I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5661 

To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to require the making 

of royalty and other payments for oil that is removed under an offshore 

oil and gas lease under that Act and discharged into waters of the 

United States or ocean waters, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 1, 2010 

Mr. POLIS of Colorado introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to require 

the making of royalty and other payments for oil that 

is removed under an offshore oil and gas lease under 

that Act and discharged into waters of the United States 

or ocean waters, 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 ‘‘Oil Pollution Taxpayer 

5 and Environment Protection Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ROYALTIES AND OTHER PAYMENTS UNDER OFF2 SHORE OIL AND GAS LEASES . 

3 (a) APPLICATION OF ROYALTY TO OIL DISCHARGED

4 UNDER OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASES.—Section 8(a) 

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

6 1337(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following 

7 new paragraph: 

8 ‘‘(9)(A) Notwithstanding the terms of any bidding 

9 otherwise authorized by paragraph (1) and the authority 

10 of the Secretary to reduce or eliminate royalty or net prof11 it share under paragraph (3), any royalty under a lease 

12 under this section shall apply to all oil that is removed 

13 under the lease and discharged into waters of the United 

14 States or ocean waters. 

15 ‘‘(B) In this paragraph the term ‘discharged’ means 

16 any emission (other than natural seepage), intentional or 

17 unintentional, and includes, but is not limited to, spilling, 

18 leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, or dump19 ing.’’. 

20 (b) MINIMUM ROYALTY UNDER OFFSHORE OIL AND

21 GAS LEASES.—Section 8(a) of the Outer Continental 

22 Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1336(a)) is amended— 

23 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

(A) by striking ‘‘121 24 ⁄2 per centum’’ each 

25 place it appears and inserting ‘‘20 percent’’; 


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1 (B) in subparagraph (H) by striking ‘‘12 

and 1 2 ⁄2 per centum’’ and inserting ‘‘20 per3 cent’’; 

4 (C) in paragraph (3)(C)(i), by inserting 

5 ‘‘and paragraph (9)’’ after ‘‘other than this 

6 subparagraph’’; and 

7 (D) by adding at the end the following new 

8 paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(9) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, 

10 the royalty under any lease under this Act shall be not 

11 less than 20 percent in amount or value of production 

12 saved, removed, or sold.’’. 

13 (c) ENSURING FAIR RETURN TO THE AMERICAN

14 TAXPAYER.—Section 8(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf 

15 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1336(a)) is further amended by 

16 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

17 ‘‘(10) The Secretary shall— 

18 ‘‘(A) ensure that royalty and other payments 

19 required for each lease under this section provide a 

20 fair return to the United States; and 

21 ‘‘(B) publish in the Federal Register for each 

22 such lease an explanation of how such royalty and 

23 other payments were derived.’’. 

24 (d) CONSIDERATION OF AVERAGE ROYALTY RATES

25 IN OTHER COUNTRIES.—Section 8(a) of the Outer ContiVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:53 Jul 02, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5661.IH H5661

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1 nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1336(a)) is further 

2 amended by adding at the end the following new para3 graph: 

4 ‘‘(11) In establishing the royalty and other payments 

5 required for a lease under this section, the Secretary shall 

6 consider average rates for those payments that are re7 quired by other countries.’’. 

8 (e) ELECTRONIC FLOW MONITORING SYSTEMS.— 

9 (1) REQUIREMENT.—Section 8(a) of the Outer 

10 Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1336(a)) is 

11 further amended by adding at the end the following 

12 new paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(12) The Secretary shall— 

14 ‘‘(A) require the use of an electronic flow moni15 toring system on each well drilled under a lease 

16 under this section that provides an accurate account17 ing of oil and gas removed under the lease; and 

18 ‘‘(B) collect data produced by such system.’’. 

19 (2) RULEMAKING.—The Secretary of the Inte20 rior shall issue a rule within 90 days after the date 

21 of enactment of this Act to implement the amend22 ment made by this subsection, including the estab23 lishment of standards and specifications for elec24 tronic flow monitoring systems required under the 

25 amendment. 


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1 (f) REPEAL OF OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF DEEP

2 WATER AND DEEP GAS ROYALTY RELIEF.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Sections 344 and 345 of the 

4 Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15904, 

5 15905) are repealed. 

6 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary of the 

7 Interior shall not be required to provide for royalty 

8 relief in the lease sale terms beginning with the first 

9 lease sale held on or after the date of enactment of 

10 this Act for which a final notice of sale has not been 

11 published. 

Æ 


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