I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6088 

To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to authorize notifications of permit to 

drill, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 13, 2018 

Mr. CURTIS (for himself, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. GIANFORTE, 

Mr. WESTERMAN, and Mr. GOHMERT) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to authorize notifications 

of permit to drill, 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 ‘‘Streamlining Permit5 ting Efficiencies in Energy Development Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘SPEED Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. NOTIFICATIONS OF PERMIT TO DRILL. 

8 The Mineral Leasing Act is amended by— 

9 (1) redesignating section 44 as section 45; and 

10 (2) inserting after section 43 the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 44. NOTIFICATIONS OF PERMIT TO DRILL. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

3 date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 

4 establish procedures by which an operator may conduct 

5 drilling and production activities on available Federal land 

6 and non-Federal land after sending to the Secretary a no7 tification of permit to drill under this section in lieu of 

8 obtaining an APD. 

9 ‘‘(b) CONTENT OF NOTIFICATION.—To be considered 

10 a complete notification of permit to drill under this sec11 tion, an operator shall include in the notification of permit 

12 to drill submitted under this section the following: 

13 ‘‘(1) A notification of permit to drill form. 

14 ‘‘(2) A surface use plan of operations. 

15 ‘‘(3) A drilling plan. 

16 ‘‘(4) A well plat certified by a registered sur17 veyor. 

18 ‘‘(5) An operator certification. 

19 ‘‘(6) Evidence of bond coverage. 

20 ‘‘(7) A notification of permit to drill fee in an 

21 amount to be determined by the Secretary. 

22 ‘‘(8) Any other information required by order, 

23 notice, or regulation issued by the Secretary pursu24 ant to this section. 

25 ‘‘(c) JUSTIFICATIONS FOR OBJECTION.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro2 vided in this subsection, the Secretary may not ob3 ject to a notification of permit to drill under this 

4 section if the notification— 

5 ‘‘(A) demonstrates that the drilling oper6 ations described in the notification of permit to 

7 drill will be located in— 

8 ‘‘(i) a developed field, where there are 

9 existing oil and gas wells within a 5-mile 

10 radius and for which an approved land use 

11 plan or environmental review was prepared 

12 within the last 10 years under the National 

13 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

14 U.S.C. 4321) that analyzed such drilling 

15 operations as a reasonably foreseeable ac16 tivity; 

17 ‘‘(ii) a location or well pad site at 

18 which drilling has occurred within 10 years 

19 before the date of spudding the well and 

20 the proposed operations do not increase 

21 the surface disturbance on the location or 

22 well pad site; 

23 ‘‘(iii) an area consisting of individual 

24 surface disturbances of less than 10 acres 

25 and the total surface disturbance on the 


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1 lease is not greater than 150 acres and for 

2 which an approved land use plan or envi3 ronmental review was prepared within the 

4 last 10 years under the National Environ5 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

6 4321) that analyzed such drilling oper7 ations as a reasonably foreseeable activity; 

8 ‘‘(iv) an area consisting of Federal 

9 mineral interests that is located within the 

10 boundaries of a communitization agree11 ment or unit agreement which contains 

12 minerals leased by a State or private min13 eral owner for which a drilling permit has 

14 been approved by a State regulatory agen15 cy; or 

16 ‘‘(v) an area in which a categorical ex17 clusion under the National Environmental 

18 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321) ap19 plies for oil and gas drilling or re-entry ac20 tivities; or 

21 ‘‘(B) includes— 

22 ‘‘(i) an environmental review that con23 cludes that actions described in the notifi24 cation of permit to drill pose no significant 


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1 effects to the human environment or 

2 threatened or endangered species; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) an archeological review that con4 cludes that actions described in the notifi5 cation of permit to drill pose no significant 

6 effects on cultural or historic properties or 

7 resources. 

8 ‘‘(2) ENDANGERED SPECIES PROTECTION.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding para10 graph (1), the Secretary shall object to a notifi11 cation of permit to drill if the activity described 

12 in such notification of permit to drill is likely to 

13 jeopardize the continued existence of a species 

14 that is a threatened species or endangered spe15 cies under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

16 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) or result in the de17 struction or adverse modification of critical 

18 habitat of such species. 

19 ‘‘(B) WITHDRAWAL OF OBJECTION.—The 

20 Secretary may withdraw an objection under 

21 subparagraph (A) if the operator consults with 

22 the Secretary on such objection and places con23 ditions on the notification of permit to drill suf24 ficient to comply with the Endangered Species 

25 Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 


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1 ‘‘(3) NATIONAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding para3 graph (1), the Secretary shall object to a notifi4 cation of permit to drill if the activity described 

5 in such notification of permit to drill is likely to 

6 affect properties listed, or eligible for listing, in 

7 the National Register of Historic Places under 

8 section 306108 of title 54, United States Code. 

9 ‘‘(B) WITHDRAWAL OF OBJECTION.—The 

10 Secretary may withdraw an objection under 

11 subparagraph (A) if the operator consults with 

12 the Secretary on such objection and places con13 ditions on the notification of permit to drill suf14 ficient to comply with section 306108 of title 

15 54, United States Code. 

16 ‘‘(d) OBJECTION OR NO ACTION.— 

17 ‘‘(1) NOTIFICATION OF INCOMPLETE NOTIFICA18 TION.—Not later than 15 days after receipt of a no19 tification of permit to drill, or a revised notification 

20 of permit to drill, from an operator under this sec21 tion, if the notification of permit to drill is not com22 plete, the Secretary shall notify the operator in writ23 ing of such. 

24 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION OF OBJECTIONS.—Not later 

25 than 45 days after receipt of a complete notification 


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1 of permit to drill from an operator under this sec2 tion, the Secretary shall review the notification of 

3 permit to drill and— 

4 ‘‘(A) notify the operator in writing of any 

5 objections to the notification of permit to drill; 

6 or 

7 ‘‘(B) take no action. 

8 ‘‘(3) NO ACTION REQUIRED.—If the Secretary 

9 has not notified an operator under either paragraph 

10 (1) or paragraph (2) within 45 days after receipt of 

11 a notification of permit to drill from the operator 

12 under this section, the operator may, without further 

13 action from the Secretary, conduct the drilling and 

14 production activities for which the notification of 

15 permit to drill was submitted. 

16 ‘‘(4) OPPORTUNITY TO RESUBMIT NOTIFICA17 TION.—If the Secretary notifies an operator under 

18 paragraph (1) of an incomplete notification or para19 graph (2) of an objection, the Secretary shall allow 

20 the operator to address such incomplete notification 

21 or objection and revise and resubmit the notification 

22 of permit to drill. 

23 ‘‘(5) OPPORTUNITY TO RESUBMIT NOTIFICA24 TION AS APD.—If the Secretary notifies an operator 

25 under paragraph (2) of an objection, the Secretary 


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1 shall allow the operator to resubmit such informa2 tion in the form of a notification for an APD. 

3 ‘‘(e) NOTIFICATION FEE.—The Secretary may not 

4 charge an operator under this section a fee for submitting 

5 a notification of permit to drill greater than the fee the 

6 Secretary charges an applicant for an APD. 

7 ‘‘(f) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An environmental review or 

9 archeological review described in subsection 

10 (c)(1)(B) may be completed by a third-party con11 tractor approved by the Secretary or pursuant to a 

12 memorandum of understanding between the operator 

13 and the Secretary. 

14 ‘‘(2) FIELD WORK AUTHORIZATION.—The Sec15 retary shall issue a field work authorization to a 

16 third-party contractor for the purposes of paragraph 

17 (1) within a reasonable time period. 

18 ‘‘(3) REQUEST FOR CONCURRENCE.—The Sec19 retary shall allow a third-party contractor to submit 

20 a request to the State Historic Preservation Office 

21 on behalf of the Secretary. 

22 ‘‘(g) ADDITIONAL SURFACE USE PERMITS.—The 

23 Secretary may not require an operator that has submitted 

24 a notification of permit to drill for which the Secretary 


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1 did not notice an objection to obtain a surface use permit 

2 for an action included in the notification of permit to drill. 

3 ‘‘(h) SITE INSPECTION.—The Secretary may not re4 quire an operator that has submitted a notification of per5 mit to drill for which the Secretary did not notice an objec6 tion to submit to a site inspection before commencement 

7 of the activities described in the notification of permit to 

8 drill. 

9 ‘‘(i) FEDERAL ENFORCEMENT.—The Secretary may 

10 conduct inspections of and evaluate activities described in 

11 a notification of permit to drill for purposes of bringing 

12 an enforcement action. The Secretary may suspend en13 forcement proceedings if the operator modifies its activi14 ties to comply with the notification of permit to drill or 

15 obtains an APD for such activities. 

16 ‘‘(j) APPLICATION OF NEPA.— 

17 ‘‘(1) NO ACTION BY SECRETARY.—The decision 

18 by the Secretary to take no action under subsection 

19 (c)(1)(B)(2) shall not constitute a major Federal ac20 tion under section 102(2)(C) of the National Envi21 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

22 4321(2)(C)). 

23 ‘‘(2) DEVELOPMENT OF REGULATIONS.—The 

24 development of any regulation pursuant to this sec25 tion shall constitute a major Federal action under 


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1 section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 

2 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321(2)(C)). 

3 ‘‘(k) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) APD.—The term ‘APD’ means an applica5 tion to drill or re-enter a well. 

6 ‘‘(2) AVAILABLE FEDERAL LAND.—The term 

7 ‘available Federal land’ means Federal land that— 

8 ‘‘(A) is located within the boundaries of a 

9 State; 

10 ‘‘(B) is not held by the United States in 

11 trust for the benefit of a federally recognized 

12 Indian Tribe; 

13 ‘‘(C) is not a unit of the National Park 

14 System; 

15 ‘‘(D) is not a unit of the National Wildlife 

16 Refuge System; 

17 ‘‘(E) is not a Congressionally-approved wil18 derness area under the Wilderness Act (16 22 

19 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.); and 

20 ‘‘(F) is managed by the Director of the 

21 Bureau of Land Management or the Director of 

22 the Forest Service. 

23 ‘‘(3) DRILLING OPERATIONS.—The term ‘drill24 ing operations’ means the drilling or re-entry of a 

25 well. 


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1 ‘‘(4) DRILLING PLAN.—The term ‘drilling plan’ 

2 means a plan containing— 

3 ‘‘(A) a description of the drilling program; 

4 ‘‘(B) the surface and projected completion 

5 zone location; 

6 ‘‘(C) pertinent geologic data; 

7 ‘‘(D) expected hazards; 

8 ‘‘(E) proposed mitigation measures to ad9 dress such hazards; 

10 ‘‘(F) any other information specified in ap11 plicable notices or orders; and 

12 ‘‘(G) any other pertinent data as the Sec13 retary may require. 

14 ‘‘(5) SURFACE USE PLAN OF OPERATION.—The 

15 term ‘surface use plan of operation’ means a plan 

16 containing— 

17 ‘‘(A) the road and drillpad location; 

18 ‘‘(B) details of pad construction; 

19 ‘‘(C) methods for containment and disposal 

20 of waste material; 

21 ‘‘(D) plans for reclamation of the surface; 

22 ‘‘(E) any other information specified in ap23 plicable orders or notices; and 


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1 ‘‘(F) any other pertinent data as the Sec2 retary may require.’’. 

Æ 


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