I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1631

To permanently prohibit the conduct of offshore drilling on the outer

Continental Shelf off the State of Florida, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 26, 2001

Mr. SCARBOROUGH (for himself, Mr. DAVIS of Florida, Mr. SHAW, Mr.

STEARNS, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mrs. THURMAN, Mr. KELLER,

Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. CRENSHAW, Mr.

BILIRAKIS, and Mr. FOLEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources

A BILL

To permanently prohibit the conduct of offshore drilling on

the outer Continental Shelf off the State of Florida,

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. PROHIBITION OF OIL AND GAS LEASING IN

4 CERTAIN AREAS OF THE OUTER CONTI5 NENTAL SHELF.

6 Section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act

7 (43 U.S.C. 1337) is amended by adding at the end the

8 following:
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1 ‘‘(p) PROHIBITION OF OIL AND GAS LEASING IN

2 CERTAIN AREAS OF THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF.—

3 Notwithstanding any other provision of this section or any

4 other law, the Secretary of the Interior shall not issue a

5 lease for the exploration, development, or production of

6 oil, natural gas, or any other mineral in—

7 ‘‘(1) the eastern Gulf of Mexico planning area;

8 ‘‘(2) the Straits of Florida planning area; or

9 ‘‘(3) the South Atlantic planning area, extend10 ing from the Straits of Florida planning area to the

11 border between the States of Florida and Georgia.’’.

12 SEC. 2. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.

13 (a) CONDITIONS FOR BIDDING ON OPTION TO

14 LEASE.—The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (42

15 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section

16 24 the following:

17 ‘‘SEC. 24A. CONDITIONS FOR SALE OF OPTION TO LEASE.

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The sale of an option to enter

19 into an oil and gas lease described in section 25 (including

20 a lease to drill an exploratory well) shall be contingent

21 on—

22 ‘‘(1) the preparation, in accordance with the

23 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42

24 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) of an environmental impact
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1 statement concerning the activities to be conducted

2 under the oil and gas lease; and

3 ‘‘(2) after preparation of the environmental im4 pact statement, the completion by the affected State

5 of a consistency certification in accordance with sec6 tion 307(c) of the Coastal Zone Management Act of

7 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1456(c)).

8 ‘‘(b) EXCLUDED PLANS.—This section does not apply

9 to a plan for the production and transportation of natural

10 gas described in section 25(k).’’.

11 (b) APPLICABILITY OF NEPA TO DEVELOPMENT

12 PLANS.—Section 25(d) of the Outer Continental Shelf

13 Lands Act (42 U.S.C. 1351(d)) is amended by striking

14 ‘‘unless the State’’ and inserting ‘‘unless the State, after

15 completion of the environmental impact statement under

16 section 24A,’’.

17 (c) DEADLINE FOR APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL OF

18 PLANS.—Section 25(h)(1) of the Outer Continental Shelf

19 Lands Act (42 U.S.C. 1351(h)(1)) is amended in the first

20 sentence by striking ‘‘sixty’’ each place it appears and in21 serting ‘‘90’’.

22 (d) APPLICABILITY TO LEASES IN THE GULF OF

23 MEXICO.—Section 25 of the Outer Continental Shelf

24 Lands Act (42 U.S.C. 1351) is amended—
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘, other than the Gulf of Mex2 ico,’’ each place it appears; and

3 (2) by striking subsection (l).

4 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

5 (1) Section 25(a) of the Outer Continental

6 Shelf Lands Act (42 U.S.C. 1351(a)) is amended—

7 (A) in paragraph (2)—

8 (i) by striking ‘‘accompanied by a

9 statement’’ and inserting ‘‘accompanied

10 by—

11 ‘‘(A) a statement’’;

12 (ii) by striking the period at the end

13 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

14 (iii) by inserting the following:

15 ‘‘(B) a copy of the environmental impact

16 statement for the oil and gas lease prepared

17 under section 24A’’; and

18 (B) by striking paragraph (3) and insert19 ing the following:

20 ‘‘(3) SUBMISSION OF STATEMENTS.—Except for any

21 privileged or proprietary information (as the term is de22 fined in regulations promulgated by the Secretary), the

23 Secretary, not later than 10 days after receipt of the state24 ments described in paragraph (2), shall—
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1 ‘‘(A) submit the statements to the Governor of

2 any affected State, and, upon request, to the chief

3 executive officer of any affected local government;

4 and

5 ‘‘(B) make the statements available to any ap6 propriate interstate regional entity and the public.’’.

7 (2) Section 25(e)(2) of the Outer Continental

8 Shelf Lands Act (42 U.S.C. 1351(e)(2)) is amended

9 by striking ‘‘approved,’’ and inserting ‘‘approved (in10 cluding plans for exploratory wells),’’.

11 (3) Section 25(f) of the Outer Continental Shelf

12 Lands Act (42 U.S.C. 1351(f)) is amended by strik13 ing ‘‘the draft environmental impact statement’’ and

14 insert ‘‘a copy of the environmental impact state15 ment for the lease prepared under section 24A’’.

16 (4) Section 25(h)(1) of the Outer Continental

17 Shelf Lands Act (42 U.S.C. 1351(h)(1)) is amended

18 by striking ‘‘subsection (e) of this section’’ and in19 serting ‘‘section 24A’’.

20 SEC. 3. BUYBACK OF OFFSHORE LEASES.

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

22 purchase the rights to oil and gas development and pro23 duction covered by the following outstanding leases in the

24 Gulf of Mexico:
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1 (1) In the Destin Dome planing area, each of

2 leases numbered G06401, G06402, G06405 through

3 G06411, G06432, G06433, G06436, G06440,

4 G06442 through G06444, G08320 through G08322,

5 G08333, G08334, G08346, G10418, G10419,

6 G10422, G10426, and G10427, at a total cost of

7 $38,573,458.

8 (2) In the Desoto Canyon planning area, each

9 of leases numbered G06464, G06469, G06470,

10 G06474 through G06477, G10446 through G10456,

11 G10459 through G10467, G10471 through G10473,

12 and G10477, at a total cost of $12,278,600.

13 (3) In the Elbow region, each of leases num14 bered G10498 through G10514, at a total cost of

15 $4,348,640.

16 (4) In the Pensacola planning area, each of

17 leases numbered G08308 through G08310, G08317

18 through G08319, G10408 through G10410, and

19 G10413 through G10417, at a total cost of

20 $16,793,300.

21 (5) In the Lloyd planning area, each of leases

22 numbered G10493 through G10497, at total cost of

23 $1,213,704.
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1 (6) In the Apalachicola planning area, each of

2 leases numbered G10430 through G10435, at a total

3 cost of $2,936,700.

4 (7) In the Florida Middle Ground planning

5 area, each of leases numbered G08361 through

6 G08368, G10484, and G10485, at a total cost of

7 $14,018,000.

8 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

9 authorized to be appropriated to carry out subsection (a)

10 $90,162,402.

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