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[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 555 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 555

  To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to authorize the Secretary of the 
 Interior to conduct onshore oil and gas lease sales through Internet-
            based live lease sales, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 6, 2013

Mr. Johnson of Ohio (for himself, Mr. Duncan of South Carolina, and Mr. 
 Bishop of Utah) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
                   the Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
  To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to authorize the Secretary of the 
 Interior to conduct onshore oil and gas lease sales through Internet-
            based live lease sales, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``BLM Live Internet Auctions Act''.

SEC. 2. INTERNET-BASED ONSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASE SALES.

    (a) Authorization.--Section 17(b)(1) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 
U.S.C. 226(b)(1)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), in the third sentence, by 
        inserting ``, except as provided in subparagraph (C)'' after 
        ``by oral bidding''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(C) In order to diversify and expand the Nation's onshore leasing 
program to ensure the best return to the Federal taxpayer, reduce 
fraud, and secure the leasing process, the Secretary may conduct 
onshore lease sales through Internet-based bidding methods. Each 
individual Internet-based lease sale shall conclude within 7 days.''.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 90 days after the tenth Internet-based 
lease sale conducted under the amendment made by subsection (a), the 
Secretary of the Interior shall analyze the first 10 such lease sales 
and report to Congress the findings of the analysis. The report shall 
include--
            (1) estimates on increases or decreases in such lease 
        sales, compared to sales conducted by oral bidding, in--
                    (A) the number of bidders;
                    (B) the average amount of bid;
                    (C) the highest amount bid; and
                    (D) the lowest bid;
            (2) an estimate on the total cost or savings to the 
        Department of the Interior as a result of such sales, compared 
        to sales conducted by oral bidding; and
            (3) an evaluation of the demonstrated or expected 
        effectiveness of different structures for lease sales which may 
        provide an opportunity to better maximize bidder participation, 
        ensure the highest return to the Federal taxpayers, minimize 
        opportunities for fraud or collusion, and ensure the security 
        and integrity of the leasing process.
                                 <all>
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