IIB 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4899 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 26, 2014 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

AN ACT 

To lower gasoline prices for the American family by increasing domestic onshore and offshore energy exploration 

and production, to streamline and improve onshore and 

offshore energy permitting and administration, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lowering Gasoline 

3 Prices to Fuel an America That Works Act of 2014’’. 

4 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

5 The table of contents for this Act is the following: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 

TITLE I—OFFSHORE ENERGY AND JOBS 

Subtitle A—Outer Continental Shelf Leasing Program Reforms 

Sec. 10101. Outer Continental Shelf leasing program reforms. 

Sec. 10102. Domestic oil and natural gas production goal. 

Sec. 10103. Development and submittal of new 5-year oil and gas leasing program. 

Sec. 10104. Rule of construction. 

Sec. 10105. Addition of lease sales after finalization of 5-year plan. 

Subtitle B—Directing the President To Conduct New OCS Sales 

Sec. 10201. Requirement to conduct proposed oil and gas Lease Sale 220 on 

the Outer Continental Shelf offshore Virginia. 

Sec. 10202. South Carolina lease sale. 

Sec. 10203. Southern California existing infrastructure lease sale. 

Sec. 10204. Environmental impact statement requirement. 

Sec. 10205. National defense. 

Sec. 10206. Eastern Gulf of Mexico not included. 

Subtitle C—Equitable Sharing of Outer Continental Shelf Revenues 

Sec. 10301. Disposition of Outer Continental Shelf revenues to coastal States. 

Subtitle D—Reorganization of Minerals Management Agencies of the 

Department of the Interior 

Sec. 10401. Establishment of Under Secretary for Energy, Lands, and Minerals and Assistant Secretary of Ocean Energy and Safety. 

Sec. 10402. Bureau of Ocean Energy. 

Sec. 10403. Ocean Energy Safety Service. 

Sec. 10404. Office of Natural Resources revenue. 

Sec. 10405. Ethics and drug testing. 

Sec. 10406. Abolishment of Minerals Management Service. 

Sec. 10407. Conforming amendments to Executive Schedule pay rates. 

Sec. 10408. Outer Continental Shelf Energy Safety Advisory Board. 

Sec. 10409. Outer Continental Shelf inspection fees. 

Sec. 10410. Prohibition on action based on National Ocean Policy developed 

under Executive Order No. 13547. 

Subtitle E—United States Territories 


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Sec. 10501. Application of Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act with respect to 

territories of the United States. 

Subtitle F—Miscellaneous Provisions 

Sec. 10601. Rules regarding distribution of revenues under Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006. 

Sec. 10602. Amount of distributed qualified outer Continental Shelf revenues. 

Sec. 10603. South Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf Planning Area defined. 

Sec. 10604. Enhancing geological and geophysical information for America’s 

energy future. 

Subtitle G—Judicial Review 

Sec. 10701. Time for filing complaint. 

Sec. 10702. District court deadline. 

Sec. 10703. Ability to seek appellate review. 

Sec. 10704. Limitation on scope of review and relief. 

Sec. 10705. Legal fees. 

Sec. 10706. Exclusion. 

Sec. 10707. Definitions. 

TITLE II—ONSHORE FEDERAL LANDS AND ENERGY SECURITY 

Subtitle A—Federal Lands Jobs and Energy Security 

Sec. 21001. Short title. 

Sec. 21002. Policies regarding buying, building, and working for America. 

CHAPTER 1—ONSHORE OIL AND GAS PERMIT STREAMLINING

Sec. 21101. Short title. 

SUBCHAPTER A—APPLICATION FOR PERMITS TO DRILL PROCESS REFORM

Sec. 21111. Permit to drill application timeline. 

SUBCHAPTER B—ADMINISTRATIVE PROTEST DOCUMENTATION REFORM

Sec. 21121. Administrative protest documentation reform. 

SUBCHAPTER C—PERMIT STREAMLINING

Sec. 21131. Making pilot offices permanent to improve energy permitting on 

Federal lands. 

Sec. 21132. Administration of current law. 

SUBCHAPTER D—JUDICIAL REVIEW

Sec. 21141. Definitions. 

Sec. 21142. Exclusive venue for certain civil actions relating to covered energy 

projects. 

Sec. 21143. Timely filing. 

Sec. 21144. Expedition in hearing and determining the action. 

Sec. 21145. Standard of review. 

Sec. 21146. Limitation on injunction and prospective relief. 

Sec. 21147. Limitation on attorneys’ fees. 

Sec. 21148. Legal standing. 


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SUBCHAPTER E—KNOWING AMERICA’S OIL AND GAS RESOURCES

Sec. 21151. Funding oil and gas resource assessments. 

CHAPTER 2—OIL AND GAS LEASING CERTAINTY

Sec. 21201. Short title. 

Sec. 21202. Minimum acreage requirement for onshore lease sales. 

Sec. 21203. Leasing certainty. 

Sec. 21204. Leasing consistency. 

Sec. 21205. Reduce redundant policies. 

Sec. 21206. Streamlined congressional notification. 

CHAPTER 3—OIL SHALE

Sec. 21301. Short title. 

Sec. 21302. Effectiveness of oil shale regulations, amendments to resource 

management plans, and record of decision. 

Sec. 21303. Oil shale leasing. 

CHAPTER 4—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

Sec. 21401. Rule of construction. 

Subtitle B—Planning for American Energy 

Sec. 22001. Short title. 

Sec. 22002. Onshore domestic energy production strategic plan. 

Subtitle C—National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Access 

Sec. 23001. Short title. 

Sec. 23002. Sense of Congress and reaffirming national policy for the National 

Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. 

Sec. 23003. National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska: lease sales. 

Sec. 23004. National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska: planning and permitting 

pipeline and road construction. 

Sec. 23005. Issuance of a new integrated activity plan and environmental impact statement. 

Sec. 23006. Departmental accountability for development. 

Sec. 23007. Deadlines under new proposed integrated activity plan. 

Sec. 23008. Updated resource assessment. 

Subtitle D—BLM Live Internet Auctions 

Sec. 24001. Short title. 

Sec. 24002. Internet-based onshore oil and gas lease sales. 

TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 

Sec. 30101. Establishment of Office of Energy Employment and Training. 


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1 TITLE I—OFFSHORE ENERGY 

2 AND JOBS 

3 Subtitle A—Outer Continental 

4 Shelf Leasing Program Reforms 

5 SEC. 10101. OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF LEASING PRO6 GRAM REFORMS. 

7 Section 18(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 

8 Act (43 U.S.C. 1344(a)) is amended by adding at the end 

9 the following: 

10 ‘‘(5)(A) In each oil and gas leasing program 

11 under this section, the Secretary shall make avail12 able for leasing and conduct lease sales including at 

13 least 50 percent of the available unleased acreage 

14 within each outer Continental Shelf planning area 

15 considered to have the largest undiscovered, tech16 nically recoverable oil and gas resources (on a total 

17 btu basis) based upon the most recent national geo18 logic assessment of the outer Continental Shelf, with 

19 an emphasis on offering the most geologically pro20 spective parts of the planning area. 

21 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall include in each pro22 posed oil and gas leasing program under this section 

23 any State subdivision of an outer Continental Shelf 

24 planning area that the Governor of the State that 

25 represents that subdivision requests be made availVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:33 Jun 27, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4899.RFS H4899

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1 able for leasing. The Secretary may not remove such 

2 a subdivision from the program until publication of 

3 the final program, and shall include and consider all 

4 such subdivisions in any environmental review con5 ducted and statement prepared for such program 

6 under section 102(2) of the National Environmental 

7 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)). 

8 ‘‘(C) In this paragraph the term ‘available un9 leased acreage’ means that portion of the outer Con10 tinental Shelf that is not under lease at the time of 

11 a proposed lease sale, and that has not otherwise 

12 been made unavailable for leasing by law. 

13 ‘‘(6)(A) In the 5-year oil and gas leasing pro14 gram, the Secretary shall make available for leasing 

15 any outer Continental Shelf planning areas that— 

16 ‘‘(i) are estimated to contain more than 

17 2,500,000,000 barrels of oil; or 

18 ‘‘(ii) are estimated to contain more than 

19 7,500,000,000,000 cubic feet of natural gas. 

20 ‘‘(B) To determine the planning areas described 

21 in subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall use the 

22 document entitled ‘Minerals Management Service 

23 Assessment of Undiscovered Technically Recoverable 

24 Oil and Gas Resources of the Nation’s Outer Conti25 nental Shelf, 2006’.’’. 


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1 SEC. 10102. DOMESTIC OIL AND NATURAL GAS PRODUC2 TION GOAL. 

3 Section 18(b) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 

4 Act (43 U.S.C. 1344(b)) is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(b) DOMESTIC OIL AND NATURAL GAS PRODUC6 TION GOAL.—– 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In developing a 5-year oil 

8 and gas leasing program, and subject to paragraph 

9 (2), the Secretary shall determine a domestic stra10 tegic production goal for the development of oil and 

11 natural gas as a result of that program. Such goal 

12 shall be— 

13 ‘‘(A) the best estimate of the possible in14 crease in domestic production of oil and natural 

15 gas from the outer Continental Shelf; 

16 ‘‘(B) focused on meeting domestic demand 

17 for oil and natural gas and reducing the de18 pendence of the United States on foreign en19 ergy; and 

20 ‘‘(C) focused on the production increases 

21 achieved by the leasing program at the end of 

22 the 15-year period beginning on the effective 

23 date of the program. 

24 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM GOAL.—For purposes of the 5- 

25 year oil and gas leasing program, the production 


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1 goal referred to in paragraph (1) shall be an in2 crease by 2032 of— 

3 ‘‘(A) no less than 3,000,000 barrels in the 

4 amount of oil produced per day; and 

5 ‘‘(B) no less than 10,000,000,000 cubic 

6 feet in the amount of natural gas produced per 

7 day. 

8 ‘‘(3) REPORTING.—The Secretary shall report 

9 annually, beginning at the end of the 5-year period 

10 for which the program applies, to the Committee on 

11 Natural Resources of the House of Representatives 

12 and the Committee on Energy and Natural Re13 sources of the Senate on the progress of the pro14 gram in meeting the production goal. The Secretary 

15 shall identify in the report projections for production 

16 and any problems with leasing, permitting, or pro17 duction that will prevent meeting the goal.’’. 

18 SEC. 10103. DEVELOPMENT AND SUBMITTAL OF NEW 5- 

19 YEAR OIL AND GAS LEASING PROGRAM. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior 

21 shall— 

22 (1) by not later than July 15, 2015, publish 

23 and submit to Congress a new proposed oil and gas 

24 leasing program under section 18 of the Outer Con25 tinental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344) for the 


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1 5-year period beginning on such date and ending 

2 July 15, 2021; and 

3 (2) by not later than July 15, 2016, approve a 

4 final oil and gas leasing program under such section 

5 for such period. 

6 (b) CONSIDERATION OF ALL AREAS.—In preparing 

7 such program the Secretary shall include consideration of 

8 areas of the Continental Shelf off the coasts of all States 

9 (as such term is defined in section 2 of that Act, as 

10 amended by this title), that are subject to leasing under 

11 this title. 

12 (c) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Section 18(d)(3) of 

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

14 1344(d)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘or after eighteen 

15 months following the date of enactment of this section, 

16 whichever first occurs,’’. 

17 SEC. 10104. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

18 Nothing in this title shall be construed to authorize 

19 the issuance of a lease under the Outer Continental Shelf 

20 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) to any person des21 ignated for the imposition of sanctions pursuant to— 

22 (1) the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 (50 U.S.C. 

23 1701 note), the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Ac24 countability and Divestiture Act of 2010 (22 U.S.C. 

25 8501 et seq.), the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria 


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1 Human Rights Act of 2012 (22 U.S.C. 8701 et 

2 seq.), section 1245 of the National Defense Author3 ization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (22 U.S.C. 8513a), 

4 or the Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act 

5 of 2012 (22 U.S.C. 8801 et seq.); 

6 (2) Executive Order No. 13622 (July 30, 

7 2012), Executive Order No. 13628 (October 9, 

8 2012), or Executive Order No. 13645 (June 3, 

9 2013); 

10 (3) Executive Order No. 13224 (September 23, 

11 2001) or Executive Order No. 13338 (May 11, 

12 2004); or 

13 (4) the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sov14 ereignty Restoration Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 2151 

15 note). 

16 SEC. 10105. ADDITION OF LEASE SALES AFTER FINALIZA17 TION OF 5-YEAR PLAN. 

18 Section 18(d) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 

19 Act (43 U.S.C.1344(d)) is amended— 

20 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘After’’ and 

21 inserting ‘‘Except as provided in paragraph (4), 

22 after’’; and 

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

24 ‘‘(4) The Secretary may add to the areas included 

25 in an approved leasing program additional areas to be 


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1 made available for leasing under the program, if all review 

2 and documents required under section 102 of the National 

3 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332) have 

4 been completed with respect to leasing of each such addi5 tional area within the 5-year period preceding such addi6 tion.’’. 

7 Subtitle B—Directing the President 

8 To Conduct New OCS Sales 

9 SEC. 10201. REQUIREMENT TO CONDUCT PROPOSED OIL 

10 AND GAS LEASE SALE 220 ON THE OUTER 

11 CONTINENTAL SHELF OFFSHORE VIRGINIA. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the exclusion of 

13 Lease Sale 220 in the Final Outer Continental Shelf Oil 

14 & Gas Leasing Program 2012–2017, the Secretary of the 

15 Interior shall conduct offshore oil and gas Lease Sale 220 

16 under section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

17 (43 U.S.C. 1337) as soon as practicable, but not later 

18 than one year after the date of enactment of this Act. 

19 (b) REQUIREMENT TO MAKE REPLACEMENT LEASE

20 BLOCKS AVAILABLE.—For each lease block in a proposed 

21 lease sale under this section for which the Secretary of 

22 Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, 

23 under the Memorandum of Agreement referred to in sec24 tion 10205(b), issues a statement proposing deferral from 

25 a lease offering due to defense-related activities that are 


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1 irreconcilable with mineral exploration and development, 

2 the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Sec3 retary of Defense, shall make available in the same lease 

4 sale one other lease block in the Virginia lease sale plan5 ning area that is acceptable for oil and gas exploration 

6 and production in order to mitigate conflict. 

7 (c) BALANCING MILITARY AND ENERGY PRODUC8 TION GOALS.—In recognition that the Outer Continental 

9 Shelf oil and gas leasing program and the domestic energy 

10 resources produced therefrom are integral to national se11 curity, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of 

12 Defense shall work jointly in implementing this section in 

13 order to ensure achievement of the following common 

14 goals: 

15 (1) Preserving the ability of the Armed Forces 

16 of the United States to maintain an optimum state 

17 of readiness through their continued use of the 

18 Outer Continental Shelf. 

19 (2) Allowing effective exploration, development, 

20 and production of our Nation’s oil, gas, and renew21 able energy resources. 

22 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 (1) LEASE SALE 220.—The term ‘‘Lease Sale 

24 220’’ means such lease sale referred to in the Re25 quest for Comments on the Draft Proposed 5-Year 


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1 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing 

2 Program for 2010–2015 and Notice of Intent To 

3 Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 

4 for the Proposed 5-Year Program published January 

5 21, 2009 (74 Fed. Reg. 3631). 

6 (2) VIRGINIA LEASE SALE PLANNING AREA.— 

7 The term ‘‘Virginia lease sale planning area’’ means 

8 the area of the outer Continental Shelf (as that term 

9 is defined in the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

10 (33 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.)) that is bounded by— 

11 (A) a northern boundary consisting of a 

12 straight line extending from the northernmost 

13 point of Virginia’s seaward boundary to the 

14 point on the seaward boundary of the United 

15 States exclusive economic zone located at 37 de16 grees 17 minutes 1 second North latitude, 71 

17 degrees 5 minutes 16 seconds West longitude; 

18 and 

19 (B) a southern boundary consisting of a 

20 straight line extending from the southernmost 

21 point of Virginia’s seaward boundary to the 

22 point on the seaward boundary of the United 

23 States exclusive economic zone located at 36 de24 grees 31 minutes 58 seconds North latitude, 71 

25 degrees 30 minutes 1 second West longitude. 


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1 SEC. 10202. SOUTH CAROLINA LEASE SALE. 

2 Notwithstanding exclusion of the South Atlantic 

3 Outer Continental Shelf Planning Area from the Final 

4 Outer Continental Shelf Oil & Gas Leasing Program 

5 2012–2017, the Secretary of the Interior shall conduct a 

6 lease sale not later than 2 years after the date of the en7 actment of this Act for areas off the coast of South Caro8 lina determined by the Secretary to have the most geologi9 cally promising hydrocarbon resources and constituting 

10 not less than 25 percent of the leasable area within the 

11 South Carolina offshore administrative boundaries de12 picted in the notice entitled ‘‘Federal Outer Continental 

13 Shelf (OCS) Administrative Boundaries Extending from 

14 the Submerged Lands Act Boundary seaward to the Limit 

15 of the United States Outer Continental Shelf’’, published 

16 January 3, 2006 (71 Fed. Reg. 127). 

17 SEC. 10203. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EXISTING INFRA18 STRUCTURE LEASE SALE. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior shall 

20 offer for sale leases of tracts in the Santa Maria and 

21 Santa Barbara/Ventura Basins of the Southern California 

22 OCS Planning Area as soon as practicable, but not later 

23 than December 31, 2015. 

24 (b) USE OF EXISTING STRUCTURES OR ONSHORE25 BASED DRILLING.—The Secretary of the Interior shall in26 clude in leases offered for sale under this lease sale such 


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1 terms and conditions as are necessary to require that de2 velopment and production may occur only from offshore 

3 infrastructure in existence on the date of the enactment 

4 of this Act or from onshore-based, extended-reach drilling. 

5 SEC. 10204. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT RE6 QUIREMENT. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of this title, the 

8 Secretary of the Interior shall prepare a multisale environ9 mental impact statement under section 102 of the Na10 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332) 

11 for all lease sales required under this subtitle. 

12 (b) ACTIONS TO BE CONSIDERED.—Notwithstanding 

13 section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 

14 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332), in such statement— 

15 (1) the Secretary is not required to identify 

16 nonleasing alternative courses of action or to analyze 

17 the environmental effects of such alternative courses 

18 of action; and 

19 (2) the Secretary shall only— 

20 (A) identify a preferred action for leasing 

21 and not more than one alternative leasing pro22 posal; and 

23 (B) analyze the environmental effects and 

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1 ferred action and such alternative leasing pro2 posal. 

3 SEC. 10205. NATIONAL DEFENSE. 

4 (a) NATIONAL DEFENSE AREAS.—This title does not 

5 affect the existing authority of the Secretary of Defense, 

6 with the approval of the President, to designate national 

7 defense areas on the Outer Continental Shelf pursuant to 

8 section 12(d) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

9 (43 U.S.C. 1341(d)). 

10 (b) PROHIBITION ON CONFLICTS WITH MILITARY

11 OPERATIONS.—No person may engage in any exploration, 

12 development, or production of oil or natural gas on the 

13 Outer Continental Shelf under a lease issued under this 

14 title that would conflict with any military operation, as 

15 determined in accordance with the Memorandum of Agree16 ment between the Department of Defense and the Depart17 ment of the Interior on Mutual Concerns on the Outer 

18 Continental Shelf signed July 20, 1983, and any revision 

19 or replacement for that agreement that is agreed to by 

20 the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of the Interior 

21 after that date but before the date of issuance of the lease 

22 under which such exploration, development, or production 

23 is conducted. 


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1 SEC. 10206. EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO NOT INCLUDED. 

2 Nothing in this title affects restrictions on oil and gas 

3 leasing under the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 

4 2006 (title I of division C of Public Law 109–432; 43 

5 U.S.C. 1331 note). 

6 Subtitle C—Equitable Sharing of 

7 Outer Continental Shelf Revenues 

8 SEC. 10301. DISPOSITION OF OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF 

9 REVENUES TO COASTAL STATES. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9 of the Outer Conti11 nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1338) is amended— 

12 (1) in the existing text— 

13 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘All 

14 rentals,’’ and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(c) DISPOSITION OF REVENUE UNDER OLD

16 LEASES.—All rentals,’’; and 

17 (B) in subsection (c) (as designated by the 

18 amendment made by subparagraph (A) of this 

19 paragraph), by striking ‘‘for the period from 

20 June 5, 1950, to date, and thereafter’’ and in21 serting ‘‘in the period beginning June 5, 1950, 

22 and ending on the date of enactment of the 

23 Lowering Gasoline Prices to Fuel an America 

24 That Works Act of 2014’’; 

25 (2) by adding after subsection (c) (as so des26 ignated) the following: 


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1 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 ‘‘(1) COASTAL STATE.—The term ‘coastal 

3 State’ includes a territory of the United States. 

4 ‘‘(2) NEW LEASING REVENUES.—The term ‘new 

5 leasing revenues’— 

6 ‘‘(A) means amounts received by the 

7 United States as bonuses, rents, and royalties 

8 under leases for oil and gas, wind, tidal, or 

9 other energy exploration, development, and pro10 duction on new areas of the outer Continental 

11 Shelf that are authorized to be made available 

12 for leasing as a result of enactment of the Low13 ering Gasoline Prices to Fuel an America That 

14 Works Act of 2014 and leasing under that Act; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(B) does not include amounts received by 

17 the United States under any lease of an area lo18 cated in the boundaries of the Central Gulf of 

19 Mexico and Western Gulf of Mexico Outer Con20 tinental Shelf Planning Areas on the date of en21 actment of the Lowering Gasoline Prices to 

22 Fuel an America That Works Act of 2014, in23 cluding a lease issued before, on, or after such 

24 date of enactment.’’; and 


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1 (3) by inserting before subsection (c) (as so 

2 designated) the following: 

3 ‘‘(a) PAYMENT OF NEW LEASING REVENUES TO

4 COASTAL STATES.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para6 graph (2), of the amount of new leasing revenues re7 ceived by the United States each fiscal year, 37.5 

8 percent shall be allocated and paid in accordance 

9 with subsection (b) to coastal States that are af10 fected States with respect to the leases under which 

11 those revenues are received by the United States. 

12 ‘‘(2) PHASE-IN.— 

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

14 subparagraph (B), paragraph (1) shall be ap15 plied— 

16 ‘‘(i) with respect to new leasing reve17 nues under leases awarded under the first 

18 leasing program under section 18(a) that 

19 takes effect after the date of enactment of 

20 the Lowering Gasoline Prices to Fuel an 

21 America That Works Act of 2014, by sub22 stituting ‘12.5 percent’ for ‘37.5 percent’; 

23 and 

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1 ond leasing program under section 18(a) 

2 that takes effect after the date of enact3 ment of the Lowering Gasoline Prices to 

4 Fuel an America That Works Act of 2014, 

5 by substituting ‘25 percent’ for ‘37.5 per6 cent’. 

7 ‘‘(B) EXEMPTED LEASE SALES.—This 

8 paragraph shall not apply with respect to any 

9 lease issued under subtitle B of the Lowering 

10 Gasoline Prices to Fuel an America That 

11 Works Act of 2014. 

12 ‘‘(b) ALLOCATION OF PAYMENTS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The amount of new leasing 

14 revenues received by the United States with respect 

15 to a leased tract that are required to be paid to 

16 coastal States in accordance with this subsection 

17 each fiscal year shall be allocated among and paid 

18 to coastal States that are within 200 miles of the 

19 leased tract, in amounts that are inversely propor20 tional to the respective distances between the point 

21 on the coastline of each such State that is closest to 

22 the geographic center of the lease tract, as deter23 mined by the Secretary. 

24 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM ALLOCATION.— 

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1 graph (1) each fiscal year with respect to a leased 

2 tract shall be— 

3 ‘‘(A) in the case of a coastal State that is 

4 the nearest State to the geographic center of 

5 the leased tract, not less than 25 percent of the 

6 total amounts allocated with respect to the 

7 leased tract; 

8 ‘‘(B) in the case of any other coastal State, 

9 not less than 10 percent, and not more than 15 

10 percent, of the total amounts allocated with re11 spect to the leased tract; and 

12 ‘‘(C) in the case of a coastal State that is 

13 the only coastal State within 200 miles of a 

14 leased tract, 100 percent of the total amounts 

15 allocated with respect to the leased tract. 

16 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATION.—Amounts allocated to 

17 a coastal State under this subsection— 

18 ‘‘(A) shall be available to the coastal State 

19 without further appropriation; 

20 ‘‘(B) shall remain available until expended; 

21 ‘‘(C) shall be in addition to any other 

22 amounts available to the coastal State under 

23 this Act; and 

24 ‘‘(D) shall be distributed in the fiscal year 

25 following receipt. 


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1 ‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS.— 

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

3 subparagraph (B), a coastal State may use 

4 funds allocated and paid to it under this sub5 section for any purpose as determined by the 

6 laws of that State. 

7 ‘‘(B) RESTRICTION ON USE FOR MATCH8 ING.—Funds allocated and paid to a coastal 

9 State under this subsection may not be used as 

10 matching funds for any other Federal pro11 gram.’’. 

12 (b) LIMITATION ON APPLICATION.—This section and 

13 the amendment made by this section shall not affect the 

14 application of section 105 of the Gulf of Mexico Energy 

15 Security Act of 2006 (title I of division C of Public Law 

16 109–432; (43 U.S.C. 1331 note)), as in effect before the 

17 enactment of this Act, with respect to revenues received 

18 by the United States under oil and gas leases issued for 

19 tracts located in the Western and Central Gulf of Mexico 

20 Outer Continental Shelf Planning Areas, including such 

21 leases issued on or after the date of the enactment of this 

22 Act. 


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1 Subtitle D—Reorganization of Min2 erals Management Agencies of 

3 the Department of the Interior 

4 SEC. 10401. ESTABLISHMENT OF UNDER SECRETARY FOR 

5 ENERGY, LANDS, AND MINERALS AND ASSIST6 ANT SECRETARY OF OCEAN ENERGY AND 

7 SAFETY. 

8 There shall be in the Department of the Interior— 

9 (1) an Under Secretary for Energy, Lands, and 

10 Minerals, who shall— 

11 (A) be appointed by the President, by and 

12 with the advise and consent of the Senate; 

13 (B) report to the Secretary of the Interior 

14 or, if directed by the Secretary, to the Deputy 

15 Secretary of the Interior; 

16 (C) be paid at the rate payable for level III 

17 of the Executive Schedule; and 

18 (D) be responsible for— 

19 (i) the safe and responsible develop20 ment of our energy and mineral resources 

21 on Federal lands in appropriate accordance 

22 with United States energy demands; and 

23 (ii) ensuring multiple-use missions of 

24 the Department of the Interior that pro25 mote the safe and sustained development 


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1 of energy and minerals resources on public 

2 lands (as that term is defined in the Fed3 eral Land Policy and Management Act of 

4 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)); 

5 (2) an Assistant Secretary of Ocean Energy 

6 and Safety, who shall— 

7 (A) be appointed by the President, by and 

8 with the advise and consent of the Senate; 

9 (B) report to the Under Secretary for En10 ergy, Lands, and Minerals; 

11 (C) be paid at the rate payable for level IV 

12 of the Executive Schedule; and 

13 (D) be responsible for ensuring safe and 

14 efficient development of energy and minerals on 

15 the Outer Continental Shelf of the United 

16 States; and 

17 (3) an Assistant Secretary of Land and Min18 erals Management, who shall— 

19 (A) be appointed by the President, by and 

20 with the advise and consent of the Senate; 

21 (B) report to the Under Secretary for En22 ergy, Lands, and Minerals; 

23 (C) be paid at the rate payable for level IV 

24 of the Executive Schedule; and 


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1 (D) be responsible for ensuring safe and 

2 efficient development of energy and minerals on 

3 public lands and other Federal onshore lands 

4 under the jurisdiction of the Department of the 

5 Interior, including implementation of the Min6 eral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) and 

7 the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation 

8 Act (30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.) and administra9 tion of the Office of Surface Mining. 

10 SEC. 10402. BUREAU OF OCEAN ENERGY. 

11 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

12 Department of the Interior a Bureau of Ocean Energy (re13 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Bureau’’), which shall— 

14 (1) be headed by a Director of Ocean Energy 

15 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Director’’); and 

16 (2) be administered under the direction of the 

17 Assistant Secretary of Ocean Energy and Safety. 

18 (b) DIRECTOR.— 

19 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Director shall be ap20 pointed by the Secretary of the Interior. 

21 (2) COMPENSATION.—The Director shall be 

22 compensated at the rate provided for level V of the 

23 Executive Schedule under section 5316 of title 5, 

24 United States Code. 

25 (c) DUTIES.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte2 rior shall carry out through the Bureau all func3 tions, powers, and duties vested in the Secretary re4 lating to the administration of a comprehensive pro5 gram of offshore mineral and renewable energy re6 sources management. 

7 (2) SPECIFIC AUTHORITIES.—The Director 

8 shall promulgate and implement regulations— 

9 (A) for the proper issuance of leases for 

10 the exploration, development, and production of 

11 nonrenewable and renewable energy and min12 eral resources on the Outer Continental Shelf; 

13 (B) relating to resource identification, ac14 cess, evaluation, and utilization; 

15 (C) for development of leasing plans, lease 

16 sales, and issuance of leases for such resources; 

17 and 

18 (D) regarding issuance of environmental 

19 impact statements related to leasing and post 

20 leasing activities including exploration, develop21 ment, and production, and the use of third 

22 party contracting for necessary environmental 

23 analysis for the development of such resources. 


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1 (3) LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall not carry 

2 out through the Bureau any function, power, or duty 

3 that is— 

4 (A) required by section 10403 to be car5 ried out through the Ocean Energy Safety Serv6 ice; or 

7 (B) required by section 10404 to be car8 ried out through the Office of Natural Re9 sources Revenue. 

10 (d) RESPONSIBILITIES OF LAND MANAGEMENT

11 AGENCIES.—Nothing in this section shall affect the au12 thorities of the Bureau of Land Management under the 

13 Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 

14 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) or of the Forest Service under the 

15 National Forest Management Act of 1976 (Public Law 

16 94–588). 

17 SEC. 10403. OCEAN ENERGY SAFETY SERVICE. 

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

19 Department of the Interior an Ocean Energy Safety Serv20 ice (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Service’’), which 

21 shall— 

22 (1) be headed by a Director of Energy Safety 

23 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Director’’); and 

24 (2) be administered under the direction of the 

25 Assistant Secretary of Ocean Energy and Safety. 


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1 (b) DIRECTOR.— 

2 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Director shall be ap3 pointed by the Secretary of the Interior. 

4 (2) COMPENSATION.—The Director shall be 

5 compensated at the rate provided for level V of the 

6 Executive Schedule under section 5316 of title 5, 

7 United States Code. 

8 (c) DUTIES.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte10 rior shall carry out through the Service all functions, 

11 powers, and duties vested in the Secretary relating 

12 to the administration of safety and environmental 

13 enforcement activities related to offshore mineral 

14 and renewable energy resources on the Outer Conti15 nental Shelf pursuant to the Outer Continental Shelf 

16 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) including the 

17 authority to develop, promulgate, and enforce regu18 lations to ensure the safe and sound exploration, de19 velopment, and production of mineral and renewable 

20 energy resources on the Outer Continental Shelf in 

21 a timely fashion. 

22 (2) SPECIFIC AUTHORITIES.—The Director 

23 shall be responsible for all safety activities related to 

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1 eral resources on the Outer Continental Shelf, in2 cluding— 

3 (A) exploration, development, production, 

4 and ongoing inspections of infrastructure; 

5 (B) the suspending or prohibiting, on a 

6 temporary basis, any operation or activity, in7 cluding production under leases held on the 

8 Outer Continental Shelf, in accordance with 

9 section 5(a)(1) of the Outer Continental Shelf 

10 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1334(a)(1)); 

11 (C) cancelling any lease, permit, or right12 of-way on the Outer Continental Shelf, in ac13 cordance with section 5(a)(2) of the Outer Con14 tinental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 

15 1334(a)(2)); 

16 (D) compelling compliance with applicable 

17 Federal laws and regulations relating to worker 

18 safety and other matters; 

19 (E) requiring comprehensive safety and en20 vironmental management programs for persons 

21 engaged in activities connected with the explo22 ration, development, and production of mineral 

23 or renewable energy resources; 

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1 spection or investigation to ascertain compli2 ance with applicable regulations, including 

3 health, safety, or environmental regulations; 

4 (G) implementing the Offshore Technology 

5 Research and Risk Assessment Program under 

6 section 21 of the Outer Continental Shelf 

7 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1347); 

8 (H) summoning witnesses and directing 

9 the production of evidence; 

10 (I) levying fines and penalties and disquali11 fying operators; 

12 (J) carrying out any safety, response, and 

13 removal preparedness functions; and 

14 (K) the processing of permits, exploration 

15 plans, development plans. 

16 (d) EMPLOYEES.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ensure 

18 that the inspection force of the Bureau consists of 

19 qualified, trained employees who meet qualification 

20 requirements and adhere to the highest professional 

21 and ethical standards. 

22 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The qualification re23 quirements referred to in paragraph (1)— 

24 (A) shall be determined by the Secretary, 

25 subject to subparagraph (B); and 


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1 (B) shall include— 

2 (i) 3 years of practical experience in 

3 oil and gas exploration, development, or 

4 production; or 

5 (ii) a degree in an appropriate field of 

6 engineering from an accredited institution 

7 of higher learning. 

8 (3) ASSIGNMENT.—In assigning oil and gas in9 spectors to the inspection and investigation of indi10 vidual operations, the Secretary shall give due con11 sideration to the extent possible to their previous ex12 perience in the particular type of oil and gas oper13 ation in which such inspections are to be made. 

14 (4) BACKGROUND CHECKS.—The Director shall 

15 require that an individual to be hired as an inspec16 tion officer undergo an employment investigation 

17 (including a criminal history record check). 

18 (5) LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS.—Individuals 

19 hired as inspectors must be able to read, speak, and 

20 write English well enough to— 

21 (A) carry out written and oral instructions 

22 regarding the proper performance of inspection 

23 duties; and 

24 (B) write inspection reports and state25 ments and log entries in the English language. 


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1 (6) VETERANS PREFERENCE.—The Director 

2 shall provide a preference for the hiring of an indi3 vidual as a inspection officer if the individual is a 

4 member or former member of the Armed Forces and 

5 is entitled, under statute, to retired, retirement, or 

6 retainer pay on account of service as a member of 

7 the Armed Forces. 

8 (7) ANNUAL PROFICIENCY REVIEW.— 

9 (A) ANNUAL PROFICIENCY REVIEW.—The 

10 Director shall provide that an annual evaluation 

11 of each individual assigned inspection duties is 

12 conducted and documented. 

13 (B) CONTINUATION OF EMPLOYMENT.—An 

14 individual employed as an inspector may not 

15 continue to be employed in that capacity unless 

16 the evaluation demonstrates that the indi17 vidual— 

18 (i) continues to meet all qualifications 

19 and standards; 

20 (ii) has a satisfactory record of per21 formance and attention to duty based on 

22 the standards and requirements in the in23 spection program; and 

24 (iii) demonstrates the current knowl25 edge and skills necessary to courteously, 


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1 vigilantly, and effectively perform inspec2 tion functions. 

3 (8) LIMITATION ON RIGHT TO STRIKE.—Any 

4 individual that conducts permitting or inspections 

5 under this section may not participate in a strike, or 

6 assert the right to strike. 

7 (9) PERSONNEL AUTHORITY.—Notwithstanding 

8 any other provision of law, the Director may employ, 

9 appoint, discipline and terminate for cause, and fix 

10 the compensation, terms, and conditions of employ11 ment of Federal service for individuals as the em12 ployees of the Service in order to restore and main13 tain the trust of the people of the United States in 

14 the accountability of the management of our Na15 tion’s energy safety program. 

16 (10) TRAINING ACADEMY.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall es18 tablish and maintain a National Offshore En19 ergy Safety Academy (referred to in this para20 graph as the ‘‘Academy’’) as an agency of the 

21 Ocean Energy Safety Service. 

22 (B) FUNCTIONS OF ACADEMY.—The Sec23 retary, through the Academy, shall be respon24 sible for— 


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1 (i) the initial and continued training 

2 of both newly hired and experienced off3 shore oil and gas inspectors in all aspects 

4 of health, safety, environmental, and oper5 ational inspections; 

6 (ii) the training of technical support 

7 personnel of the Bureau; 

8 (iii) any other training programs for 

9 offshore oil and gas inspectors, Bureau 

10 personnel, Department personnel, or other 

11 persons as the Secretary shall designate; 

12 and 

13 (iv) certification of the successful 

14 completion of training programs for newly 

15 hired and experienced offshore oil and gas 

16 inspectors. 

17 (C) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.— 

18 (i) IN GENERAL.—In performing func19 tions under this paragraph, and subject to 

20 clause (ii), the Secretary may enter into 

21 cooperative educational and training agree22 ments with educational institutions, related 

23 Federal academies, other Federal agencies, 

24 State governments, safety training firms, 


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1 and oil and gas operators and related in2 dustries. 

3 (ii) TRAINING REQUIREMENT.—Such 

4 training shall be conducted by the Acad5 emy in accordance with curriculum needs 

6 and assignment of instructional personnel 

7 established by the Secretary. 

8 (11) USE OF DEPARTMENT PERSONNEL.—In 

9 performing functions under this subsection, the Sec10 retary shall use, to the extent practicable, the facili11 ties and personnel of the Department of the Interior. 

12 The Secretary may appoint or assign to the Acad13 emy such officers and employees as the Secretary 

14 considers necessary for the performance of the du15 ties and functions of the Academy. 

16 (12) ADDITIONAL TRAINING PROGRAMS.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

18 work with appropriate educational institutions, 

19 operators, and representatives of oil and gas 

20 workers to develop and maintain adequate pro21 grams with educational institutions and oil and 

22 gas operators that are designed— 

23 (i) to enable persons to qualify for po24 sitions in the administration of this title; 

25 and 


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1 (ii) to provide for the continuing edu2 cation of inspectors or other appropriate 

3 Department of the Interior personnel. 

4 (B) FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL ASSIST5 ANCE.—The Secretary may provide financial 

6 and technical assistance to educational institu7 tions in carrying out this paragraph. 

8 (e) LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall not carry out 

9 through the Service any function, power, or duty that is— 

10 (1) required by section 10402 to be carried out 

11 through Bureau of Ocean Energy; or 

12 (2) required by section 10404 to be carried out 

13 through the Office of Natural Resources Revenue. 

14 SEC. 10404. OFFICE OF NATURAL RESOURCES REVENUE. 

15 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

16 Department of the Interior an Office of Natural Resources 

17 Revenue (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Office’’) to 

18 be headed by a Director of Natural Resources Revenue 

19 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Director’’). 

20 (b) APPOINTMENT AND COMPENSATION.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall be ap22 pointed by the Secretary of the Interior. 

23 (2) COMPENSATION.—The Director shall be 

24 compensated at the rate provided for Level V of the 


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1 Executive Schedule under section 5316 of title 5, 

2 United States Code. 

3 (c) DUTIES.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte5 rior shall carry out, through the Office, all functions, 

6 powers, and duties vested in the Secretary and relat7 ing to the administration of offshore royalty and rev8 enue management functions. 

9 (2) SPECIFIC AUTHORITIES.—The Secretary 

10 shall carry out, through the Office, all functions, 

11 powers, and duties previously assigned to the Min12 erals Management Service (including the authority 

13 to develop, promulgate, and enforce regulations) re14 garding offshore royalty and revenue collection; roy15 alty and revenue distribution; auditing and compli16 ance; investigation and enforcement of royalty and 

17 revenue regulations; and asset management for on18 shore and offshore activities. 

19 (d) LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall not carry out 

20 through the Office any function, power, or duty that is— 

21 (1) required by section 10402 to be carried out 

22 through Bureau of Ocean Energy; or 

23 (2) required by section 10403 to be carried out 

24 through the Ocean Energy Safety Service. 


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1 SEC. 10405. ETHICS AND DRUG TESTING. 

2 (a) CERTIFICATION.—The Secretary of the Interior 

3 shall certify annually that all Department of the Interior 

4 officers and employees having regular, direct contact with 

5 lessees, contractors, concessionaires, and other businesses 

6 interested before the Government as a function of their 

7 official duties, or conducting investigations, issuing per8 mits, or responsible for oversight of energy programs, are 

9 in full compliance with all Federal employee ethics laws 

10 and regulations under the Ethics in Government Act of 

11 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) and part 2635 of title 5, Code of 

12 Federal Regulations, and all guidance issued under sub13 section (c). 

14 (b) DRUG TESTING.—The Secretary shall conduct a 

15 random drug testing program of all Department of the 

16 Interior personnel referred to in subsection (a). 

17 (c) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 90 days after the 

18 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue 

19 supplementary ethics and drug testing guidance for the 

20 employees for which certification is required under sub21 section (a). The Secretary shall update the supplementary 

22 ethics guidance not less than once every 3 years there23 after. 


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1 SEC. 10406. ABOLISHMENT OF MINERALS MANAGEMENT 

2 SERVICE. 

3 (a) ABOLISHMENT.—The Minerals Management 

4 Service is abolished. 

5 (b) COMPLETED ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Completed administrative 

7 actions of the Minerals Management Service shall 

8 not be affected by the enactment of this Act, but 

9 shall continue in effect according to their terms until 

10 amended, modified, superseded, terminated, set 

11 aside, or revoked in accordance with law by an offi12 cer of the United States or a court of competent ju13 risdiction, or by operation of law. 

14 (2) COMPLETED ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION DE15 FINED.—For purposes of paragraph (1), the term 

16 ‘‘completed administrative action’’ includes orders, 

17 determinations, memoranda of understanding, 

18 memoranda of agreements, rules, regulations, per19 sonnel actions, permits, agreements, grants, con20 tracts, certificates, licenses, registrations, and privi21 leges. 

22 (c) PENDING PROCEEDINGS.—Subject to the author23 ity of the Secretary of the Interior and the officers of the 

24 Department of the Interior under this title— 

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1 making, and applications for licenses, permits, cer2 tificates, grants, and financial assistance, shall con3 tinue, notwithstanding the enactment of this Act or 

4 the vesting of functions of the Service in another 

5 agency, unless discontinued or modified under the 

6 same terms and conditions and to the same extent 

7 that such discontinuance or modification could have 

8 occurred if this title had not been enacted; and 

9 (2) orders issued in such proceedings, and ap10 peals therefrom, and payments made pursuant to 

11 such orders, shall issue in the same manner and on 

12 the same terms as if this title had not been enacted, 

13 and any such orders shall continue in effect until 

14 amended, modified, superseded, terminated, set 

15 aside, or revoked by an officer of the United States 

16 or a court of competent jurisdiction, or by operation 

17 of law. 

18 (d) PENDING CIVIL ACTIONS.—Subject to the au19 thority of the Secretary of the Interior or any officer of 

20 the Department of the Interior under this title, pending 

21 civil actions shall continue notwithstanding the enactment 

22 of this Act, and in such civil actions, proceedings shall be 

23 had, appeals taken, and judgments rendered and enforced 

24 in the same manner and with the same effect as if such 

25 enactment had not occurred. 


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1 (e) REFERENCES.—References relating to the Min2 erals Management Service in statutes, Executive orders, 

3 rules, regulations, directives, or delegations of authority 

4 that precede the effective date of this Act are deemed to 

5 refer, as appropriate, to the Department, to its officers, 

6 employees, or agents, or to its corresponding organiza7 tional units or functions. Statutory reporting requirements 

8 that applied in relation to the Minerals Management Serv9 ice immediately before the effective date of this title shall 

10 continue to apply. 

11 SEC. 10407. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO EXECUTIVE 

12 SCHEDULE PAY RATES. 

13 (a) UNDER SECRETARY FOR ENERGY, LANDS, AND

14 MINERALS.—Section 5314 of title 5, United States Code, 

15 is amended by inserting after the item relating to ‘‘Under 

16 Secretaries of the Treasury (3).’’ the following: 

17 ‘‘Under Secretary for Energy, Lands, and Min18 erals, Department of the Interior.’’. 

19 (b) ASSISTANT SECRETARIES.—Section 5315 of title 

20 5, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Assistant 

21 Secretaries of the Interior (6).’’ and inserting the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘Assistant Secretaries, Department of the Inte24 rior (7).’’. 


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1 (c) DIRECTORS.—Section 5316 of title 5, United 

2 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Director, Bureau of 

3 Mines, Department of the Interior.’’ and inserting the fol4 lowing new items: 

5 ‘‘Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy, Depart6 ment of the Interior. 

7 ‘‘Director, Ocean Energy Safety Service, De8 partment of the Interior. 

9 ‘‘Director, Office of Natural Resources Rev10 enue, Department of the Interior.’’. 

11 SEC. 10408. OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF ENERGY SAFETY 

12 ADVISORY BOARD. 

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of the Interior 

14 shall establish, under the Federal Advisory Committee 

15 Act, an Outer Continental Shelf Energy Safety Advisory 

16 Board (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Board’’)— 

17 (1) to provide the Secretary and the Directors 

18 established by this title with independent scientific 

19 and technical advice on safe, responsible, and timely 

20 mineral and renewable energy exploration, develop21 ment, and production activities; and 

22 (2) to review operations of the National Off23 shore Energy Health and Safety Academy estab24 lished under section 10403(d), including submitting 

25 to the Secretary recommendations of curriculum to 


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1 ensure training scientific and technical advance2 ments. 

3 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

4 (1) SIZE.—The Board shall consist of not more 

5 than 11 members, who— 

6 (A) shall be appointed by the Secretary 

7 based on their expertise in oil and gas drilling, 

8 well design, operations, well containment and 

9 oil spill response; and 

10 (B) must have significant scientific, engi11 neering, management, and other credentials and 

12 a history of working in the field related to safe 

13 energy exploration, development, and produc14 tion activities. 

15 (2) CONSULTATION AND NOMINATIONS.—The 

16 Secretary shall consult with the National Academy 

17 of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineer18 ing to identify potential candidates for the Board 

19 and shall take nominations from the public. 

20 (3) TERM.—The Secretary shall appoint Board 

21 members to staggered terms of not more than 4 

22 years, and shall not appoint a member for more 

23 than 2 consecutive terms. 


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1 (4) BALANCE.—In appointing members to the 

2 Board, the Secretary shall ensure a balanced rep3 resentation of industry and research interests. 

4 (c) CHAIR.—The Secretary shall appoint the Chair 

5 for the Board from among its members. 

6 (d) MEETINGS.—The Board shall meet not less than 

7 3 times per year and shall host, at least once per year, 

8 a public forum to review and assess the overall energy 

9 safety performance of Outer Continental Shelf mineral 

10 and renewable energy resource activities. 

11 (e) OFFSHORE DRILLING SAFETY ASSESSMENTS

12 AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—As part of its duties under 

13 this section, the Board shall, by not later than 180 days 

14 after the date of enactment of this section and every 5 

15 years thereafter, submit to the Secretary a report that— 

16 (1) assesses offshore oil and gas well control 

17 technologies, practices, voluntary standards, and 

18 regulations in the United States and elsewhere; and 

19 (2) as appropriate, recommends modifications 

20 to the regulations issued under this title to ensure 

21 adequate protection of safety and the environment, 

22 including recommendations on how to reduce regula23 tions and administrative actions that are duplicative 

24 or unnecessary. 


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1 (f) REPORTS.—Reports of the Board shall be sub2 mitted by the Board to the Committee on Natural Re3 sources of the House or Representatives and the Com4 mittee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate 

5 and made available to the public in electronically acces6 sible form. 

7 (g) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Members of the Board, 

8 other than full-time employees of the Federal Government, 

9 while attending meeting of the Board or while otherwise 

10 serving at the request of the Secretary or the Director 

11 while serving away from their homes or regular places of 

12 business, may be allowed travel expenses, including per 

13 diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by section 5703 

14 of title 5, United States Code, for individuals in the Gov15 ernment serving without pay. 

16 SEC. 10409. OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF INSPECTION 

17 FEES. 

18 Section 22 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

19 (43 U.S.C. 1348) is amended by adding at the end of the 

20 section the following: 

21 ‘‘(g) INSPECTION FEES.— 

22 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of the 

23 Interior shall collect from the operators of facilities 

24 subject to inspection under subsection (c) non-re25 fundable fees for such inspections— 


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1 ‘‘(A) at an aggregate level equal to the 

2 amount necessary to offset the annual expenses 

3 of inspections of outer Continental Shelf facili4 ties (including mobile offshore drilling units) by 

5 the Department of the Interior; and 

6 ‘‘(B) using a schedule that reflects the dif7 ferences in complexity among the classes of fa8 cilities to be inspected. 

9 ‘‘(2) OCEAN ENERGY SAFETY FUND.—There is 

10 established in the Treasury a fund, to be known as 

11 the ‘Ocean Energy Enforcement Fund’ (referred to 

12 in this subsection as the ‘Fund’), into which shall be 

13 deposited all amounts collected as fees under para14 graph (1) and which shall be available as provided 

15 under paragraph (3). 

16 ‘‘(3) AVAILABILITY OF FEES.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sec18 tion 3302 of title 31, United States Code, all 

19 amounts deposited in the Fund— 

20 ‘‘(i) shall be credited as offsetting col21 lections; 

22 ‘‘(ii) shall be available for expenditure 

23 for purposes of carrying out inspections of 

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1 ministration of the inspection program 

2 under this section; 

3 ‘‘(iii) shall be available only to the ex4 tent provided for in advance in an appro5 priations Act; and 

6 ‘‘(iv) shall remain available until ex7 pended. 

8 ‘‘(B) USE FOR FIELD OFFICES.—Not less 

9 than 75 percent of amounts in the Fund may 

10 be appropriated for use only for the respective 

11 Department of the Interior field offices where 

12 the amounts were originally assessed as fees. 

13 ‘‘(4) INITIAL FEES.—Fees shall be established 

14 under this subsection for the fiscal year in which 

15 this subsection takes effect and the subsequent 10 

16 years, and shall not be raised without advise and 

17 consent of the Congress, except as determined by the 

18 Secretary to be appropriate as an adjustment equal 

19 to the percentage by which the Consumer Price 

20 Index for the month of June of the calendar year 

21 preceding the adjustment exceeds the Consumer 

22 Price Index for the month of June of the calendar 

23 year in which the claim was determined or last ad24 justed. 


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1 ‘‘(5) ANNUAL FEES.—Annual fees shall be col2 lected under this subsection for facilities that are 

3 above the waterline, excluding drilling rigs, and are 

4 in place at the start of the fiscal year. Fees for fiscal 

5 year 2013 shall be— 

6 ‘‘(A) $10,500 for facilities with no wells, 

7 but with processing equipment or gathering 

8 lines; 

9 ‘‘(B) $17,000 for facilities with 1 to 10 

10 wells, with any combination of active or inactive 

11 wells; and 

12 ‘‘(C) $31,500 for facilities with more than 

13 10 wells, with any combination of active or in14 active wells. 

15 ‘‘(6) FEES FOR DRILLING RIGS.—Fees for drill16 ing rigs shall be assessed under this subsection for 

17 all inspections completed in fiscal years 2015 

18 through 2024. Fees for fiscal year 2015 shall be— 

19 ‘‘(A) $30,500 per inspection for rigs oper20 ating in water depths of 1,000 feet or more; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(B) $16,700 per inspection for rigs oper23 ating in water depths of less than 1,000 feet. 

24 ‘‘(7) BILLING.—The Secretary shall bill des25 ignated operators under paragraph (5) within 60 


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1 days after the date of the inspection, with payment 

2 required within 30 days of billing. The Secretary 

3 shall bill designated operators under paragraph (6) 

4 within 30 days of the end of the month in which the 

5 inspection occurred, with payment required within 

6 30 days after billing. 

7 ‘‘(8) SUNSET.—No fee may be collected under 

8 this subsection for any fiscal year after fiscal year 

9 2024. 

10 ‘‘(9) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 

12 days after the end of each fiscal year beginning 

13 with fiscal year 2015, the Secretary shall sub14 mit to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

15 Resources of the Senate and the Committee on 

16 Natural Resources of the House of Representa17 tives a report on the operation of the Fund dur18 ing the fiscal year. 

19 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—Each report shall in20 clude, for the fiscal year covered by the report, 

21 the following: 

22 ‘‘(i) A statement of the amounts de23 posited into the Fund. 

24 ‘‘(ii) A description of the expenditures 

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1 cluding the purpose of the expenditures 

2 and the additional hiring of personnel. 

3 ‘‘(iii) A statement of the balance re4 maining in the Fund at the end of the fis5 cal year. 

6 ‘‘(iv) An accounting of pace of permit 

7 approvals. 

8 ‘‘(v) If fee increases are proposed 

9 after the initial 10-year period referred to 

10 in paragraph (5), a proper accounting of 

11 the potential adverse economic impacts 

12 such fee increases will have on offshore 

13 economic activity and overall production, 

14 conducted by the Secretary. 

15 ‘‘(vi) Recommendations to increase 

16 the efficacy and efficiency of offshore in17 spections. 

18 ‘‘(vii) Any corrective actions levied 

19 upon offshore inspectors as a result of any 

20 form of misconduct.’’. 

21 SEC. 10410. PROHIBITION ON ACTION BASED ON NATIONAL 

22 OCEAN POLICY DEVELOPED UNDER EXECU23 TIVE ORDER NO. 13547. 

24 (a) PROHIBITION.—The Bureau of Ocean Energy 

25 and the Ocean Energy Safety Service may not develop, 


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1 propose, finalize, administer, or implement, any limitation 

2 on activities under their jurisdiction as a result of the 

3 coastal and marine spatial planning component of the Na4 tional Ocean Policy developed under Executive Order No. 

5 13547. 

6 (b) REPORT ON EXPENDITURES.—Not later than 60 

7 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the President 

8 shall submit a report to the Committee on Natural Re9 sources of the House of Representatives and the Com10 mittee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate 

11 identifying all Federal expenditures in fiscal years 2011, 

12 2012, 2013, and 2014 by the Bureau of Ocean Energy 

13 and the Ocean Energy Safety Service and their prede14 cessor agencies, by agency, account, and any pertinent 

15 subaccounts, for the development, administration, or im16 plementation of the coastal and marine spatial planning 

17 component of the National Ocean Policy developed under 

18 Executive Order No. 13547, including staff time, travel, 

19 and other related expenses. 


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1 Subtitle E—United States 

2 Territories 

3 SEC. 10501. APPLICATION OF OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF 

4 LANDS ACT WITH RESPECT TO TERRITORIES 

5 OF THE UNITED STATES. 

6 Section 2 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

7 (43 U.S.C. 1331) is amended— 

8 (1) in paragraph (a), by inserting after ‘‘con9 trol’’ the following: ‘‘or lying within the United 

10 States exclusive economic zone and the Continental 

11 Shelf adjacent to any territory of the United 

12 States’’; 

13 (2) in paragraph (p), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

14 the semicolon at the end; 

15 (3) in paragraph (q), by striking the period at 

16 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

18 ‘‘(r) The term ‘State’ includes each territory of the 

19 United States.’’. 


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1 Subtitle F—Miscellaneous 

2 Provisions 

3 SEC. 10601. RULES REGARDING DISTRIBUTION OF REVE4 NUES UNDER GULF OF MEXICO ENERGY SE5 CURITY ACT OF 2006. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 

7 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior 

8 shall issue rules to provide more clarity, certainty, and sta9 bility to the revenue streams contemplated by the Gulf of 

10 Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 (43 U.S.C. 1331 

11 note). 

12 (b) CONTENTS.—The rules shall include clarification 

13 of the timing and methods of disbursements of funds 

14 under section 105(b)(2) of such Act. 

15 SEC. 10602. AMOUNT OF DISTRIBUTED QUALIFIED OUTER 

16 CONTINENTAL SHELF REVENUES. 

17 Section 105(f)(1) of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Secu18 rity Act of 2006 (title I of division C of Public Law 109– 

19 432; 43 U.S.C. 1331 note) shall be applied by substituting 

20 ‘‘2024, and shall not exceed $999,999,999 for each of fis21 cal years 2025 through 2055’’ for ‘‘2055’’. 

22 SEC. 10603. SOUTH ATLANTIC OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF 

23 PLANNING AREA DEFINED. 

24 For the purposes of this Act, the Outer Continental 

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1 tions or 5-year plan issued under that Act, the term 

2 ‘‘South Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf Planning Area’’ 

3 means the area of the outer Continental Shelf (as defined 

4 in section 2 of that Act (43 U.S.C. 1331)) that is located 

5 between the northern lateral seaward administrative 

6 boundary of the State of Virginia and the southernmost 

7 lateral seaward administrative boundary of the State of 

8 Georgia. 

9 SEC. 10604. ENHANCING GEOLOGICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL 

10 INFORMATION FOR AMERICA’S ENERGY FU11 TURE. 

12 Section 11 of the Outer Continental Shelf lands Act 

13 (43 U.S.C. 1340) is amended by adding at the end the 

14 following: 

15 ‘‘(i) ENHANCING GEOLOGICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL

16 INFORMATION FOR AMERICA’S ENERGY FUTURE.— 

17 ‘‘(1) The Secretary, acting through the Director 

18 of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, shall 

19 facilitate and support the practical study of geology 

20 and geophysics to better understand the oil, gas, and 

21 other hydrocarbon potential in the South Atlantic 

22 Outer Continental Shelf Planning Area by entering 

23 into partnerships to conduct geological and geo24 physical activities on the outer Continental Shelf. 


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1 ‘‘(2)(A) No later than 180 days after the date 

2 of enactment of the Lowering Gasoline Prices to 

3 Fuel an America That Works Act of 2014, the Gov4 ernors of the States of Georgia, South Carolina, 

5 North Carolina, and Virginia may each nominate for 

6 participation in the partnerships— 

7 ‘‘(i) one institution of higher education lo8 cated within the Governor’s State; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) one institution of higher education 

10 within the Governor’s State that is a histori11 cally black college or university, as defined in 

12 section 631(a) of the Higher Education Act of 

13 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1132(a)). 

14 ‘‘(B) In making nominations, the Governors 

15 shall give preference to those institutions of higher 

16 education that demonstrate a vigorous rate of ad17 mission of veterans of the Armed Forces of the 

18 United States. 

19 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall only select as a part20 ner a nominee that the Secretary determines dem21 onstrates excellence in geophysical sciences cur22 riculum, engineering curriculum, or information 

23 technology or other technical studies relating to seis24 mic research (including data processing). 


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1 ‘‘(4) Notwithstanding subsection (d), nominees 

2 selected as partners by the Secretary may conduct 

3 geological and geophysical activities under this sec4 tion after filing a notice with the Secretary 30-days 

5 prior to commencement of the activity without any 

6 further authorization by the Secretary except those 

7 activities that use solid or liquid explosives shall re8 quire a permit. The Secretary may not charge any 

9 fee for the provision of data or other information 

10 collected under this authority, other than the cost of 

11 duplicating any data or information provided. Nomi12 nees selected as partners under this section shall 

13 provide to the Secretary any data or other informa14 tion collected under this subsection within 60 days 

15 after completion of an initial analysis of the data or 

16 other information collected, if so requested by the 

17 Secretary. 

18 ‘‘(5) Data or other information produced as a 

19 result of activities conducted by nominees selected as 

20 partners under this subsection shall not be used or 

21 shared for commercial purposes by the nominee, may 

22 not be produced for proprietary use or sale, and 

23 shall be made available by the Secretary to the pub24 lic. 


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1 ‘‘(6) The Secretary shall submit to the Com2 mittee on Natural Resources of the House of Rep3 resentatives and the Committee on Energy and Nat4 ural Resources of the Senate reports on the data or 

5 other information produced under the partnerships 

6 under this section. Such reports shall be made no 

7 less frequently than every 180 days following the 

8 conduct of the first geological and geophysical activi9 ties under this section. 

10 ‘‘(7) In this subsection the term ‘geological and 

11 geophysical activities’ means any oil- or gas-related 

12 investigation conducted on the outer Continental 

13 Shelf, including geophysical surveys where magnetic, 

14 gravity, seismic, or other systems are used to detect 

15 or imply the presence of oil or gas.’’. 

16 Subtitle G—Judicial Review 

17 SEC. 10701. TIME FOR FILING COMPLAINT. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any cause of action that arises 

19 from a covered energy decision must be filed not later than 

20 the end of the 60-day period beginning on the date of the 

21 covered energy decision. Any cause of action not filed with22 in this time period shall be barred. 

23 (b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to 

24 a cause of action brought by a party to a covered energy 

25 lease. 


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1 SEC. 10702. DISTRICT COURT DEADLINE. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—All proceedings that are subject 

3 to section 10701— 

4 (1) shall be brought in the United States dis5 trict court for the district in which the Federal prop6 erty for which a covered energy lease is issued is lo7 cated or the United States District Court of the Dis8 trict of Columbia; 

9 (2) shall be resolved as expeditiously as pos10 sible, and in any event not more than 180 days after 

11 such cause or claim is filed; and 

12 (3) shall take precedence over all other pending 

13 matters before the district court. 

14 (b) FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH DEADLINE.—If an 

15 interlocutory or final judgment, decree, or order has not 

16 been issued by the district court by the deadline described 

17 under this section, the cause or claim shall be dismissed 

18 with prejudice and all rights relating to such cause or 

19 claim shall be terminated. 

20 SEC. 10703. ABILITY TO SEEK APPELLATE REVIEW. 

21 An interlocutory or final judgment, decree, or order 

22 of the district court in a proceeding that is subject to sec23 tion 10701 may be reviewed by the U.S. Court of Appeals 

24 for the District of Columbia Circuit. The D.C. Circuit 

25 shall resolve any such appeal as expeditiously as possible 

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1 terlocutory or final judgment, decree, or order of the dis2 trict court was issued. 

3 SEC. 10704. LIMITATION ON SCOPE OF REVIEW AND RE4 LIEF. 

5 (a) ADMINISTRATIVE FINDINGS AND CONCLU6 SIONS.—In any judicial review of any Federal action under 

7 this subtitle, any administrative findings and conclusions 

8 relating to the challenged Federal action shall be pre9 sumed to be correct unless shown otherwise by clear and 

10 convincing evidence contained in the administrative 

11 record. 

12 (b) LIMITATION ON PROSPECTIVE RELIEF.—In any 

13 judicial review of any action, or failure to act, under this 

14 subtitle, the Court shall not grant or approve any prospec15 tive relief unless the Court finds that such relief is nar16 rowly drawn, extends no further than necessary to correct 

17 the violation of a Federal law requirement, and is the least 

18 intrusive means necessary to correct the violation con19 cerned. 

20 SEC. 10705. LEGAL FEES. 

21 Any person filing a petition seeking judicial review 

22 of any action, or failure to act, under this subtitle who 

23 is not a prevailing party shall pay to the prevailing parties 

24 (including intervening parties), other than the United 

25 States, fees and other expenses incurred by that party in 


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1 connection with the judicial review, unless the Court finds 

2 that the position of the person was substantially justified 

3 or that special circumstances make an award unjust. 

4 SEC. 10706. EXCLUSION. 

5 This subtitle shall not apply with respect to disputes 

6 between the parties to a lease issued pursuant to an au7 thorizing leasing statute regarding the obligations of such 

8 lease or the alleged breach thereof. 

9 SEC. 10707. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this subtitle, the following definitions apply: 

11 (1) COVERED ENERGY DECISION.—The term 

12 ‘‘covered energy decision’’ means any action or deci13 sion by a Federal official regarding the issuance of 

14 a covered energy lease. 

15 (2) COVERED ENERGY LEASE.—The term ‘‘cov16 ered energy lease’’ means any lease under this title 

17 or under an oil and gas leasing program under this 

18 title. 

19 TITLE II—ONSHORE FEDERAL 

20 LANDS AND ENERGY SECURITY 

21 Subtitle A—Federal Lands Jobs 

22 and Energy Security 

23 SEC. 21001. SHORT TITLE. 

24 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Lands 

25 Jobs and Energy Security Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 21002. POLICIES REGARDING BUYING, BUILDING, AND 

2 WORKING FOR AMERICA. 

3 (a) CONGRESSIONAL INTENT.—It is the intent of the 

4 Congress that— 

5 (1) this subtitle will support a healthy and 

6 growing United States domestic energy sector that, 

7 in turn, helps to reinvigorate American manufac8 turing, transportation, and service sectors by em9 ploying the vast talents of United States workers to 

10 assist in the development of energy from domestic 

11 sources; 

12 (2) to ensure a robust onshore energy produc13 tion industry and ensure that the benefits of devel14 opment support local communities, under this sub15 title, the Secretary shall make every effort to pro16 mote the development of onshore American energy, 

17 and shall take into consideration the socioeconomic 

18 impacts, infrastructure requirements, and fiscal sta19 bility for local communities located within areas con20 taining onshore energy resources; and 

21 (3) the Congress will monitor the deployment of 

22 personnel and material onshore to encourage the de23 velopment of American manufacturing to enable 

24 United States workers to benefit from this subtitle 

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1 lishment of important industrial facilities to support 

2 expanded access to American resources. 

3 (b) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary of the Interior 

4 shall when possible, and practicable, encourage the use of 

5 United States workers and equipment manufactured in 

6 the United States in all construction related to mineral 

7 resource development under this subtitle. 

8 CHAPTER 1—ONSHORE OIL AND GAS 

9 PERMIT STREAMLINING 

10 SEC. 21101. SHORT TITLE. 

11 This chapter may be cited as the ‘‘Streamlining Per12 mitting of American Energy Act of 2014’’. 

13 Subchapter A—Application for Permits to 

14 Drill Process Reform 

15 SEC. 21111. PERMIT TO DRILL APPLICATION TIMELINE. 

16 Section 17(p)(2) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 

17 U.S.C. 226(p)(2)) is amended to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘(2) APPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO DRILL RE19 FORM AND PROCESS.— 

20 ‘‘(A) TIMELINE.—The Secretary shall de21 cide whether to issue a permit to drill within 30 

22 days after receiving an application for the per23 mit. The Secretary may extend such period for 

24 up to 2 periods of 15 days each, if the Sec25 retary has given written notice of the delay to 


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1 the applicant. The notice shall be in the form 

2 of a letter from the Secretary or a designee of 

3 the Secretary, and shall include the names and 

4 titles of the persons processing the application, 

5 the specific reasons for the delay, and a specific 

6 date a final decision on the application is ex7 pected. 

8 ‘‘(B) NOTICE OF REASONS FOR DENIAL.— 

9 If the application is denied, the Secretary shall 

10 provide the applicant— 

11 ‘‘(i) in writing, clear and comprehen12 sive reasons why the application was not 

13 accepted and detailed information con14 cerning any deficiencies; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) an opportunity to remedy any de16 ficiencies. 

17 ‘‘(C) APPLICATION DEEMED APPROVED.— 

18 If the Secretary has not made a decision on the 

19 application by the end of the 60-day period be20 ginning on the date the application is received 

21 by the Secretary, the application is deemed ap22 proved, except in cases in which existing reviews 

23 under the National Environmental Policy Act of 

24 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) or Endangered 


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

2 are incomplete. 

3 ‘‘(D) DENIAL OF PERMIT.—If the Sec4 retary decides not to issue a permit to drill in 

5 accordance with subparagraph (A), the Sec6 retary shall— 

7 ‘‘(i) provide to the applicant a descrip8 tion of the reasons for the denial of the 

9 permit; 

10 ‘‘(ii) allow the applicant to resubmit 

11 an application for a permit to drill during 

12 the 10-day period beginning on the date 

13 the applicant receives the description of 

14 the denial from the Secretary; and 

15 ‘‘(iii) issue or deny any resubmitted 

16 application not later than 10 days after the 

17 date the application is submitted to the 

18 Secretary. 

19 ‘‘(E) FEE.— 

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding 

21 any other law, the Secretary shall collect a 

22 single $6,500 permit processing fee per ap23 plication from each applicant at the time 

24 the final decision is made whether to issue 

25 a permit under subparagraph (A). This fee 


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1 shall not apply to any resubmitted applica2 tion. 

3 ‘‘(ii) TREATMENT OF PERMIT PROC4 ESSING FEE.—Of all fees collected under 

5 this paragraph, 50 percent shall be trans6 ferred to the field office where they are col7 lected and used to process protests, leases, 

8 and permits under this Act subject to ap9 propriation.’’. 

10 Subchapter B—Administrative Protest 

11 Documentation Reform 

12 SEC. 21121. ADMINISTRATIVE PROTEST DOCUMENTATION 

13 REFORM. 

14 Section 17(p) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

15 226(p)) is further amended by adding at the end the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(4) PROTEST FEE.— 

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

19 collect a $5,000 documentation fee to accom20 pany each protest for a lease, right of way, or 

21 application for permit to drill. 

22 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF FEES.—Of all fees 

23 collected under this paragraph, 50 percent shall 

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1 lected and used to process protests subject to 

2 appropriation.’’. 

3 Subchapter C—Permit Streamlining 

4 SEC. 21131. MAKING PILOT OFFICES PERMANENT TO IM5 PROVE ENERGY PERMITTING ON FEDERAL 

6 LANDS. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of the Interior 

8 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall estab9 lish a Federal Permit Streamlining Project (referred to 

10 in this section as the ‘‘Project’’) in every Bureau of Land 

11 Management field office with responsibility for permitting 

12 energy projects on Federal land. 

13 (b) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

15 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

16 shall enter into a memorandum of understanding for 

17 purposes of this section with— 

18 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture; 

19 (B) the Administrator of the Environ20 mental Protection Agency; and 

21 (C) the Chief of the Army Corps of Engi22 neers. 

23 (2) STATE PARTICIPATION.—The Secretary 

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1 ergy projects on Federal lands to be a signatory to 

2 the memorandum of understanding. 

3 (c) DESIGNATION OF QUALIFIED STAFF.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 

5 the date of the signing of the memorandum of un6 derstanding under subsection (b), all Federal signa7 tory parties shall, if appropriate, assign to each of 

8 the Bureau of Land Management field offices an 

9 employee who has expertise in the regulatory issues 

10 relating to the office in which the employee is em11 ployed, including, as applicable, particular expertise 

12 in— 

13 (A) the consultations and the preparation 

14 of biological opinions under section 7 of the En15 dangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

16 1536); 

17 (B) permits under section 404 of Federal 

18 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344); 

19 (C) regulatory matters under the Clean Air 

20 Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.); 

21 (D) planning under the National Forest 

22 Management Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 472a et 

23 seq.); and 


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1 (E) the preparation of analyses under the 

2 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

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

4 (2) DUTIES.—Each employee assigned under 

5 paragraph (1) shall— 

6 (A) not later than 90 days after the date 

7 of assignment, report to the Bureau of Land 

8 Management Field Managers in the office to 

9 which the employee is assigned; 

10 (B) be responsible for all issues relating to 

11 the energy projects that arise under the au12 thorities of the employee’s home agency; and 

13 (C) participate as part of the team of per14 sonnel working on proposed energy projects, 

15 planning, and environmental analyses on Fed16 eral lands. 

17 (d) ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL.—The Secretary shall 

18 assign to each Bureau of Land Management field office 

19 identified in subsection (a) any additional personnel that 

20 are necessary to ensure the effective approval and imple21 mentation of energy projects administered by the Bureau 

22 of Land Management field offices, including inspection 

23 and enforcement relating to energy development on Fed24 eral land, in accordance with the multiple use mandate 


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1 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 

2 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.). 

3 (e) FUNDING.—Funding for the additional personnel 

4 shall come from the Department of the Interior reforms 

5 identified in sections 21111 and 21121. 

6 (f) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this section af7 fects— 

8 (1) the operation of any Federal or State law; 

9 or 

10 (2) any delegation of authority made by the 

11 head of a Federal agency whose employees are par12 ticipating in the Project. 

13 (g) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section the 

14 term ‘‘energy projects’’ includes oil, natural gas, and other 

15 energy projects as defined by the Secretary. 

16 SEC. 21132. ADMINISTRATION OF CURRENT LAW. 

17 Notwithstanding any other law, the Secretary of the 

18 Interior shall not require a finding of extraordinary cir19 cumstances in administering section 390 of the Energy 

20 Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15942). 

21 Subchapter D—Judicial Review 

22 SEC. 21141. DEFINITIONS. 

23 In this subchapter— 

24 (1) the term ‘‘covered civil action’’ means a civil 

25 action containing a claim under section 702 of title 


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1 5, United States Code, regarding agency action (as 

2 defined for the purposes of that section) affecting a 

3 covered energy project on Federal lands of the 

4 United States; and 

5 (2) the term ‘‘covered energy project’’ means 

6 the leasing of Federal lands of the United States for 

7 the exploration, development, production, processing, 

8 or transmission of oil, natural gas, or any other 

9 source of energy, and any action under such a lease, 

10 except that the term does not include any disputes 

11 between the parties to a lease regarding the obliga12 tions under such lease, including regarding any al13 leged breach of the lease. 

14 SEC. 21142. EXCLUSIVE VENUE FOR CERTAIN CIVIL AC15 TIONS RELATING TO COVERED ENERGY 

16 PROJECTS. 

17 Venue for any covered civil action shall lie in the dis18 trict court where the project or leases exist or are pro19 posed. 

20 SEC. 21143. TIMELY FILING. 

21 To ensure timely redress by the courts, a covered civil 

22 action must be filed no later than the end of the 90-day 

23 period beginning on the date of the final Federal agency 

24 action to which it relates. 


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1 SEC. 21144. EXPEDITION IN HEARING AND DETERMINING 

2 THE ACTION. 

3 The court shall endeavor to hear and determine any 

4 covered civil action as expeditiously as possible. 

5 SEC. 21145. STANDARD OF REVIEW. 

6 In any judicial review of a covered civil action, admin7 istrative findings and conclusions relating to the chal8 lenged Federal action or decision shall be presumed to be 

9 correct, and the presumption may be rebutted only by the 

10 preponderance of the evidence contained in the adminis11 trative record. 

12 SEC. 21146. LIMITATION ON INJUNCTION AND PROSPEC13 TIVE RELIEF. 

14 In a covered civil action, the court shall not grant 

15 or approve any prospective relief unless the court finds 

16 that such relief is narrowly drawn, extends no further than 

17 necessary to correct the violation of a legal requirement, 

18 and is the least intrusive means necessary to correct that 

19 violation. In addition, courts shall limit the duration of 

20 preliminary injunctions to halt covered energy projects to 

21 no more than 60 days, unless the court finds clear reasons 

22 to extend the injunction. In such cases of extensions, such 

23 extensions shall only be in 30-day increments and shall 

24 require action by the court to renew the injunction. 


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1 SEC. 21147. LIMITATION ON ATTORNEYS’ FEES. 

2 Sections 504 of title 5, United States Code, and 2412 

3 of title 28, United States Code, (together commonly called 

4 the Equal Access to Justice Act) do not apply to a covered 

5 civil action, nor shall any party in such a covered civil ac6 tion receive payment from the Federal Government for 

7 their attorneys’ fees, expenses, and other court costs. 

8 SEC. 21148. LEGAL STANDING. 

9 Challengers filing appeals with the Department of the 

10 Interior Board of Land Appeals shall meet the same 

11 standing requirements as challengers before a United 

12 States district court. 

13 Subchapter E—Knowing America’s Oil and 

14 Gas Resources 

15 SEC. 21151. FUNDING OIL AND GAS RESOURCE ASSESS16 MENTS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior shall 

18 provide matching funding for joint projects with States to 

19 conduct oil and gas resource assessments on Federal lands 

20 with significant oil and gas potential. 

21 (b) COST SHARING.—The Federal share of the cost 

22 of activities under this section shall not exceed 50 percent. 

23 (c) RESOURCE ASSESSMENT.—Any resource assess24 ment under this section shall be conducted by a State, in 

25 consultation with the United States Geological Survey. 


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1 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

2 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

3 out this section a total of $50,000,000 for fiscal years 

4 2015 through 2018. 

5 CHAPTER 2—OIL AND GAS LEASING 

6 CERTAINTY 

7 SEC. 21201. SHORT TITLE. 

8 This chapter may be cited as the ‘‘Providing Leasing 

9 Certainty for American Energy Act of 2014’’. 

10 SEC. 21202. MINIMUM ACREAGE REQUIREMENT FOR ON11 SHORE LEASE SALES. 

12 In conducting lease sales as required by section 17(a) 

13 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(a)), each year 

14 the Secretary of the Interior shall perform the following: 

15 (1) The Secretary shall offer for sale no less 

16 than 25 percent of the annual nominated acreage 

17 not previously made available for lease. Acreage of18 fered for lease pursuant to this paragraph shall not 

19 be subject to protest and shall be eligible for cat20 egorical exclusions under section 390 of the Energy 

21 Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15942), except that 

22 it shall not be subject to the test of extraordinary 

23 circumstances. 

24 (2) In administering this section, the Secretary 

25 shall only consider leasing of Federal lands that are 


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1 available for leasing at the time the lease sale oc2 curs. 

3 SEC. 21203. LEASING CERTAINTY. 

4 Section 17(a) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

5 226(a)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘All lands’’, 

6 and by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(2)(A) The Secretary shall not withdraw any cov8 ered energy project issued under this Act without finding 

9 a violation of the terms of the lease by the lessee. 

10 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall not infringe upon lease 

11 rights under leases issued under this Act by indefinitely 

12 delaying issuance of project approvals, drilling and seismic 

13 permits, and rights of way for activities under such a 

14 lease. 

15 ‘‘(C) No later than 18 months after an area is des16 ignated as open under the current land use plan the Sec17 retary shall make available nominated areas for lease 

18 under the criteria in section 2. 

19 ‘‘(D) Notwithstanding any other law, the Secretary 

20 shall issue all leases sold no later than 60 days after the 

21 last payment is made. 

22 ‘‘(E) The Secretary shall not cancel or withdraw any 

23 lease parcel after a competitive lease sale has occurred and 

24 a winning bidder has submitted the last payment for the 

25 parcel. 


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1 ‘‘(F) After the conclusion of the public comment pe2 riod for a planned competitive lease sale, the Secretary 

3 shall not cancel, defer, or withdraw any lease parcel an4 nounced to be auctioned in the lease sale. 

5 ‘‘(G) Not later than 60 days after a lease sale held 

6 under this Act, the Secretary shall adjudicate any lease 

7 protests filed following a lease sale. If after 60 days any 

8 protest is left unsettled, said protest is automatically de9 nied and appeal rights of the protestor begin. 

10 ‘‘(H) No additional lease stipulations may be added 

11 after the parcel is sold without consultation and agree12 ment of the lessee, unless the Secretary deems such stipu13 lations as emergency actions to conserve the resources of 

14 the United States.’’. 

15 SEC. 21204. LEASING CONSISTENCY. 

16 Federal land managers must follow existing resource 

17 management plans and continue to actively lease in areas 

18 designated as open when resource management plans are 

19 being amended or revised, until such time as a new record 

20 of decision is signed. 

21 SEC. 21205. REDUCE REDUNDANT POLICIES. 

22 Bureau of Land Management Instruction Memo23 randum 2010–117 shall have no force or effect. 


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1 SEC. 21206. STREAMLINED CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICA2 TION. 

3 Section 31(e) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

4 188(e)) is amended in the matter following paragraph (4) 

5 by striking ‘‘at least thirty days in advance of the rein6 statement’’ and inserting ‘‘in an annual report’’. 

7 CHAPTER 3—OIL SHALE 

8 SEC. 21301. SHORT TITLE. 

9 This chapter may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Invest10 ment in Oil Shale the Next Generation of Environmental, 

11 Energy, and Resource Security Act’’ or the ‘‘PIONEERS 

12 Act’’. 

13 SEC. 21302. EFFECTIVENESS OF OIL SHALE REGULATIONS, 

14 AMENDMENTS TO RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 

15 PLANS, AND RECORD OF DECISION. 

16 (a) REGULATIONS.—Notwithstanding any other law 

17 or regulation to the contrary, the final regulations regard18 ing oil shale management published by the Bureau of 

19 Land Management on November 18, 2008 (73 Fed. Reg. 

20 69,414) are deemed to satisfy all legal and procedural re21 quirements under any law, including the Federal Land 

22 Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et 

23 seq.), the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

24 1531 et seq.), and the National Environmental Policy Act 

25 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), and the Secretary of 

26 the Interior shall implement those regulations, including 


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1 the oil shale leasing program authorized by the regula2 tions, without any other administrative action necessary. 

3 (b) AMENDMENTS TO RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

4 PLANS AND RECORD OF DECISION.—Notwithstanding 

5 any other law or regulation to the contrary, the November 

6 17, 2008 U.S. Bureau of Land Management Approved Re7 source Management Plan Amendments/Record of Decision 

8 for Oil Shale and Tar Sands Resources to Address Land 

9 Use Allocations in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming and 

10 Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement are 

11 deemed to satisfy all legal and procedural requirements 

12 under any law, including the Federal Land Policy and 

13 Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), the 

14 Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), 

15 and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

16 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), and the Secretary of the Interior 

17 shall implement the oil shale leasing program authorized 

18 by the regulations referred to in subsection (a) in those 

19 areas covered by the resource management plans amended 

20 by such amendments, and covered by such record of deci21 sion, without any other administrative action necessary. 

22 SEC. 21303. OIL SHALE LEASING. 

23 (a) ADDITIONAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

24 LEASE SALES.—The Secretary of the Interior shall hold 

25 a lease sale within 180 days after the date of enactment 


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1 of this Act offering an additional 10 parcels for lease for 

2 research, development, and demonstration of oil shale re3 sources, under the terms offered in the solicitation of bids 

4 for such leases published on January 15, 2009 (74 Fed. 

5 Reg. 10). 

6 (b) COMMERCIAL LEASE SALES.—No later than Jan7 uary 1, 2016, the Secretary of the Interior shall hold no 

8 less than 5 separate commercial lease sales in areas con9 sidered to have the most potential for oil shale develop10 ment, as determined by the Secretary, in areas nominated 

11 through public comment. Each lease sale shall be for an 

12 area of not less than 25,000 acres, and in multiple lease 

13 blocs. 

14 CHAPTER 4—MISCELLANEOUS 

15 PROVISIONS 

16 SEC. 21401. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

17 Nothing in this subtitle shall be construed to author18 ize the issuance of a lease under the Mineral Leasing Act 

19 (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) to any person designated for the 

20 imposition of sanctions pursuant to— 

21 (1) the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 (50 U.S.C. 

22 1701 note), the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Ac23 countability and Divestiture Act of 2010 (22 U.S.C. 

24 8501 et seq.), the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria 

25 Human Rights Act of 2012 (22 U.S.C. 8701 et 


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1 seq.), section 1245 of the National Defense Author2 ization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (22 U.S.C. 8513a), 

3 or the Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act 

4 of 2012 (22 U.S.C. 8801 et seq.); 

5 (2) Executive Order No. 13622 (July 30, 

6 2012), Executive Order No. 13628 (October 9, 

7 2012), or Executive Order No. 13645 (June 3, 

8 2013); 

9 (3) Executive Order No. 13224 (September 23, 

10 2001) or Executive Order No. 13338 (May 11, 

11 2004); or 

12 (4) the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sov13 ereignty Restoration Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 2151 

14 note). 

15 Subtitle B—Planning for American 

16 Energy 

17 SEC. 22001. SHORT TITLE. 

18 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Planning for Amer19 ican Energy Act of 2014’’. 

20 SEC. 22002. ONSHORE DOMESTIC ENERGY PRODUCTION 

21 STRATEGIC PLAN. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Mineral Leasing Act (30 

23 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) is amended by redesignating section 

24 44 as section 45, and by inserting after section 43 the 

25 following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 44. QUADRENNIAL STRATEGIC FEDERAL ONSHORE 

2 ENERGY PRODUCTION STRATEGY. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

4 ‘‘(1) The Secretary of the Interior (hereafter in 

5 this section referred to as ‘Secretary’), in consulta6 tion with the Secretary of Agriculture with regard to 

7 lands administered by the Forest Service, shall de8 velop and publish every 4 years a Quadrennial Fed9 eral Onshore Energy Production Strategy. This 

10 Strategy shall direct Federal land energy develop11 ment and department resource allocation in order to 

12 promote the energy and national security of the 

13 United States in accordance with Bureau of Land 

14 Management’s mission of promoting the multiple use 

15 of Federal lands as set forth in the Federal Land 

16 Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 

17 1701 et seq.). 

18 ‘‘(2) In developing this Strategy, the Secretary 

19 shall consult with the Administrator of the Energy 

20 Information Administration on the projected energy 

21 demands of the United States for the next 30-year 

22 period, and how energy derived from Federal on23 shore lands can put the United States on a trajec24 tory to meet that demand during the next 4-year pe25 riod. The Secretary shall consider how Federal lands 

26 will contribute to ensuring national energy security, 


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1 with a goal for increasing energy independence and 

2 production, during the next 4-year period. 

3 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall determine a domestic 

4 strategic production objective for the development of 

5 energy resources from Federal onshore lands. Such 

6 objective shall be— 

7 ‘‘(A) the best estimate, based upon com8 mercial and scientific data, of the expected in9 crease in domestic production of oil and natural 

10 gas from the Federal onshore mineral estate, 

11 with a focus on lands held by the Bureau of 

12 Land Management and the Forest Service; 

13 ‘‘(B) the best estimate, based upon com14 mercial and scientific data, of the expected in15 crease in domestic coal production from Federal 

16 lands; 

17 ‘‘(C) the best estimate, based upon com18 mercial and scientific data, of the expected in19 crease in domestic production of strategic and 

20 critical energy minerals from the Federal on21 shore mineral estate; 

22 ‘‘(D) the best estimate, based upon com23 mercial and scientific data, of the expected in24 crease in megawatts for electricity production 

25 from each of the following sources: wind, solar, 


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1 biomass, hydropower, and geothermal energy 

2 produced on Federal lands administered by the 

3 Bureau of Land Management and the Forest 

4 Service; 

5 ‘‘(E) the best estimate, based upon com6 mercial and scientific data, of the expected in7 crease in unconventional energy production, 

8 such as oil shale; 

9 ‘‘(F) the best estimate, based upon com10 mercial and scientific data, of the expected in11 crease in domestic production of oil, natural 

12 gas, coal, and other renewable sources from 

13 tribal lands for any federally recognized Indian 

14 tribe that elects to participate in facilitating en15 ergy production on its lands; 

16 ‘‘(G) the best estimate, based upon com17 mercial and scientific data, of the expected in18 crease in production of helium on Federal lands 

19 administered by the Bureau of Land Manage20 ment and the Forest Service; and 

21 ‘‘(H) the best estimate, based upon com22 mercial and scientific data, of the expected in23 crease in domestic production of geothermal, 

24 solar, wind, or other renewable energy sources 

25 from ‘available lands’ (as such term is defined 


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1 in section 203 of the Hawaiian Homes Commis2 sion Act, 1920 (42 Stat. 108 et seq.), and in3 cluding any other lands deemed by the Terri4 tory or State of Hawaii, as the case may be, to 

5 be included within that definition) that the 

6 agency or department of the government of the 

7 State of Hawaii that is responsible for the ad8 ministration of such lands selects to be used for 

9 such energy production. 

10 ‘‘(4) The Secretary shall consult with the Ad11 ministrator of the Energy Information Administra12 tion regarding the methodology used to arrive at its 

13 estimates for purposes of this section. 

14 ‘‘(5) The Secretary has the authority to expand 

15 the energy development plan to include other energy 

16 production technology sources or advancements in 

17 energy on Federal lands. 

18 ‘‘(6) The Secretary shall include in the Strategy 

19 a plan for addressing new demands for transmission 

20 lines and pipelines for distribution of oil and gas 

21 across Federal lands to ensure that energy produced 

22 can be distributed to areas of need. 

23 ‘‘(b) TRIBAL OBJECTIVES.—It is the sense of Con24 gress that federally recognized Indian tribes may elect to 

25 set their own production objectives as part of the Strategy 


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1 under this section. The Secretary shall work in coopera2 tion with any federally recognized Indian tribe that elects 

3 to participate in achieving its own strategic energy objec4 tives designated under this subsection. 

5 ‘‘(c) EXECUTION OF THE STRATEGY.—The relevant 

6 Secretary shall have all necessary authority to make deter7 minations regarding which additional lands will be made 

8 available in order to meet the production objectives estab9 lished by strategies under this section. The Secretary shall 

10 also take all necessary actions to achieve these production 

11 objectives unless the President determines that it is not 

12 in the national security and economic interests of the 

13 United States to increase Federal domestic energy produc14 tion and to further decrease dependence upon foreign 

15 sources of energy. In administering this section, the rel16 evant Secretary shall only consider leasing Federal lands 

17 available for leasing at the time the lease sale occurs. 

18 ‘‘(d) STATE, FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED INDIAN

19 TRIBES, LOCAL GOVERNMENT, AND PUBLIC INPUT.—In 

20 developing each strategy, the Secretary shall solicit the 

21 input of affected States, federally recognized Indian tribes, 

22 local governments, and the public. 

23 ‘‘(e) REPORTING.—The Secretary shall report annu24 ally to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House 

25 of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and 


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1 Natural Resources of the Senate on the progress of meet2 ing the production goals set forth in the strategy. The Sec3 retary shall identify in the report projections for produc4 tion and capacity installations and any problems with leas5 ing, permitting, siting, or production that will prevent 

6 meeting the goal. In addition, the Secretary shall make 

7 suggestions to help meet any shortfalls in meeting the pro8 duction goals. 

9 ‘‘(f) PROGRAMMATIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

10 STATEMENT.—Not later than 12 months after the date 

11 of enactment of this section, in accordance with section 

12 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 

13 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)), the Secretary shall com14 plete a programmatic environmental impact statement. 

15 This programmatic environmental impact statement will 

16 be deemed sufficient to comply with all requirements 

17 under that Act for all necessary resource management and 

18 land use plans associated with the implementation of the 

19 strategy. 

20 ‘‘(g) CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW.—At least 60 days 

21 prior to publishing a proposed strategy under this section, 

22 the Secretary shall submit it to the President and the Con23 gress, together with any comments received from States, 

24 federally recognized Indian tribes, and local governments. 

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1 ommendation of a State, federally recognized Indian tribe, 

2 or local government was not accepted. 

3 ‘‘(h) STRATEGIC AND CRITICAL ENERGY MINERALS

4 DEFINED.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘stra5 tegic and critical energy minerals’ means those that are 

6 necessary for the Nation’s energy infrastructure including 

7 pipelines, refining capacity, electrical power generation 

8 and transmission, and renewable energy production and 

9 those that are necessary to support domestic manufac10 turing, including but not limited to, materials used in en11 ergy generation, production, and transportation.’’. 

12 (b) FIRST QUADRENNIAL STRATEGY.—Not later 

13 than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 

14 the Secretary of the Interior shall submit to Congress the 

15 first Quadrennial Federal Onshore Energy Production 

16 Strategy under the amendment made by subsection (a). 

17 Subtitle C—National Petroleum 

18 Reserve in Alaska Access 

19 SEC. 23001. SHORT TITLE. 

20 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘National Petro21 leum Reserve Alaska Access Act’’. 

22 SEC. 23002. SENSE OF CONGRESS AND REAFFIRMING NA23 TIONAL POLICY FOR THE NATIONAL PETRO24 LEUM RESERVE IN ALASKA. 

25 It is the sense of Congress that— 


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1 (1) the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska 

2 remains explicitly designated, both in name and legal 

3 status, for purposes of providing oil and natural gas 

4 resources to the United States; and 

5 (2) accordingly, the national policy is to actively 

6 advance oil and gas development within the Reserve 

7 by facilitating the expeditious exploration, produc8 tion, and transportation of oil and natural gas from 

9 and through the Reserve. 

10 SEC. 23003. NATIONAL PETROLEUM RESERVE IN ALASKA: 

11 LEASE SALES. 

12 Section 107(a) of the Naval Petroleum Reserves Pro13 duction Act of 1976 (42 U.S.C. 6506a(a)) is amended to 

14 read as follows: 

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct an 

16 expeditious program of competitive leasing of oil and gas 

17 in the reserve in accordance with this Act. Such program 

18 shall include at least one lease sale annually in those areas 

19 of the reserve most likely to produce commercial quantities 

20 of oil and natural gas each year in the period 2014 

21 through 2024.’’. 


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1 SEC. 23004. NATIONAL PETROLEUM RESERVE IN ALASKA: 

2 PLANNING AND PERMITTING PIPELINE AND 

3 ROAD CONSTRUCTION. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi5 sion of law, the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation 

6 with other appropriate Federal agencies, shall facilitate 

7 and ensure permits, in a timely and environmentally re8 sponsible manner, for all surface development activities, 

9 including for the construction of pipelines and roads, nec10 essary to— 

11 (1) develop and bring into production any areas 

12 within the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska 

13 that are subject to oil and gas leases; and 

14 (2) transport oil and gas from and through the 

15 National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska in the most 

16 direct manner possible to existing transportation or 

17 processing infrastructure on the North Slope of 

18 Alaska. 

19 (b) TIMELINE.—The Secretary shall ensure that any 

20 Federal permitting agency shall issue permits in accord21 ance with the following timeline: 

22 (1) Permits for such construction for transpor23 tation of oil and natural gas produced under existing 

24 Federal oil and gas leases with respect to which the 

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1 proved within 60 days after the date of enactment 

2 of this Act. 

3 (2) Permits for such construction for transpor4 tation of oil and natural gas produced under Federal 

5 oil and gas leases shall be approved within 6 months 

6 after the submission to the Secretary of a request 

7 for a permit to drill. 

8 (c) PLAN.—To ensure timely future development of 

9 the Reserve, within 270 days after the date of the enact10 ment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall submit 

11 to Congress a plan for approved rights-of-way for a plan 

12 for pipeline, road, and any other surface infrastructure 

13 that may be necessary infrastructure that will ensure that 

14 all leasable tracts in the Reserve are within 25 miles of 

15 an approved road and pipeline right-of-way that can serve 

16 future development of the Reserve. 

17 SEC. 23005. ISSUANCE OF A NEW INTEGRATED ACTIVITY 

18 PLAN AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATE19 MENT. 

20 (a) ISSUANCE OF NEW INTEGRATED ACTIVITY

21 PLAN.—The Secretary of the Interior shall, within 180 

22 days after the date of enactment of this Act, issue— 

23 (1) a new proposed integrated activity plan 

24 from among the non-adopted alternatives in the Na25 tional Petroleum Reserve Alaska Integrated Activity 


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1 Plan Record of Decision issued by the Secretary of 

2 the Interior and dated February 21, 2013; and 

3 (2) an environmental impact statement under 

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

5 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)) for 

6 issuance of oil and gas leases in the National Petro7 leum Reserve-Alaska to promote efficient and max8 imum development of oil and natural gas resources 

9 of such reserve. 

10 (b) NULLIFICATION OF EXISTING RECORD OF DECI11 SION, IAP, AND EIS.—Except as provided in subsection 

12 (a), the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska Integrated 

13 Activity Plan Record of Decision issued by the Secretary 

14 of the Interior and dated February 21, 2013, including 

15 the integrated activity plan and environmental impact 

16 statement referred to in that record of decision, shall have 

17 no force or effect. 

18 SEC. 23006. DEPARTMENTAL ACCOUNTABILITY FOR DEVEL19 OPMENT. 

20 The Secretary of the Interior shall issue regulations 

21 not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 

22 this Act that establish clear requirements to ensure that 

23 the Department of the Interior is supporting development 

24 of oil and gas leases in the National Petroleum Reserve25 Alaska. 


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1 SEC. 23007. DEADLINES UNDER NEW PROPOSED INTE2 GRATED ACTIVITY PLAN. 

3 At a minimum, the new proposed integrated activity 

4 plan issued under section 23005(a)(1) shall— 

5 (1) require the Department of the Interior to 

6 respond within 5 business days to a person who sub7 mits an application for a permit for development of 

8 oil and natural gas leases in the National Petroleum 

9 Reserve-Alaska acknowledging receipt of such appli10 cation; and 

11 (2) establish a timeline for the processing of 

12 each such application, that— 

13 (A) specifies deadlines for decisions and 

14 actions on permit applications; and 

15 (B) provide that the period for issuing 

16 each permit after submission of such an appli17 cation shall not exceed 60 days without the con18 currence of the applicant. 

19 SEC. 23008. UPDATED RESOURCE ASSESSMENT. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior shall 

21 complete a comprehensive assessment of all technically re22 coverable fossil fuel resources within the National Petro23 leum Reserve in Alaska, including all conventional and un24 conventional oil and natural gas. 

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1 ried out by the United States Geological Survey in co2 operation and consultation with the State of Alaska and 

3 the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. 

4 (c) TIMING.—The resource assessment required by 

5 subsection (a) shall be completed within 24 months of the 

6 date of the enactment of this Act. 

7 (d) FUNDING.—The United States Geological Survey 

8 may, in carrying out the duties under this section, coop9 eratively use resources and funds provided by the State 

10 of Alaska. 

11 Subtitle D—BLM Live Internet 

12 Auctions 

13 SEC. 24001. SHORT TITLE. 

14 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘BLM Live Internet 

15 Auctions Act’’. 

16 SEC. 24002. INTERNET-BASED ONSHORE OIL AND GAS 

17 LEASE SALES. 

18 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—Section 17(b)(1) of the Min19 eral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(b)(1)) is amended— 

20 (1) in subparagraph (A), in the third sentence, 

21 by inserting ‘‘, except as provided in subparagraph 

22 (C)’’ after ‘‘by oral bidding’’; and 

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

24 ‘‘(C) In order to diversify and expand the Nation’s 

25 onshore leasing program to ensure the best return to the 


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1 Federal taxpayer, reduce fraud, and secure the leasing 

2 process, the Secretary may conduct onshore lease sales 

3 through Internet-based bidding methods. Each individual 

4 Internet-based lease sale shall conclude within 7 days.’’. 

5 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the tenth 

6 Internet-based lease sale conducted under the amendment 

7 made by subsection (a), the Secretary of the Interior shall 

8 analyze the first 10 such lease sales and report to Con9 gress the findings of the analysis. The report shall in10 clude— 

11 (1) estimates on increases or decreases in such 

12 lease sales, compared to sales conducted by oral bid13 ding, in— 

14 (A) the number of bidders; 

15 (B) the average amount of bid; 

16 (C) the highest amount bid; and 

17 (D) the lowest bid; 

18 (2) an estimate on the total cost or savings to 

19 the Department of the Interior as a result of such 

20 sales, compared to sales conducted by oral bidding; 

21 and 

22 (3) an evaluation of the demonstrated or ex23 pected effectiveness of different structures for lease 

24 sales which may provide an opportunity to better 

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1 turn to the Federal taxpayers, minimize opportuni2 ties for fraud or collusion, and ensure the security 

3 and integrity of the leasing process. 

4 TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS 

5 PROVISIONS 

6 SEC. 30101. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF ENERGY EM7 PLOYMENT AND TRAINING. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of the Interior 

9 shall establish an Office of Energy Employment and 

10 Training, which shall oversee the hiring and training ef11 forts of the Department of the Interior’s energy planning, 

12 permitting, and regulatory agencies. 

13 (b) DIRECTOR.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Office shall be under 

15 the direction of a Deputy Assistant Secretary for 

16 Energy Employment and Training, who shall report 

17 directly to the Assistant Secretary for Energy, 

18 Lands and Minerals Management, and shall be fully 

19 employed to carry out the functions of the Office. 

20 (2) DUTIES.—The Deputy Assistant Secretary 

21 for Energy Employment and Training shall perform 

22 the following functions: 

23 (A) Develop and implement systems to 

24 track the Department’s hiring of trained skilled 


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1 workers in the energy permitting and inspection 

2 agencies. 

3 (B) Design and recommend to the Sec4 retary programs and policies aimed at expand5 ing the Department’s hiring of women, minori6 ties, and veterans into the Department’s work7 force dealing with energy permitting and in8 spection programs. Such programs and policies 

9 shall include— 

10 (i) recruiting at historically black col11 leges and universities, Hispanic-serving in12 stitutions, women’s colleges, and colleges 

13 that typically serve majority minority pop14 ulations; 

15 (ii) sponsoring and recruiting at job 

16 fairs in urban communities; 

17 (iii) placing employment advertise18 ments in newspapers and magazines ori19 ented toward minorities, veterans, and 

20 women; 

21 (iv) partnering with organizations that 

22 are focused on developing opportunities for 

23 minorities, veterans, and women to be 

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1 mer employment, and full-time positions 

2 relating to energy; 

3 (v) where feasible, partnering with 

4 inner-city high schools, girls’ high schools, 

5 and high schools with majority minority 

6 populations to demonstrate career opportu7 nities and the path to those opportunities 

8 available at the Department; 

9 (vi) coordinating with the Department 

10 of Veterans Affairs and the Department of 

11 Defense in the hiring of veterans; and 

12 (vii) any other mass media commu13 nications that the Deputy Assistant Sec14 retary determines necessary to advertise, 

15 promote, or educate about opportunities at 

16 the Department. 

17 (C) Develop standards for— 

18 (i) equal employment opportunity and 

19 the racial, ethnic, and gender diversity of 

20 the workforce and senior management of 

21 the Department; and 

22 (ii) increased participation of minor23 ity-owned, veteran-owned, and women24 owned businesses in the programs and con25 tracts with the Department. 


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1 (D) Review and propose for adoption the 

2 best practices of entities regulated by the De3 partment with regards to hiring and diversity 

4 policies, and publish those best practices for 

5 public review. 

6 (c) REPORTS.—The Secretary shall submit to Con7 gress an annual report regarding the actions taken by the 

8 Department of the Interior agency and the Office pursu9 ant to this section, which shall include— 

10 (1) a statement of the total amounts paid by 

11 the Department to minority contractors; 

12 (2) the successes achieved and challenges faced 

13 by the Department in operating minority, veteran or 

14 service-disabled veteran, and women outreach pro15 grams; 

16 (3) the challenges the Department may face in 

17 hiring minority, veteran, and women employees and 

18 contracting with veteran or service-disabled veteran, 

19 minority-owned, and women-owned businesses; and 

20 (4) any other information, findings, conclusions, 

21 and recommendations for legislative or Department 

22 action, as the Director determines appropriate. 

23 (d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 

24 following definitions shall apply: 


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1 (1) MINORITY.—The term ‘‘minority’’ means 

2 United States citizens who are Asian Indian Amer3 ican, Asian Pacific American, Black American, His4 panic American, or Native American. 

5 (2) MINORITY-OWNED BUSINESS.—The term 

6 ‘‘minority-owned business’’ means a for-profit enter7 prise, regardless of size, physically located in the 

8 United States or its trust territories, that is owned, 

9 operated, and controlled by minority group members. 

10 ‘‘Minority group members’’ are United States citi11 zens who are Asian Indian American, Asian Pacific 

12 American, Black American, Hispanic American, or 

13 Native American (terminology in NMSDC cat14 egories). Ownership by minority individuals means 

15 the business is at least 51 percent owned by such in16 dividuals or, in the case of a publicly owned busi17 ness, at least 51 percent of the stock is owned by 

18 one or more such individuals. Further, the manage19 ment and daily operations are controlled by those 

20 minority group members. For purposes of NMSDC’s 

21 program, a minority group member is an individual 

who is a United States citizen with at least 1 22 ⁄4 or 

23 25 percent minimum (documentation to support 

24 claim of 25 percent required from applicant) of one 

25 or more of the following: 


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1 (A) Asian Indian American, which is a 

2 United States citizen whose origins are from 

3 India, Pakistan, or Bangladesh. 

4 (B) Asian Pacific American, which is a 

5 United States citizen whose origins are from 

6 Japan, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, 

7 Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, the Phil8 ippines, Thailand, Samoa, Guam, the United 

9 States Trust Territories of the Pacific, or the 

10 Northern Marianas. 

11 (C) Black American, which is a United 

12 States citizen having origins in any of the Black 

13 racial groups of Africa. 

14 (D) Hispanic American, which is a United 

15 States citizen of true-born Hispanic heritage, 

16 from any of the Spanish-speaking areas of the 

17 following regions: Mexico, Central America, 

18 South America, and the Caribbean Basin only. 

19 (E) Native American, which means a 

20 United States citizen enrolled to a federally rec21 ognized tribe, or a Native as defined under the 

22 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. 

23 (3) NMSDC.—The term ‘‘NMSDC’’ means the 

24 National Minority Supplier Development Council. 


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1 (4) WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESS.—The term 

2 ‘‘women-owned business’’ means a business that can 

3 verify through evidence documentation that 51 per4 cent or more is women-owned, managed, and con5 trolled. The business must be open for at least 6 

6 months. The business owner must be a United 

7 States citizen or legal resident alien. Evidence must 

8 indicate that— 

9 (A) the contribution of capital or expertise 

10 by the woman business owner is real and sub11 stantial and in proportion to the interest owned; 

12 (B) the woman business owner directs or 

13 causes the direction of management, policy, fis14 cal, and operational matters; and 

15 (C) the woman business owner has the 

16 ability to perform in the area of specialty or ex17 pertise without reliance on either the finances 

18 or resources of a firm that is not owned by a 

19 woman. 

20 (5) SERVICE DISABLED VETERAN.—The term 

21 ‘‘Service Disabled Veteran’’ must have a service-con22 nected disability that has been determined by the 

23 Department of Veterans Affairs or Department of 

24 Defense. The SDVOSBC must be small under the 

25 North American Industry Classification System 


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1 (NAICS) code assigned to the procurement; the 

2 SDV must unconditionally own 51 percent of the 

3 SDVOSBC; the SDVO must control the manage4 ment and daily operations of the SDVOSBC; and 

5 the SDV must hold the highest officer position in 

6 the SDVOSBC. 

7 (6) VETERAN-OWNED BUSINESS.—The term 

8 ‘‘veteran-owned business’’ means a business that can 

9 verify through evidence documentation that 51 per10 cent or more is veteran-owned, managed, and con11 trolled. The business must be open for at least 6 

12 months. The business owner must be a United 

13 States citizen or legal resident alien and honorably 

14 or service-connected disability discharged from serv15 ice. 

Passed the House of Representatives June 26, 2014. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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