II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2409 

To authorize the exploration, leasing, development, production, and economically feasible and prudent transportation of oil and gas in and from 

the Coastal Plain in Alaska. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 22, 2014 

Ms. MURKOWSKI introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To authorize the exploration, leasing, development, production, and economically feasible and prudent transportation of oil and gas in and from the Coastal Plain 

in Alaska. 

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 Inde5 pendence and Security Act of 2014’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) COASTAL PLAIN.—The term ‘‘Coastal 

2 Plain’’ means the area described in appendix I to 

3 part 37 of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations. 

4 (2) FEDERAL AGREEMENT.—The term ‘‘Fed5 eral Agreement’’ means the Federal Agreement and 

6 Grant Right-of-Way for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline 

7 issued on January 23, 1974, in accordance with sec8 tion 28 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 185) 

9 and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act 

10 (43 U.S.C. 1651 et seq.). 

11 (3) FINAL STATEMENT.—The term ‘‘Final 

12 Statement’’ means the final legislative environmental 

13 impact statement on the Coastal Plain, dated April 

14 1987, and prepared pursuant to— 

15 (A) section 1002 of the Alaska National 

16 Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 

17 3142); and 

18 (B) section 102(2)(C) of the National En19 vironmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

20 4332(2)(C)). 

21 (4) MAP.—The term ‘‘map’’ means the map en22 titled ‘‘Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’’, dated Sep23 tember 2005, and prepared by the United States Ge24 ological Survey. 


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1 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

2 means— 

3 (A) the Secretary of the Interior; or 

4 (B) the designee of the Secretary. 

5 SEC. 3. LEASING PROGRAM FOR LAND WITHIN THE COAST6 AL PLAIN. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

8 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—Congress authorizes the 

9 exploration, leasing, development, production, and 

10 economically feasible and prudent transportation of 

11 oil and gas in and from the Coastal Plain. 

12 (2) ACTIONS.—The Secretary shall take such 

13 actions as are necessary— 

14 (A) to establish and implement, in accord15 ance with this Act, a competitive oil and gas 

16 leasing program that will result in an environ17 mentally sound program for the exploration, de18 velopment, and production of the oil and gas re19 sources of the Coastal Plain; and 

20 (B) to administer this Act through regula21 tions, lease terms, conditions, restrictions, pro22 hibitions, stipulations, and other provisions 

23 that— 

24 (i) ensure the oil and gas exploration, 

25 development, and production activities on 


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1 the Coastal Plain will result in no signifi2 cant adverse effect on fish and wildlife, 

3 fish and wildlife habitat, subsistence re4 sources, and the environment; and 

5 (ii) require the application of the best 

6 commercially available technology for oil 

7 and gas exploration, development, and pro8 duction to all exploration, development, 

9 and production operations under this Act 

10 in a manner that ensures the receipt of 

11 fair market value by the public for the 

12 mineral resources to be leased. 

13 (b) REPEAL.— 

14 (1) REPEAL.—Section 1003 of the Alaska Na15 tional Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 

16 3143) is repealed. 

17 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of 

18 contents contained in section 1 of that Act (16 

19 U.S.C. 3101 note) is amended by striking the item 

20 relating to section 1003. 

21 (c) COMPLIANCE WITH REQUIREMENTS UNDER CER22 TAIN OTHER LAWS.— 

23 (1) COMPATIBILITY.—For purposes of the Na24 tional Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 

25 1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd et seq.)— 


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1 (A) the oil and gas preleasing and leasing 

2 program, and activities authorized by this sec3 tion in the Coastal Plain, shall be considered to 

4 be compatible with the purposes for which the 

5 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was established; 

6 and 

7 (B) no further findings or decisions shall 

8 be required to implement that program and 

9 those activities. 

10 (2) ADEQUACY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE

11 INTERIOR’S LEGISLATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

12 STATEMENT.—The Final Statement shall be consid13 ered to satisfy the requirements under the National 

14 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 

15 et seq.) that apply with respect to preleasing, includ16 ing exploration programs and actions authorized to 

17 be taken by the Secretary to develop and promulgate 

18 the regulations for the establishment of a leasing 

19 program authorized by this Act before the conduct 

20 of the first lease sale. 

21 (3) COMPLIANCE WITH NEPA FOR OTHER AC22 TIONS.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Before conducting the 

24 first lease sale under this Act, the Secretary 

25 shall prepare an environmental impact stateVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:18 Jun 03, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2409.IS S2409

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1 ment in accordance with the National Environ2 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 

3 seq.) with respect to the actions authorized by 

4 this Act that are not referred to in paragraph 

5 (2). 

6 (B) IDENTIFICATION AND ANALYSIS.— 

7 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in 

8 carrying out this paragraph, the Secretary shall 

9 not— 

10 (i) identify nonleasing alternative 

11 courses of action; or 

12 (ii) analyze the environmental effects 

13 of those courses of action. 

14 (C) IDENTIFICATION OF PREFERRED AC15 TION.—Not later than 1 year after the date of 

16 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall iden17 tify only a preferred action and a single leasing 

18 alternative for the first lease sale authorized 

19 under this Act. 

20 (D) EFFECT OF COMPLIANCE.—Notwith21 standing any other provision of law, compliance 

22 with this paragraph shall be considered to sat23 isfy all requirements for the analysis and con24 sideration of the environmental effects of pro25 posed leasing under this Act. 


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1 (d) RELATIONSHIP TO STATE AND LOCAL AUTHOR2 ITY.—Nothing in this Act expands or limits any State or 

3 local regulatory authority. 

4 (e) LIMITATION ON CLOSED AREAS.—The Secretary 

5 shall not close land within the Coastal Plain to oil and 

6 gas leasing or to exploration, development, or production 

7 except in accordance with this Act. 

8 (f) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after the 

9 date of enactment of this Act, in consultation with the 

10 State of Alaska, the North Slope Borough, Alaska, and 

11 the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, the Secretary shall 

12 promulgate such regulations as are necessary to carry out 

13 this Act. 

14 SEC. 4. LEASE SALES. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Land may be leased pursuant to 

16 this Act to any person qualified to obtain a lease for depos17 its of oil and gas under the Mineral Leasing Act (30 

18 U.S.C. 181 et seq.). 

19 (b) PROCEDURES.—The Secretary shall, by regula20 tion, establish procedures for— 

21 (1) receipt and consideration of sealed nomina22 tions for any area in the Coastal Plain for inclusion 

23 in a lease sale; 

24 (2) the holding of lease sales after the nomina25 tion process described in paragraph (1); and 


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1 (3) public notice of and comment on designa2 tion of areas to be included in, or excluded from, a 

3 lease sale. 

4 (c) LEASE SALE BIDS.—Bidding for leases under 

5 this Act shall be by sealed competitive cash bonus bids. 

6 (d) ACREAGE MINIMUM IN FIRST SALE.—For the 

7 first lease sale under this Act, the Secretary shall offer 

8 for lease those tracts the Secretary considers to have the 

9 greatest potential for the discovery of hydrocarbons, tak10 ing into consideration nominations received pursuant to 

11 subsection (b)(1), but in no case less than 200,000 acres. 

12 (e) TIMING OF LEASE SALES.—The Secretary 

13 shall— 

14 (1) not later than 18 months after the date of 

15 enactment of this Act, conduct the first lease sale 

16 under this Act; 

17 (2) not later than 1 year after the date on 

18 which the first lease sale is conducted under para19 graph (1), conduct a second lease sale under this 

20 Act; and 

21 (3) conduct additional sales at appropriate in22 tervals if sufficient interest in exploration or devel23 opment exists to warrant the conduct of the addi24 tional sales. 


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1 SEC. 5. GRANT OF LEASES BY THE SECRETARY. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Upon payment by a lessee of such 

3 bonus as may be accepted by the Secretary, the Secretary 

4 shall grant to the highest responsible qualified bidder in 

5 a lease sale conducted pursuant to section 4 a lease for 

6 any land on the Coastal Plain. 

7 (b) SUBSEQUENT TRANSFERS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—No lease issued under this 

9 Act may be sold, exchanged, assigned, sublet, or oth10 erwise transferred except with the approval of the 

11 Secretary. 

12 (2) CONDITION FOR APPROVAL.—Before grant13 ing any approval described in paragraph (1), the 

14 Secretary shall consult with and give due consider15 ation to the opinion of the Attorney General. 

16 SEC. 6. LEASE TERMS AND CONDITIONS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—An oil or gas lease issued pursu18 ant to this Act shall— 

19 (1) provide for the payment of a royalty of not 

less than 121 20 ⁄2 percent of the amount or value of the 

21 production removed or sold from the lease, as deter22 mined by the Secretary in accordance with regula23 tions applicable to other Federal oil and gas leases; 

24 (2) provide that the Secretary, after consulta25 tion with the State of Alaska, North Slope Borough, 

26 Alaska, and the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, 


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1 may close, on a seasonal basis, such portions of the 

2 Coastal Plain to exploratory drilling activities as are 

3 necessary to protect caribou calving areas and other 

4 species of fish and wildlife; 

5 (3) require that each lessee of land within the 

6 Coastal Plain shall be fully responsible and liable for 

7 the reclamation of land within the Coastal Plain and 

8 any other Federal land that is adversely affected in 

9 connection with exploration, development, produc10 tion, or transportation activities within the Coastal 

11 Plain conducted by the lessee or by any of the sub12 contractors or agents of the lessee; 

13 (4) provide that the lessee may not delegate or 

14 convey, by contract or otherwise, the reclamation re15 sponsibility and liability described in paragraph (3) 

16 to another person without the express written ap17 proval of the Secretary; 

18 (5) provide that the standard of reclamation for 

19 land required to be reclaimed under this Act shall 

20 be, to the maximum extent practicable— 

21 (A) a condition capable of supporting the 

22 uses that the land was capable of supporting 

23 prior to any exploration, development, or pro24 duction activities; or 


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1 (B) upon application by the lessee, to a 

2 higher or better standard, as approved by the 

3 Secretary; 

4 (6) contain terms and conditions relating to 

5 protection of fish and wildlife, fish and wildlife habi6 tat, subsistence resources, and the environment as 

7 required under section 3(a)(2); and 

8 (7) provide that each lessee, and each agent 

9 and contractor of a lessee, shall use their best ef10 forts to provide a fair share of employment and con11 tracting for Alaska Natives and Alaska Native Cor12 porations from throughout the State of Alaska, as 

13 determined by the level of obligation previously 

14 agreed to in the Federal Agreement. 

15 (b) PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary, 

16 as a term and condition of each lease under this Act, and 

17 in recognizing the proprietary interest of the Federal Gov18 ernment in labor stability and in the ability of construction 

19 labor and management to meet the particular needs and 

20 conditions of projects to be developed under the leases 

21 issued pursuant to this Act (including the special concerns 

22 of the parties to those leases), shall require that each les23 see, and each agent and contractor of a lessee, under this 

24 Act negotiate to obtain a project labor agreement for the 


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1 employment of laborers and mechanics on production, 

2 maintenance, and construction under the lease. 

3 SEC. 7. COASTAL PLAIN ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION. 

4 (a) NO SIGNIFICANT ADVERSE EFFECT STANDARD

5 TO GOVERN AUTHORIZED COASTAL PLAIN ACTIVITIES.— 

6 In accordance with section 3, the Secretary shall admin7 ister this Act through regulations, lease terms, conditions, 

8 restrictions, prohibitions, stipulations, or other provisions 

9 that— 

10 (1) ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, 

11 that oil and gas exploration, development, and pro12 duction activities on the Coastal Plain will result in 

13 no significant adverse effect on fish and wildlife, fish 

14 and wildlife habitat, subsistence resources, and the 

15 environment; 

16 (2) require the application of the best commer17 cially available technology for oil and gas explo18 ration, development, and production on all new ex19 ploration, development, and production operations; 

20 and 

21 (3) ensure that the maximum surface acreage 

22 covered in connection with the leasing program by 

23 production and support facilities, including airstrips 

24 and any areas covered by gravel berms or piers for 


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1 support of pipelines, does not exceed 2,000 acres on 

2 the Coastal Plain. 

3 (b) SITE-SPECIFIC ASSESSMENT AND MITIGATION.— 

4 The Secretary shall require, with respect to any proposed 

5 drilling and related activities on the Coastal Plain, that— 

6 (1) a site-specific environmental analysis be 

7 made of the probable effects, if any, that the drilling 

8 or related activities will have on fish and wildlife, 

9 fish and wildlife habitat, subsistence resources, and 

10 the environment; 

11 (2) a plan be implemented to avoid, minimize, 

12 and mitigate (in that order and to the maximum ex13 tent practicable) any significant adverse effect iden14 tified under paragraph (1); and 

15 (3) the development of the plan occur after con16 sultation with— 

17 (A) each agency having jurisdiction over 

18 matters mitigated by the plan; 

19 (B) the State of Alaska; 

20 (C) North Slope Borough, Alaska; and 

21 (D) the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation. 

22 (c) REGULATIONS TO PROTECT COASTAL PLAIN

23 FISH AND WILDLIFE RESOURCES, SUBSISTENCE USERS, 

24 AND THE ENVIRONMENT.—Before implementing the leas25 ing program authorized by this Act, the Secretary shall 


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1 prepare and promulgate regulations, lease terms, condi2 tions, restrictions, prohibitions, stipulations, or other 

3 measures designed to ensure, to the maximum extent prac4 ticable, that the activities carried out on the Coastal Plain 

5 under this Act are conducted in a manner consistent with 

6 the purposes and environmental requirements of this Act. 

7 (d) COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL AND STATE ENVI8 RONMENTAL LAWS AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—The 

9 regulations, lease terms, conditions, restrictions, prohibi10 tions, and stipulations for the leasing program under this 

11 Act shall require— 

12 (1) compliance with all applicable provisions of 

13 Federal and State environmental law (including reg14 ulations); and 

15 (2) implementation of and compliance with— 

16 (A) standards that are at least as effective 

17 as the safety and environmental mitigation 

18 measures, as described in items 1 through 29 

19 on pages 167 through 169 of the Final State20 ment; 

21 (B) reclamation and rehabilitation require22 ments in accordance with this Act for the re23 moval from the Coastal Plain of all oil and gas 

24 development and production facilities, struc25 tures, and equipment on completion of oil and 


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1 gas production operations, except in a case in 

2 which the Secretary determines that those fa3 cilities, structures, or equipment— 

4 (i) would assist in the management of 

5 the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and 

6 (ii) are donated to the United States 

7 for that purpose; and 

8 (C) reasonable stipulations for protection 

9 of cultural and archaeological resources. 

10 (e) ACCESS TO PUBLIC LAND.—The Secretary 

11 shall— 

12 (1) manage public land in the Coastal Plain in 

13 accordance with subsections (a) and (b) of section 

14 811 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Con15 servation Act (16 U.S.C. 3121); and 

16 (2) ensure that local residents shall have rea17 sonable access to public land in the Coastal Plain for 

18 traditional uses. 

19 SEC. 8. FEDERAL AND STATE DISTRIBUTION OF REVENUES. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi21 sion of law, of the amount of bonus, rental, and royalty 

22 revenues from oil and gas leasing and operations author23 ized under this Act— 

24 (1) 50 percent shall be paid to the State of 

25 Alaska; and 


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1 (2) the balance shall be deposited in the Treas2 ury of the United States. 

3 (b) PAYMENTS TO ALASKA.—Payments to the State 

4 of Alaska under this section shall be made on a monthly 

5 basis. 

6 SEC. 9. RIGHTS-OF-WAY AND EASEMENTS ACROSS COASTAL 

7 PLAIN. 

8 For purposes of section 1102(4)(A) of the Alaska Na9 tional Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 

10 3162(4)(A)), any rights-of-way or easements across the 

11 Coastal Plain for the exploration, development, produc12 tion, or transportation of oil and gas shall be considered 

13 to be established incident to the management of the Coast14 al Plain under this section. 

15 SEC. 10. CONVEYANCE. 

16 Notwithstanding section 1302(h)(2) of the Alaska 

17 National Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 

18 3192(h)(2)), to remove any cloud on title to land, and to 

19 clarify land ownership patterns in the Coastal Plain, the 

20 Secretary shall— 

21 (1) to the extent necessary to fulfill the entitle22 ment of the Kaktovik Inupiat Corporation under sec23 tions 12 and 14 of the Alaska Native Claims Settle24 ment Act (43 U.S.C. 1611, 1613), as determined by 

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1 face estate of the land described in paragraph (1) of 

2 Public Land Order 6959, in accordance with the 

3 terms and conditions of the agreement between the 

4 Secretary, the United States Fish and Wildlife Serv5 ice, the Bureau of Land Management, and the 

6 Kaktovik Inupiat Corporation, dated January 22, 

7 1993; and 

8 (2) convey to the Arctic Slope Regional Cor9 poration the remaining subsurface estate to which 

10 that Corporation is entitled under the agreement be11 tween that corporation and the United States, dated 

12 August 9, 1983. 

Æ 


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