I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5616 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct certain offshore lease 

sales. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 21, 2023 

Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana (for himself, Mr. SCALISE, Mr. CRENSHAW, Mr. 

ELLZEY, and Mr. EZELL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct certain 

offshore lease sales. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bringing Reliable In5 vestment into Domestic Gulf Energy Production Act of 

6 2023’’ or the ‘‘BRIDGE Production Act of 2023’’. 

7 SEC. 2. OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASE SALES. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) OFFSHORE LEASE SALE.—The term ‘‘off10 shore lease sale’’ means an oil and gas lease sale— 


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1 (A) that is held by the Secretary in accord2 ance with the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 

3 Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.), notwithstanding 

4 the requirements of section 18 of that Act (43 

5 U.S.C. 1344); 

6 (B) offers the same lease form, lease 

7 terms, economic conditions, and stipulations as 

8 contained in the final notice of sale entitled 

9 ‘‘Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Oil 

10 and Gas Lease Sale 257’’ (86 Fed. Reg. 54728 

11 (October 4, 2021)); and 

12 (C) that, if any acceptable bids have been 

13 received for any tract offered in the lease sale, 

14 results in the issuance of leases within 90 days 

15 of the sale to the highest bids on the tracts of16 fered, subject to the Bureau of Ocean Energy 

17 Management ‘‘Summary of Procedures for De18 termining Bid Adequacy at Offshore Oil and 

19 Gas Lease Sales Effective March 2016, with 

20 Central Gulf of Mexico Sale 241 and Eastern 

21 Gulf of Mexico Sale 226’’. 

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

23 the Secretary of the Interior. 

24 (b) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive any other re25 quirements under section 18 of the Outer Continental 


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1 Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344) that would delay final 

2 approval of an offshore lease sale under subsection (c). 

3 (c) REQUIREMENT.—Notwithstanding section 18 of 

4 the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344), 

5 the Secretary shall— 

6 (1) conduct not fewer than 4 offshore lease 

7 sales during the 2-year period beginning on the date 

8 of enactment of this Act; and 

9 (2) ensure that the 2017–2022 Outer Conti10 nental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program Final 

11 Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement and 

12 Record of Decision shall apply to lease sales con13 ducted under this subsection and shall be sufficient 

14 for purposes of complying with the National Envi15 ronmental Policy Act for offshore lease sales con16 ducted under this subsection to the extent it does 

17 not conflict with this Act. 

18 (d) TIMING.—In conducting the offshore lease sales 

19 required under subsection (c), the Secretary shall conduct 

20 an offshore lease sale not later than— 

21 (1) March 31, 2024; 

22 (2) August 31, 2024; 

23 (3) March 31, 2025; and 

24 (4) August 31, 2025. 

25 (e) AREA OFFERED FOR LEASE.— 


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1 (1) ACREAGE.—The Secretary shall offer not 

2 fewer than 80,000,000 acres for each offshore lease 

3 sale conducted under subsection (c). 

4 (2) LOCATION.—An offshore lease sale con5 ducted under subsection (c) shall be in the Gulf of 

6 Mexico Region Program Area as identified in Figure 

7 S–1 of the 2017–2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil 

8 and Gas Leasing Proposed Final Program published 

9 on November 18, 2016, by the Bureau of Ocean En10 ergy Management (as announced in the notice of 

11 availability of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Manage12 ment entitled ‘‘Notice of Availability of the 2017– 

13 2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing 

14 Proposed Final Program’’ (81 Fed. Reg. 84612 (No15 vember 23, 2016)). 

16 (f) EFFECT OF LITIGATION.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—A civil action challenging an 

18 offshore lease sale conducted under this section shall 

19 not— 

20 (A) affect the validity of any lease issued 

21 under such an offshore lease sale; and 

22 (B) except as provided in paragraph 

23 (3)(B), cause a delay in the timelines for the 

24 consideration of any exploration plan, develop25 ment plan, development operations coordination 


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1 document, applications for permit to drill, or 

2 other application for a Federal agency author3 ization or approval for activities on a lease 

4 issued under such an offshore lease sale. 

5 (2) REMAND; PROCESSING OF APPROVALS AND

6 APPLICATIONS.—If, in a civil action described in 

7 paragraph (1), a court finds that the offshore lease 

8 sale was not carried out in compliance with Federal 

9 law— 

10 (A) the court shall not— 

11 (i) set aside, vacate, or enjoin the off12 shore lease sale; 

13 (ii) set aside, vacate, or enjoin the 

14 leases issued pursuant to the offshore lease 

15 sale; or 

16 (iii) enjoin the Secretary from issuing 

17 leases to the highest bidders in the chal18 lenged offshore lease sale; 

19 (B) the court shall remand the matter to 

20 the Secretary and require the Secretary to cor21 rect the noncompliance; and 

22 (C) the Secretary shall continue to process 

23 all exploration plans, development plans, devel24 opment operations coordination documents, ap25 plications for a permit to drill, and other appliVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Sep 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5616.IH H5616

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1 cations for a Federal agency authorization or 

2 other approval for activities requested under 

3 any lease issued under the challenged offshore 

4 lease sale in accordance with the Outer Conti5 nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et 

6 seq.). 

7 (3) NOTICE.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 10 days 

9 after the date on which a civil action described 

10 in paragraph (1) is served on the United 

11 States, the Secretary shall notify the holder of 

12 any lease issued, or apparent high bidder if the 

13 lease has not yet been issued, under the off14 shore lease sale that is the subject of the civil 

15 action of the filing of the civil action. 

16 (B) TIMELINE.—Not later than 90 days 

17 after the date of receipt of a notice under sub18 paragraph (A), the holder of the lease may file 

19 with the Secretary, and the Secretary may ap20 prove, a request to pause the timeline with re21 spect to the term of the lease during any period 

22 in which the civil action is pending. 

Æ 


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