II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2202 

To provide for revenue sharing of qualified revenues from leases in the 

South Atlantic planning area, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 2, 2014 

Mr. SCOTT (for himself and Mr. GRAHAM) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

A BILL 

To provide for revenue sharing of qualified revenues from 

leases in the South Atlantic planning area, 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 ‘‘Southern Energy Ac5 cess Jobs Act’’ or the ‘‘SEA Jobs Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

2 the Director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Man3 agement. 

4 (2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

5 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

6 meaning given the term in section 102 of the Higher 

7 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 

8 (3) QUALIFIED REVENUES.—The term ‘‘quali9 fied revenues’’ means all bonus bids, rentals and 

10 royalties (and other sums) due and payable to the 

11 United States from all leases entered into after the 

12 date of enactment of this Act that covers an area in 

13 the South Atlantic planning area. 

14 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

15 the Secretary of the Interior. 

16 (5) SOUTH ATLANTIC PLANNING AREA.—The 

17 term ‘‘South Atlantic planning area’’ means the area 

18 of the outer Continental Shelf (as defined in section 

19 2 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 

20 U.S.C. 1331)) that is located between the northern 

21 lateral seaward administrative boundary of the Com22 monwealth of Virginia and the southernmost lateral 

23 seaward administrative boundary of the State of 

24 Georgia. 


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1 (6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any of 

2 the following States: 

3 (A) Georgia. 

4 (B) North Carolina. 

5 (C) South Carolina. 

6 (D) Virginia. 

7 (7) WORKFORCE INVESTMENT BOARD.—The 

8 term ‘‘workforce investment board’’ means a State 

9 or local workforce investment board established 

10 under subtitle B of title I of the Workforce Invest11 ment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2811 et seq.). 

12 SEC. 3. ENHANCING STATE RIGHTS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall promulgate 

14 regulations that establish management of the surface oc15 cupancy of each portion of the South Atlantic planning 

16 area for the applicable coastline of a State for any lease 

17 sale authorized under this Act to the effect that— 

18 (1) the applicable State shall have sole author19 ity to restrict or allow surface facilities above the 

20 waterline for the purpose of production of oil or gas 

21 resources in any area that is within 12 nautical 

22 miles seaward from the coastline of the State; 

23 (2) unless permanent surface occupancy is au24 thorized by a State, only sub-surface production fa25 cilities may be installed in areas that are located beVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:26 Apr 03, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2202.IS S2202

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1 tween the point that is 12 nautical miles from sea2 ward from the coastline of the State and the point 

3 that is 20 nautical miles seaward from the coastline 

4 of the State; 

5 (3) new offshore production facilities are en6 couraged and the impacts on coastal vistas are mini7 mized, to the maximum extent practical; and 

8 (4) onshore facilities that facilitate the develop9 ment and production of the oil and gas resources of 

10 the South Atlantic planning area within 12 nautical 

11 miles seaward of the coastline of a State are allowed. 

12 (b) TEMPORARY ACTIVITIES NOT AFFECTED.— 

13 Nothing in the regulations described in subsection (a) 

14 shall restrict, or give the States authority to restrict, tem15 porary surface activities related to operations associated 

16 with outer Continental Shelf oil and gas leases. 

17 SEC. 4. REINSTATEMENT OF VIRGINIA LEASE SALE 220. 

18 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

19 of this Act, the Secretary shall conduct Lease Sale 220 

20 (as described in the notice of intent to prepare an environ21 mental impact statement dated November 13, 2008 (73 

22 Fed. Reg. 67201)). 

23 SEC. 5. SOUTH CAROLINA LEASE SALE. 

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

25 the South Atlantic planning area in the outer Continental 


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1 Shelf leasing program for fiscal years 2012–2017 pre2 pared under section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf 

3 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344), the Secretary shall conduct 

4 a lease sale not later than 2 years after the date of enact5 ment of this Act in areas off the coast of the State of 

6 South Carolina— 

7 (1) determined by the Secretary to have the 

8 most geologically promising hydrocarbon resources; 

9 and 

10 (2) that constitute not less than 25 percent of 

11 the leasable area located within the offshore admin12 istrative boundaries of the State of South Carolina 

13 depicted in the notice entitled ‘‘Federal Outer Conti14 nental Shelf (OCS) Administrative Boundaries Ex15 tending from the Submerged Lands Act Boundary 

16 seaward to the Limit of the United States Outer 

17 Continental Shelf’’, published January 3, 2006 (71 

18 Fed. Reg. 127). 

19 (b) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT.—The 

20 Secretary shall complete a multisale environmental impact 

21 statement for the lease sales conducted under subsection 

22 (a) and section 4. 


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1 SEC. 6. SOUTH ATLANTIC PLANNING AREA LEASE SALES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct 3 

3 lease sales in the South Atlantic planning area before 

4 June 30, 2017, in areas— 

5 (1) to be determined by the Secretary based 

6 on— 

7 (A) analysis by the Bureau of Ocean En8 ergy Management; and 

9 (B) industry nomination; and 

10 (2) determined by the Secretary to contain the 

11 most hydrocarbon resource potential. 

12 (b) 2017–2022 LEASING PROGRAM.—The Secretary 

13 shall— 

14 (1) include the South Atlantic planning area in 

15 the outer Continental Shelf leasing program for fis16 cal years 2017–2022 prepared under section 18 of 

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

18 1344); and 

19 (2) conduct 1 lease sale in the South Atlantic 

20 planning area during each year of the program, for 

21 a total of 5 lease sales. 

22 SEC. 7. BALANCING OF MILITARY AND ENERGY PRODUC23 TION GOALS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—In recognition that the outer Con25 tinental Shelf oil and gas leasing program and the domes26 tic energy resources produced under the program are inteVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:26 Apr 03, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2202.IS S2202

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1 gral to national security, the Secretary and the Secretary 

2 of Defense shall work jointly in implementing lease sales 

3 under this Act— 

4 (1) to preserve the ability of the Armed Forces 

5 of the United States to maintain an optimum state 

6 of readiness through their continued use of the outer 

7 Continental Shelf; and 

8 (2) to allow effective exploration, development, 

9 and production of the oil, gas, and renewable energy 

10 resources of the United States. 

11 (b) PROHIBITION ON CONFLICTS WITH MILITARY

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

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

14 outer Continental Shelf under a lease issued under this 

15 Act that would conflict with any military operation, as de16 termined in accordance with— 

17 (1) the agreement entitled ‘‘Memorandum of 

18 Agreement between the Department of Defense and 

19 the Department of the Interior on Mutual Concerns 

20 on the Outer Continental Shelf’’ signed July 20, 

21 1983; and 

22 (2) any revision or replacement for the agree23 ment described in paragraph (1) that is agreed to by 

24 the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary after 

25 that date but before the date of issuance of the lease 


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1 under which the exploration, development, or pro2 duction is conducted. 

3 SEC. 8. REVENUE SHARING AND DEFICIT REDUCTION. 

4 Notwithstanding section 9 of the Outer Continental 

5 Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1338), each fiscal year the 

6 Secretary shall deposit— 

7 (1) 37.5 percent of the qualified revenues in a 

8 special account in the Treasury, from which the Sec9 retary shall allocate amounts in accordance with sec10 tion 9; 

11 (2) 2.5 percent of the qualified revenues in the 

12 fund established by section 10(b)(1), from which the 

13 Secretary shall allocate amounts in accordance with 

14 that section; 

15 (3) 10 percent of the qualified revenues dedi16 cated towards deficit reduction; and 

17 (4) 50 percent of the qualified revenues in the 

18 general fund of the Treasury. 

19 SEC. 9. ALLOCATION TO STATES. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Of the qualified revenues depos21 ited in the account under section 8(1), 37.5 percent shall 

22 be distributed to each State— 

23 (1) using the formula established under sub24 section (b); and 


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1 (2) in amounts that are inversely proportional 

2 to the respective distances between the point on the 

3 coastline of each State that is closest to the geo4 graphic center of the applicable leased tract and the 

5 geographic center of the leased tract. 

6 (b) FORMULA.—The formula used to make the cal7 culation under subsection (a) shall be— 

8 (1) established by the Secretary by regulation; 

9 and 

10 (2) modeled after the final rule entitled ‘‘Alloca11 tion and Disbursement of Royalties, Rentals, and 

12 Bonuses—Oil and Gas, Offshore’’, dated December 

13 23, 2008 (73 Fed. Reg. 78622). 

14 (c) MINIMUM ALLOCATION.—Each State shall be en15 titled to an amount equal to not less than 10 percent of 

16 the qualified revenues allocated under subsection (a). 

17 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—A State receiving amounts 

18 under this section may use the amounts in accordance 

19 with State law. 

20 SEC. 10. VETERANS JOBS GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 

21 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF FUND.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the 

23 Treasury of the United States a fund, to be known 

24 as the ‘‘Oil and Gas Production Veterans Workforce 

25 Training Fund’’ (referred to in this section as the 


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1 ‘‘Fund’’), consisting of such amounts as are trans2 ferred to the Fund under section 8(2). 

3 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—The Fund shall be ad4 ministered by the Secretary to fund the grants au5 thorized by subsection (b). 

6 (b) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 

8 through the Director, shall award grants on a com9 petitive basis to eligible institutions of higher edu10 cation and workforce investment boards to establish 

11 and fund oil and gas exploration, development, and 

12 production workforce training programs. 

13 (2) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a 

14 grant under this section, an institution of higher 

15 education or workforce investment board shall— 

16 (A) establish or expand and administer an 

17 oil and gas exploration, development, and pro18 duction workforce training program; and 

19 (B) in granting admission to applicants to 

20 the program, give priority to veterans of the 

21 Armed Forces of the United States. 

22 (3) APPLICATION.—Each eligible entity desiring 

23 a grant under this section shall submit an applica24 tion to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, 


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1 and accompanied by such information as the Sec2 retary may reasonably require. 

3 (4) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE EX4 PENSES.—Not more than 0.5 percent of the 

5 amounts made available to carry out this section 

6 may be used to pay for the administrative expenses 

7 of the programs described in paragraph (1). 

8 SEC. 11. ENHANCING GEOLOGICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL 

9 EDUCATION FOR AMERICA’S ENERGY FU10 TURE. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through the 

12 Director, shall partner with institutions of higher edu13 cation selected under subsection (c) to facilitate the prac14 tical study of geological and geophysical sciences of areas 

15 on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf and elsewhere on 

16 the Continental Shelf of the United States. 

17 (b) FOCUS.—Activities conducted by institutions of 

18 higher education under this section shall focus all geologi19 cal and geophysical scientific research on obtaining a bet20 ter understanding of hydrocarbon potential in the South 

21 Atlantic Planning Area while fostering the study of the 

22 geological and geophysical sciences at institutions of high23 er education in the United States. 

24 (c) SELECTION OF INSTITUTIONS.— 


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1 (1) NOMINATION.—Not later than 180 days 

2 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Governor 

3 of each State may nominate for participation in a 

4 partnership— 

5 (A) 1 institution of higher education lo6 cated in the State; and 

7 (B) 1 institution of higher education that 

8 is a historically Black college or university, as 

9 defined in section 631(a) of the Higher Edu10 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1132(a)) located 

11 in the State. 

12 (2) PREFERENCE.—In making nominations 

13 under paragraph (1), each Governor shall give pref14 erence to those institutions of higher education that 

15 demonstrate a vigorous rate of admissions of vet16 erans of the Armed Forces of the United States and 

17 meet the criteria described in paragraph (3). 

18 (3) SELECTION.—The Director shall select as a 

19 partner any institution of higher education nomi20 nated under paragraph (1) that the Director deter21 mines demonstrates excellence in 1 or more of the 

22 following criteria: 

23 (A) Geophysical sciences curriculum. 

24 (B) Engineering curriculum. 


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1 (C) Information technology or other tech2 nical studies related to seismic research, includ3 ing data processing. 

4 (d) RESEARCH AUTHORITY.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para6 graph (2), an institution of higher education selected 

7 under subsection (c)(3) may conduct research under 

8 this section upon the expiration of the 30-day period 

9 beginning on the date the institution of higher edu10 cation submits notice of the research to the South 

11 Atlantic Regional Director of the Bureau of Ocean 

12 Energy Management. 

13 (2) PERMIT REQUIRED.—An institution of high14 er education may not under this section conduct re15 search that uses solid or liquid explosives except as 

16 authorized by a permit issued by the Director. 

17 (e) DATA.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Geological and geophysical 

19 activities conducted under this section— 

20 (A) shall be considered scientific research 

21 and data produced by the activities; 

22 (B) shall not be used or shared for com23 mercial purposes; 

24 (C) shall not be produced for proprietary 

25 use or sale; and 


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1 (D) shall be made available by the Director 

2 to the public. 

3 (2) SUBMISSION OF DATA TO BOEM.—Not later 

4 than 60 days after completion of initial analysis of 

5 data collected under this section by an institution of 

6 higher education selected under subsection (c)(3), 

7 the institution of higher education shall share with 

8 the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management any data 

9 collected that is requested by the Bureau of Ocean 

10 Energy Management. 

11 (3) FEES.—The Director may not charge any 

12 fee for the provision of data produced in research 

13 under this section, other than a data reprocessing 

14 fee to pay the cost of duplicating the data. 

15 (f) REPORT.—Not less frequently than once every 

16 180 days, the Director shall submit to the Committee on 

17 Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the 

18 Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Rep19 resentatives a report on the data derived from partner20 ships under this section. 

21 SEC. 12. ATLANTIC REGIONAL OFFICE. 

22 Not later than the last day of the outer Continental 

23 Shelf leasing program for fiscal years 2012–2017 pre24 pared under section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf 


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1 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344), the Director shall establish 

2 an Atlantic regional office in an area that is— 

3 (1) included in the outer Continental Shelf leas4 ing program for fiscal years 2017–2022 prepared 

5 under section 18 of that Act; and 

6 (2) determined by the Director to have the most 

7 potential resource development. 

Æ 


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