I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6927 

To immediately resume onshore oil and gas lease sales, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 3, 2022 

Ms. HERRELL (for herself, Mr. WESTERMAN, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mrs. MILLER

of Illinois, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. 

ROSENDALE, Mr. STAUBER, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. PFLUGER, Ms. CHENEY, 

Mr. TIFFANY, Mr. BABIN, and Mr. BENTZ) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To immediately resume onshore oil and gas lease sales, and 

for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Energy Se5 curity and Transparency Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ONSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASING. 

7 (a) REQUIREMENT TO IMMEDIATELY RESUME ON8 SHORE OIL AND GAS LEASE SALES.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte2 rior shall immediately resume oil and gas lease sales 

3 in accordance with the Mineral Leasing Act (30 

4 U.S.C. 181 et seq.), the Mineral Leasing Act for Ac5 quired Lands (30 U.S.C. 351 et seq.), and any other 

6 applicable onshore mineral leasing laws. 

7 (2) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary of the Inte8 rior shall ensure that any oil and gas lease sale 

9 made pursuant to paragraph (1) is conducted imme10 diately on completion of all applicable scoping, public 

11 comment, and environmental analysis requirements 

12 under the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et 

13 seq.) and the National Environmental Policy Act of 

14 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

15 (b) ANNUAL LEASE SALES.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with the Min17 eral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.), the Min18 eral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands (30 U.S.C. 351 

19 et seq.), and any other applicable onshore mineral 

20 leasing laws, beginning in fiscal year 2022, the Sec21 retary of the Interior shall conduct a minimum of 

22 four oil and gas lease sales annually in each of the 

23 following States: 

24 (A) Wyoming. 

25 (B) New Mexico. 


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1 (C) Colorado. 

2 (D) Utah. 

3 (E) Montana. 

4 (F) North Dakota. 

5 (G) Oklahoma. 

6 (H) Nevada. 

7 (I) Any other State in which there is land 

8 available for oil and gas leasing under the Min9 eral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.), the 

10 Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands (30 

11 U.S.C. 351 et seq.), and any other applicable 

12 onshore mineral leasing laws. 

13 (2) REQUIREMENT.—In conducting a lease sale 

14 under paragraph (1) in a State described in that 

15 paragraph, the Secretary of the Interior shall offer 

16 all parcels eligible for oil and gas development under 

17 the resource management plan in effect for the 

18 State. 

19 (3) REPLACEMENT SALES.—If, for any reason, 

20 a lease sale under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year is 

21 canceled, delayed, or deferred, including for a lack of 

22 eligible parcels, the Secretary of the Interior shall 

23 conduct a replacement sale during the same fiscal 

24 year. 


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1 (c) REQUIREMENT TO SUBMIT DOCUMENTS AND

2 COMMUNICATIONS.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 

4 the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 

5 of the Interior shall submit to the Committee on En6 ergy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the 

7 Committee on Natural Resources of the House of 

8 Representatives all documents and communications 

9 relating to the comprehensive review of Federal oil 

10 and gas permitting and leasing practices required 

11 under section 208 of Executive Order 14008 (86 

12 Fed. Reg. 7624; relating to tackling the climate cri13 sis at home and abroad). 

14 (2) INCLUSIONS.—The submission under para15 graph (1) shall include all documents and commu16 nications submitted to the Secretary of the Interior 

17 by members of the public in response to any public 

18 meeting or forum relating to the comprehensive re19 view described in that paragraph. 

20 (d) REPORT.— 

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

22 the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 

23 of the Interior shall submit to the Committee on 

24 Natural Resources of the House of Representatives 


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1 and the Committee on Energy and Natural Re2 sources of the Senate a report that describes— 

3 (A) the status of nominated parcels for fu4 ture onshore oil and gas lease sales, including— 

5 (i) the number of expressions of inter6 est that the Bureau of Land Management 

7 has not taken any action to review, or not 

8 completed review of, as of the date of en9 actment of this section; and 

10 (ii) how long such expressions of in11 terest have been pending; 

12 (B) the status of each pending application 

13 for a permit to drill in each Bureau of Land 

14 Management State office as of the date of en15 actment of this section; 

16 (C) the number of applications for a per17 mit to drill issued by each Bureau of Land 

18 Management State office as of the date of en19 actment of this section; 

20 (D) how the Bureau of Land Management 

21 determines whether to— 

22 (i) issue a permit to drill; and 

23 (ii) issue, extend, or suspend an oil 

24 and gas lease; 


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1 (E) when determinations described in sub2 paragraph (D) are sent to the national office of 

3 the Bureau of Land Management for final ap4 proval; and 

5 (F) the degree to which Bureau of Land 

6 Management field offices exercise discretion on 

7 such final approval. 

8 (2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF DATA.— 

9 (A) EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST.—Not 

10 later than 30 days after the date of enactment 

11 of this section, and each month thereafter, the 

12 Secretary of the Interior shall publish on the 

13 website of the Department of the Interior the 

14 number of pending, approved, and not approved 

15 expressions of interest in nominated parcels for 

16 future onshore oil and gas lease sales in the 

17 preceding month. 

18 (B) APPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO

19 DRILL.—Not later than 30 days after the date 

20 of enactment of this section, and each month 

21 thereafter, the Secretary of the Interior shall 

22 publish on the website of the Department of the 

23 Interior the number of pending and approved 

24 applications for permits to drill in the preceding 

25 month. 


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1 (e) PROCESSING APPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO

2 DRILL.—Section 17(p) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 

3 U.S.C. 226(p)) is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(4) EFFECT OF PENDING CIVIL ACTION ON

6 PROCESSING APPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO

7 DRILL.—The Secretary may not delay processing an 

8 application for a permit to drill under a valid exist9 ing lease on the basis that there is a pending civil 

10 action, unless and until a court determines the lease 

11 was not issued in compliance with the National En12 vironmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 

13 seq.).’’. 

Æ 


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