. 

2 (a) MAINTENANCE AND RESTORATION OF EXISTING

3 AND HISTORIC PETROLEUM AND MINING ENGINEERING

4 PROGRAMS.—Public Law 98–409 (30 U.S.C. 1221 et 

5 seq.) is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

7 ‘‘This Act may be cited as the ‘Energy and Mineral 

8 Schools Reinvestment Act’. 

9 ‘‘SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

10 ‘‘In this Act: 

11 ‘‘(1) ABET, INC.—The term ‘ABET, Inc.’ 

12 means the Accreditation Board for Engineering and 

13 Technology, Inc. 

14 ‘‘(2) COMMITTEE.—The term ‘Committee’ 

15 means the Committee on Petroleum, Mining, and 

16 Mineral Engineering and Energy and Mineral Re17 source Education established under section 12. 

18 ‘‘(3) COVERED SCHOOL.—The term ‘covered 

19 school’ means an institution of higher education 

20 that— 

21 ‘‘(A) maintains an engineering program 

22 that meets the specific program criteria, estab23 lished by the member societies of ABET, Inc., 

24 for petroleum, mining, or mineral engineering; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(B) is accredited as of the date of enact2 ment of the American Affordable Fuels Act of 

3 2008 by ABET, Inc. 

4 ‘‘(4) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘Department’ 

5 means the Department of the Interior. 

6 ‘‘(5) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

7 The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 

8 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 

9 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

10 ‘‘(6) OFFICE.—The term ‘Office’ means the Of11 fice of Petroleum and Mining Schools established 

12 under section 10(b). 

13 ‘‘(7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

14 the Secretary of the Interior. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 3. PROVISION OF FUNDS TO COVERED SCHOOLS. 

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsections (b) and 

17 (c), the Secretary shall provide funds to covered schools 

18 to assist the covered schools to maintain programs in pe19 troleum, mining, and mineral engineering education and 

20 research. 

21 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds made available under 

22 this section may only be used to carry out programs de23 scribed in subsection (a). 

24 ‘‘(c) FUNDING.—The Secretary shall use not less 

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1 cal year under section 222(d) of the American Affordable 

2 Fuels Act of 2008 to carry out this section. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 4. MAINTAINING AND RESTORING COVERED SCHOOL 

4 PROGRAMS. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsections (b) 

6 through (i), the Secretary shall provide funds to covered 

7 schools to assist the covered schools to maintain programs 

8 in petroleum, mining, and mineral engineering education 

9 and research. 

10 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds made available under 

11 this section may only be used to carry out programs de12 scribed in subsection (a). 

13 ‘‘(c) ENHANCEMENT OF TRAINING OF ENGINEERS.— 

14 Each covered school that receives funds under this section 

15 shall use the funds to provide for and enhance the training 

16 of undergraduate and graduate petroleum, mining, and 

17 mineral engineers through research, investigations, dem18 onstrations, and experiments in a manner that enhances 

19 undergraduate education. 

20 ‘‘(d) DURATION AND EXPANSION OF PROGRAM.— 

21 Each covered school that receives funds under this section 

22 shall— 

23 ‘‘(1) use the funds to maintain the program for 

24 which the funds are provided for at least 10 years 

25 after the date of the first receipt of the funds; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) take steps described in the application of 

2 the covered school for funding to increase the num3 ber of undergraduate students enrolled in and com4 pleting the programs of study in petroleum, mining, 

5 and mineral engineering. 

6 ‘‘(e) RESEARCH, INVESTIGATION, DEMONSTRATION, 

7 EXPERIMENTATION, AND TRAINING.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The research, investigation, 

9 demonstration, experimentation, and training au10 thorized by this section may include— 

11 ‘‘(A) development and production of con12 ventional and nonconventional fuel resources; 

13 ‘‘(B) the production of metallic and non14 metallic mineral resources, including industrial 

15 mineral resources; and 

16 ‘‘(C) the production of stone, sand, and 

17 gravel. 

18 ‘‘(2) UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS.—In each 

19 case described in paragraph (1), the work carried 

20 out with funds made available under this Act shall 

21 include a significant opportunity for participation by 

22 undergraduate students. 

23 ‘‘(f) RESEARCH FOR ENERGY AND MINERAL RE24 SOURCE DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION.—Research 


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1 funded under this Act for energy and mineral resource de2 velopment and production may include— 

3 ‘‘(1) studies of petroleum, mining, and mineral 

4 extraction and immediately related beneficiation 

5 technology; 

6 ‘‘(2) mineral economics, reclamation technology, 

7 and practices for active operations; 

8 ‘‘(3) the development of remining systems and 

9 technologies to facilitate reclamation that fosters the 

10 ultimate recovery of resources at abandoned petro11 leum, mining, and aggregate production sites; and 

12 ‘‘(4) research on ways to extract petroleum and 

13 mineral resources that reduce the environmental im14 pact of those activities. 

15 ‘‘(g) GRANTS FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

16 STUDIES AND RESEARCH.— 

17 ‘‘(1) BASIC SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING.— 

18 Grants for basic science and engineering studies and 

19 research under this section shall not require addi20 tional participation by funding partners. 

21 ‘‘(2) APPLIED SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING.— 

22 Grants for studies to demonstrate the proof of con23 cept for science and engineering or the demonstra24 tion of feasibility and implementation— 


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1 ‘‘(A) shall include participation by indus2 try; and 

3 ‘‘(B) may include funding from other Fed4 eral agencies. 

5 ‘‘(h) USE OF FUNDS FOR LAND, BUILDINGS, AND

6 EQUIPMENT.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No funds made available 

8 under this section shall be used for— 

9 ‘‘(A) the acquisition by purchase or lease 

10 of any land or interests in land; or 

11 ‘‘(B) the rental, purchase, construction, 

12 preservation, or repair of any building. 

13 ‘‘(2) EXISTING LABORATORIES OR EQUIP14 MENT.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Funding made avail16 able under this section may be used with the 

17 express approval of the Secretary for proposals 

18 that will provide for maintaining or upgrading 

19 of existing laboratories and laboratory equip20 ment. 

21 ‘‘(B) MAINTENANCE.—Funding for main22 tenance under subparagraph (A) shall not be 

23 used for the overhead expenses of a covered 

24 school. 

25 ‘‘(3) OIL AND GAS DRILLING RIGS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Funding made avail2 able under this Act may be used for maintain3 ing and upgrading mines and oil and gas drill4 ing rig owned by a covered school that are used 

5 for undergraduate and graduate training and 

6 worker safety training. 

7 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to use 

8 funding made available under this Act to main9 tain or upgrade a mine or oil or gas drilling 

10 rigs, a covered school shall demonstrate to the 

11 Secretary that the rig has been— 

12 ‘‘(i) owned by the covered school dur13 ing the 5-year period ending on the date of 

14 enactment of the American Affordable 

15 Fuels Act of 2008; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) actively used for instructional or 

17 training purposes during that period. 

18 ‘‘(4) OVERHEAD EXPENSES.—Of the amount of 

19 funding made available under this section for re20 search, investigation, demonstration, experimen21 tation, or training, a covered school shall not use for 

22 overhead expenses more than a percentage or 

23 amount determined by the Secretary, which shall not 

24 exceed 10 percent of the amount of the funding. 


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1 ‘‘(i) FUNDING.—The Secretary shall use not less than 

2 25 percent of the amount of funds provided each fiscal 

3 year under section 222(d) of the American Affordable 

4 Fuels Act of 2008 to carry out this section. 

5 ‘‘SEC. 5. FORMER AND NEW PETROLEUM AND MINING ENGI6 NEERING PROGRAMS. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An institution of higher edu8 cation that formerly met the requirements of a covered 

9 school immediately before the date of enactment of the 

10 American Affordable Fuels Act of 2008, or that seeks to 

11 establish a new program described in section 4(b), shall 

12 be eligible for funding under this Act only if— 

13 ‘‘(1) the institution of higher education — 

14 ‘‘(A) establishes a petroleum, mining, or 

15 mineral engineering program that meets specific 

16 program criteria and is accredited by ABET, 

17 Inc., with particular consideration awarded to 

18 establishing programs and minority-serving in19 stitutions; 

20 ‘‘(B) agrees to the conditions described in 

21 section 4; and 

22 ‘‘(C) agrees to maintain the accredited pro23 gram for at least 10 years after the date of the 

24 first receipt of funds under this Act; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) the Secretary determines that the program 

2 will strengthen and increase the number of nation3 ally available, well-qualified faculty members in pe4 troleum, mining, and mineral engineering. 

5 ‘‘(b) CONSULTATION WITH COMMITTEE.—The Sec6 retary shall seek the advice of the Committee in deter7 mining the criteria used to carry out this section. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 6. FUNDING OF CONSORTIA OF HISTORIC AND EXIST9 ING SCHOOLS. 

10 ‘‘The Secretary may make funds available under this 

11 Act to consortia of covered schools and institutions of 

12 higher education described in section 5 (including con13 sortia that include institutions of higher education that 

14 are ineligible for funds under this Act, if those institutions 

15 of higher education, respectively, have skills, programs, or 

16 facilities specifically identified as needed by the consortia) 

17 to meet the necessary expenses for purposes of— 

18 ‘‘(1) specific energy and mineral research 

19 projects of broad application that could not other20 wise be undertaken, including the expenses of plan21 ning and coordinating regional petroleum, geo22 thermal, mining, and mineral engineering or 

23 beneficiation projects by 2 or more covered schools; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(2) research into any aspects of petroleum, 

2 geothermal, mining, or mineral engineering or 

3 beneficiation problems, including exploration, that 

4 are related to the mission of the Department. 

5 ‘‘SEC. 7. SUPPORT FOR SCHOOLS WITH ENERGY AND MIN6 ERAL RESOURCE PROGRAMS IN PETROLEUM 

7 AND MINERAL EXPLORATION GEOLOGY, PE8 TROLEUM GEOPHYSICS, OR MINING GEO9 PHYSICS. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may use not more 

11 than 12 percent of the amount of funds provided each fis12 cal year under section 222(d) of the American Affordable 

13 Fuels Act of 2008 to provide assistance to institutions of 

14 higher education that are not covered schools, with par15 ticular consideration awarded to minority-serving institu16 tions. 

17 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—The Secretary shall determine 

18 the eligibility of a college, university, or educational insti19 tution to receive funding under this section using criteria 

20 that include— 

21 ‘‘(1) the presence of a substantial program of 

22 undergraduate and graduate geoscience instruction 

23 and research in 1 or more of the fields of petroleum 

24 geology, geothermal geology, mineral exploration ge25 ology, economic geology, industrial minerals geology, 


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1 mining geology, petroleum geophysics, mining geo2 physics, geological engineering, or geophysical engi3 neering, with a demonstrated history of achievement; 

4 ‘‘(2) evidence of institutional commitment for 

5 the purposes of this Act that includes a significant 

6 opportunity for participation by undergraduate stu7 dents in research; 

8 ‘‘(3) evidence that the institution of higher edu9 cation has or can obtain significant industrial co10 operation in activities within the scope of this Act; 

11 ‘‘(4) an agreement by the institution of higher 

12 education to maintain the programs for which the 

13 funding is sought for at least the 10-year period be14 ginning on the date the institution of higher edu15 cation first receives the funds; and 

16 ‘‘(5) requiring that funding under this section 

17 shall be for the purposes and subject to the condi18 tions described in section 4. 

19 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION WITH COMMITTEE.—The Sec20 retary shall seek the advice of the Committee in deter21 mining the criteria used to carry out this section. 

22 ‘‘SEC. 8. DESIGNATION OF FUNDS FOR SCHOLARSHIPS AND 

23 FELLOWSHIPS. 

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may use 10 per25 cent of the amount of funds provided each fiscal year 


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1 under section 222(d) of the American Affordable Fuels 

2 Act of 2008 to provide merit-based scholarships for under3 graduate education, graduate fellowships, and post4 doctoral fellowships. 

5 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY FOR OBTAINING SCHOLARSHIP OR

6 FELLOWSHIP.—To be eligible to obtain a scholarship or 

7 a graduate fellowship under this section, an individual stu8 dent shall— 

9 ‘‘(1) be a citizen or lawful permanent resident 

10 of the United States; and 

11 ‘‘(2) agree in writing to complete a course of 

12 studies and receive a degree in petroleum, mining, 

13 mineral engineering, petroleum geology, geothermal 

14 geology, mining and economic geology, petroleum 

15 and mining geophysics, or mineral economics. 

16 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY FOR RETAINING SCHOLARSHIP OR

17 FELLOWSHIP.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to retain a 

19 scholarship or a graduate fellowship under this sec20 tion, an individual student shall— 

21 ‘‘(A) continue in 1 of the course of studies 

22 described in subsection (b)(2); 

23 ‘‘(B) remain in good academic standing, as 

24 determined by the institution of higher edu25 cation; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) allow for the reinstatement of the 

2 scholarship or graduate fellowship by the Sec3 retary, on the recommendation of the institu4 tion of higher education. 

5 ‘‘(2) RECOVERY.—The regulations promulgated 

6 to carry out this section may provide for recovery of 

7 funds from an individual who fails to complete any 

8 of the courses of study described in subsection (b)(2) 

9 after notice that the completion is a requirement of 

10 the receipt of funding under this section. 

11 ‘‘(d) GRANTS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To carry out this section, 

13 the Secretary shall award grants to covered schools 

14 and other institutions of higher education that are 

15 eligible to receive funding under section 4, 5, or 7. 

16 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATION.—A covered school or 

17 other institution of higher education shall— 

18 ‘‘(A) be responsible for enforcing the re19 quirements of this section for scholarship or fel20 lowship students; and 

21 ‘‘(B) return to the Secretary any funds re22 covered from an individual under subsection 

23 (c)(2). 

24 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION FOR GRANTS.—An institu25 tion of higher education seeking funds under this 


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1 section shall describe in the application of the insti2 tution of higher education to the Secretary for fund3 ing— 

4 ‘‘(A) the number of students that would be 

5 awarded scholarships or fellowships if the appli6 cation is approved; 

7 ‘‘(B) how the students would be selected; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(C) how this section will be enforced. 

10 ‘‘SEC. 9. FUNDING CRITERIA FOR INSTITUTIONS. 

11 ‘‘(a) CONTENTS OF APPLICATIONS.—Each applica12 tion to the Secretary for funds for a project under this 

13 Act shall describe— 

14 ‘‘(1) the nature of the project to be undertaken; 

15 ‘‘(2) the period during which the project will be 

16 carried out; 

17 ‘‘(3) the qualifications of the personnel who will 

18 direct and conduct the project; 

19 ‘‘(4) the estimated costs of the project; 

20 ‘‘(5) the importance of the project to the 

21 United States, region, or States concerned; 

22 ‘‘(6) the relationship to other known related re23 search projects being carried out; 

24 ‘‘(7) the extent to which the project will maxi25 mize the opportunity for the training of underVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:32 Jul 18, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00109 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3280.IS S3280

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1 graduate petroleum, mining, and mineral engineers, 

2 geologists, and geophysicists; and 

3 ‘‘(8) the extent of participation by nongovern4 mental sources in the project. 

5 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION REQUIREMENT.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No funds shall be made 

7 available under this Act unless the funds are pro8 vided pursuant to an application approved by the 

9 Secretary. 

10 ‘‘(2) BASIS FOR AVAILABILITY.—All funds for a 

11 project under this Act shall be made available on the 

12 basis of— 

13 ‘‘(A) the merit of the application; 

14 ‘‘(B) the need for the knowledge that the 

15 project is expected to produce when completed; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(C) the opportunity the project provides 

18 for the undergraduate training of individuals as 

19 petroleum, mining, and mineral engineers, ge20 ologists, and geophysicists. 

21 ‘‘(3) COMPETITIVE REVIEW.—The Secretary 

22 may use competitive review by nongovernmental ex23 perts in relevant fields to determine which applica24 tions to approve, to the extent practicable. 

25 ‘‘(c) PAYMENT OF FUNDS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Funds made available 

2 under this Act shall be paid— 

3 ‘‘(A) at such times and in such amounts 

4 during each fiscal year as is determined by the 

5 Secretary; and 

6 ‘‘(B) on vouchers approved by the Sec7 retary. 

8 ‘‘(2) DUTIES OF INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER

9 EDUCATION.—Each institution of higher education 

10 that receives funds under this Act shall— 

11 ‘‘(A) establish a plan to provide for the 

12 training of individuals as petroleum, mining, 

13 and mineral engineers, geologists, and geo14 physicists under a curriculum appropriate to 

15 the field of mineral resources and mineral engi16 neering and related fields; 

17 ‘‘(B) establish policies and procedures that 

18 ensure that Federal funds made available under 

19 this Act for any fiscal year will supplement and, 

20 to the extent practicable, increase the level of 

21 funds that would, in the absence of the Federal 

22 funds, be made available for purposes of this 

23 Act, and in no case supplant the funds; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) have an officer appointed by the gov2 erning authority of the institution of higher 

3 education who shall— 

4 ‘‘(i) receive and account for all funds 

5 paid under this Act; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) make an annual report to the 

7 Secretary on or before the first day of Sep8 tember of each year, that contains— 

9 ‘‘(I) a description of work accom10 plished and the status of projects un11 derway; 

12 ‘‘(II) a detailed statement of the 

13 amounts received under this Act dur14 ing the preceding fiscal year; and 

15 ‘‘(III) a description of disburse16 ments under this Act on schedules 

17 prescribed by the Secretary. 

18 ‘‘(d) MISUSE OF FUNDS.—If any of the funds re19 ceived by the authorized receiving officer of a program 

20 under this Act are found by the Secretary to have been 

21 improperly diminished, lost, or misapplied, the Secretary 

22 shall recover the funds. 

23 ‘‘(e) COOPERATIVE PROGRAMS.—Institutions of high24 er education receiving funds under this Act are authorized 

25 and encouraged to plan and conduct programs under this 


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1 Act in cooperation with each other and with other agen2 cies, entities, and individuals. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 10. DUTIES OF SECRETARY. 

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

5 the Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Manage6 ment, shall— 

7 ‘‘(1) administer this Act; and 

8 ‘‘(2) not later than 1 year after the date of en9 actment of the American Affordable Fuels Act of 

10 2008, promulgate such rules and regulations as are 

11 necessary to carry out this Act. 

12 ‘‘(b) OFFICE OF PETROLEUM AND MINING

13 SCHOOLS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

15 the Department, under the supervision of the Assist16 ant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management, 

17 an office to be known as the Office of Petroleum and 

18 Mining Schools (hereafter in this Act referred to as 

19 the ‘Office’) to administer this Act. 

20 ‘‘(2) DIRECTOR.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Office shall be 

22 headed by a Director. 

23 ‘‘(B) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Director 

24 shall be— 


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1 ‘‘(i) a member of the Senior Executive 

2 Service; 

3 ‘‘(ii) allocated from among the exist4 ing Senior Executive Service positions at 

5 the Department; and 

6 ‘‘(iii) a career reserved position (as 

7 defined in section 3132(a)(8) of title 5, 

8 United States Code). 

9 ‘‘(3) OTHER OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director may— 

11 ‘‘(i) appoint a Deputy Director; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) employ such officers and employ13 ees as may be necessary to enable the Of14 fice to carry out the functions of the Of15 fice. 

16 ‘‘(B) APPOINTMENTS.—The appointments 

17 shall be— 

18 ‘‘(i) made from existing positions at 

19 the Department; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) subject to the provisions of title 

21 5, United States Code, governing appoint22 ments in the competitive service. 

23 ‘‘(C) COMPENSATION.—The positions shall 

24 be paid in accordance with the provisions of 

25 chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of 


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1 title 5, United States Code, relating to classi2 fication and General Schedule pay rates. 

3 ‘‘(4) DUTIES.—The Director shall assist and 

4 advise the Secretary and the Committee by— 

5 ‘‘(A) providing professional and adminis6 trative staff support for the Committee, includ7 ing recordkeeping and maintaining minutes of 

8 all Committee and subcommittee meetings; 

9 ‘‘(B) coordinating the activities of the 

10 Committee with Federal agencies and depart11 ments, and institutions of higher education to 

12 which funds are provided under this Act; 

13 ‘‘(C) maintaining accurate records of funds 

14 disbursed for all scholarship and fellowship 

15 grants, research grants, and grants for career 

16 technical education purposes; 

17 ‘‘(D) preparing any regulations required to 

18 implement this Act; 

19 ‘‘(E) conducting site visits at institutions 

20 of higher education receiving funding under this 

21 Act; and 

22 ‘‘(F) serving as a central repository for re23 ports and a clearinghouse for public informa24 tion on research funded by this Act. 


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1 ‘‘(5) MEETINGS.—The Director or an employee 

2 of the Office shall be present at each meeting of the 

3 Committee or a subcommittee of the Committee. 

4 ‘‘(6) CONTRACTS.—The Director may contract 

5 with public or private agencies, institutions, organi6 zations, and individuals without regard to sub7 sections (a) and (b) of section 3324 of title 31, 

8 United States Code, and section 3709 of the Revised 

9 Statutes (41 U.S.C. 5), in carrying out the functions 

10 of the Director. 

11 ‘‘(7) COMPLIANCE.—As needed, the Director 

12 shall ascertain whether the requirements of this Act 

13 have been met by institutions of higher education 

14 and individuals. 

15 ‘‘(c) ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary, acting through 

16 the Office, shall— 

17 ‘‘(1) furnish such advice and assistance as will 

18 best promote the purposes of this Act; 

19 ‘‘(2) participate in coordinating research, inves20 tigations, demonstrations, and experiments initiated 

21 under this Act; 

22 ‘‘(3) indicate to institutions of higher education 

23 receiving funds under this Act such lines of inquiry 

24 as the Secretary determines important; and 


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1 ‘‘(4) encourage and assist in the establishment 

2 and maintenance of cooperation between institutions 

3 of higher education, other research organizations, 

4 the Department, and other Federal agencies. 

5 ‘‘(d) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.—The Secretary shall 

6 establish procedures— 

7 ‘‘(1) to ensure that each employee and con8 tractor of the Office and each member of the Com9 mittee shall disclose to the Secretary any financial 

10 interests in or financial relationships with institu11 tions of higher education or individuals receiving 

12 funds, scholarships or fellowships under this Act; 

13 ‘‘(2) to require any employee, contractor, or 

14 member of the Committee with a financial relation15 ship disclosed under paragraph (1) to recuse the em16 ployee, contractor, or member of the Committee 

17 from— 

18 ‘‘(A) any recommendation or decision re19 garding the awarding of funds, scholarships, or 

20 fellowships; or 

21 ‘‘(B) any review, report, analysis, or inves22 tigation regarding compliance with this Act by 

23 an institution of higher education or any indi24 vidual. 


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1 ‘‘(e) COMPLIANCE.—On or before the first day of 

2 July of each year beginning after the date of enactment 

3 of the American Affordable Fuels Act of 2008, an institu4 tion of higher education receiving funds under this Act 

5 shall— 

6 ‘‘(1) certify compliance with this Act; and 

7 ‘‘(2) on request of the Director of the Office, 

8 provide documentation of compliance with this Act. 

9 ‘‘(f) PROGRESS TOWARDS COMPLETION OF STUD10 IES.—An individual granted a scholarship or fellowship 

11 with funds provided under this Act shall through the re12 spective institution of higher education of the individual, 

13 advise the Director of the Office of progress towards com14 pletion of the course of studies and on the awarding of 

15 the applicable degree within 30 days after the award. 

16 ‘‘(g) VETERANS PREFERENCES.—The regulations re17 quired to carry out this Act shall include a preference for 

18 veterans and service members who have received or will 

19 receive either the Afghanistan Campaign Medal or the 

20 Iraq Campaign Medal as authorized by Public Law 108– 

21 234 (10 U.S.C. 1121 note), and Executive Order No. 

22 13363. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 11. COORDINATION. 

2 ‘‘(a) RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INSTITUTIONS OF

3 HIGHER EDUCATION, STATES, AND FEDERAL GOVERN4 MENT.—Nothing in this Act— 

5 ‘‘(1) impairs or modifies the legal relationship 

6 existing between any of the institutions of higher 

7 education under whose direction a program is estab8 lished with funds provided under this Act and the 

9 government of the State in which the institution of 

10 higher education is located; or 

11 ‘‘(2) authorizes Federal control or direction of 

12 education at any institution of higher education. 

13 ‘‘(b) OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

14 ‘‘(1) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act 

15 are— 

16 ‘‘(A) to enhance the petroleum, mining, 

17 and mineral engineering education programs of 

18 the United States; 

19 ‘‘(B) to enhance educational programs in 

20 petroleum and mining exploration; and 

21 ‘‘(C) to increase the number of individuals 

22 enrolled in and completing those programs. 

23 ‘‘(2) COOPERATION.—To achieve those pur24 poses, each Federal agency concerned shall provide 

25 to the Secretary and the Committee advice and coVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:32 Jul 18, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00119 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3280.IS S3280

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1 operation with the identification, exploration, and 

2 development of energy and mineral resources. 

3 ‘‘(c) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER FEDERAL AGEN4 CIES.—Nothing in this Act— 

5 ‘‘(1) provides the Secretary with any authority 

6 over mining and mineral resources research con7 ducted by any agency of the Federal Government; or 

8 ‘‘(2) repeals or diminishes existing authorities 

9 or responsibilities of any agency of the Federal Gov10 ernment to plan and conduct, contract for, or assist 

11 in research in the area of responsibility and concern 

12 of the agency with regard to mining and mineral re13 sources. 

14 ‘‘(d) REPORTS AND RESULTS OF INSTITUTIONS OF

15 HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) REPORTS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The institutions of 

18 higher education receiving funding under this 

19 Act shall make detailed reports to the Office on 

20 projects completed, in progress, or planned with 

21 funds provided under this Act. 

22 ‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY.—All reports under 

23 subparagraph (A) shall be available to the pub24 lic on not less than an annual basis through the 

25 Office. 


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1 ‘‘(2) RESULTS.—All uses, products, processes, 

2 and other developments resulting from any research, 

3 demonstration, or experiment funded in whole or in 

4 part under this Act shall be made available promptly 

5 to the general public, subject to exception or limita6 tion, if any, as the Secretary may find necessary in 

7 the interest of national security, and subject to the 

8 applicable Federal law governing patents. 

9 ‘‘SEC. 12. COMMITTEE ON PETROLEUM, MINING, AND MIN10 ERAL ENGINEERING AND ENERGY AND MIN11 ERAL RESOURCE EDUCATION. 

12 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab13 lish a Committee on Petroleum, Mining, and Mineral En14 gineering and Energy and Mineral Resource Education. 

15 ‘‘(b) COMPOSITION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Committee shall be 

17 composed of— 

18 ‘‘(A) the Assistant Secretary of the Inte19 rior responsible for land and minerals manage20 ment, who shall serve as Chairperson of the 

21 Committee; and 

22 ‘‘(B) not more than 16 other individuals 

23 appointed by the Secretary who are knowledge24 able in the fields of mining and mineral re25 sources research, including— 


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1 ‘‘(i) 2 university administrators, at 

2 least 1 of whom shall be from a covered 

3 school; 

4 ‘‘(ii) a community, technical, or tribal 

5 college administrator; 

6 ‘‘(iii) a career technical education edu7 cator; 

8 ‘‘(iv) 6 representatives equally distrib9 uted of the petroleum, mining, and aggre10 gate industries; 

11 ‘‘(v) an actively employed miner; 

12 ‘‘(vi) an actively employed oilfield 

13 worker; 

14 ‘‘(vii) a representative of the Inter15 state Oil and Gas Compact Commission; 

16 ‘‘(viii) a representative from the Inter17 state Mining Compact Commission; 

18 ‘‘(ix) a representative from the West19 ern Governors’ Association; 

20 ‘‘(x) a representative of State geolo21 gists; and 

22 ‘‘(xi) a representative of a State min23 ing and reclamation agency. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—In making appointments 

2 under paragraph (1)(B), the Secretary shall consult 

3 with interested groups. 

4 ‘‘(3) TECHNICAL ADVISORS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Sec6 retary of the Interior responsible for land and 

7 minerals management may have present during 

8 meetings of the Committee representatives of 

9 Federal agencies with responsibility for— 

10 ‘‘(i) energy and minerals resources 

11 management; 

12 ‘‘(ii) energy and mineral resource in13 vestigations; 

14 ‘‘(iii) energy and mineral commodity 

15 information; 

16 ‘‘(iv) international trade in energy and 

17 mineral commodities; 

18 ‘‘(v) mining safety regulation and 

19 mine safety research; and 

20 ‘‘(vi) research into the development, 

21 production, and use of energy and mineral 

22 commodities. 

23 ‘‘(B) DUTIES.—The representatives de24 scribed in subparagraph (A) shall— 


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1 ‘‘(i) serve as technical advisors to the 

2 Committee; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) have no voting responsibilities on 

4 the Committee. 

5 ‘‘(c) DUTIES.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Committee shall con7 sult with, and make recommendations to, the Sec8 retary on policy matters related to carrying out this 

9 Act. 

10 ‘‘(2) SECRETARY.—The Secretary shall consult 

11 with and carefully consider recommendations of the 

12 Committee on matters described in paragraph (1). 

13 ‘‘(d) COMPENSATION.—Each Committee member, 

14 other than an officer or employee of the Federal Govern15 ment, or a State or local government, shall be, for each 

16 day (including traveltime) during which the member is 

17 performing Committee business— 

18 ‘‘(1) paid at a rate fixed by the Secretary but 

19 not in excess of the daily equivalent of the maximum 

20 rate of pay for level IV of the Executive Schedule 

21 under section 5136 of title 5, United States Code; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(2) fully reimbursed for travel, subsistence, 

24 and related expenses. 

25 ‘‘(e) VICE CHAIRPERSON; SUBCOMMITTEES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) VICE CHAIRPERSON.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Committee shall 

3 elect a Vice Chairperson from among the mem4 bers appointed under subsection (b)(1)(B). 

5 ‘‘(B) DUTIES.—The Vice Chairperson shall 

6 perform such duties as are determined to be ap7 propriate by the Committee, except that the 

8 Chairperson of the Committee shall personally 

9 preside at each meetings of the full Committee. 

10 ‘‘(2) SUBCOMMITTEES.—The Committee may 

11 establish such subcommittees as the Committee de12 termines appropriate. 

13 ‘‘(f) FISCAL RESOURCES PLAN.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Following completion of the 

15 report required by section 385 of the Energy Policy 

16 Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–58; 119 Stat. 744), 

17 the Committee shall— 

18 ‘‘(A) consider the recommendations of the 

19 report with respect to ongoing efforts by— 

20 ‘‘(i) institutions of higher education 

21 receiving funding under this Act; 

22 ‘‘(ii) the Federal Government and 

23 State governments; and 

24 ‘‘(iii) the private sector; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) formulate and recommend to the Sec2 retary a national plan for a program using the 

3 fiscal resources provided under this Act. 

4 ‘‘(2) APPROVAL.—The Committee shall submit 

5 the plan to the Secretary for approval. 

6 ‘‘(3) GUIDANCE.—On approval, the Secretary 

7 and the Committee shall use the plan as a guide in 

8 carrying out this Act. 

9 ‘‘(g) ADMINISTRATION.—Section 10 of the Federal 

10 Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply 

11 to the Committee. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 13. CAREER TECHNICAL EDUCATION. 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may use up to 25 

14 percent of the amount of funds provided each fiscal year 

15 under section 222(d) of the American Affordable Fuels 

16 Act of 2008 to provide funds to— 

17 ‘‘(1) eligible institutions of higher education, 

18 other than institutions of higher education described 

19 in sections 4 through 7; and 

20 ‘‘(2) jointly sponsored apprenticeship and train21 ing programs that are authorized by Federal law. 

22 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—The Secretary shall determine 

23 the eligibility of an institution of higher education to re24 ceive funding under this section using criteria that in25 clude— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the presence of a State-approved program 

2 in mining engineering technology, petroleum engi3 neering technology, industrial engineering tech4 nology, or industrial technology that— 

5 ‘‘(A) is focused on technology and the use 

6 of technology in energy and mineral production 

7 and related maintenance, operational safety, or 

8 energy infrastructure protection and security; 

9 ‘‘(B) prepares students for advanced or su10 pervisory roles in the mining or petroleum in11 dustry; and 

12 ‘‘(C) grants an associate’s degree or a bac13 calaureate degree in 1 of the subjects described 

14 in subparagraph (A); 

15 ‘‘(2) the presence of a program, including a sec16 ondary school vocational education program or ca17 reer academy, that provides training for individuals 

18 entering the petroleum, coal mining, or mineral min19 ing industries; or 

20 ‘‘(3) the presence of a State-approved program 

21 of career technical education at a secondary school, 

22 offered cooperatively with a community college in 1 

23 of the industrial sectors of— 

24 ‘‘(A) agriculture, forestry, or fisheries; 

25 ‘‘(B) utilities; 


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1 ‘‘(C) construction; 

2 ‘‘(D) manufacturing; and 

3 ‘‘(E) transportation and warehousing. 

4 ‘‘(c) INSTITUTIONAL COMMITMENT.—To be eligible 

5 to receive funds under this section, an institution of higher 

6 education shall provide to the Secretary— 

7 ‘‘(1) evidence of an institutional commitment 

8 for the purposes of career technical education; and 

9 ‘‘(2) evidence that the institution of higher edu10 cation has received or will receive industry coopera11 tion in the form of equipment, employee time, or do12 nations of funds to support the activities that are 

13 within the scope of this section. 

14 ‘‘(d) DURATION.—To be eligible to receive funds 

15 under this section, an institution of higher education shall 

16 agree to maintain the programs for which the funding is 

17 sought for a period of at least 10 years beginning on the 

18 date the school or institution receives the funds, unless 

19 the Secretary finds that a shorter period of time is appro20 priate for the local labor market or is required by State 

21 authorities. 

22 ‘‘(e) OTHER FUNDS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

24 an institution of higher education that receives funds 

25 under this section may combine those funds with 


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1 State funds, and other Federal funds (to the extent 

2 permitted by law), to carry out programs described 

3 in this section. 

4 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—If an institution of higher edu5 cation combines funds in accordance with paragraph 

6 (1), the institution of higher education shall report 

7 to the Secretary not less than annually on the com8 bined use of the funds. 

9 ‘‘(f) CONSULTATION ON CRITERIA.—The Secretary 

10 shall seek the advice of the Committee in determining the 

11 criteria used to carry out this section. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 14. DEPARTMENT WORKFORCE ENHANCEMENT. 

13 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 ‘‘(1) ALASKA NATIVE-SERVING INSTITUTION.— 

15 The term ‘Alaska Native-serving institution’ has the 

16 meaning given the term in section 317 of the Higher 

17 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059d). 

18 ‘‘(2) HISPANIC-SERVING INSTITUTION.—The 

19 term ‘Hispanic-serving institution’ has the meaning 

20 given the term in section 502(a) of the Higher Edu21 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1101a(a)). 

22 ‘‘(3) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE OR UNI23 VERSITY.—The term ‘historically Black college or 

24 university’ has the meaning given the term ‘part B 


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1 institution’ in section 322 of the Higher Education 

2 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061). 

3 ‘‘(4) INSULAR AREA SCHOOL.—The term ‘insu4 lar area school’ means an institution of higher edu5 cation in— 

6 ‘‘(A) Guam; 

7 ‘‘(B) American Samoa; 

8 ‘‘(C) the Commonwealth of the Northern 

9 Mariana Islands; 

10 ‘‘(D) the United States Virgin Islands; or 

11 ‘‘(E) any other territory or possession of 

12 the United States. 

13 ‘‘(5) MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTION.—The 

14 term ‘minority-serving institution’ means— 

15 ‘‘(A) a Hispanic-serving institution; 

16 ‘‘(B) a historically Black college or univer17 sity; 

18 ‘‘(C) an Alaska Native-serving institution; 

19 ‘‘(D) a tribal college or university; and 

20 ‘‘(E) an insular area school. 

21 ‘‘(6) TRIBAL COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY.—The 

22 term ‘tribal college or university’ has the meaning 

23 given the term ‘Tribal College or University’ in sec24 tion 316(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

25 (20 U.S.C. 1059c(b)). 


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1 ‘‘(b) PHYSICAL SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, AND TECH2 NOLOGY SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From the amount of funds 

4 made available for each fiscal year to carry out this 

5 section, the Secretary shall use 30 percent of the 

6 amount to provide financial assistance for education 

7 in physical sciences, engineering, and engineering or 

8 industrial technology and disciplines that, as deter9 mined by the Secretary, are critical to the functions 

10 of the Department and are needed in the Depart11 ment workforce. 

12 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBILITY.—The Secretary may award a 

13 scholarship under this subsection to an individual 

14 who— 

15 ‘‘(A) is a citizen of the United States; 

16 ‘‘(B) is pursuing an undergraduate or ad17 vanced degree in a critical skill or discipline de18 scribed in paragraph (1) at an institution of 

19 higher education; and 

20 ‘‘(C) enters into a service agreement with 

21 the Secretary as described in subsection (e). 

22 ‘‘(3) AMOUNT.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara24 graph (B), the amount of the financial assist25 ance provided under a scholarship awarded to 


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1 an individual under this subsection shall be the 

2 amount determined by the Secretary as being 

3 necessary to pay all educational expenses in4 curred by the individual, including tuition, fees, 

5 cost of books, laboratory expenses, and expenses 

6 of room and board. 

7 ‘‘(B) NORMAL EDUCATIONAL EXPENSES.— 

8 The expenses covered by subparagraph (A) 

9 shall be limited to educational expenses that are 

10 normally incurred by students at the institution 

11 of higher education involved. 

12 ‘‘(c) SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM FOR STUDENTS AT13 TENDING MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTIONS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From the amount of funds 

15 made available for each fiscal year to carry out this 

16 section, the Secretary shall use 35 percent of the 

17 amount to award scholarships in accordance with 

18 this section to eligible individuals. 

19 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBILITY.—The Secretary may award a 

20 scholarship under this subsection to an individual 

21 who— 

22 ‘‘(A) is enrolled in a minority-serving insti23 tution; 

24 ‘‘(B) is a citizen or national of the United 

25 States; 


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1 ‘‘(C) is pursuing an undergraduate or ad2 vanced degree in agriculture, engineering, engi3 neering or industrial technology, or physical 

4 sciences, or other discipline that is found by the 

5 Secretary to be critical to the functions of the 

6 Department and are needed in the Department 

7 workforce; and 

8 ‘‘(D) enters into a service agreement with 

9 the Secretary as described in subsection (e). 

10 ‘‘(3) AMOUNT.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara12 graph (B), the amount of the financial assist13 ance provided under a scholarship awarded to 

14 an individual under this subsection shall be the 

15 amount determined by the Secretary as being 

16 necessary to pay all educational expenses in17 curred by the individual, including tuition, fees, 

18 cost of books, laboratory expenses, and expenses 

19 of room and board. 

20 ‘‘(B) NORMAL EDUCATIONAL EXPENSES.— 

21 The expenses covered by subparagraph (A) 

22 shall be limited to educational expenses that are 

23 normally incurred by students at the institution 

24 of higher education involved. 


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1 ‘‘(d) EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS WITH MINORITY2 SERVING INSTITUTIONS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall require 

4 the director of each bureau and office of the Depart5 ment to foster the participation of minority-serving 

6 institutions in any regulatory activity, land manage7 ment activity, science activity, engineering or indus8 trial technology activity, or engineering activity car9 ried out by the Department. 

10 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES.—From the amount of funds 

11 made available for each fiscal year to carry out this 

12 section, the Secretary shall use 35 percent of the 

13 amount to support activities at minority-serving in14 stitutions by— 

15 ‘‘(A) funding faculty and students in those 

16 minority-serving institutions in collaborative re17 search projects that are directly related to the 

18 mission of the Department; 

19 ‘‘(B) allowing equipment transfer to minor20 ity-serving institutions as a part of a collabo21 rative research program directly related to the 

22 mission of the Department; 

23 ‘‘(C) allowing faculty and students at those 

24 minority-serving institutions to participate in 

25 training activities of the Department; 


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1 ‘‘(D) funding paid internships in facilities 

2 of the Department for students at minority3 serving institutions; and 

4 ‘‘(E) assigning personnel of the Depart5 ment to positions located at minority-serving in6 stitutions to serve as mentors to students inter7 ested in a science, technology, or engineering 

8 disciplines related to the mission of the Depart9 ment. 

10 ‘‘(e) SERVICE AGREEMENT FOR RECIPIENTS OF AS11 SISTANCE.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To receive financial assist13 ance under subsection (b) or (c)— 

14 ‘‘(A) in the case of an employee of the De15 partment, the employee shall enter into a writ16 ten agreement to continue in the employment of 

17 the Department for the period of obligated serv18 ice determined under paragraph (2); and 

19 ‘‘(B) in the case of an individual who is 

20 not an employee of the Department, the indi21 vidual shall enter into a written agreement to 

22 accept and continue employment in the Depart23 ment for the period of obligated service deter24 mined under paragraph (2). 

25 ‘‘(2) PERIOD OF OBLIGATED SERVICE.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of 

2 this section, the period of obligated service for 

3 a recipient of a scholarship under this section 

4 shall be the period determined by the Secretary 

5 as being appropriate to obtain adequate service 

6 in exchange for the financial assistance pro7 vided under the scholarship. 

8 ‘‘(B) MINIMUM PERIOD.—The period of 

9 service required of a recipient shall not be less 

10 than the total period of pursuit of a degree that 

11 is covered by the scholarship. 

12 ‘‘(C) ADDITIONAL SERVICE.—The period 

13 of obligated service shall be in addition to any 

14 other period for which the recipient is obligated 

15 to serve in the civil service of the United States. 

16 ‘‘(3) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—An agreement 

17 entered into under this subsection by an individual 

18 pursuing an academic degree shall include any terms 

19 and conditions that the Secretary determines nec20 essary to protect the interests of the United States 

21 or otherwise appropriate for carrying out this sec22 tion. 

23 ‘‘(f) REFUND FOR PERIOD OF UNSERVED OBLI24 GATED SERVICE.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An individual who volun2 tarily terminates service before the end of the period 

3 of obligated service required under an agreement en4 tered into under subsection (e) shall refund to the 

5 United States an amount determined by the Sec6 retary as being appropriate to obtain adequate serv7 ice in exchange for financial assistance. 

8 ‘‘(2) DEBT TO UNITED STATES.—An obligation 

9 to reimburse the United States imposed under para10 graph (1) shall be considered a debt owed to the 

11 United States. 

12 ‘‘(3) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive, in 

13 whole or in part, a refund required under paragraph 

14 (1) if the Secretary determines that recovery would 

15 be against equity and good conscience or would be 

16 contrary to the best interests of the United States. 

17 ‘‘(4) BANKRUPTCY.—A discharge in bankruptcy 

18 under title 11, United States Code, that is entered 

19 less than 5 years after the date of termination of an 

20 agreement under this section shall not discharge the 

21 individual signing the agreement from a debt arising 

22 under the agreement or this subsection. 

23 ‘‘(g) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER PROGRAMS.—The 

24 Secretary shall coordinate the provision of financial assist25 ance under this section with the provision of financial asVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:32 Jul 18, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00137 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3280.IS S3280

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1 sistance under this Act in order to maximize the benefits 

2 derived by the Department from this Act. 

3 ‘‘(h) ANNUAL REPORT.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than September 

5 1 of each year, the Secretary shall submit to Con6 gress a report on the status of the assistance pro7 gram carried out under this section. 

8 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The report shall describe the 

9 programs within the Department that are designed 

10 to recruit and retain a workforce on a short-term 

11 basis and on a long-term basis. 

12 ‘‘(i) FUNDING.—The Secretary shall use 3 percent of 

13 the amount of funds provided each fiscal year under sec14 tion 222(d) of the American Affordable Fuels Act of 2008 

15 to carry out this section.’’. 

16 (b) FUNDING FOR ENERGY RESEARCH.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy 

18 shall use 20 percent of the amount of funds provided 

19 each fiscal year under subsection (d) to carry a pro20 gram (through the energy supply research and devel21 opment programs of the Department of Energy and 

22 in consultation with the Office of Science of the De23 partment of Energy) to award grants to institutions 

24 of higher education (as defined in section 101(a) of 

25 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 


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1 1001(a))) on the basis of competitive, merit-based 

2 review, for the purpose of conducting research on 

3 advanced energy technologies with the potential to 

4 transform the energy systems of the United States— 

5 (A) to reduce dependence on foreign en6 ergy supplies; 

7 (B) to reduce or eliminate emissions of 

8 greenhouse gases; 

9 (C) to reduce negative environmental ef10 fects associated with energy production, stor11 age, and use; and 

12 (D) to enhance the competitiveness of 

13 United States energy technology exports. 

14 (2) AWARDS.—Awards made under this sub15 section may include funding for— 

16 (A) energy efficiency; 

17 (B) renewable energy, including solar, 

18 wind, and biofuels; and 

19 (C) nuclear, hydrogen, and any other en20 ergy research that could accomplish the pur21 poses described in paragraph (1). 

22 (3) PARTNERSHIPS.—The Secretary may re23 quire or authorize grantees under this subsection to 

24 partner with industry, but only to the extent that 

25 such a requirement does not prevent long-range, poVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:32 Jul 18, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00139 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3280.IS S3280

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1 tentially innovative research from being funded 

2 under this subsection. 

3 (4) APPLICATION.—An institution of higher 

4 education seeking funding under this subsection 

5 shall submit to the Secretary an application at such 

6 time, in such manner, and containing such informa7 tion as the Secretary may require. 

8 (c) FUNDING FOR ENERGY SCHOLARSHIPS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy 

10 shall use 5 percent of the amount of funds provided 

11 each fiscal year under subsection (d) to carry a pro12 gram (through the energy supply research and devel13 opment programs of the Department of Energy and 

14 in consultation with the Office of Science of the De15 partment of Energy) to award grants to institutions 

16 of higher education (as defined in section 101(a) of 

17 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

18 1001(a))) on the basis of competitive, merit-based 

19 review, to grant graduate traineeships to post-doc20 torate students who are citizens of the United States 

21 and who carry out research on advanced energy 

22 technologies to accomplish a purpose described in 

23 subsection (b)(1). 

24 (2) ACTIVITIES.—Awards made under this sub25 section may include funding for— 


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1 (A) energy efficiency; 

2 (B) renewable energy, including solar, 

3 wind, and biofuels; and 

4 (C) nuclear, hydrogen, and any other en5 ergy research that would accomplish the pur6 pose set forth in subsection (b)(1) that is not 

7 eligible for funding under section 8 of the En8 ergy and Mineral Schools Reinvestment Act. 

9 (3) APPLICATION.—An institution of higher 

10 education seeking funding under this subsection 

11 shall submit to the Secretary an application at such 

12 time, in such manner, and containing such informa13 tion as the Secretary may require. 

14 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

15 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section and 

16 the amendment made by this section $150,000,000 for fis17 cal year 2009 and each fiscal year thereafter. 

18 SEC. 223. ONSHORE AND OFFSHORE MINERAL LEASE FEES. 

19 Except as otherwise provided in this Act and notwith20 standing any other provision of law, the Secretary of the 

21 Interior may not charge fees applicable to bidding or ac22 tions for Federal onshore or offshore oil, gas, coal, geo23 thermal, or other mineral lease (including transportation 

24 of any production from a lease) if the fees were not estabVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:32 Jul 18, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00141 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3280.IS S3280

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1 lished in final regulations promulgated prior to the date 

2 of issuance of the lease. 

3 SEC. 224. OCS REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than July 1, 2010, the 

5 Secretary of the Interior shall establish the headquarters 

6 for the Atlantic OCS Region, the headquarters for the 

7 Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, and the headquarters for the 

8 Pacific OCS Region within a State bordering the Atlantic 

9 OCS Region, a State bordering the Gulf of Mexico OCS 

10 Region, and a State bordering the Pacific OCS Region, 

11 respectively, from among the States bordering those Re12 gions that petition by not later than January 1, 2010, for 

13 leasing, for oil and gas or natural gas, covering at least 

14 40 percent of the area of the Adjacent Zone of the Region 

15 within 100 miles of the coastline of the State. 

16 (b) ADMINISTRATION.—In carrying out this section, 

17 the Secretary shall ensure that— 

18 (1) the Atlantic and Pacific OCS Regions head19 quarters are located within 25 miles of the coastline; 

20 (2) each OCS regional headquarters of the Min21 erals Management Service shall be the permanent 

22 duty station for all Minerals Management Service 

23 personnel that on a daily basis spend on average 60 

24 percent or more of the time of the personnel in the 

25 performance of duties in support of the activities of 


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1 the respective Region, except that the Minerals Man2 agement Service may house regional inspection staff 

3 in other locations; and 

4 (3) each OCS Region shall each be led by a Re5 gional Director who shall be an employee within the 

6 Senior Executive Service. 

7 SEC. 225. NATIONAL GEO FUND ACT OF 2008. 

8 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the 

9 ‘‘National Geo Fund Act of 2006’’. 

10 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are— 

11 (1) to provide for the management of geologic 

12 programs, geologic mapping, geophysical and other 

13 seismic studies, and seismic monitoring programs; 

14 and 

15 (2) to provide for the preservation and use of 

16 geologic and geophysical data, geothermal and 

17 geopressure energy resource management, unconven18 tional energy resources management, and renewable 

19 energy management associated with ocean wave, cur20 rent, and thermal resources. 

21 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 (1) COAL-TO-LIQUIDS FRONT-END ENGINEER23 ING AND DESIGN; FEED.—The terms ‘‘coal-to-liquids 

24 front-end engineering and design’’ and ‘‘FEED’’ 

25 mean expenditures necessary to engineer, design, 


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1 and obtain permits for a facility for a particular geo2 graphic location that will use a process or technique 

3 to produce liquid fuels from coal resources. 

4 (2) LOW-RANK COAL WATER FUEL.—The term 

5 ‘‘low-rank coal water fuel’’ means a liquid fuel pro6 duced from hydrothermal treatment of lignite and 

7 subbituminous coals. 

8 (3) IN SITU EXTRACTION METHODS.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘in situ ex10 traction methods’’ means recovery techniques 

11 that are— 

12 (i) applied to the resources while the 

13 resources are still in the ground; and 

14 (ii) in commercial use or advanced 

15 stages of development. 

16 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘in situ ex17 traction methods’’ includes— 

18 (i) steam flooding; 

19 (ii) steam-assisted gravity drainage 

20 (including combination with electric power 

21 generation if appropriate); 

22 (iii) cyclic steam stimulation; 

23 (iv) air injection; and 

24 (v) chemical treatment. 


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1 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of the Interior. 

3 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the 

4 agency of a State designated by the Governor of the 

5 State or State law to perform the functions and ac6 tivities described in subsection (b). 

7 (6) STRATEGIC UNCONVENTIONAL RE8 SOURCES.—The term ‘‘strategic unconventional re9 sources’’ means hydrocarbon resources (including 

10 heavy oil, oil shale, tar sands, and coal deposits) 

11 from which liquid fuels may be produced. 

12 (d) STRATEGIC UNCONVENTIONAL RESOURCES.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

14 a program for production of— 

15 (A) fuels from strategic unconventional re16 sources; and 

17 (B) oil and gas resources using carbon di18 oxide enhanced recovery. 

19 (2) PROGRAM.—The program shall— 

20 (A) focus initially on activities and domes21 tic resources that are most likely to result in 

22 significant production in the near future; and 

23 (B) include— 


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1 (i) work necessary to improve extrac2 tion techniques, including surface and in 

3 situ operations; 

4 (ii) characterization and assessment of 

5 potential resources; 

6 (iii) a sampling program; 

7 (iv) appropriate laboratory and other 

8 analyses and testing; and 

9 (v) assessment of methods for explo10 ration and development of the strategic un11 conventional resources. 

12 (3) PILOT PROJECTS.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The program estab14 lished under this subsection shall include pilot 

15 projects for— 

16 (i) the Maverick Basin heavy oil and 

17 tar sands formations of State of Texas, in18 cluding the San Miguel deposits; 

19 (ii) the Greater Green River Basin 

20 heavy oil, oil shale, tar sands, and coal de21 posits of the States of Colorado, Utah, and 

22 Wyoming; 

23 (iii) the shale, tar sands, heavy oil, 

24 and coal deposits in the Alabama-Mis25 sissippi-Tennessee region; 


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1 (iv) the shale, tar sands, heavy oil, 

2 and coal deposits in the Ohio River valley; 

3 and 

4 (v) strategic unconventional resources 

5 in the State of California. 

6 (B) INCENTIVES.— 

7 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

8 identify and report to Congress on feasible 

9 incentives to foster recovery of unconven10 tional fuels by private industry within the 

11 United States. 

12 (ii) FORM.—The incentives may in13 clude— 

14 (I) long-term contracts for the 

15 purchase of unconventional fuels for 

16 defense purposes; 

17 (II) Federal grants and loan 

18 guarantees for necessary capital ex19 penditures; and 

20 (III) favorable terms for the leas21 ing of land of the Federal Government 

22 containing unconventional resources. 

23 (4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

24 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

25 this subsection $35,000,000 for each of fiscal years 


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1 2009 through 2018, of which each pilot project de2 scribed in paragraph (3)(A) shall be allocated not 

3 less than $4,000,000 for each fiscal year. 

4 (e) SUPPORT OF GEOTHERMAL AND GEOPRESSURE

5 OIL AND GAS ENERGY PRODUCTION.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 

7 out a grant program in support of geothermal and 

8 geopressure oil and gas energy production. 

9 (2) ASSESSMENTS.—The program shall include 

10 grants for a total of not less than— 

11 (A) 3 assessments of the use of innovative 

12 geothermal techniques, such as organic rankine 

13 cycle systems at marginal, unproductive, and 

14 productive oil and gas wells; and 

15 (B) 1 assessment of the use of innovative 

16 geopressure techniques. 

17 (3) AWARDS.—The Secretary shall, to the max18 imum extent practicable and in the public interest, 

19 make awards under this subsection that— 

20 (A) include not less than 5 oil or gas well 

21 sites per project award; 

22 (B) use a range of oil or gas well hot water 

23 source temperatures from 150 to 300 degrees 

24 Fahrenheit; 

25 (C) use existing or new oil or gas wells; 


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1 (D) cover a range of sizes from 175 kilo2 watts to 1 megawatt; 

3 (E) are located at a range of sites, includ4 ing tribal land, Federal leased land, State land, 

5 or privately-owned sites; 

6 (F) can be replicated at a wide range of 

7 sites; 

8 (G) facilitate identification of optimum 

9 techniques among competing alternatives; 

10 (H) include business commercialization 

11 plans that have the potential for production of 

12 equipment at high volumes and operation and 

13 support at a large number of sites; and 

14 (I) satisfy other criteria that the Secretary 

15 determines are necessary to carry out the pro16 gram. 

17 (4) MULTIPLE ELEMENTS.—The Secretary 

18 shall give preference to assessments that address 

19 multiple elements described in paragraph (3). 

20 (5) GRANT AWARDS.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each grant award for 

22 assessment of innovative geothermal or 

23 geopressure technology (such as organic rankine 

24 cycle systems at oil and gas wells) made by the 

25 Secretary under this subsection shall include— 


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1 (i) necessary and appropriate site en2 gineering studies; 

3 (ii) a detailed economic assessment of 

4 site specific conditions; 

5 (iii) appropriate feasibility studies to 

6 determine the ability for replication; 

7 (iv) design or adaptation of existing 

8 technology for site specific circumstances 

9 or conditions; 

10 (v) installation of equipment, service, 

11 and support; and 

12 (vi) monitoring for a minimum of 1 

13 year after the date of commissioning. 

14 (6) COMPETITIVE GRANT SELECTION.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

16 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

17 the Secretary shall conduct a national solicita18 tion for applications for grants under the pro19 gram. 

20 (B) SELECTION.—Grant recipients shall be 

21 selected on a competitive basis based on criteria 

22 described in paragraph (3). 

23 (7) FEDERAL SHARE.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of 

25 the costs of grants under this subsection shall 


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1 be provided from funds made available to carry 

2 out this section. 

3 (B) SHARE.—The Federal share of the 

4 cost of a project carried out with such a grant 

5 shall not exceed 50 percent of the cost. 

6 (8) NEW WELLS.—No funds made available 

7 under this subsection may be used for the purposes 

8 of drilling new wells 

9 (9) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

10 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

11 this subsection $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

12 2009 through 2018. 

13 (10) GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES COPRODUCED

14 WITH MINERAL.—Section 4 of the Geothermal 

15 Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1003) is amended by 

16 adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(h) GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES COPRODUCED WITH

18 MINERALS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any person that holds a 

20 lease or who operates a cooperative or unit plan 

21 under the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et 

22 seq.), in the absence of an existing lease for geo23 thermal resources under this Act, shall (on notice to 

24 the Secretary) have the right to use any geothermal 

25 resources coproduced with the minerals for which 


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1 the lease was issued during the operation of the 

2 lease or cooperative or unit plan, for the generation 

3 of electricity to operate the lease. 

4 ‘‘(2) EXCESS ELECTRICITY.—Any electricity 

5 that is produced in excess of that which is required 

6 to operate the lease and that is sold for purposes 

7 outside of the boundary of the lease shall be subject 

8 to section 5.’’. 

9 (f) LIQUID FUELS GRANT PROGRAM.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

11 a program under which grants are provided to facili12 ties to pay the Federal share of the cost of— 

13 (A) promoting coal-to-liquids, petroleum 

14 coke-to-liquids, oil shale, tar sands, heavy oil, 

15 and Alaska natural gas-to-liquids; and 

16 (B) assessing the production of low-rank 

17 coal water fuel. 

18 (2) GRANT PROVISIONS.— 

19 (A) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share 

20 of a grant provided under this subsection shall 

21 be 50 percent. 

22 (B) REPAYMENT OF FEED GRANTS.—Of 

23 the recipients of grants under paragraph (1)(A) 

24 who receive full project construction financing 


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1 commitments (based on the earliest calendar 

2 date)— 

3 (i) the first 4 recipients shall not be 

4 required to repay any of the grants; 

5 (ii) the next 4 recipients shall be re6 quired to repay 25 percent of the grant; 

7 (iii) the next 4 recipients shall be re8 quired to repay 50 percent of the grant; 

9 and 

10 (iv) the remaining recipients shall be 

11 required to repay 75 percent of the grant. 

12 (C) REPAYMENT OF LRCWF GRANTS.—The 

13 recipient of a grant under paragraph (1)(B) 

14 shall not be required to repay the grant. 

15 (D) TIMING OF REPAYMENT.—Any re16 quired repayment shall be paid as part of the 

17 closing process for any construction financing 

18 relating to the grant. 

19 (E) INTEREST.—No repayment of a grant 

20 under this paragraph shall require the payment 

21 of interest if the grant is repaid within 5 years 

22 of the issuance of the grant. 

23 (F) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF FEED

24 GRANTS.—The amount of a grant under para25 graph (1)(A) shall not exceed— 


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1 (i) $1,000,000 per 1,000 barrels for 

2 any day of liquid fuels production capacity; 

3 or 

4 (ii) $25,000,000 for any fiscal year. 

5 (3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara7 graph (B), there are authorized to be appro8 priated to carry out this subsection— 

9 (i) $65,000,000 for fiscal year 2009; 

10 and 

11 (ii) $37,500,000 for each of fiscal 

12 years 2010 through 2018. 

13 (B) LOW-RANK COAL WATER FUEL.—Of 

14 the amount of funds that are made available for 

15 each fiscal year under subparagraph (A), the 

16 Secretary shall use not less than $15,000,000 

17 to provides grants to assess the production of 

18 low-rank coal water fuel. 

19 (g) RENEWABLE ENERGY FROM OCEAN WAVE, 

20 TIDE, CURRENT, AND THERMAL RESOURCES.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

22 a grant program to pay the Federal share of the 

23 costs of projects to promote the production of renew24 able energy from ocean waves, tides, currents, and 

25 thermal resources. 


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1 (2) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of a 

2 grant provided under this subsection shall be 50 per3 cent. 

4 (3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

5 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

6 this subsection $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

7 2009 through 2018. 

8 (h) LIABILITY FOR MAPS.—Section 507 of the Sur9 face Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 

10 U.S.C. 1267) is amended by adding at the end the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(i) LIABILITY FOR MAPS.—Any person who provides 

13 the regulatory authority with a map under paragraph (13) 

14 or (14) of subsection (b) shall not be liable to any other 

15 person in any way for the accuracy or completeness of any 

16 map that was not prepared and certified by or on behalf 

17 of the person.’’. 

18 SEC. 226. LEASES FOR AREAS LOCATED WITHIN 100 MILES 

19 OF CALIFORNIA OR FLORIDA. 

20 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 (1) EXISTING OIL AND GAS LEASE.—The term 

22 ‘‘existing oil and gas lease’’ means an oil and gas 

23 lease in effect on the date of enactment of this Act. 

24 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

25 the Secretary of the Interior. 


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1 (b) AUTHORIZATION TO CANCEL AND EXCHANGE

2 CERTAIN EXISTING OIL AND GAS LEASES; PROHIBITION

3 ON SUBMITTAL OF EXPLORATION PLANS FOR CERTAIN

4 LEASES PRIOR TO JUNE 30, 2012.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act, the lessee of an 

7 existing oil and gas lease for an area located com8 pletely within 100 miles of the coastline within the 

9 California or Florida Adjacent Zones shall have the 

10 option, without compensation, of exchanging the 

11 lease for a new oil and gas lease having a primary 

12 term of 5 years. 

13 (2) TRACTS.—For the area subject to the new 

14 lease, the lessee may select any unleased tract on the 

15 outer Continental Shelf that is in an area available 

16 for leasing. 

17 (3) CONVERSION TO NATURAL GAS LEASE.— 

18 With the permission of the relevant Governor, the 

19 lessee may convert an existing oil and gas lease into 

20 a natural gas lease having a primary term of 5 years 

21 and covering the same area as the existing oil and 

22 gas lease or another area within the same Adjacent 

23 Zone of the State within 100 miles of the coastline. 

24 (4) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall es2 tablish an administrative process for carrying 

3 out this subsection. 

4 (B) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.—An 

5 exchange, conversion, or other action under this 

6 subsection (including the issuance of a new 

7 lease)— 

8 (i) shall not be considered to be major 

9 Federal actions for purposes of the Na10 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

11 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); and 

12 (ii) shall be in compliance with the 

13 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 

14 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.). 

15 (5) OPERATING RESTRICTIONS.—A new lease 

16 issued in exchange for an existing oil and gas lease 

17 under this subsection shall be subject to any na18 tional defense operating stipulations on the outer 

19 Continental Shelf tract that applied to the existing 

20 oil and gas lease. 

21 (6) PRIORITY.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

23 give priority in the lease exchange process 

24 under this subsection based on the amount of 


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1 the original bonus bid paid for the issuance of 

2 each lease to be exchanged. 

3 (B) PARTIAL TRACTS.—The Secretary 

4 shall allow leases covering partial tracts to be 

5 exchanged for leases covering full tracts condi6 tioned on payment of additional bonus bids on 

7 a per-acre basis as determined by the average 

8 per acre of the original bonus bid per acre for 

9 the partial tract being exchanged. 

10 (7) EXPLORATION PLANS.—Any exploration 

11 plan submitted to the Secretary during the period 

12 beginning on the date of enactment of this Act and 

13 ending on June 30, 2012, for an oil and gas lease 

14 for an area wholly within 100 miles of the coastline 

15 within the California Adjacent Zone or Florida Adja16 cent Zone shall not be treated as received by the 

17 Secretary until the earlier of— 

18 (A) July 1, 2012; or 

19 (B) the date on which a petition by the ad20 jacent State for oil and gas leasing covering the 

21 area within which is located the area subject to 

22 the oil and gas lease was approved. 

23 (c) LEASE CANCELLATIONS AND EXCHANGES.— 

24 (1) CANCELLATION OF LEASE.—As part of the 

25 lease exchange process under this section, the SecVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:32 Jul 18, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00158 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3280.IS S3280

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1 retary shall cancel a lease that is exchanged under 

2 this section. 

3 (2) CONSENT OF LESSEES.—To cancel or ex4 change a lease under this section, each lessee hold5 ing an interest in the lease shall consent to cancella6 tion of the leasehold interest of the lessee. 

7 (3) WAIVER OF RIGHTS.—To exchange a lease 

8 under this section, the lessee shall waive any rights 

9 to bring any action against the United States related 

10 to the transaction. 

11 (4) PLUGGING AND ABANDONMENT.—To cancel 

12 or exchange a lease under this section, a lessee shall 

13 comply with any plugging and abandonment require14 ments for any wells located on any lease to be can15 celled and exchanged prior to the cancellation and 

16 exchange. 

17 (d) AREA PARTIALLY WITHIN 100 MILES OF FLOR18 IDA.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), an 

20 existing oil and gas lease for an area located par21 tially within 100 miles of the coastline within the 

22 Florida Adjacent Zone may only be developed and 

23 produced using wells drilled from well-head locations 

24 that are at least 100 miles from the coastline to any 

25 bottom-hole location on the area of the lease. 


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1 (2) NONAPPLICATION.—This subsection shall 

2 not apply if the State of Florida petitions the Sec3 retary to allow leasing closer to the coastline than 

4 100 miles. 

5 SEC. 227. COASTAL IMPACT ASSISTANCE. 

6 Section 31 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

7 (43 U.S.C. 1356a) is repealed. 

8 SEC. 228. OIL SHALE AND TAR SANDS. 

9 (a) REPEAL OF REQUIREMENT TO ESTABLISH PAY10 MENTS.—Section 369 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 

11 (42 U.S.C. 15927) is amended— 

12 (1) by striking subsection (o); and 

13 (2) by redesignating subsections (p) through (s) 

14 as subsections (o) through (r), respectively. 

15 (b) TREATMENT OF REVENUES.—Section 21 of the 

16 Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 241) is amended— 

17 (1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) (as 

18 added by section 318 of Public Law 97–394; 96 

19 Stat. 1999) as subsections (d) and (e), respectively; 

20 and 

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

22 ‘‘(f) REVENUES.— 

23 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

24 ‘‘(A) COUNTY-EQUIVALENT POLITICAL

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1 litical subdivision’ means a political jurisdiction 

2 immediately below the level of State govern3 ment, including a county, parish, borough in 

4 Alaska, independent municipality not part of a 

5 county, parish, or borough in Alaska, or other 

6 equivalent subdivision of a State. 

7 ‘‘(B) MUNICIPAL POLITICAL SUBDIVI8 SION.—The term ‘municipal political subdivi9 sion’ means a municipality located within and 

10 part of a county, parish, borough in Alaska, or 

11 other equivalent subdivision of a State. 

12 ‘‘(2) DISPOSITION OF REVENUES.—Notwith13 standing section 35, all revenues received from and 

14 under an oil shale or tar sands lease shall be dis15 posed of in accordance with this subsection. 

16 ‘‘(3) ROYALTY RATES FOR COMMERCIAL

17 LEASES.— 

18 ‘‘(A) ROYALTY RATES.—The Secretary 

19 shall model the royalty schedule for oil shale 

20 and tar sands leases based on the royalty pro21 gram in effect on the date of enactment of this 

22 subsection for the production of synthetic crude 

23 oil from oil sands in the Province of Alberta, 

24 Canada. 


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1 ‘‘(B) REDUCTION.—The Secretary shall re2 duce any royalty otherwise required to be paid 

3 under subparagraph (A) under any oil shale or 

4 tar sands lease on a sliding scale based on mar5 ket price, with— 

6 ‘‘(i) a 10 percent reduction if the av7 erage futures price of light sweet crude oil 

8 on the New York Mercantile Exchange 

9 (NYMEX), or a similar index, drops, for 

10 the previous quarter year, below $50 (in 

11 January 1, 2006, dollars); and 

12 ‘‘(ii) an 80 percent reduction if the 

13 average price drops below $30 (in January 

14 1, 2006, dollars) for the quarter previous 

15 to the quarter in which the production is 

16 sold. 

17 ‘‘(4) DISPOSITION OF REVENUES.— 

18 ‘‘(A) DEPOSIT.—The Secretary shall de19 posit into a separate account in the Treasury 

20 all revenues derived from any oil shale or tar 

21 sands lease. 

22 ‘‘(B) ALLOCATIONS TO STATES AND LOCAL

23 POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS.—The Secretary shall 

24 allocate 50 percent of the revenues deposited 

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1 graph (A) to the State within the boundaries of 

2 which the leased land is located, with a portion 

3 of that amount to be paid directly by the Sec4 retary to the local political subdivisions of the 

5 State as provided in this paragraph. 

6 ‘‘(C) TRANSMISSION OF ALLOCATIONS.— 

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the 

8 last business day of the month after the 

9 month in which the revenues are received, 

10 the Secretary shall transmit— 

‘‘(I)(aa) to each State 2 11 ⁄3 of the 

12 allocation of the State under subpara13 graph (B) (together with accrued in14 terest); and 

15 ‘‘(bb) in accordance with clauses 

16 (ii) and (iii), to certain county-equiva17 lent political subdivisions and munic18 ipal political subdivisions of the State 

a total of 1 19 ⁄3 of the allocation of the 

20 State under subparagraph (B) (to21 gether with accrued interest); and 

22 ‘‘(II) the remaining balance of 

23 such revenues deposited into the ac24 count that are not allocated under 

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1 crued interest), to the miscellaneous 

2 receipts account of the Treasury, ex3 cept that until a lease has been in 

4 production for 20 years 50 percent of 

5 the remaining balance derived from a 

6 lease shall be paid in accordance with 

7 subclause (I). 

8 ‘‘(ii) ALLOCATIONS TO CERTAIN

9 COUNTY-EQUIVALENT POLITICAL SUBDIVI10 SIONS.—The Secretary shall make equi11 table allocations of the revenues under 

12 clause (i)(I) to county-equivalent political 

13 subdivisions that the Secretary determines 

14 are closely associated with the leasing and 

15 production of oil shale and tar sands, 

16 under a formula that the Secretary shall 

17 determine by regulation. 

18 ‘‘(iii) ALLOCATIONS TO MUNICIPAL

19 POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS.—The initial al20 location to each county-equivalent political 

21 subdivision under clause (ii) shall be fur22 ther allocated to the county-equivalent po23 litical subdivision and any municipal polit24 ical subdivisions located partially or wholly 

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1 lent political subdivision on an equitable 

2 basis under a formula that the Secretary 

3 shall determine by regulation. 

4 ‘‘(D) INVESTMENT OF DEPOSITS.—Depos5 its in the Treasury account established under 

6 this section shall be invested by the Secretary 

7 of the Treasury in securities backed by the full 

8 faith and credit of the United States having 

9 maturities suitable to the needs of the account 

10 and yielding the highest reasonably available in11 terest rates as determined by the Secretary of 

12 the Treasury. 

13 ‘‘(E) USE OF FUNDS.— 

14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A recipient of 

15 funds under this subsection may use the 

16 funds for any lawful purpose as deter17 mined by State law. 

18 ‘‘(ii) MATCHING FUNDS FOR FEDERAL

19 PROGRAMS.—Funds allocated under this 

20 subsection to States and local political sub21 divisions may be used as matching funds 

22 for other Federal programs without limita23 tion. 

24 ‘‘(iii) PAYMENTS IN LIEU OF

25 TAXES.—Funds allocated to local political 


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1 subdivisions under this subsection shall not 

2 be considered payments to the local polit3 ical subdivisions under programs for pay4 ments in lieu of taxes or other similar pro5 grams. 

6 ‘‘(F) NO ACCOUNTING REQUIRED.—No re7 cipient of funds under this subsection shall be 

8 required to account to the Federal Government 

9 for the expenditure of the funds, except as oth10 erwise may be required by law.’’. 

11 SEC. 229. AVAILABILITY OF OCS RECEIPTS TO PROVIDE 

12 PAYMENTS UNDER SECURE RURAL SCHOOLS 

13 AND COMMUNITY SELF-DETERMINATION ACT 

14 OF 2000. 

15 Section 9 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

16 (43 U.S.C. 1338) (as amended by section 209) is amended 

17 by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(j) CONDITIONAL AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS FOR

19 PAYMENTS UNDER SECURE RURAL SCHOOLS AND COM20 MUNITY SELF-DETERMINATION ACT OF 2000.— 

21 ‘‘(1) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Subject to 

22 paragraphs (2) and (3) and notwithstanding any 

23 other provision of this section, $50,000,000 of OCS 

24 Receipts shall be available to the Secretary of the 

25 Treasury for each of fiscal years 2009 through 2014 


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1 to make payments under sections 102 and 103 of 

2 the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-De3 termination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 500 note; Public 

4 Law 106–393). 

5 ‘‘(2) OTHER FUNDS.—The Secretary of the 

6 Treasury shall use the funds made available by this 

7 subsection to make payments described in paragraph 

8 (1) in lieu of using funds in the Treasury not other9 wise appropriated, as otherwise authorized by sec10 tions 102(b)(3) and 103(b)(2) of the Secure Rural 

11 Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 

12 2000 (16 U.S.C. 500 note; Public Law 106–393). 

13 ‘‘(3) CONDITION ON AVAILABILITY.—OCS Re14 ceipts shall be available under paragraph (1) for a 

15 fiscal year only if— 

16 ‘‘(A) title I of the Secure Rural Schools 

17 and Community Self-Determination Act of 

18 2000 (16 U.S.C. 500 note; Public Law 106– 

19 393) has been reauthorized through at least 

20 that fiscal year; and 

21 ‘‘(B) the authority to initiate projects 

22 under titles II and III of that Act has been ex23 tended through at least that fiscal year.’’. 


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1 SEC. 230. SENSE OF CONGRESS TO BUY AND BUILD AMER2 ICAN. 

3 (a) BUY AND BUILD AMERICAN.—It is the sense of 

4 Congress that— 

5 (1) this Act and the amendments made by this 

6 Act should result in a healthy and growing indus7 trial, manufacturing, transportation, and service sec8 tor in the United States employing the vast talents 

9 of the workforce of the United States to assist in the 

10 development of affordable energy from the outer 

11 Continental Shelf; and 

12 (2) Congress intends to monitor the deployment 

13 of personnel and material in the outer Continental 

14 Shelf to encourage— 

15 (A) the development of technology and 

16 manufacturing in the United States to enable 

17 workers of the United States to benefit from 

18 this Act and the amendments made by this Act 

19 by securing good jobs and careers; and 

20 (B) the establishment of important indus21 trial facilities to support expanded access to re22 sources of the United States. 

23 (b) SAFEGUARD FOR EXTRAORDINARY ABILITY.— 

24 Section 30 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 

25 U.S.C. 1356) is amended by adding at the end the fol26 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(d) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.—Regulations 

2 issued under this section shall be supplemental and com3 plimentary with, and under no circumstances a substi4 tution for the provisions of the Constitution and laws of 

5 the United States extended to the subsoil and seabed of 

6 the outer Continental Shelf pursuant to section 4(a)(1), 

7 except insofar as those laws would otherwise apply to indi8 viduals who have extraordinary ability in the sciences, 

9 arts, education, or business, which has been demonstrated 

10 by sustained national or international acclaim.’’. 

11 SEC. 231. REPEAL OF THE GULF OF MEXICO ENERGY SECU12 RITY ACT OF 2006. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Gulf of Mexico Energy Secu14 rity Act of 2006 (43 U.S.C. 1331 note; Public Law 109– 

15 432) is repealed. 

16 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The repeal made by sub17 section (a) takes effect on October 1, 2008. 

18 Subtitle B—Leasing Program for 

19 Land Within Coastal Plain 

20 SEC. 241. DEFINITIONS. 

21 In this subtitle: 

22 (1) COASTAL PLAIN.—The term ‘‘Coastal 

23 Plain’’ means that area identified as the ‘‘1002 

24 Coastal Plain Area’’ on the map. 


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1 (2) FEDERAL AGREEMENT.—The term ‘‘Fed2 eral Agreement’’ means the Federal Agreement and 

3 Grant Right-of-Way for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline 

4 issued on January 23, 1974, in accordance with sec5 tion 28 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 185) 

6 and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act 

7 (43 U.S.C. 1651 et seq.). 

8 (3) FINAL STATEMENT.—The term ‘‘Final 

9 Statement’’ means the final legislative environmental 

10 impact statement on the Coastal Plain, dated April 

11 1987, and prepared pursuant to section 1002 of the 

12 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act 

13 (16 U.S.C. 3142) and section 102(2)(C) of the Na14 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

15 4332(2)(C)). 

16 (4) MAP.—The term ‘‘map’’ means the map en17 titled ‘‘Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’’, dated Sep18 tember 2005, and prepared by the United States Ge19 ological Survey. 

20 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

21 the Secretary of the Interior (or the designee of the 

22 Secretary), acting through the Director of the Bu23 reau of Land Management in consultation with the 

24 Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife 


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1 Service and in coordination with a State coordinator 

2 appointed by the Governor of the State of Alaska. 

3 SEC. 242. LEASING PROGRAM FOR LAND WITHIN THE 

4 COASTAL PLAIN. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

6 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—Congress authorizes the 

7 exploration, leasing, development, production, and 

8 economically feasible and prudent transportation of 

9 oil and gas in and from the Coastal Plain. 

10 (2) ACTIONS.—The Secretary shall take such 

11 actions as are necessary— 

12 (A) to establish and implement, in accord13 ance with this subtitle, a competitive oil and 

14 gas leasing program that will result in an envi15 ronmentally sound program for the exploration, 

16 development, and production of the oil and gas 

17 resources of the Coastal Plain while taking into 

18 consideration the interests and concerns of resi19 dents of the Coastal Plain, which is the home20 land of the Kaktovikmiut Inupiat; and 

21 (B) to administer this subtitle through reg22 ulations, lease terms, conditions, restrictions, 

23 prohibitions, stipulations, and other provisions 

24 that— 


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1 (i) ensure the oil and gas exploration, 

2 development, and production activities on 

3 the Coastal Plain will result in no signifi4 cant adverse effect on fish and wildlife, 

5 their habitat, subsistence resources, and 

6 the environment; and 

7 (ii) require the application of the best 

8 commercially available technology for oil 

9 and gas exploration, development, and pro10 duction to all exploration, development, 

11 and production operations under this sub12 title in a manner that ensures the receipt 

13 of fair market value by the public for the 

14 mineral resources to be leased. 

15 (b) REPEAL.— 

16 (1) REPEAL.—Section 1003 of the Alaska Na17 tional Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 

18 3143) is repealed. 

19 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of 

20 contents contained in section 1 of that Act (16 

21 U.S.C. 3101 note) is amended by striking the item 

22 relating to section 1003. 

23 (c) COMPLIANCE WITH REQUIREMENTS UNDER CER24 TAIN OTHER LAWS.— 


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1 (1) COMPATIBILITY.—For purposes of the Na2 tional Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 

3 1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd et seq.)— 

4 (A) the oil and gas pre-leasing and leasing 

5 program, and activities authorized by this sec6 tion in the Coastal Plain, shall be considered to 

7 be compatible with the purposes for which the 

8 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was established; 

9 and 

10 (B) no further findings or decisions shall 

11 be required to implement that program and 

12 those activities. 

13 (2) ADEQUACY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE

14 INTERIOR’S LEGISLATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

15 STATEMENT.—The Final Statement shall be consid16 ered to satisfy the requirements under the National 

17 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 

18 et seq.) that apply with respect to pre-leasing activi19 ties, including exploration programs and actions au20 thorized to be taken by the Secretary to develop and 

21 promulgate the regulations for the establishment of 

22 a leasing program authorized by this subtitle before 

23 the conduct of the first lease sale. 

24 (3) COMPLIANCE WITH NEPA FOR OTHER AC25 TIONS.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Before conducting the 

2 first lease sale under this subtitle, the Secretary 

3 shall prepare an environmental impact state4 ment in accordance with the National Environ5 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 

6 seq.) with respect to the actions authorized by 

7 this subtitle that are not referred to in para8 graph (2). 

9 (B) IDENTIFICATION AND ANALYSIS.— 

10 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in 

11 carrying out this paragraph, the Secretary shall 

12 not be required— 

13 (i) to identify nonleasing alternative 

14 courses of action; or 

15 (ii) to analyze the environmental ef16 fects of those courses of action. 

17 (C) IDENTIFICATION OF PREFERRED AC18 TION.—Not later than 18 months after the date 

19 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall— 

20 (i) identify only a preferred action and 

21 a single leasing alternative for the first 

22 lease sale authorized under this subtitle; 

23 and 


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1 (ii) analyze the environmental effects 

2 and potential mitigation measures for 

3 those 2 alternatives. 

4 (D) PUBLIC COMMENTS.—In carrying out 

5 this paragraph, the Secretary shall consider 

6 only public comments that are filed not later 

7 than 20 days after the date of publication of a 

8 draft environmental impact statement. 

9 (E) EFFECT OF COMPLIANCE.—Notwith10 standing any other provision of law, compliance 

11 with this paragraph shall be considered to sat12 isfy all requirements for the analysis and con13 sideration of the environmental effects of pro14 posed leasing under this subtitle. 

15 (d) RELATIONSHIP TO STATE AND LOCAL AUTHOR16 ITY.—Nothing in this subtitle expands or limits any State 

17 or local regulatory authority. 

18 (e) SPECIAL AREAS.— 

19 (1) DESIGNATION.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, after 

21 consultation with the State of Alaska, the 

22 North Slope Borough, Alaska, and the City of 

23 Kaktovik, Alaska, may designate not more than 

24 45,000 acres of the Coastal Plain as a special 

25 area if the Secretary determines that the special 


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1 area would be of such unique character and in2 terest as to require special management and 

3 regulatory protection. 

4 (B) SADLEROCHIT SPRING AREA.—The 

5 Secretary shall designate as a special area in 

6 accordance with subparagraph (A) the 

7 Sadlerochit Spring area, comprising approxi8 mately 4,000 acres as depicted on the map. 

9 (2) MANAGEMENT.—The Secretary shall man10 age each special area designated under this sub11 section in a manner that— 

12 (A) respects and protects the Native people 

13 of the area; and 

14 (B) preserves the unique and diverse char15 acter of the area, including fish, wildlife, sub16 sistence resources, and cultural values of the 

17 area. 

18 (3) EXCLUSION FROM LEASING OR SURFACE

19 OCCUPANCY.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may ex21 clude any special area designated under this 

22 subsection from leasing. 

23 (B) NO SURFACE OCCUPANCY.—If the Sec24 retary leases all or a portion of a special area 

25 for the purposes of oil and gas exploration, deVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:32 Jul 18, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00176 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3280.IS S3280

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1 velopment, production, and related activities, 

2 there shall be no surface occupancy of the land 

3 comprising the special area. 

4 (4) DIRECTIONAL DRILLING.—Notwithstanding 

5 any other provision of this subsection, the Secretary 

6 may lease all or a portion of a special area under 

7 terms that permit the use of horizontal drilling tech8 nology from sites on leases located outside the spe9 cial area. 

10 (f) LIMITATION ON CLOSED AREAS.—The Secretary 

11 may not close land within the Coastal Plain to oil and gas 

12 leasing or to exploration, development, or production ex13 cept in accordance with this subtitle. 

14 (g) REGULATIONS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 15 months 

16 after the date of enactment of this Act, in consulta17 tion with appropriate agencies of the State of Alas18 ka, the North Slope Borough, Alaska, and the City 

19 of Kaktovik, Alaska, the Secretary shall issue such 

20 regulations as are necessary to carry out this sub21 title, including rules and regulations relating to pro22 tection of the fish and wildlife, fish and wildlife habi23 tat, and subsistence resources of the Coastal Plain. 

24 (2) REVISION OF REGULATIONS.—The Sec25 retary may periodically review and, as appropriate, 


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1 revise the rules and regulations issued under para2 graph (1) to reflect any significant scientific or engi3 neering data that come to the attention of the Sec4 retary. 

5 SEC. 243. LEASE SALES. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Land may be leased pursuant to 

7 this subtitle to any person qualified to obtain a lease for 

8 deposits of oil and gas under the Mineral Leasing Act (30 

9 U.S.C. 181 et seq.). 

10 (b) PROCEDURES.—The Secretary shall, by regula11 tion, establish procedures for— 

12 (1) receipt and consideration of sealed nomina13 tions for any area in the Coastal Plain for inclusion 

14 in, or exclusion (as provided in subsection (c)) from, 

15 a lease sale; 

16 (2) the holding of lease sales after that nomina17 tion process; and 

18 (3) public notice of and comment on designa19 tion of areas to be included in, or excluded from, a 

20 lease sale. 

21 (c) LEASE SALE BIDS.—Bidding for leases under 

22 this subtitle shall be by sealed competitive cash bonus bids. 

23 (d) ACREAGE MINIMUM IN FIRST SALE.—For the 

24 first lease sale under this subtitle, the Secretary shall offer 

25 for lease those tracts the Secretary considers to have the 


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1 greatest potential for the discovery of hydrocarbons, tak2 ing into consideration nominations received pursuant to 

3 subsection (b)(1), but in no case less than 200,000 acres. 

4 (e) TIMING OF LEASE SALES.—The Secretary 

5 shall— 

6 (1) not later than 22 months after the date of 

7 enactment of this Act, conduct the first lease sale 

8 under this subtitle; 

9 (2) not later than September 30, 2012, conduct 

10 a second lease sale under this subtitle; and 

11 (3) conduct additional sales at appropriate in12 tervals if sufficient interest in exploration or devel13 opment exists to warrant the conduct of the addi14 tional sales. 

15 SEC. 244. GRANT OF LEASES BY THE SECRETARY. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Upon payment by a lessee of such 

17 bonus as may be accepted by the Secretary, the Secretary 

18 may grant to the highest responsible qualified bidder in 

19 a lease sale conducted pursuant to section 243 a lease for 

20 any land on the Coastal Plain. 

21 (b) SUBSEQUENT TRANSFERS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—No lease issued under this 

23 subtitle may be sold, exchanged, assigned, sublet, or 

24 otherwise transferred except with the approval of the 

25 Secretary. 


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1 (2) CONDITION FOR APPROVAL.—Before grant2 ing any approval described in paragraph (1), the 

3 Secretary shall consult with and give due consider4 ation to the opinion of the Attorney General. 

5 SEC. 245. LEASE TERMS AND CONDITIONS. 

6 An oil or gas lease issued pursuant to this subtitle 

7 shall— 

8 (1) provide for the payment of a royalty of not 

less than 161 9 ⁄2 percent of the amount or value of the 

10 production removed or sold from the lease, as deter11 mined by the Secretary in accordance with regula12 tions applicable to other Federal oil and gas leases; 

13 (2) provide that the Secretary may close, on a 

14 seasonal basis, such portions of the Coastal Plain to 

15 exploratory drilling activities as are necessary to 

16 protect caribou calving areas and other species of 

17 fish and wildlife; 

18 (3) require that each lessee of land within the 

19 Coastal Plain shall be fully responsible and liable for 

20 the reclamation of land within the Coastal Plain and 

21 any other Federal land that is adversely affected in 

22 connection with exploration, development, produc23 tion, or transportation activities within the Coastal 

24 Plain conducted by the lessee or by any of the sub25 contractors or agents of the lessee; 


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1 (4) provide that the lessee may not delegate or 

2 convey, by contract or otherwise, that reclamation 

3 responsibility and liability to another person without 

4 the express written approval of the Secretary; 

5 (5) provide that the standard of reclamation for 

6 land required to be reclaimed under this subtitle 

7 shall be, to the maximum extent practicable— 

8 (A) a condition capable of supporting the 

9 uses that the land was capable of supporting 

10 prior to any exploration, development, or pro11 duction activities; or 

12 (B) upon application by the lessee, to a 

13 higher or better standard, as approved by the 

14 Secretary; 

15 (6) contain terms and conditions relating to 

16 protection of fish and wildlife, fish and wildlife habi17 tat, subsistence resources, and the environment as 

18 required under section 242(a)(2); 

19 (7) provide that each lessee, and each agent 

20 and contractor of a lessee, use their best efforts to 

21 provide a fair share of employment and contracting 

22 for Alaska Natives and Alaska Native Corporations 

23 from throughout the State of Alaska, as determined 

24 by the level of obligation previously agreed to in the 

25 Federal Agreement; and 


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1 (8) contain such other provisions as the Sec2 retary determines to be necessary to ensure compli3 ance with this subtitle and regulations issued under 

4 this subtitle. 

5 SEC. 246. COASTAL PLAIN ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION. 

6 (a) NO SIGNIFICANT ADVERSE EFFECT STANDARD

7 TO GOVERN AUTHORIZED COASTAL PLAIN ACTIVITIES.— 

8 In accordance with section 242, the Secretary shall admin9 ister this subtitle through regulations, lease terms, condi10 tions, restrictions, prohibitions, stipulations, or other pro11 visions that— 

12 (1) ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, 

13 that oil and gas exploration, development, and pro14 duction activities on the Coastal Plain will result in 

15 no significant adverse effect on fish and wildlife, fish 

16 and wildlife habitat, and the environment; 

17 (2) require the application of the best commer18 cially available technology for oil and gas explo19 ration, development, and production on all new ex20 ploration, development, and production operations; 

21 and 

22 (3) ensure that the maximum surface acreage 

23 covered in connection with the leasing program by 

24 production and support facilities, including airstrips 

25 and any areas covered by gravel berms or piers for 


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1 support of pipelines, does not exceed 2,000 acres on 

2 the Coastal Plain. 

3 (b) SITE-SPECIFIC ASSESSMENT AND MITIGATION.— 

4 The Secretary shall require, with respect to any proposed 

5 drilling and related activities on the Coastal Plain, that— 

6 (1) a site-specific environmental analysis be 

7 made of the probable effects, if any, that the drilling 

8 or related activities will have on fish and wildlife, 

9 fish and wildlife habitat, subsistence resources, sub10 sistence uses, and the environment; 

11 (2) a plan be implemented to avoid, minimize, 

12 and mitigate (in that order and to the maximum ex13 tent practicable) any significant adverse effect iden14 tified under paragraph (1); and 

15 (3) the development of the plan occur after con16 sultation with— 

17 (A) each agency having jurisdiction over 

18 matters mitigated by the plan; 

19 (B) the State of Alaska; 

20 (C) North Slope Borough, Alaska; and 

21 (D) the City of Kaktovik, Alaska. 

22 (c) REGULATIONS TO PROTECT COASTAL PLAIN

23 FISH AND WILDLIFE RESOURCES, SUBSISTENCE USERS, 

24 AND THE ENVIRONMENT.—Before implementing the leas25 ing program authorized by this subtitle, the Secretary 


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1 shall prepare and issue regulations, lease terms, condi2 tions, restrictions, prohibitions, stipulations, or other 

3 measures designed to ensure, to the maximum extent prac4 ticable, that the activities carried out on the Coastal Plain 

5 under this subtitle are conducted in a manner consistent 

6 with the purposes and environmental requirements of this 

7 subtitle. 

8 (d) COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL AND STATE ENVI9 RONMENTAL LAWS AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—The 

10 proposed regulations, lease terms, conditions, restrictions, 

11 prohibitions, and stipulations for the leasing program 

12 under this subtitle shall require— 

13 (1) compliance with all applicable provisions of 

14 Federal and State environmental law (including reg15 ulations); 

16 (2) implementation of and compliance with— 

17 (A) standards that are at least as effective 

18 as the safety and environmental mitigation 

19 measures, as described in items 1 through 29 

20 on pages 167 through 169 of the Final State21 ment, on the Coastal Plain; 

22 (B) seasonal limitations on exploration, de23 velopment, and related activities, as necessary, 

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1 ods of concentrated fish and wildlife breeding, 

2 denning, nesting, spawning, and migration; 

3 (C) design safety and construction stand4 ards for all pipelines and any access and service 

5 roads that minimize, to the maximum extent 

6 practicable, adverse effects on— 

7 (i) the passage of migratory species 

8 (such as caribou); and 

9 (ii) the flow of surface water by re10 quiring the use of culverts, bridges, or 

11 other structural devices; 

12 (D) prohibitions on general public access 

13 to, and use of, all pipeline access and service 

14 roads; 

15 (E) stringent reclamation and rehabilita16 tion requirements in accordance with this sub17 title for the removal from the Coastal Plain of 

18 all oil and gas development and production fa19 cilities, structures, and equipment on comple20 tion of oil and gas production operations, except 

21 in a case in which the Secretary determines 

22 that those facilities, structures, or equipment— 

23 (i) would assist in the management of 

24 the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and 


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1 (ii) are donated to the United States 

2 for that purpose; 

3 (F) appropriate prohibitions or restrictions 

4 on— 

5 (i) access by all modes of transpor6 tation; 

7 (ii) sand and gravel extraction; and 

8 (iii) use of explosives; 

9 (G) reasonable stipulations for protection 

10 of cultural and archaeological resources; 

11 (H) measures to protect groundwater and 

12 surface water, including— 

13 (i) avoidance, to the maximum extent 

14 practicable, of springs, streams, and river 

15 systems; 

16 (ii) the protection of natural surface 

17 drainage patterns and wetland and ripar18 ian habitats; and 

19 (iii) the regulation of methods or tech20 niques for developing or transporting ade21 quate supplies of water for exploratory 

22 drilling; and 

23 (I) research, monitoring, and reporting re24 quirements; 


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1 (3) that exploration activities (except surface 

2 geological studies) be limited to the period between 

3 approximately November 1 and May 1 of each year 

4 and be supported, if necessary, by ice roads, winter 

5 trails with adequate snow cover, ice pads, ice air6 strips, and air transport methods (except that those 

7 exploration activities may be permitted at other 

8 times if the Secretary determines that the explo9 ration will have no significant adverse effect on fish 

10 and wildlife, fish and wildlife habitat, subsistence re11 sources, and the environment of the Coastal Plain); 

12 (4) consolidation of facility siting; 

13 (5) avoidance or reduction of air traffic-related 

14 disturbance to fish and wildlife; 

15 (6) treatment and disposal of hazardous and 

16 toxic wastes, solid wastes, reserve pit fluids, drilling 

17 muds and cuttings, and domestic wastewater, includ18 ing, in accordance with applicable Federal and State 

19 environmental laws (including regulations)— 

20 (A) preparation of an annual waste man21 agement report; 

22 (B) development and implementation of a 

23 hazardous materials tracking system; and 

24 (C) prohibition on the use of chlorinated 

25 solvents; 


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1 (7) fuel storage and oil spill contingency plan2 ning; 

3 (8) conduct of periodic field crew environmental 

4 briefings; 

5 (9) avoidance of significant adverse effects on 

6 subsistence hunting, fishing, and trapping; 

7 (10) compliance with applicable air and water 

8 quality standards; 

9 (11) appropriate seasonal and safety zone des10 ignations around well sites, within which subsistence 

11 hunting and trapping shall be limited; and 

12 (12) development and implementation of such 

13 other protective environmental requirements, restric14 tions, terms, or conditions as the Secretary, after 

15 consultation with the State of Alaska, North Slope 

16 Borough, Alaska, and the City of Kaktovik, Alaska, 

17 determines to be necessary. 

18 (e) CONSIDERATIONS.—In preparing and issuing reg19 ulations, lease terms, conditions, restrictions, prohibitions, 

20 or stipulations under this section, the Secretary shall take 

21 into consideration— 

22 (1) the stipulations and conditions that govern 

23 the National Petroleum Reserve—Alaska leasing 

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1 tional Petroleum Reserve—Alaska Final Integrated 

2 Activity Plan/Environmental Impact Statement; 

3 (2) the environmental protection standards that 

4 governed the initial Coastal Plain seismic exploration 

5 program under parts 37.31 through 37.33 of title 

6 50, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regu7 lations); and 

8 (3) the land use stipulations for exploratory 

9 drilling on the KIC–ASRC private land described in 

10 Appendix 2 of the agreement between Arctic Slope 

11 Regional Corporation and the United States dated 

12 August 9, 1983. 

13 (f) FACILITY CONSOLIDATION PLANNING.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—After providing for public 

15 notice and comment, the Secretary shall prepare and 

16 periodically update a plan to govern, guide, and di17 rect the siting and construction of facilities for the 

18 exploration, development, production, and transpor19 tation of oil and gas resources from the Coastal 

20 Plain. 

21 (2) OBJECTIVES.—The objectives of the plan 

22 shall be— 

23 (A) the avoidance of unnecessary duplica24 tion of facilities and activities; 


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1 (B) the encouragement of consolidation of 

2 common facilities and activities; 

3 (C) the location or confinement of facilities 

4 and activities to areas that will minimize impact 

5 on fish and wildlife, fish and wildlife habitat, 

6 subsistence resources, and the environment; 

7 (D) the use of existing facilities, to the 

8 maximum extent practicable; and 

9 (E) the enhancement of compatibility be10 tween wildlife values and development activities. 

11 (g) ACCESS TO PUBLIC LAND.—The Secretary 

12 shall— 

13 (1) manage public land in the Coastal Plain in 

14 accordance with subsections (a) and (b) of section 

15 811 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Con16 servation Act (16 U.S.C. 3121); and 

17 (2) ensure that local residents shall have rea18 sonable access to public land in the Coastal Plain for 

19 traditional uses. 

20 SEC. 247. EXPEDITED JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

21 (a) FILING OF COMPLAINTS.— 

22 (1) DEADLINE.—A complaint seeking judicial 

23 review of a provision of this subtitle or an action of 

24 the Secretary under this subtitle shall be filed— 


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1 (A) except as provided in subparagraph 

2 (B), during the 90-day period beginning on the 

3 date on which the action being challenged was 

4 carried out; or 

5 (B) in the case of a complaint based solely 

6 on grounds arising after the 90-day period de7 scribed in subparagraph (A), during the 90-day 

8 period beginning on the date on which the com9 plainant knew or reasonably should have known 

10 about the grounds for the complaint. 

11 (2) VENUE.—A complaint seeking judicial re12 view of a provision of this subtitle or an action of 

13 the Secretary under this subtitle shall be filed in the 

14 United States Court of Appeals for the District of 

15 Columbia. 

16 (3) SCOPE.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Judicial review of a de18 cision of the Secretary under this subtitle (in19 cluding an environmental analysis of such a 

20 lease sale) shall be— 

21 (i) limited to a review of whether the 

22 decision is in accordance with this subtitle; 

23 and 

24 (ii) based on the administrative record 

25 of the decision. 


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1 (B) PRESUMPTIONS.—Any identification 

2 by the Secretary of a preferred course of action 

3 relating to a lease sale, and any analysis by the 

4 Secretary of environmental effects, under this 

5 subtitle shall be presumed to be correct unless 

6 proven otherwise by clear and convincing evi7 dence. 

8 (b) LIMITATION ON OTHER REVIEW.—Any action of 

9 the Secretary that is subject to judicial review under this 

10 section shall not be subject to judicial review in any civil 

11 or criminal proceeding for enforcement. 

12 SEC. 248. RIGHTS-OF-WAY AND EASEMENTS ACROSS COAST13 AL PLAIN. 

14 For purposes of section 1102(4)(A) of the Alaska Na15 tional Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 

16 3162(4)(A)), any rights-of-way or easements across the 

17 Coastal Plain for the exploration, development, produc18 tion, or transportation of oil and gas shall be considered 

19 to be established incident to the management of the Coast20 al Plain under this section. 

21 SEC. 249. CONVEYANCE. 

22 Notwithstanding section 1302(h)(2) of the Alaska 

23 National Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 

24 3192(h)(2)), to remove any cloud on title to land, and to 


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1 clarify land ownership patterns in the Coastal Plain, the 

2 Secretary shall— 

3 (1) to the extent necessary to fulfill the entitle4 ment of the Kaktovik Inupiat Corporation under sec5 tions 12 and 14 of the Alaska Native Claims Settle6 ment Act (43 U.S.C. 1611, 1613), as determined by 

7 the Secretary, convey to that Corporation the sur8 face estate of the land described in paragraph (1) of 

9 Public Land Order 6959, in accordance with the 

10 terms and conditions of the agreement between the 

11 Secretary, the United States Fish and Wildlife Serv12 ice, the Bureau of Land Management, and the 

13 Kaktovik Inupiat Corporation, dated January 22, 

14 1993; and 

15 (2) convey to the Arctic Slope Regional Cor16 poration the remaining subsurface estate to which 

17 that Corporation is entitled under the agreement be18 tween that corporation and the United States, dated 

19 August 9, 1983. 

20 SEC. 250. LOCAL GOVERNMENT IMPACT AID AND COMMU21 NITY SERVICE ASSISTANCE. 

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF FUND.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—As a condition on the receipt 

24 of funds under section 252(2), the State of Alaska 

25 shall establish in the treasury of the State, and adVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:32 Jul 18, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00193 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3280.IS S3280

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1 minister in accordance with this section, a fund to 

2 be known as the ‘‘Coastal Plain Local Government 

3 Impact Aid Assistance Fund’’ (referred to in this 

4 section as the ‘‘Fund’’). 

5 (2) DEPOSITS.—Subject to paragraph (1), the 

6 Secretary of the Treasury shall deposit into the 

7 Fund, $35,000,000 each year from the amount 

8 available under section 252(2)(A). 

9 (3) INVESTMENT.—The Governor of the State 

10 of Alaska (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Gov11 ernor’’) shall invest amounts in the Fund in interest12 bearing securities of the United States or the State 

13 of Alaska. 

14 (b) ASSISTANCE.—The Governor, in cooperation with 

15 the Mayor of the North Slope Borough, shall use amounts 

16 in the Fund to provide assistance to North Slope Borough, 

17 Alaska, the City of Kaktovik, Alaska, and any other bor18 ough, municipal subdivision, village, or other community 

19 in the State of Alaska that is directly impacted by explo20 ration for, or the production of, oil or gas on the Coastal 

21 Plain under this subtitle, or any Alaska Native Regional 

22 Corporation acting on behalf of the villages and commu23 nities within its region whose lands lie along the right of 

24 way of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System, as determined 

25 by the Governor. 


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1 (c) APPLICATION.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—To receive assistance under 

3 subsection (b), a community or Regional Corporation 

4 described in that subsection shall submit to the Gov5 ernor, or to the Mayor of the North Slope Borough, 

6 an application in such time, in such manner, and 

7 containing such information as the Governor may re8 quire. 

9 (2) ACTION BY NORTH SLOPE BOROUGH.—The 

10 Mayor of the North Slope Borough shall submit to 

11 the Governor each application received under para12 graph (1) as soon as practicable after the date on 

13 which the application is received. 

14 (3) ASSISTANCE OF GOVERNOR.—The Governor 

15 shall assist communities in submitting applications 

16 under this subsection, to the maximum extent prac17 ticable. 

18 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—A community or Regional Cor19 poration that receives funds under subsection (b) may use 

20 the funds— 

21 (1) to plan for mitigation, implement a mitiga22 tion plan, or maintain a mitigation project to ad23 dress the potential effects of oil and gas exploration 

24 and development on environmental, social, cultural, 


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1 recreational, and subsistence resources of the com2 munity; 

3 (2) to develop, carry out, and maintain— 

4 (A) a project to provide new or expanded 

5 public facilities; or 

6 (B) services to address the needs and prob7 lems associated with the effects described in 

8 paragraph (1), including firefighting, police, 

9 water and waste treatment, first responder, and 

10 other medical services; 

11 (3) to compensate residents of the Coastal 

12 Plain for significant damage to environmental, so13 cial, cultural, recreational, or subsistence resources; 

14 and 

15 (4) in the City of Kaktovik, Alaska— 

16 (A) to develop a mechanism for providing 

17 members of the Kaktovikmiut Inupiat commu18 nity an opportunity to— 

19 (i) monitor development on the Coast20 al Plain; and 

21 (ii) provide information and rec22 ommendations to the Governor based on 

23 traditional aboriginal knowledge of the nat24 ural resources, flora, fauna, and ecological 

25 processes of the Coastal Plain; and 


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1 (B) to establish a local coordination office, 

2 to be managed by the Mayor of the North Slope 

3 Borough, in coordination with the City of 

4 Kaktovik, Alaska— 

5 (i) to coordinate with and advise de6 velopers on local conditions and the history 

7 of areas affected by development; 

8 (ii) to provide to the Committee on 

9 Resources of the House of Representatives 

10 and the Committee on Energy and Natural 

11 Resources of the Senate annual reports on 

12 the status of the coordination between de13 velopers and communities affected by de14 velopment; 

15 (iii) to collect from residents of the 

16 Coastal Plain information regarding the 

17 impacts of development on fish, wildlife, 

18 habitats, subsistence resources, and the en19 vironment of the Coastal Plain; and 

20 (iv) to ensure that the information 

21 collected under clause (iii) is submitted 

22 to— 

23 (I) developers; and 

24 (II) any appropriate Federal 

25 agency. 


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1 SEC. 251. PROHIBITION ON EXPORTS. 

2 An oil or gas lease issued under this subtitle shall 

3 prohibit the exportation of oil or gas produced under the 

4 lease. 

5 SEC. 252. ALLOCATION OF REVENUES. 

6 Notwithstanding the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

7 181 et seq.) or any other provision of law, of the adjusted 

8 bonus, rental, and royalty receipts from Federal oil and 

9 gas leasing and operations authorized under this subtitle: 

10 (1) 50 percent shall be deposited in the general 

11 fund of the Treasury. 

12 (2) The remainder shall be available as follows: 

13 (A) $35,000,000 shall be deposited by the 

14 Secretary of the Treasury into the fund created 

15 under section 250(a)(1). 

16 (B) The remainder shall be disbursed to 

17 the State of Alaska. 

18 Subtitle C—Oil Shale 

19 SEC. 261. REMOVAL OF PROHIBITION ON FINAL REGULA20 TIONS FOR COMMERCIAL LEASING PROGRAM 

21 FOR OIL SHALE RESOURCES ON PUBLIC 

22 LAND. 

23 Section 433 of the Department of the Interior, Envi24 ronment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2008 

25 (Public Law 110–161; 121 Stat. 2152) is repealed. 


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1 Subtitle D—Alternative Fuels and 

2 Fuels Derived From Tar Sands 

3 SEC. 271. PROCUREMENT AND ACQUISITION OF ALTER4 NATIVE FUELS AND FUELS DERIVED FROM 

5 TAR SANDS. 

6 Section 526 of the Energy Independence and Security 

7 Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17142) is repealed. 

8 Subtitle E—Percentage Depletion 

9 From Marginal Wells 

10 SEC. 281. ELIMINATION OF TAXABLE INCOME LIMIT ON 

11 PERCENTAGE DEPLETION FOR OIL AND NAT12 URAL GAS PRODUCED FROM MARGINAL 

13 WELLS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (H) of section 

15 613A(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating 

16 to oil and natural gas produced from marginal properties) 

17 is amended to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘(H) NONAPPLICATION OF TAXABLE IN19 COME LIMIT WITH RESPECT TO MARGINAL PRO20 DUCTION.—The second sentence of subsection 

21 (a) of section 613 shall not apply to so much 

22 of the allowance for depletion as is determined 

23 under subparagraph (A).’’. 


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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

2 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

3 December 31, 2007. 

4 TITLE III—EXPANDING NATURAL 

5 GAS AS A MAINSTREAM 

6 TRANSPORTATION FUEL 

7 SEC. 301. RENEWABLE FUEL PROGRAM. 

8 (a) DEFINITION OF RENEWABLE FUEL.—Effective 

9 January 1, 2009, section 211(o)(1) of the Clean Air Act 

10 (42 U.S.C. 7545(o)(1)) is amended by striking subpara11 graph (J) and inserting the following: 

12 ‘‘(J) RENEWABLE FUEL.— 

13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘renew14 able fuel’ means fuel that— 

15 ‘‘(I) is produced from renewable 

16 biomass; and 

17 ‘‘(II) is used to replace or reduce 

18 the quantity of fossil fuel present in a 

19 transportation fuel. 

20 ‘‘(ii) RENEWABLE FUEL STANDARD.— 

21 For purposes of the renewable fuel stand22 ard under paragraph (2), the term ‘renew23 able fuel’ includes renewable and non24 renewable natural gas, including comVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:32 Jul 18, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00200 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3280.IS S3280

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1 pressed natural and liquefied natural gas 

2 when used as transportation fuel.’’. 

3 (b) CREDIT PROGRAM.—Effective January 1, 2009, 

4 section 211(o)(5)(A) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

5 7545(o)(5)(A)) is amended— 

6 (1) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

7 (2) in clause (iii), by striking the period at the 

8 end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

9 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(iv) for the generation of an appro11 priate quantity of credits for renewable 

12 and nonrenewable natural gas, including 

13 compressed natural and liquefied natural 

14 gas when used as a transportation fuel.’’. 

15 SEC. 302. NEW QUALIFIED ALTERNATIVE FUEL MOTOR VE16 HICLE CREDIT ALLOWED FOR DUAL FUELED 

17 AUTOMOBILES. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Clause (i) of section 30B(e)(4)(A) 

19 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to defini20 tion of new qualified alternative fuel motor vehicle) is 

21 amended to read as follows: 

22 ‘‘(i) which— 

23 ‘‘(I) is only capable of operating 

24 on an alternative fuel, or 


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1 ‘‘(II) is capable of operating on 

2 an alternative fuel and gasoline or die3 sel fuel,’’. 

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 30B(e) of 

5 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 

6 paragraph (5). 

7 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

8 this section shall apply to property placed in service after 

9 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

10 SEC. 303. NATURAL GAS VEHICLE RESEARCH, DEVELOP11 MENT, AND DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS. 

12 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis14 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ15 mental Protection Agency. 

16 (2) NATURAL GAS.—The term ‘‘natural gas’’ 

17 means compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, 

18 biomethane, and mixtures of hydrogen and methane 

19 or natural gas. 

20 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

21 the Secretary of Energy. 

22 (b) PROGRAM.—The Secretary, in coordination with 

23 the Administrator, shall conduct a program of natural gas 

24 vehicle research, development, and demonstration. 


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1 (c) PURPOSE.—The program under this section shall 

2 focus on— 

3 (1) the continued improvement and develop4 ment of new, cleaner, more efficient light-duty, me5 dium-duty, and heavy-duty natural gas vehicle en6 gines; 

7 (2) the integration of those engines into light8 duty, medium-duty, and heavy-duty natural gas vehi9 cles for onroad and offroad applications; 

10 (3) expanding product availability by assisting 

11 manufacturers with the certification of the engines 

12 or vehicles described in paragraph (1) or (2) to Fed13 eral or California certification requirements and in14 use emission standards; 

15 (4) the demonstration and proper operation and 

16 use of the vehicles described in paragraph (2) under 

17 all operating conditions; 

18 (5) the development and improvement of na19 tionally recognized codes and standards for the con20 tinued safe operation of natural gas vehicles and 

21 components; 

22 (6) improvement in the reliability and efficiency 

23 of natural gas fueling station infrastructure; 


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1 (7) the certification of natural gas fueling sta2 tion infrastructure to nationally recognized and in3 dustry safety standards; 

4 (8) the improvement in the reliability and effi5 ciency of onboard natural gas fuel storage systems; 

6 (9) the development of new natural gas fuel 

7 storage materials; 

8 (10) the certification of onboard natural gas 

9 fuel storage systems to nationally recognized and in10 dustry safety standards; and 

11 (11) the use of natural gas engines in hybrid 

12 vehicles. 

13 (d) CERTIFICATION OF CONVERSION SYSTEMS.—The 

14 Secretary shall coordinate with the Administrator on 

15 issues related to streamlining the certification of natural 

16 gas conversion systems to the appropriate Federal certifi17 cation requirements and in-use emission standards. 

18 (e) COOPERATION AND COORDINATION WITH INDUS19 TRY.—In developing and carrying out the program under 

20 this section, the Secretary shall coordinate with the nat21 ural gas vehicle industry to ensure cooperation between 

22 the public and the private sector. 

23 (f) CONDUCT OF PROGRAM.—The program under 

24 this section shall be conducted in accordance with sections 


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1 3001 and 3002 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (42 

2 U.S.C. 13541, 13542). 

3 (g) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

4 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to 

5 Congress a report on the implementation of this section. 

6 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

7 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such 

8 sums as are necessary to carry out this section. 

9 SEC. 304. DEVELOPMENT OF LOW-EMISSION NATURAL GAS 

10 TRANSPORTATION-FUELED VEHICLES. 

11 Part C of title II of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

12 7581 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 251. DEVELOPMENT OF LOW-EMISSION NATURAL GAS 

15 TRANSPORTATION-FUELED VEHICLES. 

16 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 ‘‘(1) ALTERNATIVE FUEL.—The term ‘alter18 native fuel’ means compressed or liquid natural gas. 

19 ‘‘(2) ALTERNATIVE-FUELED VEHICLE.—The 

20 term ‘alternative-fueled vehicle’ means a vehicle that 

21 is manufactured or converted to operate using alter22 native fuel. 

23 ‘‘(3) BI-FUELED VEHICLE.—The term ‘bi-fueled 

24 vehicle’ means a vehicle that is capable of operating 


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1 on gasoline or an alternative fuel, but not both at 

2 the same time. 

3 ‘‘(4) CONVERT.—The term ‘convert’, with re4 spect to a vehicle, means to modify the engine and 

5 other applicable components of the vehicle to enable 

6 the vehicle to operate using an alternative fuel (in7 cluding compressed natural gas). 

8 ‘‘(5) OBD SYSTEM.—The term ‘OBD system’ 

9 means an on-board, computer-based diagnostic sys10 tem built into certain vehicles to monitor the per11 formance of certain primary engine components of 

12 the vehicle (including components responsible for 

13 controlling emissions). 

14 ‘‘(6) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means 

15 the alternative-fueled vehicle development dem16 onstration program established under subsection (b). 

17 ‘‘(7) SMALL VOLUME MANUFACTURER.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘small vol19 ume manufacturer’ means a manufacturer of 

20 vehicles described in section 86.001–1(e) of title 

21 40, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor 

22 regulation) that is approved and certified in ac23 cordance with part 86 of subchapter C of chap24 ter I of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations 

25 (or successor regulations). 


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1 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘small volume 

2 manufacturer’ includes a manufacturer of kits 

3 or equipment used to convert vehicles. 

4 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM.— 

5 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—For the period of fiscal 

6 years 2009 through 2013, the Administrator shall 

7 establish and carry out a demonstration program to 

8 assist States in facilitating the development of alter9 native-fueled vehicles. 

10 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—A State may participate in 

11 the program by submitting to the Administrator an 

12 application at such time, in such form, and con13 taining such information as the Administrator shall 

14 specify. 

15 ‘‘(3) BENEFITS AVAILABLE TO PARTICIPATING

16 SMALL VOLUME MANUFACTURERS.—Under the pro17 gram, with respect to small volume manufacturers 

18 located in States participating in the program, the 

19 Administrator shall, by regulation— 

20 ‘‘(A) waive all fees applicable to small vol21 ume manufacturers for the certification and 

22 conversion of alternative-fueled vehicles; 

23 ‘‘(B) waive requirements for recertification 

24 of kits for the conversion of vehicles in any case 

25 in which, as determined by the Administrator— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the kit has been previously cer2 tified for the model of vehicle to be con3 verted; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) neither the kit nor the design 

5 and specifications of the model of vehicle 

6 to be converted have substantially changed; 

7 ‘‘(C) modify such regulatory requirements 

8 relating to OBD systems as the Administrator 

9 determines to be appropriate to provide flexi10 bility to small volume manufacturers in re11 programming OBD systems to be compatible 

12 with the use of alternative fuel; 

13 ‘‘(D) permit small volume manufacturers 

14 to include more vehicles and engines in a single 

15 engine category to improve the cost-efficiency of 

16 emission testing of converted vehicles; 

17 ‘‘(E) waive the liability of small volume 

18 manufacturers, in the case of a bi-fueled vehicle 

19 capable of operating on gasoline or compressed 

20 natural gas, for the compliance of the gasoline 

21 system of the bi-fueled vehicle with applicable 

22 emission requirements; 

23 ‘‘(F) provide additional guidance to small 

24 volume manufacturers with respect to the con25 version of older models of vehicles; and 


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1 ‘‘(G) revise and streamline certification re2 quirements applicable to small volume manufac3 turers. 

4 ‘‘(4) STATE RESPONSIBILITY.—As a condition 

5 of participating in the program, during the period of 

6 fiscal years 2009 through 2013, a State shall— 

7 ‘‘(A) develop regulations for (as compared 

8 to Federal requirements in effect as of the date 

9 of enactment of this section) an equally effec10 tive but less burdensome system of certifying 

11 and verifying emissions of alternative-fueled ve12 hicles and equipment used for conversions; and 

13 ‘‘(B) not later than December 31, 2012, 

14 submit the proposed regulations of the State to 

15 the Administrator for review. 

16 ‘‘(c) STATE PROGRAMS.—Upon receipt of proposed 

17 regulations of a State under subsection (b)(4), the Admin18 istrator shall— 

19 ‘‘(1) review the regulations; and 

20 ‘‘(2) if the Administrator determines that the 

21 implementation of the regulations would result in (as 

22 compared to Federal requirements in effect as of the 

23 date of enactment of this section) an equally effec24 tive but less burdensome system of certifying and 

25 verifying emissions of alternative-fueled vehicles and 


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1 equipment used for conversions, authorize the State 

2 to implement the regulations with respect to small 

3 volume manufacturers in the State for the period of 

4 fiscal years 2014 through 2018, subject to— 

5 ‘‘(A) the submission of annual reports to 

6 the Administrator; and 

7 ‘‘(B) such periodic inspection and other 

8 oversight requirements as the Administrator de9 termines to be appropriate. 

10 ‘‘(d) DURATION OF PROGRAM.—The program and all 

11 authority under the program (other than the authority of 

12 the Administrator described in subsection (c)) shall termi13 nate on December 31, 2013, unless the Administrator— 

14 ‘‘(1) in consultation with the States, elects to 

15 continue the program; and 

16 ‘‘(2) promulgates such regulations as are nec17 essary to continue the program. 

18 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

19 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec20 essary to carry out this section.’’. 

21 SEC. 305. NATURAL GAS CONVERSION EMISSION CERTIFI22 CATIONS. 

23 Part C of title II of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

24 7581 et seq.) (as amended by section 304) is amended 

25 by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 252. NATURAL GAS CONVERSION EMISSION CERTIFI2 CATIONS. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall waive 

4 requirements for recertification of kits for the conversion 

5 of vehicles into vehicles that are powered by natural gas 

6 in any case in which, as determined by the Adminis7 trator— 

8 ‘‘(1) the kit has been previously certified for the 

9 model of vehicle to be converted; and 

10 ‘‘(2) neither the kit nor the design and speci11 fications of the model of vehicle to be converted have 

12 substantially changed. 

13 ‘‘(b) OLDER VEHICLES.—The Administrator shall 

14 waive emission certification system requirements for a ve15 hicle that is over 10 years old or has over 120,000 miles 

16 that is powered by natural gas.’’. 

Æ 


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