II 

Calendar No. 120 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3646 

To authorize and expedite lease sales within the outer Continental Shelf, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 27 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 17), 2008 

Mr. DEMINT introduced the following bill; which was read the first time 

NOVEMBER 18, 2008 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar under authority of the order 

of the Senate of November 17 (legislative day, September 17), 2008 

A BILL 

To authorize and expedite lease sales within the outer 

Continental Shelf, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Drill Now Act of 

5 2008’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) OPENED AREA.—The term ‘‘opened area’’ 

2 means any area of the outer Continental shelf 

3 that— 

4 (A) before the date of enactment of this 

5 Act, was closed to oil or gas leasing; and 

6 (B) as of the date of enactment of this 

7 Act, is made available for leasing pursuant to 

8 section 3(a) and the amendments made by that 

9 section. 

10 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

11 the Secretary of the Interior. 

12 SEC. 3. LEASING ON OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF. 

13 (a) OPENING NEW OFFSHORE AREAS TO OIL AND

14 GAS DEVELOPMENT.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Sections 104 and 105 of the 

16 Department of the Interior, Environment, and Re17 lated Agencies Appropriations Act, 2008 (Public 

18 Law 110–161; 121 Stat. 2118) are repealed. 

19 (2) EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO.—Section 104 

20 of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 

21 (43 U.S.C. 1331 note; Public Law 109–432) is 

22 amended to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘SEC. 104. DESIGNATION OF NATIONAL DEFENSE AREAS. 

24 ‘‘The United States reserves the right to designate 

25 by and through the Secretary of Defense, with the apVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:13 Nov 18, 2008 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3646.PCS S3646

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1 proval of the President, national defense areas on the 

2 outer Continental Shelf pursuant to section 12(d) of the 

3 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1341(d)).’’. 

4 (b) EXPEDITED LEASING.—The Secretary may con5 duct leasing, preleasing, and related activities for any 

6 opened area before June 30, 2012, notwithstanding the 

7 omission of the opened area from the Outer Continental 

8 Shelf leasing program developed pursuant to section 18 

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

10 1344) for the period ending June 30, 2012. 

11 (c) NO SURFACE OCCUPANCY.—Any lease issued by 

12 the Secretary pursuant to section 8 of the Outer Conti13 nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337) for any sub14 merged land of the outer Continental Shelf in any opened 

15 area lying within 25 miles of the coastline of any State 

16 shall include a provision prohibiting permanent surface oc17 cupancy under that lease within that 25-mile area. 

18 (d) DISPOSITION OF REVENUES FROM OUTER CON19 TINENTAL SHELF AREAS OPENED UNDER THIS SEC20 TION.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 9 of 

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

23 1338) and subject to the other provisions of this sec24 tion, the Secretary of the Treasury shall deposit 

25 rentals, royalties, bonus bids, and other sums due 


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1 and payable from any leased tract within an opened 

2 area, and from all other leased tracts in any other 

3 area for which leases are entered into after the date 

4 of enactment of this Act, as follows: 

5 (A) 50 percent in the general fund of the 

6 Treasury. 

7 (B) 50 in a special account in the Treas8 ury, for allocation by the Secretary among the 

9 States in accordance with paragraph (2). 

10 (2) ALLOCATION.— 

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

12 and each fiscal year thereafter, the amount 

13 made available under paragraph (1)(B) shall be 

14 allocated among States in amounts (based on a 

15 formula established by the Secretary by regula16 tion) that are inversely proportional to the re17 spective distances between— 

18 (i) the point on the coastline of each 

19 State that is closest to the geographical 

20 center of the applicable leased tract; and 

21 (ii) the geographical center of the 

22 leased tract. 

23 (B) PROHIBITION ON RECEIPT OF

24 AMOUNTS.—No State shall receive any amount 

25 under this paragraph from a leased tract if the 


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1 geographical center of that leased tract is more 

2 than 200 nautical miles from the coastline of 

3 that State. 

4 (3) ADMINISTRATION.—Amounts made avail5 able under paragraph (1)(B) shall— 

6 (A) be made available, without further ap7 propriation, in accordance with this section; 

8 (B) remain available until expended; and 

9 (C) be in addition to any amounts appro10 priated under— 

11 (i) the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 

12 Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.); 

13 (ii) the Land and Water Conservation 

14 Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l–4 et 

15 seq.); or 

16 (iii) any other provision of law. 

17 (e) JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 

18 (1) FILING OF COMPLAINT.— 

19 (A) DEADLINE.—Subject to subparagraph 

20 (B), any complaint seeking judicial review of 

21 any provision of this section or any action of 

22 the Secretary under this section or relating to 

23 areas opened under the amendments made by 

24 subsection (a) shall be filed in any appropriate 

25 United States district court— 


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1 (i) except as provided in clause (ii), 

2 not later than the end of the 90-day period 

3 beginning on the date of the action being 

4 challenged; or 

5 (ii) in the case of a complaint based 

6 solely on grounds arising after that period, 

7 not later than 90 days after the date on 

8 which the complainant knew or reasonably 

9 should have known of the grounds for the 

10 complaint. 

11 (B) VENUE.—Any complaint seeking judi12 cial review of an action of the Secretary under 

13 this section or relating to areas opened under 

14 subsection (a) may be filed only in the United 

15 States Court of Appeals for the District of Co16 lumbia. 

17 (C) LIMITATION ON SCOPE OF CERTAIN

18 REVIEW.— 

19 (i) IN GENERAL.—Judicial review of a 

20 decision of the Secretary to conduct a lease 

21 sale for areas opened under the amend22 ments made by subsection (a), including 

23 the environmental analysis relating to such 

24 a decision, shall be— 


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1 (I) limited to whether the Sec2 retary has complied with the terms of 

3 this section and the Outer Continental 

4 Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et 

5 seq.); and 

6 (II) based upon the administra7 tive record of that decision. 

8 (ii) PRESUMPTION.—In any judicial 

9 review described in clause (i), the identi10 fication by the Secretary of a preferred 

11 course of action to enable leasing to pro12 ceed, and the analysis of the Secretary of 

13 any environmental effects of that course of 

14 action, shall be presumed to be correct un15 less shown otherwise by clear and con16 vincing evidence to the contrary. 

17 (2) LIMITATION ON OTHER REVIEW.—Actions 

18 of the Secretary with respect to which review could 

19 have been obtained under this section shall not be 

20 subject to judicial review in any civil or criminal pro21 ceeding for enforcement. 

22 (f) REPEAL OF RESTRICTION ON OIL SHALE LEAS23 ING.—Section 433 of the Department of the Interior, En24 vironment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 

25 2008 (Public Law 110–161; 121 Stat. 2152) is repealed. 


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Calendar No. 120 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3646 

A BILL 

outer Continental Shelf, and for other purposes. 

To authorize and expedite lease sales within the 

NOVEMBER 18, 2008 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 


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