II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3556 

To improve the administration of the Minerals Management Service. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 24 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 17), 2008 

Mr. WYDEN (for himself and Mr. BARRASSO) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To improve the administration of the Minerals Management 

Service. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE. 

4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

5 (1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

6 means the Department of the Interior. 

7 (2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

8 the Director of the Service. 


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1 (3) ROYALTY-IN-KIND PROGRAM.—The term 

2 ‘‘royalty-in-kind program’’ means the program es3 tablished under— 

4 (A) section 342 of the Energy Policy Act 

5 of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15902); 

6 (B) section 36 of the Mineral Leasing Act 

7 (30 U.S.C. 192); 

8 (C) section 27 of the Outer Continental 

9 Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1353); or 

10 (D) any other similar provision of law. 

11 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

12 the Secretary of the Interior. 

13 (5) SERVICE.—The term ‘‘Service’’ means the 

14 Minerals Management Service. 

15 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall— 

16 (1) establish and maintain within the Depart17 ment the Minerals Management Service; and 

18 (2) assign to the Service such functions as the 

19 Secretary considers appropriate. 

20 (c) DIRECTOR.—The Service shall be headed by a Di21 rector who shall be appointed by the President, by and 

22 with the advice and consent of the Senate. 

23 (d) AUDITS.— 

24 (1) ROYALTY AUDITS.—The Director shall en25 sure that the Service implements a comprehensive 


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1 program of financial audits of royalty payments and 

2 adjustments, including physical on-site audits, on 

3 the basis of risk and statistical samples. 

4 (2) STANDARDS.—Not later than 90 days after 

5 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall 

6 promulgate regulations that— 

7 (A) require that all employees of the Serv8 ice that conduct audits and compliance reviews 

9 meet professional auditor qualifications that are 

10 consistent with the latest revision of the Gov11 ernment Auditing Standards published by the 

12 Government Accountability Office; and 

13 (B) ensure that all audits conducted by the 

14 Service are performed in accordance with the 

15 standards. 

16 (3) INSPECTOR GENERAL.—The Inspector Gen17 eral of the Department shall— 

18 (A) conduct, annually and as necessary, 

19 audits of activities of the Service, including 

20 leasing and royalty activities; and 

21 (B) report the results of the audits of ac22 tivities of the Service (including leasing and 

23 royalty activities) and the certifications required 

24 under subsection (e) to— 


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1 (i) the Committee on Energy and 

2 Natural Resources of the Senate; 

3 (ii) the Committee on Natural Re4 sources of the House of Representatives; 

5 and 

6 (iii) the Secretary. 

7 (e) ROYALTIES-IN-KIND PROGRAM.— 

8 (1) INITIAL CERTIFICATION.—Subject to para9 graph (3), not later than 60 days after the date of 

10 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to 

11 Congress a certification that all of the recommenda12 tions made by the Office of the Inspector General of 

13 the Department as the result of investigations that 

14 culminated in a memorandum dated September 9, 

15 2008, and a report dated May 2008 (C–EV–MMS– 

16 001–2008), with respect to the royalty-in-kind pro17 gram have been implemented. 

18 (2) ANNUAL CERTIFICATIONS.—Subject to 

19 paragraph (3), not later than 1 year after the date 

20 of enactment of this Act and each year thereafter, 

21 the Secretary shall submit to Congress a certifi22 cation that the royalty-in-kind program is in full 

23 compliance with Federal law (including regulations) 

24 governing procurement and ethics. 


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1 (3) SUSPENSION.—Notwithstanding any other 

2 provision of law, if the Secretary fails to make a cer3 tification required under paragraph (1) or (2), the 

4 authority of the Secretary to carry out each royalty5 in-kind program is suspended during the period— 

6 (A) beginning on the day after the deadline 

7 for the certification under that paragraph; and 

8 (B) ending on the date the Secretary 

9 makes the certification required under that 

10 paragraph. 

Æ 


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