I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1 

To lower energy costs by increasing American energy production, exports, 

infrastructure, and critical minerals processing, by promoting transparency, accountability, permitting, and production of American resources, and by improving water quality certification and energy projects, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 14, 2023 

Mr. SCALISE (for himself, Mrs. RODGERS of Washington, Mr. WESTERMAN, 

and Mr. GRAVES of Missouri) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the 

Committees on Energy and Commerce, Agriculture, Transportation and 

Infrastructure, and the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To lower energy costs by increasing American energy production, exports, infrastructure, and critical minerals processing, by promoting transparency, accountability, permitting, and production of American resources, and by 

improving water quality certification and energy projects, 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Lower Energy Costs Act’’. 

4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

5 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

DIVISION A—INCREASING AMERICAN ENERGY PRODUCTION, EXPORTS, INFRASTRUCTURE, AND CRITICAL MINERALS PROCESSING 

Sec. 10001. Securing America’s critical minerals supply. 

Sec. 10002. Protecting American energy production. 

Sec. 10003. Researching Efficient Federal Improvements for Necessary Energy 

Refining. 

Sec. 10004. Promoting cross-border energy infrastructure. 

Sec. 10005. Sense of Congress expressing disapproval of the revocation of the 

Presidential permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. 

Sec. 10006. Sense of Congress opposing restrictions on the export of crude oil 

or other petroleum products. 

Sec. 10007. Unlocking our domestic LNG potential. 

Sec. 10008. Promoting interagency coordination for review of natural gas pipelines. 

Sec. 10009. Interim hazardous waste permits for critical energy resource facilities. 

Sec. 10010. Flexible air permits for critical energy resource facilities. 

Sec. 10011. National security or energy security waivers to produce critical energy resources. 

Sec. 10012. Ending future delays in chemical substance review for critical energy resources. 

Sec. 10013. Natural gas tax repeal. 

Sec. 10014. Repeal of greenhouse gas reduction fund. 

Sec. 10015. Keeping America’s refineries operating. 

Sec. 10016. Homeowner energy freedom. 

DIVISION B—TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY, PERMITTING, 

AND PRODUCTION OF AMERICAN RESOURCES 

Sec. 20001. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—ONSHORE AND OFFSHORE LEASING AND OVERSIGHT 

Sec. 20101. Onshore oil and gas leasing. 

Sec. 20102. Lease reinstatement. 

Sec. 20103. Protested lease sales. 

Sec. 20104. Suspension of operations. 

Sec. 20105. Administrative protest process reform. 

Sec. 20106. Leasing and permitting transparency. 

Sec. 20107. Offshore oil and gas leasing. 

Sec. 20108. Five-year plan for offshore oil and gas leasing. 

Sec. 20109. Geothermal leasing. 


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Sec. 20110. Leasing for certain qualified coal applications. 

Sec. 20111. Future coal leasing. 

Sec. 20112. Staff planning report. 

Sec. 20113. Prohibition on Chinese communist party ownership interest. 

Sec. 20114. Effect on other law. 

TITLE II—PERMITTING STREAMLINING 

Sec. 20201. Definitions. 

Sec. 20202. BUILDER Act. 

Sec. 20203. Codification of National Environmental Policy Act regulations. 

Sec. 20204. Non-major Federal actions. 

Sec. 20205. No net loss determination for existing rights-of-way. 

Sec. 20206. Determination of National Environmental Policy Act adequacy. 

Sec. 20207. Determination regarding rights-of-way. 

Sec. 20208. Terms of rights-of-way. 

Sec. 20209. Funding to process permits and develop information technology. 

Sec. 20210. Offshore geological and geophysical survey licensing. 

Sec. 20211. Deferral of applications for permits to drill. 

Sec. 20212. Processing and terms of applications for permits to drill. 

Sec. 20213. Amendments to the Energy Policy Act of 2005. 

Sec. 20214. Access to Federal energy resources from non-Federal surface estate. 

Sec. 20215. Scope of environmental reviews for oil and gas leases. 

Sec. 20216. Expediting approval of gathering lines. 

Sec. 20217. Lease sale litigation. 

Sec. 20218. Limitation on claims. 

Sec. 20219. Government Accountability Office report on permits to drill. 

Sec. 20220. E–NEPA. 

TITLE III—PERMITTING FOR MINING NEEDS 

Sec. 20301. Definitions. 

Sec. 20302. Minerals supply chain and reliability. 

Sec. 20303. Federal register process improvement. 

Sec. 20304. Designation of mining as a covered sector for Federal permitting 

improvement purposes. 

Sec. 20305. Treatment of actions under presidential determination 2022–11 for 

Federal permitting improvement purposes. 

Sec. 20306. Notice for mineral exploration activities with limited surface disturbance. 

Sec. 20307. Use of mining claims for ancillary activities. 

Sec. 20308. Ensuring consideration of uranium as a critical mineral. 

Sec. 20309. Barring foreign bad actors from operating on Federal lands. 

TITLE IV—FEDERAL LAND USE PLANNING 

Sec. 20401. Federal land use planning and withdrawals. 

Sec. 20402. Prohibitions on delay of mineral development of certain Federal 

land. 

Sec. 20403. Definitions. 

TITLE V—ENSURING COMPETITIVENESS ON FEDERAL LANDS 

Sec. 20501. Incentivizing domestic production. 

TITLE VI—ENERGY REVENUE SHARING 


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Sec. 20601. Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf revenue. 

Sec. 20602. Parity in offshore wind revenue sharing. 

Sec. 20603. Elimination of administrative fee under the Mineral Leasing Act. 

DIVISION C—WATER QUALITY CERTIFICATION AND ENERGY 

PROJECT IMPROVEMENT 

Sec. 30001. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 30002. Certification. 

1 DIVISION A—INCREASING AMER2 ICAN ENERGY PRODUCTION, 

3 EXPORTS, INFRASTRUCTURE, 

4 AND CRITICAL MINERALS 

5 PROCESSING 

Sec. 10001. Securing America’s critical minerals supply. 

Sec. 10002. Protecting American energy production. 

Sec. 10003. Researching Efficient Federal Improvements for Necessary Energy 

Refining. 

Sec. 10004. Promoting cross-border energy infrastructure. 

Sec. 10005. Sense of Congress expressing disapproval of the revocation of the 

Presidential permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. 

Sec. 10006. Sense of Congress opposing restrictions on the export of crude oil 

or other petroleum products. 

Sec. 10007. Unlocking our domestic LNG potential. 

Sec. 10008. Promoting interagency coordination for review of natural gas pipelines. 

Sec. 10009. Interim hazardous waste permits for critical energy resource facilities. 

Sec. 10010. Flexible air permits for critical energy resource facilities. 

Sec. 10011. National security or energy security waivers to produce critical energy resources. 

Sec. 10012. Ending future delays in chemical substance review for critical energy resources. 

Sec. 10013. Natural gas tax repeal. 

Sec. 10014. Repeal of greenhouse gas reduction fund. 

Sec. 10015. Keeping America’s refineries operating. 

Sec. 10016. Homeowner energy freedom. 

6 SEC. 10001. SECURING AMERICA’S CRITICAL MINERALS 

7 SUPPLY. 

8 (a) AMENDMENT TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

9 ORGANIZATION ACT.—The Department of Energy Orga10 nization Act (42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) is amended— 


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1 (1) in section 2, by adding at the end the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(d) As used in sections 102(20) and 203(a)(12), the 

4 term ‘critical energy resource’ means any energy re5 source— 

6 ‘‘(1) that is essential to the energy sector and 

7 energy systems of the United States; and 

8 ‘‘(2) the supply chain of which is vulnerable to 

9 disruption.’’; 

10 (2) in section 102, by adding at the end the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(20) To ensure there is an adequate and reli13 able supply of critical energy resources that are es14 sential to the energy security of the United States.’’; 

15 and 

16 (3) in section 203(a), by adding at the end the 

17 following: 

18 ‘‘(12) Functions that relate to securing the sup19 ply of critical energy resources, including identifying 

20 and mitigating the effects of a disruption of such 

21 supply on— 

22 ‘‘(A) the development and use of energy 

23 technologies; and 

24 ‘‘(B) the operation of energy systems.’’. 


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1 (b) SECURING CRITICAL ENERGY RESOURCE SUPPLY

2 CHAINS.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the require4 ments of the Department of Energy Organization 

5 Act (42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.), the Secretary of En6 ergy, in consultation with the appropriate Federal 

7 agencies, representatives of the energy sector, 

8 States, and other stakeholders, shall— 

9 (A) conduct ongoing assessments of— 

10 (i) energy resource criticality based on 

11 the importance of critical energy resources 

12 to the development of energy technologies 

13 and the supply of energy; 

14 (ii) the critical energy resource supply 

15 chain of the United States; 

16 (iii) the vulnerability of such supply 

17 chain; and 

18 (iv) how the energy security of the 

19 United States is affected by the reliance of 

20 the United States on importation of critical 

21 energy resources; 

22 (B) facilitate development of strategies to 

23 strengthen critical energy resource supply 

24 chains in the United States, including by— 


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1 (i) diversifying the sources of the sup2 ply of critical energy resources; and 

3 (ii) increasing domestic production, 

4 separation, and processing of critical en5 ergy resources; 

6 (C) develop substitutes and alternatives to 

7 critical energy resources; and 

8 (D) improve technology that reuses and re9 cycles critical energy resources. 

10 (2) CRITICAL ENERGY RESOURCE DEFINED.— 

11 In this section, the term ‘‘critical energy resource’’ 

12 has the meaning given such term in section 2 of the 

13 Department of Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 

14 7101). 

15 SEC. 10002. PROTECTING AMERICAN ENERGY PRODUCTION. 

16 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con17 gress that States should maintain primacy for the regula18 tion of hydraulic fracturing for oil and natural gas produc19 tion on State and private lands. 

20 (b) PROHIBITION ON DECLARATION OF A MORATO21 RIUM ON HYDRAULIC FRACTURING.—Notwithstanding 

22 any other provision of law, the President may not declare 

23 a moratorium on the use of hydraulic fracturing unless 

24 such moratorium is authorized by an Act of Congress. 


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1 SEC. 10003. RESEARCHING EFFICIENT FEDERAL IMPROVE2 MENTS FOR NECESSARY ENERGY REFINING. 

3 Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 

4 of this section, the Secretary of Energy shall direct the 

5 National Petroleum Council to— 

6 (1) submit to the Secretary of Energy and Con7 gress a report containing— 

8 (A) an examination of the role of petro9 chemical refineries located in the United States 

10 and the contributions of such petrochemical re11 fineries to the energy security of the United 

12 States, including the reliability of supply in the 

13 United States of liquid fuels and feedstocks, 

14 and the affordability of liquid fuels for con15 sumers in the United States; 

16 (B) analyses and projections with respect 

17 to— 

18 (i) the capacity of petrochemical refin19 eries located in the United States; 

20 (ii) opportunities for expanding such 

21 capacity; and 

22 (iii) the risks to petrochemical refin23 eries located in the United States; 

24 (C) an assessment of any Federal or State 

25 executive actions, regulations, or policies that 

26 have caused or contributed to a decline in the 


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1 capacity of petrochemical refineries located in 

2 the United States; and 

3 (D) any recommendations for Federal 

4 agencies and Congress to encourage an increase 

5 in the capacity of petrochemical refineries lo6 cated in the United States; and 

7 (2) make publicly available the report submitted 

8 under paragraph (1). 

9 SEC. 10004. PROMOTING CROSS-BORDER ENERGY INFRA10 STRUCTURE. 

11 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF CERTAIN ENERGY INFRA12 STRUCTURE PROJECTS AT AN INTERNATIONAL BOUND13 ARY OF THE UNITED STATES.— 

14 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—Except as provided in 

15 paragraph (3) and subsection (d), no person may 

16 construct, connect, operate, or maintain a border17 crossing facility for the import or export of oil or 

18 natural gas, or the transmission of electricity, across 

19 an international border of the United States without 

20 obtaining a certificate of crossing for the border21 crossing facility under this subsection. 

22 (2) CERTIFICATE OF CROSSING.— 

23 (A) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 120 

24 days after final action is taken, by the relevant 

25 official or agency identified under subparagraph 


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1 (B), under the National Environmental Policy 

2 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) with re3 spect to a border-crossing facility for which a 

4 person requests a certificate of crossing under 

5 this subsection, the relevant official or agency, 

6 in consultation with appropriate Federal agen7 cies, shall issue a certificate of crossing for the 

8 border-crossing facility unless the relevant offi9 cial or agency finds that the construction, con10 nection, operation, or maintenance of the bor11 der-crossing facility is not in the public interest 

12 of the United States. 

13 (B) RELEVANT OFFICIAL OR AGENCY.— 

14 The relevant official or agency referred to in 

15 subparagraph (A) is— 

16 (i) the Federal Energy Regulatory 

17 Commission with respect to border-cross18 ing facilities consisting of oil or natural 

19 gas pipelines; and 

20 (ii) the Secretary of Energy with re21 spect to border-crossing facilities consisting 

22 of electric transmission facilities. 

23 (C) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT FOR

24 ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION FACILITIES.—In the 

25 case of a request for a certificate of crossing for 


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1 a border-crossing facility consisting of an elec2 tric transmission facility, the Secretary of En3 ergy shall require, as a condition of issuing the 

4 certificate of crossing under subparagraph (A), 

5 that the border-crossing facility be constructed, 

6 connected, operated, or maintained consistent 

7 with all applicable policies and standards of— 

8 (i) the Electric Reliability Organiza9 tion and the applicable regional entity; and 

10 (ii) any Regional Transmission Orga11 nization or Independent System Operator 

12 with operational or functional control over 

13 the border-crossing facility. 

14 (3) EXCLUSIONS.—This subsection shall not 

15 apply to any construction, connection, operation, or 

16 maintenance of a border-crossing facility for the im17 port or export of oil or natural gas, or the trans18 mission of electricity— 

19 (A) if the border-crossing facility is oper20 ating for such import, export, or transmission 

21 as of the date of enactment of this Act; 

22 (B) if a Presidential permit (or similar 

23 permit) for the construction, connection, oper24 ation, or maintenance has been issued pursuant 

25 to any provision of law or Executive order; or 


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1 (C) if an application for a Presidential per2 mit (or similar permit) for the construction, 

3 connection, operation, or maintenance is pend4 ing on the date of enactment of this Act, until 

5 the earlier of— 

6 (i) the date on which such application 

7 is denied; or 

8 (ii) two years after the date of enact9 ment of this Act, if such a permit has not 

10 been issued by such date of enactment. 

11 (4) EFFECT OF OTHER LAWS.— 

12 (A) APPLICATION TO PROJECTS.—Nothing 

13 in this subsection or subsection (d) shall affect 

14 the application of any other Federal statute to 

15 a project for which a certificate of crossing for 

16 a border-crossing facility is requested under 

17 this subsection. 

18 (B) NATURAL GAS ACT.—Nothing in this 

19 subsection or subsection (d) shall affect the re20 quirement to obtain approval or authorization 

21 under sections 3 and 7 of the Natural Gas Act 

22 for the siting, construction, or operation of any 

23 facility to import or export natural gas. 

24 (C) OIL PIPELINES.—Nothing in this sub25 section or subsection (d) shall affect the authorVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:17 Mar 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1.IH H1

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1 ity of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commis2 sion with respect to oil pipelines under section 

3 60502 of title 49, United States Code. 

4 (b) TRANSMISSION OF ELECTRIC ENERGY TO CAN5 ADA AND MEXICO.— 

6 (1) REPEAL OF REQUIREMENT TO SECURE

7 ORDER.—Section 202(e) of the Federal Power Act 

8 (16 U.S.C. 824a(e)) is repealed. 

9 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

10 (A) STATE REGULATIONS.—Section 202(f) 

11 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824a(f)) 

12 is amended by striking ‘‘insofar as such State 

13 regulation does not conflict with the exercise of 

14 the Commission’s powers under or relating to 

15 subsection 202(e)’’. 

16 (B) SEASONAL DIVERSITY ELECTRICITY

17 EXCHANGE.—Section 602(b) of the Public Util18 ity Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 

19 824a–4(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘the Com20 mission has conducted hearings and made the 

21 findings required under section 202(e) of the 

22 Federal Power Act’’ and all that follows 

23 through the period at the end and inserting 

24 ‘‘the Secretary has conducted hearings and 

25 finds that the proposed transmission facilities 


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1 would not impair the sufficiency of electric sup2 ply within the United States or would not im3 pede or tend to impede the coordination in the 

4 public interest of facilities subject to the juris5 diction of the Secretary.’’. 

6 (c) NO PRESIDENTIAL PERMIT REQUIRED.—No 

7 Presidential permit (or similar permit) shall be required 

8 pursuant to any provision of law or Executive order for 

9 the construction, connection, operation, or maintenance of 

10 an oil or natural gas pipeline or electric transmission facil11 ity, or any border-crossing facility thereof. 

12 (d) MODIFICATIONS TO EXISTING PROJECTS.—No 

13 certificate of crossing under subsection (a), or Presidential 

14 permit (or similar permit), shall be required for a modi15 fication to— 

16 (1) an oil or natural gas pipeline or electric 

17 transmission facility that is operating for the import 

18 or export of oil or natural gas or the transmission 

19 of electricity as of the date of enactment of this Act; 

20 (2) an oil or natural gas pipeline or electric 

21 transmission facility for which a Presidential permit 

22 (or similar permit) has been issued pursuant to any 

23 provision of law or Executive order; or 


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1 (3) a border-crossing facility for which a certifi2 cate of crossing has previously been issued under 

3 subsection (a). 

4 (e) PROHIBITION ON REVOCATION OF PRESIDENTIAL

5 PERMITS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

6 the President may not revoke a Presidential permit (or 

7 similar permit) issued pursuant to Executive Order No. 

8 13337 (3 U.S.C. 301 note), Executive Order No. 11423 

9 (3 U.S.C. 301 note), Executive Order No. 12038 (43 Fed. 

10 Reg. 4957), Executive Order No. 10485 (18 Fed. Reg. 

11 5397), or any other Executive order for the construction, 

12 connection, operation, or maintenance of an oil or natural 

13 gas pipeline or electric transmission facility, or any bor14 der-crossing facility thereof, unless such revocation is au15 thorized by an Act of Congress. 

16 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE; RULEMAKING DEADLINES.— 

17 (1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsections (a) 

18 through (d), and the amendments made by such 

19 subsections, shall take effect on the date that is 1 

20 year after the date of enactment of this Act. 

21 (2) RULEMAKING DEADLINES.—Each relevant 

22 official or agency described in subsection (a)(2)(B) 

23 shall— 

24 (A) not later than 180 days after the date 

25 of enactment of this Act, publish in the Federal 


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1 Register notice of a proposed rulemaking to 

2 carry out the applicable requirements of sub3 section (a); and 

4 (B) not later than 1 year after the date of 

5 enactment of this Act, publish in the Federal 

6 Register a final rule to carry out the applicable 

7 requirements of subsection (a). 

8 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) BORDER-CROSSING FACILITY.—The term 

10 ‘‘border-crossing facility’’ means the portion of an oil 

11 or natural gas pipeline or electric transmission facil12 ity that is located at an international boundary of 

13 the United States. 

14 (2) MODIFICATION.—The term ‘‘modification’’ 

15 includes a reversal of flow direction, change in own16 ership, change in flow volume, addition or removal 

17 of an interconnection, or an adjustment to maintain 

18 flow (such as a reduction or increase in the number 

19 of pump or compressor stations). 

20 (3) NATURAL GAS.—The term ‘‘natural gas’’ 

21 has the meaning given that term in section 2 of the 

22 Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717a). 

23 (4) OIL.—The term ‘‘oil’’ means petroleum or 

24 a petroleum product. 


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1 (5) ELECTRIC RELIABILITY ORGANIZATION; RE2 GIONAL ENTITY.—The terms ‘‘Electric Reliability 

3 Organization’’ and ‘‘regional entity’’ have the mean4 ings given those terms in section 215 of the Federal 

5 Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824o). 

6 (6) INDEPENDENT SYSTEM OPERATOR; RE7 GIONAL TRANSMISSION ORGANIZATION.—The terms 

8 ‘‘Independent System Operator’’ and ‘‘Regional 

9 Transmission Organization’’ have the meanings 

10 given those terms in section 3 of the Federal Power 

11 Act (16 U.S.C. 796). 

12 SEC. 10005. SENSE OF CONGRESS EXPRESSING DIS13 APPROVAL OF THE REVOCATION OF THE 

14 PRESIDENTIAL PERMIT FOR THE KEYSTONE 

15 XL PIPELINE. 

16 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

17 (1) On March 29, 2019, TransCanada Key18 stone Pipeline, L.P., was granted a Presidential per19 mit to construct, connect, operate, and maintain the 

20 Keystone XL pipeline. 

21 (2) On January 20, 2021, President Biden 

22 issued Executive Order 13990 (86 Fed. Reg. 7037) 

23 that revoked the March 2019 Presidential permit for 

24 the Keystone XL. 


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1 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con2 gress that Congress disapproves of the revocation by 

3 President Biden of the Presidential permit for the Key4 stone XL pipeline. 

5 SEC. 10006. SENSE OF CONGRESS OPPOSING RESTRICTIONS 

6 ON THE EXPORT OF CRUDE OIL OR OTHER 

7 PETROLEUM PRODUCTS. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

9 (1) The United States has enjoyed a renais10 sance in energy production, with the expansion of 

11 domestic crude oil and other petroleum product pro12 duction contributing to enhanced energy security 

13 and significant economic benefits to the national 

14 economy. 

15 (2) In 2015, Congress recognized the need to 

16 adapt to changing crude oil market conditions and 

17 repealed all restrictions on the export of crude oil on 

18 a bipartisan basis. 

19 (3) Section 101 of title I of division O of the 

20 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (42 U.S.C. 

21 6212a) established the national policy on oil export 

22 restriction, prohibiting any official of the Federal 

23 Government from imposing or enforcing any restric24 tions on the export of crude oil with limited excep25 tions, including a savings clause maintaining the auVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:17 Mar 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1.IH H1

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1 thority to prohibit exports under any provision of 

2 law that imposes sanctions on a foreign person or 

3 foreign government (including any provision of law 

4 that prohibits or restricts United States persons 

5 from engaging in a transaction with a sanctioned 

6 person or government), including a foreign govern7 ment that is designated as a state sponsor of ter8 rorism. 

9 (4) Lifting the restrictions on crude oil exports 

10 encouraged additional domestic energy production, 

11 created American jobs and economic development, 

12 and allowed the United States to emerge as the lead13 ing oil producer in the world. 

14 (5) In 2019, the United States became a net 

15 exporter of petroleum products for the first time 

16 since 1952, and the reliance of the United States on 

17 foreign imports of petroleum products has declined 

18 to historic lows. 

19 (6) Free trade, open markets, and competition 

20 have contributed to the rise of the United States as 

21 a global energy superpower. 

22 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con23 gress that the Federal Government should not impose— 


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1 (1) overly restrictive regulations on the explo2 ration, production, or marketing of energy resources; 

3 or 

4 (2) any restrictions on the export of crude oil 

5 or other petroleum products under the Energy Pol6 icy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6201 et seq.), 

7 except with respect to the export of crude oil or 

8 other petroleum products to a foreign person or for9 eign government subject to sanctions under any pro10 vision of United States law, including to a country 

11 the government of which is designated as a state 

12 sponsor of terrorism. 

13 SEC. 10007. UNLOCKING OUR DOMESTIC LNG POTENTIAL. 

14 Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) 

15 is amended— 

16 (1) by striking subsections (a) through (c); 

17 (2) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as 

18 subsections (a) and (b), respectively; 

19 (3) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub20 section (c), and moving such subsection after sub21 section (b), as so redesignated; 

22 (4) in subsection (a), as so redesignated, by 

23 amending paragraph (1) to read as follows: ‘‘(1) The 

24 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (in this sub25 section referred to as the ‘Commission’) shall have 


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1 the exclusive authority to approve or deny an appli2 cation for authorization for the siting, construction, 

3 expansion, or operation of a facility to export nat4 ural gas from the United States to a foreign country 

5 or import natural gas from a foreign country, in6 cluding an LNG terminal. In determining whether to 

7 approve or deny an application under this para8 graph, the Commission shall deem the exportation or 

9 importation of natural gas to be consistent with the 

10 public interest. Except as specifically provided in 

11 this Act, nothing in this Act is intended to affect 

12 otherwise applicable law related to any Federal 

13 agency’s authorities or responsibilities related to fa14 cilities to import or export natural gas, including 

15 LNG terminals.’’; and 

16 (5) by adding at the end the following new sub17 section: 

18 ‘‘(d)(1) Nothing in this Act limits the authority of 

19 the President under the Constitution, the International 

20 Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et 

21 seq.), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et 

22 seq.), part B of title II of the Energy Policy and Conserva23 tion Act (42 U.S.C. 6271 et seq.), the Trading With the 

24 Enemy Act (50 U.S.C. 4301 et seq.), or any other provi25 sion of law that imposes sanctions on a foreign person or 


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1 foreign government (including any provision of law that 

2 prohibits or restricts United States persons from engaging 

3 in a transaction with a sanctioned person or government), 

4 including a country that is designated as a state sponsor 

5 of terrorism, to prohibit imports or exports. 

6 ‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘state sponsor of ter7 rorism’ means a country the government of which the Sec8 retary of State determines has repeatedly provided sup9 port for international terrorism pursuant to— 

10 ‘‘(A) section 1754(c)(1)(A) of the Export Con11 trol Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4318(c)(1)(A)); 

12 ‘‘(B) section 620A of the Foreign Assistance 

13 Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371); 

14 ‘‘(C) section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act 

15 (22 U.S.C. 2780); or 

16 ‘‘(D) any other provision of law.’’. 

17 SEC. 10008. PROMOTING INTERAGENCY COORDINATION 

18 FOR REVIEW OF NATURAL GAS PIPELINES. 

19 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

21 means the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. 

22 (2) FEDERAL AUTHORIZATION.—The term 

23 ‘‘Federal authorization’’ has the meaning given that 

24 term in section 15(a) of the Natural Gas Act (15 

25 U.S.C. 717n(a)). 


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1 (3) NEPA REVIEW.—The term ‘‘NEPA review’’ 

2 means the process of reviewing a proposed Federal 

3 action under section 102 of the National Environ4 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332). 

5 (4) PROJECT-RELATED NEPA REVIEW.—The 

6 term ‘‘project-related NEPA review’’ means any 

7 NEPA review required to be conducted with respect 

8 to the issuance of an authorization under section 3 

9 of the Natural Gas Act or a certificate of public con10 venience and necessity under section 7 of such Act. 

11 (b) COMMISSION NEPA REVIEW RESPONSIBIL12 ITIES.—In acting as the lead agency under section 

13 15(b)(1) of the Natural Gas Act for the purposes of com14 plying with the National Environmental Policy Act of 

15 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) with respect to an author16 ization under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act or a certifi17 cate of public convenience and necessity under section 7 

18 of such Act, the Commission shall, in accordance with this 

19 section and other applicable Federal law— 

20 (1) be the only lead agency; 

21 (2) coordinate as early as practicable with each 

22 agency designated as a participating agency under 

23 subsection (d)(3) to ensure that the Commission de24 velops information in conducting its project-related 

25 NEPA review that is usable by the participating 


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1 agency in considering an aspect of an application for 

2 a Federal authorization for which the agency is re3 sponsible; and 

4 (3) take such actions as are necessary and 

5 proper to facilitate the expeditious resolution of its 

6 project-related NEPA review. 

7 (c) DEFERENCE TO COMMISSION.—In making a deci8 sion with respect to a Federal authorization required with 

9 respect to an application for authorization under section 

10 3 of the Natural Gas Act or a certificate of public conven11 ience and necessity under section 7 of such Act, each agen12 cy shall give deference, to the maximum extent authorized 

13 by law, to the scope of the project-related NEPA review 

14 that the Commission determines to be appropriate. 

15 (d) PARTICIPATING AGENCIES.— 

16 (1) IDENTIFICATION.—The Commission shall 

17 identify, not later than 30 days after the Commis18 sion receives an application for an authorization 

19 under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act or a certifi20 cate of public convenience and necessity under sec21 tion 7 of such Act, any Federal or State agency, 

22 local government, or Indian Tribe that may issue a 

23 Federal authorization or is required by Federal law 

24 to consult with the Commission in conjunction with 


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1 the issuance of a Federal authorization required for 

2 such authorization or certificate. 

3 (2) INVITATION.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 45 days 

5 after the Commission receives an application for 

6 an authorization under section 3 of the Natural 

7 Gas Act or a certificate of public convenience 

8 and necessity under section 7 of such Act, the 

9 Commission shall invite any agency identified 

10 under paragraph (1) to participate in the review 

11 process for the applicable Federal authorization. 

12 (B) DEADLINE.—An invitation issued 

13 under subparagraph (A) shall establish a dead14 line by which a response to the invitation shall 

15 be submitted to the Commission, which may be 

16 extended by the Commission for good cause. 

17 (3) DESIGNATION AS PARTICIPATING AGEN18 CIES.—Not later than 60 days after the Commission 

19 receives an application for an authorization under 

20 section 3 of the Natural Gas Act or a certificate of 

21 public convenience and necessity under section 7 of 

22 such Act, the Commission shall designate an agency 

23 identified under paragraph (1) as a participating 

24 agency with respect to an application for authoriza25 tion under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act or a 


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1 certificate of public convenience and necessity under 

2 section 7 of such Act unless the agency informs the 

3 Commission, in writing, by the deadline established 

4 pursuant to paragraph (2)(B), that the agency— 

5 (A) has no jurisdiction or authority with 

6 respect to the applicable Federal authorization; 

7 (B) has no special expertise or information 

8 relevant to any project-related NEPA review; or 

9 (C) does not intend to submit comments 

10 for the record for the project-related NEPA re11 view conducted by the Commission. 

12 (4) EFFECT OF NON-DESIGNATION.— 

13 (A) EFFECT ON AGENCY.—Any agency 

14 that is not designated as a participating agency 

15 under paragraph (3) with respect to an applica16 tion for an authorization under section 3 of the 

17 Natural Gas Act or a certificate of public con18 venience and necessity under section 7 of such 

19 Act may not request or conduct a NEPA review 

20 that is supplemental to the project-related 

21 NEPA review conducted by the Commission, 

22 unless the agency— 

23 (i) demonstrates that such review is 

24 legally necessary for the agency to carry 

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1 pect of an application for a Federal au2 thorization; and 

3 (ii) requires information that could 

4 not have been obtained during the project5 related NEPA review conducted by the 

6 Commission. 

7 (B) COMMENTS; RECORD.—The Commis8 sion shall not, with respect to an agency that is 

9 not designated as a participating agency under 

10 paragraph (3) with respect to an application for 

11 an authorization under section 3 of the Natural 

12 Gas Act or a certificate of public convenience 

13 and necessity under section 7 of such Act— 

14 (i) consider any comments or other in15 formation submitted by such agency for 

16 the project-related NEPA review conducted 

17 by the Commission; or 

18 (ii) include any such comments or 

19 other information in the record for such 

20 project-related NEPA review. 

21 (e) WATER QUALITY IMPACTS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 401 

23 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 

24 U.S.C. 1341), an applicant for a Federal authoriza25 tion shall not be required to provide a certification 


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1 under such section with respect to the Federal au2 thorization. 

3 (2) COORDINATION.—With respect to any 

4 NEPA review for a Federal authorization to conduct 

5 an activity that will directly result in a discharge 

6 into the navigable waters (within the meaning of the 

7 Federal Water Pollution Control Act), the Commis8 sion shall identify as an agency under subsection 

9 (d)(1) the State in which the discharge originates or 

10 will originate, or, if appropriate, the interstate water 

11 pollution control agency having jurisdiction over the 

12 navigable waters at the point where the discharge 

13 originates or will originate. 

14 (3) PROPOSED CONDITIONS.—A State or inter15 state agency designated as a participating agency 

16 pursuant to paragraph (2) may propose to the Com17 mission terms or conditions for inclusion in an au18 thorization under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act 

19 or a certificate of public convenience and necessity 

20 under section 7 of such Act that the State or inter21 state agency determines are necessary to ensure that 

22 any activity described in paragraph (2) conducted 

23 pursuant to such authorization or certification will 

24 comply with the applicable provisions of sections 


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1 301, 302, 303, 306, and 307 of the Federal Water 

2 Pollution Control Act. 

3 (4) COMMISSION CONSIDERATION OF CONDI4 TIONS.—The Commission may include a term or 

5 condition in an authorization under section 3 of the 

6 Natural Gas Act or a certificate of public conven7 ience and necessity under section 7 of such Act pro8 posed by a State or interstate agency under para9 graph (3) only if the Commission finds that the term 

10 or condition is necessary to ensure that any activity 

11 described in paragraph (2) conducted pursuant to 

12 such authorization or certification will comply with 

13 the applicable provisions of sections 301, 302, 303, 

14 306, and 307 of the Federal Water Pollution Con15 trol Act. 

16 (f) SCHEDULE.— 

17 (1) DEADLINE FOR FEDERAL AUTHORIZA18 TIONS.—A deadline for a Federal authorization re19 quired with respect to an application for authoriza20 tion under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act or a 

21 certificate of public convenience and necessity under 

22 section 7 of such Act set by the Commission under 

23 section 15(c)(1) of such Act shall be not later than 

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1 related NEPA review, unless an applicable schedule 

2 is otherwise established by Federal law. 

3 (2) CONCURRENT REVIEWS.—Each Federal and 

4 State agency— 

5 (A) that may consider an application for a 

6 Federal authorization required with respect to 

7 an application for authorization under section 3 

8 of the Natural Gas Act or a certificate of public 

9 convenience and necessity under section 7 of 

10 such Act shall formulate and implement a plan 

11 for administrative, policy, and procedural mech12 anisms to enable the agency to ensure comple13 tion of Federal authorizations in compliance 

14 with schedules established by the Commission 

15 under section 15(c)(1) of such Act; and 

16 (B) in considering an aspect of an applica17 tion for a Federal authorization required with 

18 respect to an application for authorization 

19 under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act or a 

20 certificate of public convenience and necessity 

21 under section 7 of such Act, shall— 

22 (i) formulate and implement a plan to 

23 enable the agency to comply with the 

24 schedule established by the Commission 

25 under section 15(c)(1) of such Act; 


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1 (ii) carry out the obligations of that 

2 agency under applicable law concurrently, 

3 and in conjunction with, the project-related 

4 NEPA review conducted by the Commis5 sion, and in compliance with the schedule 

6 established by the Commission under sec7 tion 15(c)(1) of such Act, unless the agen8 cy notifies the Commission in writing that 

9 doing so would impair the ability of the 

10 agency to conduct needed analysis or oth11 erwise carry out such obligations; 

12 (iii) transmit to the Commission a 

13 statement— 

14 (I) acknowledging receipt of the 

15 schedule established by the Commis16 sion under section 15(c)(1) of the 

17 Natural Gas Act; and 

18 (II) setting forth the plan formu19 lated under clause (i) of this subpara20 graph; 

21 (iv) not later than 30 days after the 

22 agency receives such application for a Fed23 eral authorization, transmit to the appli24 cant a notice— 


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1 (I) indicating whether such appli2 cation is ready for processing; and 

3 (II) if such application is not 

4 ready for processing, that includes a 

5 comprehensive description of the in6 formation needed for the agency to 

7 determine that the application is 

8 ready for processing; 

9 (v) determine that such application 

10 for a Federal authorization is ready for 

11 processing for purposes of clause (iv) if 

12 such application is sufficiently complete for 

13 the purposes of commencing consideration, 

14 regardless of whether supplemental infor15 mation is necessary to enable the agency to 

16 complete the consideration required by law 

17 with respect to such application; and 

18 (vi) not less often than once every 90 

19 days, transmit to the Commission a report 

20 describing the progress made in consid21 ering such application for a Federal au22 thorization. 

23 (3) FAILURE TO MEET DEADLINE.—If a Fed24 eral or State agency, including the Commission, fails 

25 to meet a deadline for a Federal authorization set 


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1 forth in the schedule established by the Commission 

2 under section 15(c)(1) of the Natural Gas Act, not 

3 later than 5 days after such deadline, the head of 

4 the relevant Federal agency (including, in the case 

5 of a failure by a State agency, the Federal agency 

6 overseeing the delegated authority) shall notify Con7 gress and the Commission of such failure and set 

8 forth a recommended implementation plan to ensure 

9 completion of the action to which such deadline ap10 plied. 

11 (g) CONSIDERATION OF APPLICATIONS FOR FED12 ERAL AUTHORIZATION.— 

13 (1) ISSUE IDENTIFICATION AND RESOLU14 TION.— 

15 (A) IDENTIFICATION.—Federal and State 

16 agencies that may consider an aspect of an ap17 plication for a Federal authorization shall iden18 tify, as early as possible, any issues of concern 

19 that may delay or prevent an agency from 

20 working with the Commission to resolve such 

21 issues and granting such authorization. 

22 (B) ISSUE RESOLUTION.—The Commission 

23 may forward any issue of concern identified 

24 under subparagraph (A) to the heads of the rel25 evant agencies (including, in the case of an 


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1 issue of concern that is a failure by a State 

2 agency, the Federal agency overseeing the dele3 gated authority, if applicable) for resolution. 

4 (2) REMOTE SURVEYS.—If a Federal or State 

5 agency considering an aspect of an application for a 

6 Federal authorization requires the person applying 

7 for such authorization to submit data, the agency 

8 shall consider any such data gathered by aerial or 

9 other remote means that the person submits. The 

10 agency may grant a conditional approval for the 

11 Federal authorization based on data gathered by 

12 aerial or remote means, conditioned on the 

13 verification of such data by subsequent onsite in14 spection. 

15 (3) APPLICATION PROCESSING.—The Commis16 sion, and Federal and State agencies, may allow a 

17 person applying for a Federal authorization to fund 

18 a third-party contractor to assist in reviewing the 

19 application for such authorization. 

20 (h) ACCOUNTABILITY, TRANSPARENCY, EFFI21 CIENCY.—For an application for an authorization under 

22 section 3 of the Natural Gas Act or a certificate of public 

23 convenience and necessity under section 7 of such Act that 

24 requires multiple Federal authorizations, the Commission, 

25 with input from any Federal or State agency considering 


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1 an aspect of the application, shall track and make avail2 able to the public on the Commission’s website information 

3 related to the actions required to complete the Federal au4 thorizations. Such information shall include the following: 

5 (1) The schedule established by the Commission 

6 under section 15(c)(1) of the Natural Gas Act. 

7 (2) A list of all the actions required by each ap8 plicable agency to complete permitting, reviews, and 

9 other actions necessary to obtain a final decision on 

10 the application. 

11 (3) The expected completion date for each such 

12 action. 

13 (4) A point of contact at the agency responsible 

14 for each such action. 

15 (5) In the event that an action is still pending 

16 as of the expected date of completion, a brief expla17 nation of the reasons for the delay. 

18 (i) PIPELINE SECURITY.—In considering an applica19 tion for an authorization under section 3 of the Natural 

20 Gas Act or a certificate of public convenience and neces21 sity under section 7 of such Act, the Federal Energy Reg22 ulatory Commission shall consult with the Administrator 

23 of the Transportation Security Administration regarding 

24 the applicant’s compliance with security guidance and best 

25 practice recommendations of the Administration regarding 


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1 pipeline infrastructure security, pipeline cybersecurity, 

2 pipeline personnel security, and other pipeline security 

3 measures. 

4 SEC. 10009. INTERIM HAZARDOUS WASTE PERMITS FOR 

5 CRITICAL ENERGY RESOURCE FACILITIES. 

6 Section 3005(e) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 

7 U.S.C. 6925(e)) is amended— 

8 (1) in paragraph (1)(A)— 

9 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

10 end; 

11 (B) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘or’’ after 

12 ‘‘this section,’’; and 

13 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(iii) is a critical energy resource facility,’’; 

15 and 

16 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this sub18 section: 

19 ‘‘(A) CRITICAL ENERGY RESOURCE.—The term 

20 ‘critical energy resource’ means, as determined by 

21 the Secretary of Energy, any energy resource— 

22 ‘‘(i) that is essential to the energy sector 

23 and energy systems of the United States; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) the supply chain of which is vulner25 able to disruption. 


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1 ‘‘(B) CRITICAL ENERGY RESOURCE FACILITY.— 

2 The term ‘critical energy resource facility’ means a 

3 facility that processes or refines a critical energy re4 source.’’. 

5 SEC. 10010. FLEXIBLE AIR PERMITS FOR CRITICAL ENERGY 

6 RESOURCE FACILITIES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Envi8 ronmental Protection Agency shall, as necessary, revise 

9 regulations under parts 70 and 71 of title 40, Code of 

10 Federal Regulations, to— 

11 (1) authorize the owner or operator of a critical 

12 energy resource facility to utilize flexible air permit13 ting (as described in the final rule titled ‘‘Operating 

14 Permit Programs; Flexible Air Permitting Rule’’ 

15 published by the Environmental Protection Agency 

16 in the Federal Register on October 6, 2009 (74 Fed. 

17 Reg. 51418)) with respect to such critical energy re18 source facility; and 

19 (2) facilitate flexible, market-responsive oper20 ations (as described in the final rule identified in 

21 paragraph (1)) with respect to critical energy re22 source facilities. 

23 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) CRITICAL ENERGY RESOURCE.—The term 

2 ‘‘critical energy resource’’ means, as determined by 

3 the Secretary of Energy, any energy resource— 

4 (A) that is essential to the energy sector 

5 and energy systems of the United States; and 

6 (B) the supply chain of which is vulnerable 

7 to disruption. 

8 (2) CRITICAL ENERGY RESOURCE FACILITY.— 

9 The term ‘‘critical energy resource facility’’ means a 

10 facility that processes or refines a critical energy re11 source. 

12 SEC. 10011. NATIONAL SECURITY OR ENERGY SECURITY 

13 WAIVERS TO PRODUCE CRITICAL ENERGY 

14 RESOURCES. 

15 (a) CLEAN AIR ACT REQUIREMENTS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Administrator of the 

17 Environmental Protection Agency, in consultation 

18 with the Secretary of Energy, determines that, by 

19 reason of a sudden increase in demand for, or a 

20 shortage of, a critical energy resource, or another 

21 cause, the processing or refining of a critical energy 

22 resource at a critical energy resource facility is nec23 essary to meet the national security or energy secu24 rity needs of the United States, then the Adminis25 trator may, with or without notice, hearing, or other 


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1 report, issue a temporary waiver of any requirement 

2 under the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) 

3 with respect to such critical energy resource facility 

4 that, in the judgment of the Administrator, will 

5 allow for such processing or refining at such critical 

6 energy resource facility as necessary to best meet 

7 such needs and serve the public interest. 

8 (2) CONFLICT WITH OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL

9 LAWS.—The Administrator shall ensure that any 

10 waiver of a requirement under the Clean Air Act 

11 under this subsection, to the maximum extent prac12 ticable, does not result in a conflict with a require13 ment of any other applicable Federal, State, or local 

14 environmental law or regulation and minimizes any 

15 adverse environmental impacts. 

16 (3) VIOLATIONS OF OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL

17 LAWS.—To the extent any omission or action taken 

18 by a party under a waiver issued under this sub19 section is in conflict with any requirement of a Fed20 eral, State, or local environmental law or regulation, 

21 such omission or action shall not be considered a 

22 violation of such environmental law or regulation, or 

23 subject such party to any requirement, civil or crimi24 nal liability, or a citizen suit under such environ25 mental law or regulation. 


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1 (4) EXPIRATION AND RENEWAL OF WAIVERS.— 

2 A waiver issued under this subsection shall expire 

3 not later than 90 days after it is issued. The Admin4 istrator may renew or reissue such waiver pursuant 

5 to paragraphs (1) and (2) for subsequent periods, 

6 not to exceed 90 days for each period, as the Admin7 istrator determines necessary to meet the national 

8 security or energy security needs described in para9 graph (1) and serve the public interest. In renewing 

10 or reissuing a waiver under this paragraph, the Ad11 ministrator shall include in any such renewed or re12 issued waiver such conditions as are necessary to 

13 minimize any adverse environmental impacts to the 

14 extent practicable. 

15 (5) SUBSEQUENT ACTION BY COURT.—If a 

16 waiver issued under this subsection is subsequently 

17 stayed, modified, or set aside by a court pursuant a 

18 provision of law, any omission or action previously 

19 taken by a party under the waiver while the waiver 

20 was in effect shall remain subject to paragraph (3). 

21 (6) CRITICAL ENERGY RESOURCE; CRITICAL EN22 ERGY RESOURCE FACILITY DEFINED.—The terms 

23 ‘‘critical energy resource’’ and ‘‘critical energy re24 source facility’’ have the meanings given such terms 


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1 in section 3025(f) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act 

2 (as added by this section). 

3 (b) SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL ACT REQUIREMENTS.— 

4 (1) HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT.—The 

5 Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.) 

6 is amended by inserting after section 3024 the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 3025. WAIVERS FOR CRITICAL ENERGY RESOURCE 

9 FACILITIES. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If the Administrator, in con11 sultation with the Secretary of Energy, determines that, 

12 by reason of a sudden increase in demand for, or a short13 age of, a critical energy resource, or another cause, the 

14 processing or refining of a critical energy resource at a 

15 critical energy resource facility is necessary to meet the 

16 national security or energy security needs of the United 

17 States, then the Administrator may, with or without no18 tice, hearing, or other report, issue a temporary waiver 

19 of any covered requirement with respect to such critical 

20 energy resource facility that, in the judgment of the Ad21 ministrator, will allow for such processing or refining at 

22 such critical energy resource facility as necessary to best 

23 meet such needs and serve the public interest. 

24 ‘‘(b) CONFLICT WITH OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL

25 LAWS.—The Administrator shall ensure that any waiver 


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1 of a covered requirement under this section, to the max2 imum extent practicable, does not result in a conflict with 

3 a requirement of any other applicable Federal, State, or 

4 local environmental law or regulation and minimizes any 

5 adverse environmental impacts. 

6 ‘‘(c) VIOLATIONS OF OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL

7 LAWS.—To the extent any omission or action taken by 

8 a party under a waiver issued under this section is in con9 flict with any requirement of a Federal, State, or local 

10 environmental law or regulation, such omission or action 

11 shall not be considered a violation of such environmental 

12 law or regulation, or subject such party to any require13 ment, civil or criminal liability, or a citizen suit under such 

14 environmental law or regulation. 

15 ‘‘(d) EXPIRATION AND RENEWAL OF WAIVERS.—A 

16 waiver issued under this section shall expire not later than 

17 90 days after it is issued. The Administrator may renew 

18 or reissue such waiver pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) 

19 for subsequent periods, not to exceed 90 days for each pe20 riod, as the Administrator determines necessary to meet 

21 the national security or energy security needs described 

22 in subsection (a) and serve the public interest. In renewing 

23 or reissuing a waiver under this subsection, the Adminis24 trator shall include in any such renewed or reissued waiver 


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1 such conditions as are necessary to minimize any adverse 

2 environmental impacts to the extent practicable. 

3 ‘‘(e) SUBSEQUENT ACTION BY COURT.—If a waiver 

4 issued under this section is subsequently stayed, modified, 

5 or set aside by a court pursuant a provision of law, any 

6 omission or action previously taken by a party under the 

7 waiver while the waiver was in effect shall remain subject 

8 to subsection (c). 

9 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 ‘‘(1) COVERED REQUIREMENT.—The term ‘cov11 ered requirement’ means— 

12 ‘‘(A) any standard established under sec13 tion 3002, 3003, or 3004; 

14 ‘‘(B) the permit requirement under section 

15 3005; or 

16 ‘‘(C) any other requirement of this Act, as 

17 the Administrator determines appropriate. 

18 ‘‘(2) CRITICAL ENERGY RESOURCE.—The term 

19 ‘critical energy resource’ means, as determined by 

20 the Secretary of Energy, any energy resource— 

21 ‘‘(A) that is essential to the energy sector 

22 and energy systems of the United States; and 

23 ‘‘(B) the supply chain of which is vulner24 able to disruption. 


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1 ‘‘(3) CRITICAL ENERGY RESOURCE FACILITY.— 

2 The term ‘critical energy resource facility’ means a 

3 facility that processes or refines a critical energy re4 source.’’. 

5 (2) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of con6 tents of the Solid Waste Disposal Act is amended by 

7 inserting after the item relating to section 3024 the 

8 following: 

‘‘Sec. 3025. Waivers for critical energy resource facilities.’’. 

9 SEC. 10012. ENDING FUTURE DELAYS IN CHEMICAL SUB10 STANCE REVIEW FOR CRITICAL ENERGY RE11 SOURCES. 

12 Section 5(a) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 

13 U.S.C. 2604(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(6) CRITICAL ENERGY RESOURCES.— 

16 ‘‘(A) STANDARD.—For purposes of a de17 termination under paragraph (3) with respect 

18 to a chemical substance that is a critical energy 

19 resource, the Administrator shall take into con20 sideration economic, societal, and environmental 

21 costs and benefits, notwithstanding any require22 ment of this section to not take such factors 

23 into consideration. 

24 ‘‘(B) FAILURE TO RENDER DETERMINA25 TION.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) ACTIONS AUTHORIZED.—If, with 

2 respect to a chemical substance that is a 

3 critical energy resource, the Administrator 

4 fails to make a determination on a notice 

5 under paragraph (3) by the end of the ap6 plicable review period and the notice has 

7 not been withdrawn by the submitter, the 

8 submitter may take the actions described 

9 in paragraph (1)(A) with respect to the 

10 chemical substance, and the Administrator 

11 shall be relieved of any requirement to 

12 make such determination. 

13 ‘‘(ii) NON-DUPLICATION.—A refund of 

14 applicable fees under paragraph (4)(A) 

15 shall not be made if a submitter takes an 

16 action described in paragraph (1)(A) under 

17 this subparagraph. 

18 ‘‘(C) PREREQUISITE FOR SUGGESTION OF

19 WITHDRAWAL OR SUSPENSION.—The Adminis20 trator may not suggest to, or request of, a sub21 mitter of a notice under this subsection for a 

22 chemical substance that is a critical energy re23 source that such submitter withdraw such no24 tice, or request a suspension of the running of 


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1 the applicable review period with respect to 

2 such notice, unless the Administrator has— 

3 ‘‘(i) conducted a preliminary review of 

4 such notice; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) provided to the submitter a draft 

6 of a determination under paragraph (3), 

7 including any supporting information. 

8 ‘‘(D) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this 

9 paragraph, the term ‘critical energy resource’ 

10 means, as determined by the Secretary of En11 ergy, any energy resource— 

12 ‘‘(i) that is essential to the energy sec13 tor and energy systems of the United 

14 States; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) the supply chain of which is vul16 nerable to disruption.’’. 

17 SEC. 10013. NATURAL GAS TAX REPEAL. 

18 (a) REPEAL.—Section 136 of the Clean Air Act (42 

19 U.S.C. 7436)(relating to methane emissions and waste re20 duction incentive program for petroleum and natural gas 

21 systems) is repealed. 

22 (b) RESCISSION.—The unobligated balance of any 

23 amounts made available under section 136 of the Clean 

24 Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7436)(as in effect on the day before 

25 the date of enactment of this Act) is rescinded. 


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1 SEC. 10014. REPEAL OF GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION 

2 FUND. 

3 (a) REPEAL.—Section 134 of the Clean Air Act (42 

4 U.S.C. 7434)(relating to the greenhouse gas reduction 

5 fund) is repealed. 

6 (b) RESCISSION.—The unobligated balance of any 

7 amounts made available under section 134 of the Clean 

8 Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7434)(as in effect on the day before 

9 the date of enactment of this Act) is rescinded. 

10 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 60103 of 

11 Public Law 117–169 (relating to the greenhouse gas re12 duction fund) is repealed. 

13 SEC. 10015. KEEPING AMERICA’S REFINERIES OPERATING. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The owner or operator of a sta15 tionary source described in subsection (b) of this section 

16 shall not be required by the regulations promulgated 

17 under section 112(r)(7)(B) of the Clean Air Act (42 

18 U.S.C. 7412(r)(7)(B)) to include in any hazard assess19 ment under clause (ii) of such section 112(r)(7)(B) an as20 sessment of safer technology and alternative risk manage21 ment measures with respect to the use of hydrofluoric acid 

22 in an alkylation unit. 

23 (b) STATIONARY SOURCE DESCRIBED.—A stationary 

24 source described in this subsection is a stationary source 

25 (as defined in section 112(r)(2)(C) of the Clean Air Act 


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1 (42 U.S.C. 7412(r)(2)(C)) in North American Industry 

2 Classification System code 324— 

3 (1) for which a construction permit or operating 

4 permit has been issued pursuant to the Clean Air 

5 Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.); or 

6 (2) for which the owner or operator dem7 onstrates to the Administrator of the Environmental 

8 Protection Agency that such stationary source con9 forms or will conform to the most recent version of 

10 American Petroleum Institute Recommended Prac11 tice 751. 

12 SEC. 10016. HOMEOWNER ENERGY FREEDOM. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The following are repealed: 

14 (1) Section 50122 of Public Law 117–169 (42 

15 U.S.C. 18795a) (relating to a high-efficiency electric 

16 home rebate program). 

17 (2) Section 50123 of Public Law 117–169 (42 

18 U.S.C. 18795b) (relating to State-based home en19 ergy efficiency contractor training grants). 

20 (3) Section 50131 of Public Law 117–169 (136 

21 Stat. 2041) (relating to assistance for latest and 

22 zero building energy code adoption). 

23 (b) RESCISSIONS.—The unobligated balances of any 

24 amounts made available under each of sections 50122, 

25 50123, and 50131 of Public Law 117–169 (42 U.S.C. 


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1 18795a, 18795b; 136 Stat. 2041) (as in effect on the day 

2 before the date of enactment of this Act) are rescinded. 

3 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

4 50121(c)(7) of Public Law 117–169 (42 U.S.C. 

5 18795(c)(7)) is amended by striking ‘‘, including a rebate 

6 provided under a high-efficiency electric home rebate pro7 gram (as defined in section 50122(d)),’’. 

8 DIVISION B—TRANSPARENCY, 

9 ACCOUNTABILITY, PERMIT10 TING, AND PRODUCTION OF 

11 AMERICAN RESOURCES 

12 SEC. 20001. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

13 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This division may be cited as the 

14 ‘‘Transparency, Accountability, Permitting, and Produc15 tion of American Resources Act’’ or the ‘‘TAPP American 

16 Resources Act’’. 

17 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

18 this division is as follows: 

DIVISION B—TAPP AMERICAN RESOURCES 

Sec. 20001. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—ONSHORE AND OFFSHORE LEASING AND OVERSIGHT 

Sec. 20101. Onshore oil and gas leasing. 

Sec. 20102. Lease reinstatement. 

Sec. 20103. Protested lease sales. 

Sec. 20104. Suspension of operations. 

Sec. 20105. Administrative protest process reform. 

Sec. 20106. Leasing and permitting transparency. 

Sec. 20107. Offshore oil and gas leasing. 

Sec. 20108. Five-year plan for offshore oil and gas leasing. 

Sec. 20109. Geothermal leasing. 

Sec. 20110. Leasing for certain qualified coal applications. 

Sec. 20111. Future coal leasing. 


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Sec. 20112. Staff planning report. 

Sec. 20113. Prohibition on Chinese communist party ownership interest. 

Sec. 20114. Effect on other law. 

TITLE II—PERMITTING STREAMLINING 

Sec. 20201. Definitions. 

Sec. 20202. BUILDER Act. 

Sec. 20203. Codification of National Environmental Policy Act regulations. 

Sec. 20204. Non-major Federal actions. 

Sec. 20205. No net loss determination for existing rights-of-way. 

Sec. 20206. Determination of National Environmental Policy Act adequacy. 

Sec. 20207. Determination regarding rights-of-way. 

Sec. 20208. Terms of rights-of-way. 

Sec. 20209. Funding to process permits and develop information technology. 

Sec. 20210. Offshore geological and geophysical survey licensing. 

Sec. 20211. Deferral of applications for permits to drill. 

Sec. 20212. Processing and terms of applications for permits to drill. 

Sec. 20213. Amendments to the Energy Policy Act of 2005. 

Sec. 20214. Access to Federal energy resources from non-Federal surface estate. 

Sec. 20215. Scope of environmental reviews for oil and gas leases. 

Sec. 20216. Expediting approval of gathering lines. 

Sec. 20217. Lease sale litigation. 

Sec. 20218. Limitation on claims. 

Sec. 20219. Government Accountability Office report on permits to drill. 

Sec. 20220. E–NEPA. 

TITLE III—PERMITTING FOR MINING NEEDS 

Sec. 20301. Definitions. 

Sec. 20302. Minerals supply chain and reliability. 

Sec. 20303. Federal register process improvement. 

Sec. 20304. Designation of mining as a covered sector for Federal permitting 

improvement purposes. 

Sec. 20305. Treatment of actions under presidential determination 2022–11 for 

Federal permitting improvement purposes. 

Sec. 20306. Notice for mineral exploration activities with limited surface disturbance. 

Sec. 20307. Use of mining claims for ancillary activities. 

Sec. 20308. Ensuring consideration of uranium as a critical mineral. 

Sec. 20309. Barring foreign bad actors from operating on Federal lands. 

TITLE IV—FEDERAL LAND USE PLANNING 

Sec. 20401. Federal land use planning and withdrawals. 

Sec. 20402. Prohibitions on delay of mineral development of certain Federal 

land. 

Sec. 20403. Definitions. 

TITLE V—ENSURING COMPETITIVENESS ON FEDERAL LANDS 

Sec. 20501. Incentivizing domestic production. 

TITLE VI—ENERGY REVENUE SHARING 

Sec. 20601. Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf revenue. 


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Sec. 20602. Parity in offshore wind revenue sharing. 

Sec. 20603. Elimination of administrative fee under the Mineral Leasing Act. 

1 TITLE I—ONSHORE AND OFF2 SHORE LEASING AND OVER3 SIGHT 

4 SEC. 20101. ONSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASING. 

5 (a) REQUIREMENT TO IMMEDIATELY RESUME ON6 SHORE OIL AND GAS LEASE SALES.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte8 rior shall immediately resume quarterly onshore oil 

9 and gas lease sales in compliance with the Mineral 

10 Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.). 

11 (2) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary of the Inte12 rior shall ensure— 

13 (A) that any oil and gas lease sale pursu14 ant to paragraph (1) is conducted immediately 

15 on completion of all applicable scoping, public 

16 comment, and environmental analysis require17 ments under the Mineral Leasing Act (30 

18 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) and the National Environ19 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 

20 seq.); and 

21 (B) that the processes described in sub22 paragraph (A) are conducted in a timely man23 ner to ensure compliance with subsection (b)(1). 


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1 (3) LEASE OF OIL AND GAS LANDS.—Section 

2 17(b)(1)(A) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

3 226(b)(1)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘Eligible 

4 lands comprise all lands subject to leasing under this 

5 Act and not excluded from leasing by a statutory or 

6 regulatory prohibition. Available lands are those 

7 lands that have been designated as open for leasing 

8 under a land use plan developed under section 202 

9 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 

10 1976 and that have been nominated for leasing 

11 through the submission of an expression of interest, 

12 are subject to drainage in the absence of leasing, or 

13 are otherwise designated as available pursuant to 

14 regulations adopted by the Secretary.’’ after ‘‘sales 

15 are necessary.’’. 

16 (b) QUARTERLY LEASE SALES.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with the Min18 eral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.), each fiscal 

19 year, the Secretary of the Interior shall conduct a 

20 minimum of four oil and gas lease sales in each of 

21 the following States: 

22 (A) Wyoming. 

23 (B) New Mexico. 

24 (C) Colorado. 

25 (D) Utah. 


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1 (E) Montana. 

2 (F) North Dakota. 

3 (G) Oklahoma. 

4 (H) Nevada. 

5 (I) Alaska. 

6 (J) Any other State in which there is land 

7 available for oil and gas leasing under the Min8 eral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) or any 

9 other mineral leasing law. 

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

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

12 paragraph, the Secretary of the Interior shall offer 

13 all parcels nominated and eligible pursuant to the 

14 requirements of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

15 181 et seq.) for oil and gas exploration, develop16 ment, and production under the resource manage17 ment plan in effect for the State. 

18 (3) REPLACEMENT SALES.—The Secretary of 

19 the Interior shall conduct a replacement sale during 

20 the same fiscal year if— 

21 (A) a lease sale under paragraph (1) is 

22 canceled, delayed, or deferred, including for a 

23 lack of eligible parcels; or 

24 (B) during a lease sale under paragraph 

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1 ceive a bid is equal to or greater than 25 per2 cent of the acreage offered. 

3 (4) NOTICE REGARDING MISSED SALES.—Not 

4 later than 30 days after a sale required under this 

5 subsection is canceled, delayed, deferred, or other6 wise missed the Secretary of the Interior shall sub7 mit to the Committee on Natural Resources of the 

8 House of Representatives and the Committee on En9 ergy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report 

10 that states what sale was missed and why it was 

11 missed. 

12 SEC. 20102. LEASE REINSTATEMENT. 

13 The reinstatement of a lease entered into under the 

14 Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) or the Geo15 thermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) by 

16 the Secretary shall be not considered a major Federal ac17 tion under section 102(2)(C) of the National Environ18 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)). 

19 SEC. 20103. PROTESTED LEASE SALES. 

20 Section 17(b)(1)(A) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 

21 U.S.C. 226(b)(1)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘The Sec22 retary shall resolve any protest to a lease sale not later 

23 than 60 days after such payment.’’ after ‘‘annual rental 

24 for the first lease year.’’. 


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1 SEC. 20104. SUSPENSION OF OPERATIONS. 

2 Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

3 226) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(r) SUSPENSION OF OPERATIONS PERMITS.—In the 

5 event that an oil and gas lease owner has submitted an 

6 expression of interest for adjacent acreage that is part of 

7 the nature of the geological play and has yet to be offered 

8 in a lease sale by the Secretary, they may request a sus9 pension of operations from the Secretary of the Interior 

10 and upon request, the Secretary shall grant the suspension 

11 of operations within 15 days. Any payment of acreage 

12 rental or of minimum royalty prescribed by such lease like13 wise shall be suspended during such period of suspension 

14 of operations and production; and the term of such lease 

15 shall be extended by adding any such suspension period 

16 thereto.’’. 

17 SEC. 20105. ADMINISTRATIVE PROTEST PROCESS REFORM. 

18 Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

19 226) is further amended by adding at the end the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(s) PROTEST FILING FEE.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Before processing any pro23 test filed under this section, the Secretary shall col24 lect a filing fee in the amount described in para25 graph (2) from the protestor to recover the cost for 


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1 processing documents filed for each administrative 

2 protest. 

3 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT.—The amount described in this 

4 paragraph is calculated as follows: 

5 ‘‘(A) For each protest filed in a submission 

6 not exceeding 10 pages in length, the base filing 

7 fee shall be $150. 

8 ‘‘(B) For each submission exceeding 10 

9 pages in length, in addition to the base filing 

10 fee, an assessment of $5 per page in excess of 

11 10 pages shall apply. 

12 ‘‘(C) For protests that include more than 

13 one oil and gas lease parcel, right-of-way, or ap14 plication for permit to drill in a submission, an 

15 additional assessment of $10 per additional 

16 lease parcel, right-of-way, or application for 

17 permit to drill shall apply. 

18 ‘‘(3) ADJUSTMENT.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on January 

20 1, 2024, and annually thereafter, the Secretary 

21 shall adjust the filing fees established in this 

22 subsection to whole dollar amounts to reflect 

23 changes in the Producer Price Index, as pub24 lished by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, for 

25 the previous 12 months. 


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1 ‘‘(B) PUBLICATION OF ADJUSTED FILING

2 FEES.—At least 30 days before the filing fees 

3 as adjusted under this paragraph take effect, 

4 the Secretary shall publish notification of the 

5 adjustment of such fees in the Federal Reg6 ister.’’. 

7 SEC. 20106. LEASING AND PERMITTING TRANSPARENCY. 

8 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 30 days after the date 

9 of the enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, 

10 the Secretary of the Interior shall submit to the Com11 mittee on Natural Resources of the House of Representa12 tives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Re13 sources of the Senate a report that describes— 

14 (1) the status of nominated parcels for future 

15 onshore oil and gas and geothermal lease sales, in16 cluding— 

17 (A) the number of expressions of interest 

18 received each month during the period of 365 

19 days that ends on the date on which the report 

20 is submitted with respect to which the Bureau 

21 of Land Management— 

22 (i) has not taken any action to review; 

23 (ii) has not completed review; or 

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1 plicable requirements for leasing, but has 

2 not offered the relevant area in a lease 

3 sale; 

4 (B) how long expressions of interest de5 scribed in subparagraph (A) have been pending; 

6 and 

7 (C) a plan, including timelines, for how the 

8 Secretary of the Interior plans to— 

9 (i) work through future expressions of 

10 interest to prevent delays; 

11 (ii) put expressions of interest de12 scribed in subparagraph (A) into a lease 

13 sale; and 

14 (iii) complete review for expressions of 

15 interest described in clauses (i) and (ii) of 

16 subparagraph (A); 

17 (2) the status of each pending application for 

18 permit to drill received during the period of 365 

19 days that ends on the date on which the report is 

20 submitted, including the number of applications re21 ceived each month, by each Bureau of Land Man22 agement office, including— 

23 (A) a description of the cause of delay for 

24 pending applications, including as a result of 

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1 plete applications, and incomplete review pursu2 ant to the National Environmental Policy Act 

3 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) or other ap4 plicable laws; 

5 (B) the number of days an application has 

6 been pending in violation of section 17(p)(2) of 

7 the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(p)(2)); 

8 and 

9 (C) a plan for how the office intends to 

10 come into compliance with the requirements of 

11 section 17(p)(2) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 

12 U.S.C. 226(p)(2)); 

13 (3) the number of permits to drill issued each 

14 month by each Bureau of Land Management office 

15 during the 5-year period ending on the date on 

16 which the report is submitted; 

17 (4) the status of each pending application for a 

18 license for offshore geological and geophysical sur19 veys received during the period of 365 days that 

20 ends on the date on which the report is submitted, 

21 including the number of applications received each 

22 month, by each Bureau of Ocean Energy manage23 ment regional office, including— 

24 (A) a description of any cause of delay for 

25 pending applications, including as a result of 


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1 staffing shortages, technical limitations, incom2 plete applications, and incomplete review pursu3 ant to the National Environmental Policy Act 

4 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) or other ap5 plicable laws; 

6 (B) the number of days an application has 

7 been pending; and 

8 (C) a plan for how the Bureau of Ocean 

9 Energy Management intends to complete review 

10 of each application; 

11 (5) the number of licenses for offshore geologi12 cal and geophysical surveys issued each month by 

13 each Bureau of Ocean Energy Management regional 

14 office during the 5-year period ending on the date on 

15 which the report is submitted; 

16 (6) the status of each pending application for a 

17 permit to drill received during the period of 365 

18 days that ends on the date on which the report is 

19 submitted, including the number of applications re20 ceived each month, by each Bureau of Safety and 

21 Environmental Enforcement regional office, includ22 ing— 

23 (A) a description of any cause of delay for 

24 pending applications, including as a result of 

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1 plete applications, and incomplete review pursu2 ant to the National Environmental Policy Act 

3 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) or other ap4 plicable laws; 

5 (B) the number of days an application has 

6 been pending; and 

7 (C) steps the Bureau of Safety and Envi8 ronmental Enforcement is taking to complete 

9 review of each application; 

10 (7) the number of permits to drill issued each 

11 month by each Bureau of Safety and Environmental 

12 Enforcement regional office during the period of 365 

13 days that ends on the date on which the report is 

14 submitted; 

15 (8) how, as applicable, the Bureau of Land 

16 Management, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Manage17 ment, and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental 

18 Enforcement determines whether to— 

19 (A) issue a license for geological and geo20 physical surveys; 

21 (B) issue a permit to drill; and 

22 (C) issue, extend, or suspend an oil and 

23 gas lease; 

24 (9) when determinations described in paragraph 

25 (8) are sent to the national office of the Bureau of 


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1 Land Management, the Bureau of Ocean Energy 

2 Management, or the Bureau of Safety and Environ3 mental Enforcement for final approval; 

4 (10) the degree to which Bureau of Land Man5 agement, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, 

6 and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforce7 ment field, State, and regional offices exercise dis8 cretion on such final approval; 

9 (11) during the period of 365 days that ends on 

10 the date on which the report is submitted, the num11 ber of auctioned leases receiving accepted bids that 

12 have not been issued to winning bidders and the 

13 number of days such leases have not been issued; 

14 and 

15 (12) a description of the uses of application for 

16 permit to drill fees paid by permit holders during 

17 the 5-year period ending on the date on which the 

18 report is submitted. 

19 (b) PENDING APPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO

20 DRILL.—Not later than 30 days after the date of the en21 actment of this section, the Secretary of the Interior 

22 shall— 

23 (1) complete all requirements under the Na24 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

25 4321 et seq.) and other applicable law that must be 


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1 met before issuance of a permit to drill described in 

2 paragraph (2); and 

3 (2) issue a permit for all completed applications 

4 to drill that are pending on the date of the enact5 ment of this Act. 

6 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF DATA.— 

7 (1) MINERAL LEASING ACT.—Section 17 of the 

8 Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) is further 

9 amended by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(t) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF DATA.— 

11 ‘‘(1) EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST.—Not later 

12 than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this 

13 subsection, and each month thereafter, the Secretary 

14 shall publish on the website of the Department of 

15 the Interior the number of pending, approved, and 

16 not approved expressions of interest in nominated 

17 parcels for future onshore oil and gas lease sales in 

18 the preceding month. 

19 ‘‘(2) APPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO DRILL.— 

20 Not later than 30 days after the date of the enact21 ment of this subsection, and each month thereafter, 

22 the Secretary shall publish on the website of the De23 partment of the Interior the number of pending and 

24 approved applications for permits to drill in the pre25 ceding month in each State office. 


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1 ‘‘(3) PAST DATA.—Not later than 30 days after 

2 the date of the enactment of this subsection, the 

3 Secretary shall publish on the website of the Depart4 ment of the Interior, with respect to each month 

5 during the 5-year period ending on the date of the 

6 enactment of this subsection— 

7 ‘‘(A) the number of approved and not ap8 proved expressions of interest for onshore oil 

9 and gas lease sales during such 5-year period; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(B) the number of approved and not ap12 proved applications for permits to drill during 

13 such 5-year period.’’. 

14 (2) OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF LANDS ACT.— 

15 Section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

16 (43 U.S.C. 1337) is amended by adding at the end 

17 the following: 

18 ‘‘(q) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF DATA.— 

19 ‘‘(1) OFFSHORE GEOLOGICAL AND GEO20 PHYSICAL SURVEY LICENSES.—Not later than 30 

21 days after the date of the enactment of this sub22 section, and each month thereafter, the Secretary 

23 shall publish on the website of the Department of 

24 the Interior the number of pending and approved 


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1 applications for licenses for offshore geological and 

2 geophysical surveys in the preceding month. 

3 ‘‘(2) APPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO DRILL.— 

4 Not later than 30 days after the date of the enact5 ment of this subsection, and each month thereafter, 

6 the Secretary shall publish on the website of the De7 partment of the Interior the number of pending and 

8 approved applications for permits to drill on the 

9 outer Continental Shelf in the preceding month in 

10 each regional office. 

11 ‘‘(3) PAST DATA.—Not later than 30 days after 

12 the date of the enactment of this subsection, the 

13 Secretary shall publish on the website of the Depart14 ment of the Interior, with respect each month during 

15 the 5-year period ending on the date of the enact16 ment of this subsection— 

17 ‘‘(A) the number of approved applications 

18 for licenses for offshore geological and geo19 physical surveys; and 

20 ‘‘(B) the number of approved applications 

21 for permits to drill on the outer Continental 

22 Shelf.’’. 

23 (d) REQUIREMENT TO SUBMIT DOCUMENTS AND

24 COMMUNICATIONS.— 


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

2 the date of the enactment of this section, the Sec3 retary of the Interior shall submit to the Committee 

4 on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and 

5 the Committee on Natural Resources of the House 

6 of Representatives all documents and communica7 tions relating to the comprehensive review of Federal 

8 oil and gas permitting and leasing practices required 

9 under section 208 of Executive Order 14008 (86 

10 Fed. Reg. 7624; relating to tackling the climate cri11 sis at home and abroad). 

12 (2) INCLUSIONS.—The submission under para13 graph (1) shall include all documents and commu14 nications submitted to the Secretary of the Interior 

15 by members of the public in response to any public 

16 meeting or forum relating to the comprehensive re17 view described in that paragraph. 

18 SEC. 20107. OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASING. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct all 

20 lease sales described in the 2017–2022 Outer Continental 

21 Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Final Program (No22 vember 2016) that have not been conducted as of the date 

23 of the enactment of this Act by not later than September 

24 30, 2023. 


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1 (b) GULF OF MEXICO REGION ANNUAL LEASE

2 SALES.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and 

3 except within areas subject to existing oil and gas leasing 

4 moratoria beginning in fiscal year 2023, the Secretary of 

5 the Interior shall annually conduct a minimum of 2 re6 gion-wide oil and gas lease sales in the following planning 

7 areas of the Gulf of Mexico region, as described in the 

8 2017–2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing 

9 Proposed Final Program (November 2016): 

10 (1) The Central Gulf of Mexico Planning Area. 

11 (2) The Western Gulf of Mexico Planning Area. 

12 (c) ALASKA REGION ANNUAL LEASE SALES.—Not13 withstanding any other provision of law, beginning in fis14 cal year 2023, the Secretary of the Interior shall annually 

15 conduct a minimum of 2 region-wide oil and gas lease 

16 sales in the Alaska region of the Outer Continental Shelf, 

17 as described in the 2017–2022 Outer Continental Shelf 

18 Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Final Program (November 

19 2016). 

20 (d) REQUIREMENTS.—In conducting lease sales 

21 under subsections (b) and (c), the Secretary of the Interior 

22 shall— 

23 (1) issue such leases in accordance with the 

24 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1332 

25 et seq.); and 


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1 (2) include in each such lease sale all unleased 

2 areas that are not subject to a moratorium as of the 

3 date of the lease sale. 

4 SEC. 20108. FIVE-YEAR PLAN FOR OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS 

5 LEASING. 

6 Section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

7 (43 U.S.C. 1344) is amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (a)— 

9 (A) by striking ‘‘subsections (c) and (d) of 

10 this section, shall prepare and periodically re11 vise,’’ and inserting ‘‘this section, shall issue 

12 every five years’’; 

13 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(5) Each five-year program shall include at 

15 least two Gulf of Mexico region-wide lease sales per 

16 year.’’; and 

17 (C) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘domes18 tic energy security,’’ after ‘‘between’’; 

19 (2) by redesignating subsections (f) through (i) 

20 as subsections (h) through (k), respectively; and 

21 (3) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(f) FIVE-YEAR PROGRAM FOR 2023–2028.—The 

24 Secretary shall issue the five-year oil and gas leasing pro25 gram for 2023 through 2028 and issue the Record of DeVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:17 Mar 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00068 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1.IH H1

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1 cision on the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact 

2 Statement by not later than July 1, 2023. 

3 ‘‘(g) SUBSEQUENT LEASING PROGRAMS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 36 months 

5 after conducting the first lease sale under an oil and 

6 gas leasing program prepared pursuant to this sec7 tion, the Secretary shall begin preparing the subse8 quent oil and gas leasing program under this sec9 tion. 

10 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—Each subsequent oil and 

11 gas leasing program under this section shall be ap12 proved by not later than 180 days before the expira13 tion of the previous oil and gas leasing program.’’. 

14 SEC. 20109. GEOTHERMAL LEASING. 

15 (a) ANNUAL LEASING.—Section 4(b) of the Geo16 thermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1003(b)) is amend17 ed— 

18 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘2 years’’ and 

19 inserting ‘‘year’’; 

20 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and (4) as 

21 paragraphs (5) and (6), respectively; and 

22 (3) after paragraph (2), by inserting the fol23 lowing: 

24 ‘‘(3) REPLACEMENT SALES.—If a lease sale 

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1 layed, the Secretary of the Interior shall conduct a 

2 replacement sale during the same year. 

3 ‘‘(4) REQUIREMENT.—In conducting a lease 

4 sale under paragraph (2) in a State described in 

5 that paragraph, the Secretary of the Interior shall 

6 offer all nominated parcels eligible for geothermal 

7 development and utilization under the resource man8 agement plan in effect for the State.’’. 

9 (b) DEADLINES FOR CONSIDERATION OF GEO10 THERMAL DRILLING PERMITS.—Section 4 of the Geo11 thermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1003) is amended 

12 by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(h) DEADLINES FOR CONSIDERATION OF GEO14 THERMAL DRILLING PERMITS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) NOTICE.—Not later than 30 days after the 

16 date on which the Secretary receives an application 

17 for any geothermal drilling permit, the Secretary 

18 shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) provide written notice to the appli20 cant that the application is complete; or 

21 ‘‘(B) notify the applicant that information 

22 is missing and specify any information that is 

23 required to be submitted for the application to 

24 be complete. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ISSUANCE OF DECISION.—If the Secretary 

2 determines that an application for a geothermal 

3 drilling permit is complete under paragraph (1)(A), 

4 the Secretary shall issue a final decision on the ap5 plication not later than 30 days after the Secretary 

6 notifies the applicant that the application is com7 plete.’’. 

8 SEC. 20110. LEASING FOR CERTAIN QUALIFIED COAL AP9 PLICATIONS. 

10 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 (1) COAL LEASE.—The term ‘‘coal lease’’ 

12 means a lease entered into by the United States as 

13 lessor, through the Bureau of Land Management, 

14 and the applicant on Bureau of Land Management 

15 Form 3400–012. 

16 (2) QUALIFIED APPLICATION.—The term 

17 ‘‘qualified application’’ means any application pend18 ing under the lease by application program adminis19 tered by the Bureau of Land Management pursuant 

20 to the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) 

21 and subpart 3425 of title 43, Code of Federal Regu22 lations (as in effect on the date of the enactment of 

23 this Act), for which the environmental review proc24 ess under the National Environmental Policy Act of 

25 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) has commenced. 


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1 (b) MANDATORY LEASING AND OTHER REQUIRED

2 APPROVALS.—As soon as practicable after the date of the 

3 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall promptly— 

4 (1) with respect to each qualified application— 

5 (A) if not previously published for public 

6 comment, publish a draft environmental assess7 ment, as required under the National Environ8 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 

9 seq.) and any applicable implementing regula10 tions; 

11 (B) finalize the fair market value of the 

12 coal tract for which a lease by application is 

13 pending; 

14 (C) take all intermediate actions necessary 

15 to grant the qualified application; and 

16 (D) grant the qualified application; and 

17 (2) with respect to previously awarded coal 

18 leases, grant any additional approvals of the Depart19 ment of the Interior or any bureau, agency, or divi20 sion of the Department of the Interior required for 

21 mining activities to commence. 

22 SEC. 20111. FUTURE COAL LEASING. 

23 Notwithstanding any judicial decision to the contrary 

24 or a departmental review of the Federal coal leasing pro25 gram, Secretarial Order 3338, issued by the Secretary of 


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1 the Interior on January 15, 2016, shall have no force or 

2 effect. 

3 SEC. 20112. STAFF PLANNING REPORT. 

4 The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of 

5 Agriculture shall each annually submit to the Committee 

6 on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and 

7 the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 

8 Senate a report on the staffing capacity of each respective 

9 agency with respect to issuing oil, gas, hardrock mining, 

10 coal, and renewable energy leases, rights-of-way, claims, 

11 easements, and permits. Each such report shall include— 

12 (1) the number of staff assigned to process and 

13 issue oil, gas, hardrock mining, coal, and renewable 

14 energy leases, rights-of-way, claims, easements, and 

15 permits; 

16 (2) a description of how many staff are needed 

17 to meet statutory requirements for such oil, gas, 

18 hardrock mining, coal, and renewable energy leases, 

19 rights-of-way, claims, easements, and permits; and 

20 (3) how, as applicable, the Department of the 

21 Interior or the Department of Agriculture plans to 

22 address staffing shortfalls and turnover to ensure 

23 adequate staffing to process and issue such oil, gas, 

24 hardrock mining, coal, and renewable energy leases, 

25 rights-of-way, claims, easements, and permits. 


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1 SEC. 20113. PROHIBITION ON CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY 

2 OWNERSHIP INTEREST. 

3 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Com4 munist Party of China (or a person acting on behalf of 

5 the Community Party of China) may not acquire any in6 terest with respect to lands leased for oil or gas under 

7 the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) or the 

8 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et 

9 seq.). 

10 SEC. 20114. EFFECT ON OTHER LAW. 

11 Nothing in this division, or any amendments made 

12 by this division, shall affect— 

13 (1) the Presidential memorandum titled 

14 ‘‘Memorandum on Withdrawal of Certain Areas of 

15 the United States Outer Continental Shelf From 

16 Leasing Disposition’’ and dated September 8, 2020; 

17 (2) the Presidential memorandum titled 

18 ‘‘Memorandum on Withdrawal of Certain Areas of 

19 the United States Outer Continental Shelf From 

20 Leasing Disposition’’ and dated September 25, 

21 2020; 

22 (3) the Presidential memorandum titled 

23 ‘‘Memorandum on Withdrawal of Certain Areas off 

24 the Atlantic Coast on the Outer Continental Shelf 

25 From Leasing Disposition’’ and dated December 20, 

26 2016; or 


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1 (4) the ban on oil and gas development in the 

2 Great Lakes described in section 386 of the Energy 

3 Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15941). 

4 TITLE II—PERMITTING 

5 STREAMLINING 

6 SEC. 20201. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this title: 

8 (1) ENERGY FACILITY.—The term ‘‘energy fa9 cility’’ means a facility the primary purpose of which 

10 is the exploration for, or the development, produc11 tion, conversion, gathering, storage, transfer, proc12 essing, or transportation of, any energy resource. 

13 (2) ENERGY STORAGE DEVICE.—The term ‘‘en14 ergy storage device’’— 

15 (A) means any equipment that stores en16 ergy, including electricity, compressed air, 

17 pumped water, heat, and hydrogen, which may 

18 be converted into, or used to produce, elec19 tricity; and 

20 (B) includes a battery, regenerative fuel 

21 cell, flywheel, capacitor, superconducting mag22 net, and any other equipment the Secretary 

23 concerned determines may be used to store en24 ergy which may be converted into, or used to 

25 produce, electricity. 


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1 (3) PUBLIC LANDS.—The term ‘‘public lands’’ 

2 means any land and interest in land owned by the 

3 United States within the several States and adminis4 tered by the Secretary of the Interior or the Sec5 retary of Agriculture without regard to how the 

6 United States acquired ownership, except— 

7 (A) lands located on the Outer Continental 

8 Shelf; and 

9 (B) lands held in trust by the United 

10 States for the benefit of Indians, Indian Tribes, 

11 Aleuts, and Eskimos. 

12 (4) RIGHT-OF-WAY.—The term ‘‘right-of-way’’ 

13 means— 

14 (A) a right-of-way issued, granted, or re15 newed under section 501 of the Federal Land 

16 Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 

17 1761); or 

18 (B) a right-of-way granted under section 

19 28 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 185). 

20 (5) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec21 retary concerned’’ means— 

22 (A) with respect to public lands, the Sec23 retary of the Interior; and 

24 (B) with respect to National Forest Sys25 tem lands, the Secretary of Agriculture. 


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1 (6) LAND USE PLAN.—The term ‘‘land use 

2 plan’’ means— 

3 (A) a land and resource management plan 

4 prepared by the Forest Service for a unit of the 

5 National Forest System pursuant to section 6 

6 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Re7 sources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 

8 1604); 

9 (B) a Land Management Plan developed 

10 by the Bureau of Land Management under the 

11 Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 

12 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); or 

13 (C) a comprehensive conservation plan de14 veloped by the United States Fish and Wildlife 

15 Service under section 4(e)(1)(A) of the National 

16 Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 

17 1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd(e)(1)(A)). 

18 SEC. 20202. BUILDER ACT. 

19 (a) PARAGRAPH (2) OF SECTION 102.—Section 

20 102(2) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

21 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)) is amended— 

22 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘insure’’ 

23 and inserting ‘‘ensure’’; 

24 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘insure’’ 

25 and inserting ‘‘ensure’’; 


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1 (3) in subparagraph (C)— 

2 (A) by inserting ‘‘consistent with the provi3 sions of this Act and except as provided by 

4 other provisions of law,’’ before ‘‘include in 

5 every’’; 

6 (B) by striking clauses (i) through (v) and 

7 inserting the following: 

8 ‘‘(i) reasonably foreseeable environmental 

9 effects with a reasonably close causal relation10 ship to the proposed agency action; 

11 ‘‘(ii) any reasonably foreseeable adverse en12 vironmental effects which cannot be avoided 

13 should the proposal be implemented; 

14 ‘‘(iii) a reasonable number of alternatives 

15 to the proposed agency action, including an 

16 analysis of any negative environmental impacts 

17 of not implementing the proposed agency action 

18 in the case of a no action alternative, that are 

19 technically and economically feasible, are within 

20 the jurisdiction of the agency, meet the purpose 

21 and need of the proposal, and, where applicable, 

22 meet the goals of the applicant; 

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1 tenance and enhancement of long-term produc2 tivity; and 

3 ‘‘(v) any irreversible and irretrievable com4 mitments of Federal resources which would be 

5 involved in the proposed agency action should it 

6 be implemented.’’; and 

7 (C) by striking ‘‘the responsible Federal 

8 official’’ and inserting ‘‘the head of the lead 

9 agency’’; 

10 (4) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘Any’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘any’’; 

12 (5) by redesignating subparagraphs (D) 

13 through (I) as subparagraphs (F) through (K), re14 spectively; 

15 (6) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(D) ensure the professional integrity, including 

18 scientific integrity, of the discussion and analysis in 

19 an environmental document; 

20 ‘‘(E) make use of reliable existing data and re21 sources in carrying out this Act;’’; 

22 (7) by amending subparagraph (G), as redesig23 nated, to read as follows: 

24 ‘‘(G) consistent with the provisions of this Act, 

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1 cally feasible alternatives within the jurisdiction and 

2 authority of the agency;’’; and 

3 (8) in subparagraph (H), as amended, by in4 serting ‘‘consistent with the provisions of this Act,’’ 

5 before ‘‘recognize’’. 

6 (b) NEW SECTIONS.—Title I of the National Envi7 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) 

8 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 106. PROCEDURE FOR DETERMINATION OF LEVEL OF 

10 REVIEW. 

11 ‘‘(a) THRESHOLD DETERMINATIONS.—An agency is 

12 not required to prepare an environmental document with 

13 respect to a proposed agency action if— 

14 ‘‘(1) the proposed agency action is not a final 

15 agency action within the meaning of such term in 

16 chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code; 

17 ‘‘(2) the proposed agency action is covered by 

18 a categorical exclusion established by the agency, an19 other Federal agency, or another provision of law; 

20 ‘‘(3) the preparation of such document would 

21 clearly and fundamentally conflict with the require22 ments of another provision of law; 

23 ‘‘(4) the proposed agency action is, in whole or 

24 in part, a nondiscretionary action with respect to 

25 which such agency does not have authority to take 


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1 environmental factors into consideration in deter2 mining whether to take the proposed action; 

3 ‘‘(5) the proposed agency action is a rulemaking 

4 that is subject to section 553 of title 5, United 

5 States Code; or 

6 ‘‘(6) the proposed agency action is an action for 

7 which such agency’s compliance with another stat8 ute’s requirements serve the same or similar func9 tion as the requirements of this Act with respect to 

10 such action. 

11 ‘‘(b) LEVELS OF REVIEW.— 

12 ‘‘(1) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT.— 

13 An agency shall issue an environmental impact 

14 statement with respect to a proposed agency action 

15 that has a significant effect on the quality of the 

16 human environment. 

17 ‘‘(2) ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT.—An agen18 cy shall prepare an environmental assessment with 

19 respect to a proposed agency action that is not likely 

20 to have a significant effect on the quality of the 

21 human environment, or if the significance of such ef22 fect is unknown, unless the agency finds that a cat23 egorical exclusion established by the agency, another 

24 Federal agency, or another provision of law applies. 

25 Such environmental assessment shall be a concise 


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1 public document prepared by a Federal agency to set 

2 forth the basis of such agency’s finding of no signifi3 cant impact. 

4 ‘‘(3) SOURCES OF INFORMATION.—In making a 

5 determination under this subsection, an agency— 

6 ‘‘(A) may make use of any reliable data 

7 source; and 

8 ‘‘(B) is not required to undertake new sci9 entific or technical research. 

10 ‘‘SEC. 107. TIMELY AND UNIFIED FEDERAL REVIEWS. 

11 ‘‘(a) LEAD AGENCY.— 

12 ‘‘(1) DESIGNATION.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If there are two or 

14 more involved Federal agencies, such agencies 

15 shall determine, by letter or memorandum, 

16 which agency shall be the lead agency based on 

17 consideration of the following factors: 

18 ‘‘(i) Magnitude of agency’s involve19 ment. 

20 ‘‘(ii) Project approval or disapproval 

21 authority. 

22 ‘‘(iii) Expertise concerning the ac23 tion’s environmental effects. 

24 ‘‘(iv) Duration of agency’s involve25 ment. 


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1 ‘‘(v) Sequence of agency’s involve2 ment. 

3 ‘‘(B) JOINT LEAD AGENCIES.—In making 

4 a determination under subparagraph (A), the 

5 involved Federal agencies may, in addition to a 

6 Federal agency, appoint such Federal, State, 

7 Tribal, or local agencies as joint lead agencies 

8 as the involved Federal agencies shall determine 

9 appropriate. Joint lead agencies shall jointly 

10 fulfill the role described in paragraph (2). 

11 ‘‘(C) MINERAL PROJECTS.—This para12 graph shall not apply with respect to a mineral 

13 exploration or mine permit. 

14 ‘‘(2) ROLE.—A lead agency shall, with respect 

15 to a proposed agency action— 

16 ‘‘(A) supervise the preparation of an envi17 ronmental document if, with respect to such 

18 proposed agency action, there is more than one 

19 involved Federal agency; 

20 ‘‘(B) request the participation of each co21 operating agency at the earliest practicable 

22 time; 

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1 risdiction by law or a cooperating agency with 

2 special expertise; 

3 ‘‘(D) develop a schedule, in consultation 

4 with each involved cooperating agency, the ap5 plicant, and such other entities as the lead 

6 agency determines appropriate, for completion 

7 of any environmental review, permit, or author8 ization required to carry out the proposed agen9 cy action; 

10 ‘‘(E) if the lead agency determines that a 

11 review, permit, or authorization will not be com12 pleted in accordance with the schedule devel13 oped under subparagraph (D), notify the agen14 cy responsible for issuing such review, permit, 

15 or authorization of the discrepancy and request 

16 that such agency take such measures as such 

17 agency determines appropriate to comply with 

18 such schedule; and 

19 ‘‘(F) meet with a cooperating agency that 

20 requests such a meeting. 

21 ‘‘(3) COOPERATING AGENCY.—The lead agency 

22 may, with respect to a proposed agency action, des23 ignate any involved Federal agency or a State, Trib24 al, or local agency as a cooperating agency. A co25 operating agency may, not later than a date speciVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:17 Mar 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00084 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1.IH H1

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1 fied by the lead agency, submit comments to the 

2 lead agency. Such comments shall be limited to mat3 ters relating to the proposed agency action with re4 spect to which such agency has special expertise or 

5 jurisdiction by law with respect to an environmental 

6 issue. 

7 ‘‘(4) REQUEST FOR DESIGNATION.—Any Fed8 eral, State, Tribal, or local agency or person that is 

9 substantially affected by the lack of a designation of 

10 a lead agency with respect to a proposed agency ac11 tion under paragraph (1) may submit a written re12 quest for such a designation to an involved Federal 

13 agency. An agency that receives a request under this 

14 paragraph shall transmit such request to each in15 volved Federal agency and to the Council. 

16 ‘‘(5) COUNCIL DESIGNATION.— 

17 ‘‘(A) REQUEST.—Not earlier than 45 days 

18 after the date on which a request is submitted 

19 under paragraph (4), if no designation has been 

20 made under paragraph (1), a Federal, State, 

21 Tribal, or local agency or person that is sub22 stantially affected by the lack of a designation 

23 of a lead agency may request that the Council 

24 designate a lead agency. Such request shall con25 sist of— 


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1 ‘‘(i) a precise description of the nature 

2 and extent of the proposed agency action; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(ii) a detailed statement with respect 

5 to each involved Federal agency and each 

6 factor listed in paragraph (1) regarding 

7 which agency should serve as lead agency. 

8 ‘‘(B) TRANSMISSION.—The Council shall 

9 transmit a request received under subparagraph 

10 (A) to each involved Federal agency. 

11 ‘‘(C) RESPONSE.—An involved Federal 

12 agency may, not later than 20 days after the 

13 date of the submission of a request under sub14 paragraph (A), submit to the Council a re15 sponse to such request. 

16 ‘‘(D) DESIGNATION.—Not later than 40 

17 days after the date of the submission of a re18 quest under subparagraph (A), the Council 

19 shall designate the lead agency with respect to 

20 the relevant proposed agency action. 

21 ‘‘(b) ONE DOCUMENT.— 

22 ‘‘(1) DOCUMENT.—To the extent practicable, if 

23 there are 2 or more involved Federal agencies with 

24 respect to a proposed agency action and the lead 

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1 ment is required, such requirement shall be deemed 

2 satisfied with respect to all involved Federal agencies 

3 if the lead agency issues such an environmental doc4 ument. 

5 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATION TIMING.—In developing 

6 an environmental document for a proposed agency 

7 action, no involved Federal agency shall be required 

8 to consider any information that becomes available 

9 after the sooner of, as applicable— 

10 ‘‘(A) receipt of a complete application with 

11 respect to such proposed agency action; or 

12 ‘‘(B) publication of a notice of intent or 

13 decision to prepare an environmental impact 

14 statement for such proposed agency action. 

15 ‘‘(3) SCOPE OF REVIEW.—In developing an en16 vironmental document for a proposed agency action, 

17 the lead agency and any other involved Federal 

18 agencies shall only consider the effects of the pro19 posed agency action that— 

20 ‘‘(A) occur on Federal land; or 

21 ‘‘(B) are subject to Federal control and re22 sponsibility. 

23 ‘‘(c) REQUEST FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.—Each notice 

24 of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement 

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1 ment on alternatives or impacts and on relevant informa2 tion, studies, or analyses with respect to the proposed 

3 agency action. 

4 ‘‘(d) STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND NEED.—Each 

5 environmental impact statement shall include a statement 

6 of purpose and need that briefly summarizes the under7 lying purpose and need for the proposed agency action. 

8 ‘‘(e) ESTIMATED TOTAL COST.—The cover sheet for 

9 each environmental impact statement shall include a state10 ment of the estimated total cost of preparing such environ11 mental impact statement, including the costs of agency 

12 full-time equivalent personnel hours, contractor costs, and 

13 other direct costs. 

14 ‘‘(f) PAGE LIMITS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENTS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

17 subparagraph (B), an environmental impact 

18 statement shall not exceed 150 pages, not in19 cluding any citations or appendices. 

20 ‘‘(B) EXTRAORDINARY COMPLEXITY.—An 

21 environmental impact statement for a proposed 

22 agency action of extraordinary complexity shall 

23 not exceed 300 pages, not including any cita24 tions or appendices. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTS.—An en2 vironmental assessment shall not exceed 75 pages, 

3 not including any citations or appendices. 

4 ‘‘(g) SPONSOR PREPARATION.—A lead agency shall 

5 allow a project sponsor to prepare an environmental as6 sessment or an environmental impact statement upon re7 quest of the project sponsor. Such agency may provide 

8 such sponsor with appropriate guidance and assist in the 

9 preparation. The lead agency shall independently evaluate 

10 the environmental document and shall take responsibility 

11 for the contents upon adoption. 

12 ‘‘(h) DEADLINES.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para14 graph (2), with respect to a proposed agency action, 

15 a lead agency shall complete, as applicable— 

16 ‘‘(A) the environmental impact statement 

17 not later than the date that is 2 years after the 

18 sooner of, as applicable— 

19 ‘‘(i) the date on which such agency 

20 determines that section 102(2)(C) requires 

21 the issuance of an environmental impact 

22 statement with respect to such action; 

23 ‘‘(ii) the date on which such agency 

24 notifies the applicant that the application 


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1 to establish a right-of-way for such action 

2 is complete; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) the date on which such agency 

4 issues a notice of intent to prepare the en5 vironmental impact statement for such ac6 tion; and 

7 ‘‘(B) the environmental assessment not 

8 later than the date that is 1 year after the 

9 sooner of, as applicable— 

10 ‘‘(i) the date on which such agency 

11 determines that section 106(b)(2) requires 

12 the preparation of an environmental as13 sessment with respect to such action; 

14 ‘‘(ii) the date on which such agency 

15 notifies the applicant that the application 

16 to establish a right-of-way for such action 

17 is complete; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) the date on which such agency 

19 issues a notice of intent to prepare the en20 vironmental assessment for such action. 

21 ‘‘(2) DELAY.—A lead agency that determines it 

22 is not able to meet the deadline described in para23 graph (1) may extend such deadline with the ap24 proval of the applicant. If the applicant approves 

25 such an extension, the lead agency shall establish a 


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1 new deadline that provides only so much additional 

2 time as is necessary to complete such environmental 

3 impact statement or environmental assessment. 

4 ‘‘(3) EXPENDITURES FOR DELAY.—If a lead 

5 agency is unable to meet the deadline described in 

6 paragraph (1) or extended under paragraph (2), the 

7 lead agency must pay $100 per day, to the extent 

8 funding is provided in advance in an appropriations 

9 Act, out of the office of the head of the department 

10 of the lead agency to the applicant starting on the 

11 first day immediately following the deadline de12 scribed in paragraph (1) or extended under para13 graph (2) up until the date that an applicant ap14 proves a new deadline. This paragraph does not 

15 apply when the lead agency misses a deadline solely 

16 due to delays caused by litigation. 

17 ‘‘(i) REPORT.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The head of each lead 

19 agency shall annually submit to the Committee on 

20 Natural Resources of the House of Representatives 

21 and the Committee on Environment and Public 

22 Works of the Senate a report that— 

23 ‘‘(A) identifies any environmental assess24 ment and environmental impact statement that 


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1 such lead agency did not complete by the dead2 line described in subsection (h); and 

3 ‘‘(B) provides an explanation for any fail4 ure to meet such deadline. 

5 ‘‘(2) INCLUSIONS.—Each report submitted 

6 under paragraph (1) shall identify, as applicable— 

7 ‘‘(A) the office, bureau, division, unit, or 

8 other entity within the Federal agency respon9 sible for each such environmental assessment 

10 and environmental impact statement; 

11 ‘‘(B) the date on which— 

12 ‘‘(i) such lead agency notified the ap13 plicant that the application to establish a 

14 right-of-way for the major Federal action 

15 is complete; 

16 ‘‘(ii) such lead agency began the 

17 scoping for the major Federal action; or 

18 ‘‘(iii) such lead agency issued a notice 

19 of intent to prepare the environmental as20 sessment or environmental impact state21 ment for the major Federal action; and 

22 ‘‘(C) when such environmental assessment 

23 and environmental impact statement is expected 

24 to be complete. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 108. JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

2 ‘‘(a) LIMITATIONS ON CLAIMS.—Notwithstanding 

3 any other provision of law, a claim arising under Federal 

4 law seeking judicial review of compliance with this Act, 

5 of a determination made under this Act, or of Federal ac6 tion resulting from a determination made under this Act, 

7 shall be barred unless— 

8 ‘‘(1) in the case of a claim pertaining to a pro9 posed agency action for which— 

10 ‘‘(A) an environmental document was pre11 pared and an opportunity for comment was pro12 vided; 

13 ‘‘(B) the claim is filed by a party that par14 ticipated in the administrative proceedings re15 garding such environmental document; and 

16 ‘‘(C) the claim— 

17 ‘‘(i) is filed by a party that submitted 

18 a comment during the public comment pe19 riod for such administrative proceedings 

20 and such comment was sufficiently detailed 

21 to put the lead agency on notice of the 

22 issue upon which the party seeks judicial 

23 review; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) is related to such comment; 

25 ‘‘(2) except as provided in subsection (b), such 

26 claim is filed not later than 120 days after the date 


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1 of publication of a notice in the Federal Register of 

2 agency intent to carry out the proposed agency ac3 tion; 

4 ‘‘(3) such claim is filed after the issuance of a 

5 record of decision or other final agency action with 

6 respect to the relevant proposed agency action; 

7 ‘‘(4) such claim does not challenge the estab8 lishment or use of a categorical exclusion under sec9 tion 102; and 

10 ‘‘(5) such claim concerns— 

11 ‘‘(A) an alternative included in the envi12 ronmental document; or 

13 ‘‘(B) an environmental effect considered in 

14 the environmental document. 

15 ‘‘(b) SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

16 STATEMENT.— 

17 ‘‘(1) SEPARATE FINAL AGENCY ACTION.—The 

18 issuance of a Federal action resulting from a final 

19 supplemental environmental impact statement shall 

20 be considered a final agency action for the purposes 

21 of chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, separate 

22 from the issuance of any previous environmental im23 pact statement with respect to the same proposed 

24 agency action. 


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1 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE FOR FILING A CLAIM.—A claim 

2 seeking judicial review of a Federal action resulting 

3 from a final supplemental environmental review 

4 issued under section 102(2)(C) shall be barred un5 less— 

6 ‘‘(A) such claim is filed within 120 days of 

7 the date on which a notice of the Federal agen8 cy action resulting from a final supplemental 

9 environmental impact statement is issued; and 

10 ‘‘(B) such claim is based on information 

11 contained in such supplemental environmental 

12 impact statement that was not contained in a 

13 previous environmental document pertaining to 

14 the same proposed agency action. 

15 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITION ON INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.—Not16 withstanding any other provision of law, a violation of this 

17 Act shall not constitute the basis for injunctive relief. 

18 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec19 tion shall be construed to create a right of judicial review 

20 or place any limit on filing a claim with respect to the 

21 violation of the terms of a permit, license, or approval. 

22 ‘‘(e) REMAND.—Notwithstanding any other provision 

23 of law, no proposed agency action for which an environ24 mental document is required shall be vacated or otherwise 

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1 lowing such proposed action will pose a risk of an immi2 nent and substantial environmental harm and there is no 

3 other equitable remedy available as a matter of law. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 109. DEFINITIONS. 

5 ‘‘In this title: 

6 ‘‘(1) CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION.—The term 

7 ‘categorical exclusion’ means a category of actions 

8 that a Federal agency has determined normally does 

9 not significantly affect the quality of the human en10 vironment within the meaning of section 102(2)(C). 

11 ‘‘(2) COOPERATING AGENCY.—The term ‘co12 operating agency’ means any Federal, State, Tribal, 

13 or local agency that has been designated as a co14 operating agency under section 107(a)(3). 

15 ‘‘(3) COUNCIL.—The term ‘Council’ means the 

16 Council on Environmental Quality established in 

17 title II. 

18 ‘‘(4) ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT.—The 

19 term ‘environmental assessment’ means an environ20 mental assessment prepared under section 

21 106(b)(2). 

22 ‘‘(5) ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENT.—The term 

23 ‘environmental document’ means an environmental 

24 impact statement, an environmental assessment, or 

25 a finding of no significant impact. 


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1 ‘‘(6) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT.— 

2 The term ‘environmental impact statement’ means a 

3 detailed written statement that is required by section 

4 102(2)(C). 

5 ‘‘(7) FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT.— 

6 The term ‘finding of no significant impact’ means a 

7 determination by a Federal agency that a proposed 

8 agency action does not require the issuance of an en9 vironmental impact statement. 

10 ‘‘(8) INVOLVED FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term 

11 ‘involved Federal agency’ means an agency that, 

12 with respect to a proposed agency action— 

13 ‘‘(A) proposed such action; or 

14 ‘‘(B) is involved in such action because 

15 such action is directly related, through func16 tional interdependence or geographic proximity, 

17 to an action such agency has taken or has pro18 posed to take. 

19 ‘‘(9) LEAD AGENCY.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

21 subparagraph (B), the term ‘lead agency’ 

22 means, with respect to a proposed agency ac23 tion— 

24 ‘‘(i) the agency that proposed such ac25 tion; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) if there are 2 or more involved 

2 Federal agencies with respect to such ac3 tion, the agency designated under section 

4 107(a)(1). 

5 ‘‘(B) SPECIFICATION FOR MINERAL EX6 PLORATION OR MINE PERMITS.—With respect 

7 to a proposed mineral exploration or mine per8 mit, the term ‘lead agency’ has the meaning 

9 given such term in section 40206(a) of the In10 frastructure Investment and Jobs Act. 

11 ‘‘(10) MAJOR FEDERAL ACTION.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘major Fed13 eral action’ means an action that the agency 

14 carrying out such action determines is subject 

15 to substantial Federal control and responsi16 bility. 

17 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘major Fed18 eral action’ does not include— 

19 ‘‘(i) a non-Federal action— 

20 ‘‘(I) with no or minimal Federal 

21 funding; 

22 ‘‘(II) with no or minimal Federal 

23 involvement where a Federal agency 

24 cannot control the outcome of the 

25 project; or 


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1 ‘‘(III) that does not include Fed2 eral land; 

3 ‘‘(ii) funding assistance solely in the 

4 form of general revenue sharing funds 

5 which do not provide Federal agency com6 pliance or enforcement responsibility over 

7 the subsequent use of such funds; 

8 ‘‘(iii) loans, loan guarantees, or other 

9 forms of financial assistance where a Fed10 eral agency does not exercise sufficient 

11 control and responsibility over the effect of 

12 the action; 

13 ‘‘(iv) farm ownership and operating 

14 loan guarantees by the Farm Service 

15 Agency pursuant to sections 305 and 311 

16 through 319 of the Consolidated Farmers 

17 Home Administration Act of 1961 (7 

18 U.S.C. 1925 and 1941 through 1949); 

19 ‘‘(v) business loan guarantees pro20 vided by the Small Business Administra21 tion pursuant to section 7(a) or (b) and of 

22 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

23 636(a)), or title V of the Small Business 

24 Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 695 et 

25 seq.); 


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1 ‘‘(vi) bringing judicial or administra2 tive civil or criminal enforcement actions; 

3 or 

4 ‘‘(vii) extraterritorial activities or deci5 sions, which means agency activities or de6 cisions with effects located entirely outside 

7 of the jurisdiction of the United States. 

8 ‘‘(C) ADDITIONAL EXCLUSIONS.—An agen9 cy action may not be determined to be a major 

10 Federal action on the basis of— 

11 ‘‘(i) an interstate effect of the action 

12 or related project; or 

13 ‘‘(ii) the provision of Federal funds 

14 for the action or related project. 

15 ‘‘(11) MINERAL EXPLORATION OR MINE PER16 MIT.—The term ‘mineral exploration or mine permit’ 

17 has the meaning given such term in section 

18 40206(a) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs 

19 Act. 

20 ‘‘(12) PROPOSAL.—The term ‘proposal’ means 

21 a proposed action at a stage when an agency has a 

22 goal, is actively preparing to make a decision on one 

23 or more alternative means of accomplishing that 

24 goal, and can meaningfully evaluate its effects. 


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1 ‘‘(13) REASONABLY FORESEEABLE.—The term 

2 ‘reasonably foreseeable’ means likely to occur— 

3 ‘‘(A) not later than 10 years after the lead 

4 agency begins preparing the environmental doc5 ument; and 

6 ‘‘(B) in an area directly affected by the 

7 proposed agency action such that an individual 

8 of ordinary prudence would take such occur9 rence into account in reaching a decision. 

10 ‘‘(14) SPECIAL EXPERTISE.—The term ‘special 

11 expertise’ means statutory responsibility, agency 

12 mission, or related program experience.’’. 

13 SEC. 20203. CODIFICATION OF NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL 

14 POLICY ACT REGULATIONS. 

15 The revisions to the Code of Federal Regulations 

16 made pursuant to the final rule of the Council on Environ17 mental Quality titled ‘‘Update to the Regulations Imple18 menting the Procedural Provisions of the National Envi19 ronmental Policy Act’’ and published on July 16, 2020 

20 (85 Fed. Reg. 43304), shall have the same force and effect 

21 of law as if enacted by an Act of Congress. 

22 SEC. 20204. NON-MAJOR FEDERAL ACTIONS. 

23 (a) EXEMPTION.—An action by the Secretary con24 cerned with respect to a covered activity shall be not con25 sidered a major Federal action under section 102(2)(C) 


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1 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

2 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)). 

3 (b) COVERED ACTIVITY.—In this section, the term 

4 ‘‘covered activity’’ includes— 

5 (1) geotechnical investigations; 

6 (2) off-road travel in an existing right-of-way; 

7 (3) construction of meteorological towers where 

8 the total surface disturbance at the location is less 

9 than 5 acres; 

10 (4) adding a battery or other energy storage de11 vice to an existing or planned energy facility, if that 

12 storage resource is located within the physical foot13 print of the existing or planned energy facility; 

14 (5) drilling temperature gradient wells and 

15 other geothermal exploratory wells, including con16 struction or making improvements for such activi17 ties, where— 

18 (A) the last cemented casing string is less 

19 than 12 inches in diameter; and 

20 (B) the total unreclaimed surface disturb21 ance at any one time within the project area is 

22 less than 5 acres; 

23 (6) any repair, maintenance, upgrade, optimiza24 tion, or minor addition to existing transmission and 

25 distribution infrastructure, including— 


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1 (A) operation, maintenance, or repair of 

2 power equipment and structures within existing 

3 substations, switching stations, transmission, 

4 and distribution lines; 

5 (B) the addition, modification, retirement, 

6 or replacement of breakers, transmission tow7 ers, transformers, bushings, or relays; 

8 (C) the voltage uprating, modification, 

9 reconductoring with conventional or advanced 

10 conductors, and clearance resolution of trans11 mission lines; 

12 (D) activities to minimize fire risk, includ13 ing vegetation management, routine fire mitiga14 tion, inspection, and maintenance activities, and 

15 removal of hazard trees and other hazard vege16 tation within or adjacent to an existing right-of17 way; 

18 (E) improvements to or construction of 

19 structure pads for such infrastructure; and 

20 (F) access and access route maintenance 

21 and repairs associated with any activity de22 scribed in subparagraph (A) through (E); 

23 (7) approval of and activities conducted in ac24 cordance with operating plans or agreements for 

25 transmission and distribution facilities or under a 


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1 special use authorization for an electric transmission 

2 and distribution facility right-of-way; and 

3 (8) construction, maintenance, realignment, or 

4 repair of an existing permanent or temporary access 

5 road— 

6 (A) within an existing right-of-way or with7 in a transmission or utility corridor established 

8 by Congress or in a land use plan; 

9 (B) that serves an existing transmission 

10 line, distribution line, or energy facility; or 

11 (C) activities conducted in accordance with 

12 existing onshore oil and gas leases. 

13 SEC. 20205. NO NET LOSS DETERMINATION FOR EXISTING 

14 RIGHTS-OF-WAY. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Upon a determination by the Sec16 retary concerned that there will be no overall long-term 

17 net loss of vegetation, soil, or habitat, as defined by acre18 age and function, resulting from a proposed action, deci19 sion, or activity within an existing right-of-way, within a 

20 right-of-way corridor established in a land use plan, or in 

21 an otherwise designated right-of-way, that action, deci22 sion, or activity shall not be considered a major Federal 

23 action under section 102(2)(C) of the National Environ24 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)). 


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1 (b) INCLUSION OF REMEDIATION.—In making a de2 termination under subsection (a), the Secretary concerned 

3 shall consider the effect of any remediation work to be 

4 conducted during the lifetime of the action, decision, or 

5 activity when determining whether there will be any over6 all long-term net loss of vegetation, soil, or habitat. 

7 SEC. 20206. DETERMINATION OF NATIONAL ENVIRON8 MENTAL POLICY ACT ADEQUACY. 

9 The Secretary concerned shall use previously com10 pleted environmental assessments and environmental im11 pact statements to satisfy the requirements of section 102 

12 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

13 U.S.C. 4332) with respect to any major Federal action, 

14 if such Secretary determines that— 

15 (1) the new proposed action is substantially the 

16 same as a previously analyzed proposed action or al17 ternative analyzed in a previous environmental as18 sessment or environmental impact statement; and 

19 (2) the effects of the proposed action are sub20 stantially the same as the effects analyzed in such 

21 existing environmental assessments or environmental 

22 impact statements. 

23 SEC. 20207. DETERMINATION REGARDING RIGHTS-OF-WAY. 

24 Not later than 60 days after the Secretary concerned 

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1 retary concerned shall notify the applicant as to whether 

2 the application is complete or deficient. If the Secretary 

3 concerned determines the application is complete, the Sec4 retary concerned may not consider any other application 

5 to grant a right-of-way on the same or any overlapping 

6 parcels of land while such application is pending. 

7 SEC. 20208. TERMS OF RIGHTS-OF-WAY. 

8 (a) FIFTY YEAR TERMS FOR RIGHTS-OF-WAY.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any right-of-way for pipe10 lines for the transportation or distribution of oil or 

11 gas granted, issued, amended, or renewed under 

12 Federal law may be limited to a term of not more 

13 than 50 years before such right-of-way is subject to 

14 renewal or amendment. 

15 (2) FEDERAL LAND POLICY AND MANAGEMENT

16 ACT OF 1976.—Section 501 of the Federal Land Pol17 icy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1761) 

18 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(e) Any right-of-way granted, issued, amended, or 

20 renewed under subsection (a)(4) may be limited to a term 

21 of not more than 50 years before such right-of-way is sub22 ject to renewal or amendment.’’. 

23 (b) MINERAL LEASING ACT.—Section 28(n) of the 

24 Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 185(n)) is amended by 

25 striking ‘‘thirty’’ and inserting ‘‘50’’. 


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1 SEC. 20209. FUNDING TO PROCESS PERMITS AND DEVELOP 

2 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—In fiscal years 2023 through 

4 2025, the Secretary of Agriculture (acting through the 

5 Forest Service) and the Secretary of the Interior, after 

6 public notice, may accept and expend funds contributed 

7 by non-Federal entities for dedicated staff, information re8 source management, and information technology system 

9 development to expedite the evaluation of permits, biologi10 cal opinions, concurrence letters, environmental surveys 

11 and studies, processing of applications, consultations, and 

12 other activities for the leasing, development, or expansion 

13 of an energy facility under the jurisdiction of the respec14 tive Secretaries. 

15 (b) EFFECT ON PERMITTING.—In carrying out this 

16 section, the Secretary of the Interior shall ensure that the 

17 use of funds accepted under subsection (a) will not impact 

18 impartial decision making with respect to permits, either 

19 substantively or procedurally. 

20 (c) STATEMENT FOR FAILURE TO ACCEPT OR EX21 PEND FUNDS.—Not later than 60 days after the end of 

22 the applicable fiscal year, if the Secretary of Agriculture 

23 (acting through the Forest Service) or the Secretary of 

24 the Interior does not accept funds contributed under sub25 section (a) or accepts but does not expend such funds, that 

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1 sources of the House of Representatives and the Com2 mittee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate 

3 a statement explaining why such funds were not accepted, 

4 were not expended, or both, as the case may be. 

5 SEC. 20210. OFFSHORE GEOLOGICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL 

6 SURVEY LICENSING. 

7 The Secretary of the Interior shall authorize geologi8 cal and geophysical surveys related to oil and gas activities 

9 on the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf, except 

10 within areas subject to existing oil and gas leasing mora11 toria. Such authorizations shall be issued within 30 days 

12 of receipt of a completed application and shall, as applica13 ble to survey type, comply with the mitigation and moni14 toring measures in subsections (a), (b), (c), (d), (f), and 

15 (g) of section 217.184 of title 50, Code of Federal Regula16 tions (as in effect on January 1, 2022), and section 

17 217.185 of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations (as in 

18 effect on January 1, 2022). Geological and geophysical 

19 surveys authorized pursuant to this section are deemed to 

20 be in full compliance with the Marine Mammal Protection 

21 Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) and the Endangered 

22 Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and their 

23 implementing regulations. 


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1 SEC. 20211. DEFERRAL OF APPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO 

2 DRILL. 

3 Section 17(p)(3) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 

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

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(D) DEFERRAL BASED ON FORMATTING

7 ISSUES.—A decision on an application for a 

8 permit to drill may not be deferred under para9 graph (2)(B) as a result of a formatting issue 

10 with the permit, unless such formatting issue 

11 results in missing information.’’. 

12 SEC. 20212. PROCESSING AND TERMS OF APPLICATIONS 

13 FOR PERMITS TO DRILL. 

14 (a) EFFECT OF PENDING CIVIL ACTIONS.—Section 

15 17(p) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(p)) is 

16 amended by adding at the end the following: 

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

18 PROCESSING APPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO

19 DRILL.—Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 

20 (2), notwithstanding the existence of any pending 

21 civil actions affecting the application or related 

22 lease, the Secretary shall process an application for 

23 a permit to drill or other authorizations or approvals 

24 under a valid existing lease, unless a United States 

25 Federal court vacated such lease. Nothing in this 


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1 paragraph shall be construed as providing authority 

2 to a Federal court to vacate a lease.’’. 

3 (b) TERM OF PERMIT TO DRILL.—Section 17 of the 

4 Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) is further amended 

5 by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(u) TERM OF PERMIT TO DRILL.—A permit to drill 

7 issued under this section after the date of the enactment 

8 of this subsection shall be valid for one four-year term 

9 from the date that the permit is approved, or until the 

10 lease regarding which the permit is issued expires, which11 ever occurs first.’’. 

12 SEC. 20213. AMENDMENTS TO THE ENERGY POLICY ACT OF 

13 2005. 

14 Section 390 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

15 U.S.C. 15942) is amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 390. NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT RE17 VIEW. 

18 ‘‘(a) NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT RE19 VIEW.—Action by the Secretary of the Interior, in man20 aging the public lands, or the Secretary of Agriculture, 

21 in managing National Forest System lands, with respect 

22 to any of the activities described in subsection (c), shall 

23 not be considered a major Federal action for the purposes 

24 of section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy 

25 Act of 1969, if the activity is conducted pursuant to the 


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1 Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) for the pur2 pose of exploration or development of oil or gas. 

3 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—This section shall not apply to 

4 an action of the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary 

5 of Agriculture on Indian lands or resources managed in 

6 trust for the benefit of Indian Tribes. 

7 ‘‘(c) ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED.—The activities re8 ferred to in subsection (a) are as follows: 

9 ‘‘(1) Reinstating a lease pursuant to section 31 

10 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 188). 

11 ‘‘(2) The following activities, provided that any 

12 new surface disturbance is contiguous with the foot13 print of the original authorization and does not ex14 ceed 20 acres or the acreage has previously been 

15 evaluated in a document previously prepared under 

16 section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 

17 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)) with re18 spect to such activity: 

19 ‘‘(A) Drilling an oil or gas well at a well 

20 pad site at which drilling has occurred pre21 viously. 

22 ‘‘(B) Expansion of an existing oil or gas 

23 well pad site to accommodate an additional well. 


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1 ‘‘(C) Expansion or modification of an ex2 isting oil or gas well pad site, road, pipeline, fa3 cility, or utility submitted in a sundry notice. 

4 ‘‘(3) Drilling of an oil or gas well at a new well 

5 pad site, provided that the new surface disturbance 

6 does not exceed 20 acres and the acreage evaluated 

7 in a document previously prepared under section 

8 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act 

9 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)) with respect to such 

10 activity, whichever is greater. 

11 ‘‘(4) Construction or realignment of a road, 

12 pipeline, or utility within an existing right-of-way or 

13 within a right-of-way corridor established in a land 

14 use plan. 

15 ‘‘(5) The following activities when conducted 

16 from non-Federal surface into federally owned min17 erals, provided that the operator submits to the Sec18 retary concerned certification of a surface use agree19 ment with the non-Federal landowner: 

20 ‘‘(A) Drilling an oil or gas well at a well 

21 pad site at which drilling has occurred pre22 viously. 

23 ‘‘(B) Expansion of an existing oil or gas 

24 well pad site to accommodate an additional well. 


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1 ‘‘(C) Expansion or modification of an ex2 isting oil or gas well pad site, road, pipeline, fa3 cility, or utility submitted in a sundry notice. 

4 ‘‘(6) Drilling of an oil or gas well from non5 Federal surface and non-Federal subsurface into 

6 Federal mineral estate. 

7 ‘‘(7) Construction of up to 1 mile of new road 

8 on Federal or non-Federal surface, not to exceed 2 

9 miles in total. 

10 ‘‘(8) Construction of up to 3 miles of individual 

11 pipelines or utilities, regardless of surface owner12 ship.’’. 

13 SEC. 20214. ACCESS TO FEDERAL ENERGY RESOURCES 

14 FROM NON-FEDERAL SURFACE ESTATE. 

15 (a) OIL AND GAS PERMITS.—Section 17 of the Min16 eral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) is further amended by 

17 adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(v) NO FEDERAL PERMIT REQUIRED FOR OIL AND

19 GAS ACTIVITIES ON CERTAIN LAND.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall not re21 quire an operator to obtain a Federal drilling permit 

22 for oil and gas exploration and production activities 

23 conducted on non-Federal surface estate, provided 

24 that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the United States holds an ownership 

2 interest of less than 50 percent of the sub3 surface mineral estate to be accessed by the 

4 proposed action; and 

5 ‘‘(B) the operator submits to the Secretary 

6 a State permit to conduct oil and gas explo7 ration and production activities on the non-Fed8 eral surface estate. 

9 ‘‘(2) NO FEDERAL ACTION.—An oil and gas ex10 ploration and production activity carried out under 

11 paragraph (1)— 

12 ‘‘(A) shall not be considered a major Fed13 eral action for the purposes of section 

14 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy 

15 Act of 1969; 

16 ‘‘(B) shall require no additional Federal 

17 action; 

18 ‘‘(C) may commence 30 days after submis19 sion of the State permit to the Secretary; and 

20 ‘‘(D) shall not be subject to— 

21 ‘‘(i) section 306108 of title 54, United 

22 States Code (commonly known as the Na23 tional Historic Preservation Act of 1966); 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) section 7 of the Endangered Spe2 cies Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536). 

3 ‘‘(3) ROYALTIES AND PRODUCTION ACCOUNT4 ABILITY.—(A) Nothing in this subsection shall affect 

5 the amount of royalties due to the United States 

6 under this Act from the production of oil and gas, 

7 or alter the Secretary’s authority to conduct audits 

8 and collect civil penalties pursuant to the Federal 

9 Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982 (30 

10 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.). 

11 ‘‘(B) The Secretary may conduct onsite reviews 

12 and inspections to ensure proper accountability, 

13 measurement, and reporting of production of Fed14 eral oil and gas, and payment of royalties. 

15 ‘‘(4) EXCEPTIONS.—This subsection shall not 

16 apply to actions on Indian lands or resources man17 aged in trust for the benefit of Indian Tribes. 

18 ‘‘(5) INDIAN LAND.—In this subsection, the 

19 term ‘Indian land’ means— 

20 ‘‘(A) any land located within the bound21 aries of an Indian reservation, pueblo, or 

22 rancheria; and 

23 ‘‘(B) any land not located within the 

24 boundaries of an Indian reservation, pueblo, or 

25 rancheria, the title to which is held— 


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1 ‘‘(i) in trust by the United States for 

2 the benefit of an Indian tribe or an indi3 vidual Indian; 

4 ‘‘(ii) by an Indian tribe or an indi5 vidual Indian, subject to restriction against 

6 alienation under laws of the United States; 

7 or 

8 ‘‘(iii) by a dependent Indian commu9 nity.’’. 

10 (b) GEOTHERMAL PERMITS.—The Geothermal 

11 Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) is amended 

12 by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 30. NO FEDERAL PERMIT REQUIRED FOR GEO14 THERMAL ACTIVITIES ON CERTAIN LAND. 

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall not require 

16 an operator to obtain a Federal drilling permit for geo17 thermal exploration and production activities conducted on 

18 a non-Federal surface estate, provided that— 

19 ‘‘(1) the United States holds an ownership in20 terest of less than 50 percent of the subsurface geo21 thermal estate to be accessed by the proposed action; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(2) the operator submits to the Secretary a 

24 State permit to conduct geothermal exploration and 


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1 production activities on the non-Federal surface es2 tate. 

3 ‘‘(b) NO FEDERAL ACTION.—A geothermal explo4 ration and production activity carried out under para5 graph (1)— 

6 ‘‘(1) shall not be considered a major Federal 

7 action for the purposes of section 102(2)(C) of the 

8 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969; 

9 ‘‘(2) shall require no additional Federal action; 

10 ‘‘(3) may commence 30 days after submission 

11 of the State permit to the Secretary; and 

12 ‘‘(4) shall not be subject to— 

13 ‘‘(A) section 306108 of title 54, United 

14 States Code (commonly known as the National 

15 Historic Preservation Act of 1966); and 

16 ‘‘(B) section 7 of the Endangered Species 

17 Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536). 

18 ‘‘(c) ROYALTIES AND PRODUCTION ACCOUNT19 ABILITY.—(1) Nothing in this section shall affect the 

20 amount of royalties due to the United States under this 

21 Act from the production of electricity using geothermal re22 sources (other than direct use of geothermal resources) or 

23 the production of any byproducts. 

24 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may conduct onsite reviews and 

25 inspections to ensure proper accountability, measurement, 


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1 and reporting of the production described in paragraph 

2 (1), and payment of royalties. 

3 ‘‘(d) EXCEPTIONS.—This section shall not apply to 

4 actions on Indian lands or resources managed in trust for 

5 the benefit of Indian Tribes. 

6 ‘‘(e) INDIAN LAND.—In this section, the term ‘Indian 

7 land’ means— 

8 ‘‘(1) any land located within the boundaries of 

9 an Indian reservation, pueblo, or rancheria; and 

10 ‘‘(2) any land not located within the boundaries 

11 of an Indian reservation, pueblo, or rancheria, the 

12 title to which is held— 

13 ‘‘(A) in trust by the United States for the 

14 benefit of an Indian tribe or an individual In15 dian; 

16 ‘‘(B) by an Indian tribe or an individual 

17 Indian, subject to restriction against alienation 

18 under laws of the United States; or 

19 ‘‘(C) by a dependent Indian community.’’. 

20 SEC. 20215. SCOPE OF ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS FOR OIL 

21 AND GAS LEASES. 

22 An environmental review for an oil and gas lease or 

23 permit prepared pursuant to the requirements of the Na24 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 

25 et seq.) and its implementing regulations— 


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1 (1) shall apply only to areas that are within or 

2 immediately adjacent to the lease plot or plots and 

3 that are directly affected by the proposed action; 

4 and 

5 (2) shall not require consideration of down6 stream, indirect effects of oil and gas consumption. 

7 SEC. 20216. EXPEDITING APPROVAL OF GATHERING LINES. 

8 Section 11318(b)(1) of the Infrastructure Investment 

9 and Jobs Act (42 U.S.C. 15943(b)(1)) is amended by 

10 striking ‘‘to be an action that is categorically excluded (as 

11 defined in section 1508.1 of title 40, Code of Federal Reg12 ulations (as in effect on the date of enactment of this 

13 Act))’’ and inserting ‘‘to not be a major Federal action’’. 

14 SEC. 20217. LEASE SALE LITIGATION. 

15 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any oil 

16 and gas lease sale held under section 17 of the Mineral 

17 Leasing Act (26 U.S.C. 226) or the Outer Continental 

18 Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) shall not be 

19 vacated and activities on leases awarded in the sale shall 

20 not be otherwise limited, delayed, or enjoined unless the 

21 court concludes allowing development of the challenged 

22 lease will pose a risk of an imminent and substantial envi23 ronmental harm and there is no other equitable remedy 

24 available as a matter of law. No court, in response to an 

25 action brought pursuant to the National Environmental 


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1 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. et seq.), may enjoin or issue 

2 any order preventing the award of leases to a bidder in 

3 a lease sale conducted pursuant to section 17 of the Min4 eral Leasing Act (26 U.S.C. 226) or the Outer Continental 

5 Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) if the Depart6 ment of the Interior has previously opened bids for such 

7 leases or disclosed the high bidder for any tract that was 

8 included in such lease sale. 

9 SEC. 20218. LIMITATION ON CLAIMS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi11 sion of law, a claim arising under Federal law seeking ju12 dicial review of a permit, license, or approval issued by 

13 a Federal agency for a mineral project, energy facility, or 

14 energy storage device shall be barred unless— 

15 (1) the claim is filed within 120 days after pub16 lication of a notice in the Federal Register announc17 ing that the permit, license, or approval is final pur18 suant to the law under which the agency action is 

19 taken, unless a shorter time is specified in the Fed20 eral law pursuant to which judicial review is allowed; 

21 and 

22 (2) the claim is filed by a party that submitted 

23 a comment during the public comment period for 

24 such permit, license, or approval and such comment 

25 was sufficiently detailed to put the agency on notice 


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1 of the issue upon which the party seeks judicial re2 view. 

3 (b) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this section shall 

4 create a right to judicial review or place any limit on filing 

5 a claim that a person has violated the terms of a permit, 

6 license, or approval. 

7 (c) TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS.—Subsection (a) 

8 shall not apply to or supersede a claim subject to section 

9 139(l)(1) of title 23, United States Code. 

10 (d) MINERAL PROJECT.—In this section, the term 

11 ‘‘mineral project’’ means a project— 

12 (1) located on— 

13 (A) a mining claim, millsite claim, or tun14 nel site claim for any mineral; 

15 (B) lands open to mineral entry; or 

16 (C) a Federal mineral lease; and 

17 (2) for the purposes of exploring for or pro18 ducing minerals. 

19 SEC. 20219. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE RE20 PORT ON PERMITS TO DRILL. 

21 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

22 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 

23 United States shall issue a report detailing— 


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1 (1) the approval timelines for applications for 

2 permits to drill issued by the Bureau of Land Man3 agement from 2018 through 2022; 

4 (2) the number of applications for permits to 

5 drill that were not issued within 30 days of receipt 

6 of a completed application; and 

7 (3) the causes of delays resulting in applica8 tions for permits to drill pending beyond the 30 day 

9 deadline required under section 17(p)(2) of the Min10 eral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(p)(2)). 

11 (b) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The report issued under 

12 subsection (a) shall include recommendations with respect 

13 to— 

14 (1) actions the Bureau of Land Management 

15 can take to streamline the approval process for ap16 plications for permits to drill to approve applications 

17 for permits to drill within 30 days of receipt of a 

18 completed application; 

19 (2) aspects of the Federal permitting process 

20 carried out by the Bureau of Land Management to 

21 issue applications for permits to drill that can be 

22 turned over to States to expedite approval of appli23 cations for permits to drill; and 

24 (3) legislative actions that Congress must take 

25 to allow States to administer certain aspects of the 


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1 Federal permitting process described in paragraph 

2 (2). 

3 SEC. 20220. E–NEPA. 

4 (a) PERMITTING PORTAL STUDY.—The Council on 

5 Environmental Quality shall conduct a study and submit 

6 a report to Congress within 1 year of the enactment of 

7 this Act on the potential to create an online permitting 

8 portal for permits that require review under section 

9 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 

10 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)) that would— 

11 (1) allow applicants to— 

12 (A) submit required documents or mate13 rials for their application in one unified portal; 

14 (B) upload additional documents as re15 quired by the applicable agency; and 

16 (C) track the progress of individual appli17 cations; 

18 (2) enhance interagency coordination in con19 sultation by— 

20 (A) allowing for comments in one unified 

21 portal; 

22 (B) centralizing data necessary for reviews; 

23 and 

24 (C) streamlining communications between 

25 other agencies and the applicant; and 


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1 (3) boost transparency in agency decision2 making. 

3 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

4 authorized to be appropriated $500,000 for the Council 

5 of Environmental Quality to carry out the study directed 

6 by this section. 

7 TITLE III—PERMITTING FOR 

8 MINING NEEDS 

9 SEC. 20301. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this title: 

11 (1) BYPRODUCT.—The term ‘‘byproduct’’ has 

12 the meaning given such term in section 7002(a) of 

13 the Energy Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(a)). 

14 (2) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

15 has the meaning given such term in section 4 of the 

16 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

17 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

18 (3) MINERAL.—The term ‘‘mineral’’ means any 

19 mineral of a kind that is locatable (including, but 

20 not limited to, such minerals located on ‘‘lands ac21 quired by the United States’’, as such term is de22 fined in section 2 of the Mineral Leasing Act for Ac23 quired Lands) under the Act of May 10, 1872 

24 (Chapter 152; 17 Stat. 91). 


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1 (4) SECRETARY.—Except as otherwise provided, 

2 the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of the In3 terior. 

4 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 

5 (A) a State; 

6 (B) the District of Columbia; 

7 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 

8 (D) Guam; 

9 (E) American Samoa; 

10 (F) the Commonwealth of the Northern 

11 Mariana Islands; and 

12 (G) the United States Virgin Islands. 

13 SEC. 20302. MINERALS SUPPLY CHAIN AND RELIABILITY. 

14 Section 40206 of the Infrastructure Investment and 

15 Jobs Act (30 U.S.C. 1607) is amended— 

16 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘CRIT17 ICAL MINERALS’’ and inserting ‘‘MINERALS’’; 

18 (2) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol19 lows: 

20 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 ‘‘(1) LEAD AGENCY.—The term ‘lead agency’ 

22 means the Federal agency with primary responsi23 bility for issuing a mineral exploration or mine per24 mit or lease for a mineral project. 


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1 ‘‘(2) MINERAL.—The term ‘mineral’ has the 

2 meaning given such term in section 20301 of the 

3 TAPP American Resources Act. 

4 ‘‘(3) MINERAL EXPLORATION OR MINE PER5 MIT.—The term ‘mineral exploration or mine permit’ 

6 means— 

7 ‘‘(A) an authorization of the Bureau of 

8 Land Management or the Forest Service, as ap9 plicable, for exploration for minerals that re10 quires analysis under the National Environ11 mental Policy Act of 1969; 

12 ‘‘(B) a plan of operations for a mineral 

13 project approved by the Bureau of Land Man14 agement or the Forest Service; or 

15 ‘‘(C) any other Federal permit or author16 ization for a mineral project. 

17 ‘‘(4) MINERAL PROJECT.—The term ‘mineral 

18 project’ means a project— 

19 ‘‘(A) located on— 

20 ‘‘(i) a mining claim, millsite claim, or 

21 tunnel site claim for any mineral; 

22 ‘‘(ii) lands open to mineral entry; or 

23 ‘‘(iii) a Federal mineral lease; and 

24 ‘‘(B) for the purposes of exploring for or 

25 producing minerals.’’; 


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1 (3) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘critical’’ each 

2 place such term appears; 

3 (4) in subsection (c)— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘critical mineral production 

5 on Federal land’’ and inserting ‘‘mineral 

6 projects’’; 

7 (B) by inserting ‘‘, and in accordance with 

8 subsection (h)’’ after ‘‘to the maximum extent 

9 practicable’’; 

10 (C) by striking ‘‘shall complete the’’ and 

11 inserting ‘‘shall complete such’’; 

12 (D) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘critical 

13 mineral-related activities on Federal land’’ and 

14 inserting ‘‘mineral projects’’; 

15 (E) in paragraph (8), by striking the 

16 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

17 (F) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘proce18 dures.’’ and inserting ‘‘procedures; and’’; and 

19 (G) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(10) deferring to and relying on baseline data, 

21 analyses, and reviews performed by State agencies 

22 with jurisdiction over the environmental or reclama23 tion permits for the proposed mineral project.’’; 

24 (5) in subsection (d)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘critical’’ each place such 

2 term appears; and 

3 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘mineral4 related activities on Federal land’’ and inserting 

5 ‘‘mineral projects’’; 

6 (6) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘critical’’; 

7 (7) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘critical’’ each 

8 place such term appears; 

9 (8) in subsection (g), by striking ‘‘critical’’ each 

10 place such term appears; and 

11 (9) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(h) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT.—For pur14 poses of maximizing efficiency and effectiveness of 

15 the Federal permitting and review processes de16 scribed under subsection (c), the lead agency in the 

17 Federal permitting and review processes of a min18 eral project shall (in consultation with any other 

19 Federal agency involved in such Federal permitting 

20 and review processes, and upon request of the 

21 project applicant, an affected State government, 

22 local government, or an Indian Tribe, or other entity 

23 such lead agency determines appropriate) enter into 

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1 cant where requested by the applicant to carry out 

2 the activities described in subsection (c). 

3 ‘‘(2) TIMELINES AND SCHEDULES FOR NEPA

4 REVIEWS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) EXTENSION.—A project applicant 

6 may enter into 1 or more agreements with a 

7 lead agency to extend the deadlines described in 

8 subparagraphs (A) and (B) of subsection (h)(1) 

9 of section 107 of title I of the National Envi10 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 by, with respect 

11 to each such agreement, not more than 6 

12 months. 

13 ‘‘(B) ADJUSTMENT OF TIMELINES.—At 

14 the request of a project applicant, the lead 

15 agency and any other entity which is a signa16 tory to a memorandum of agreement under 

17 paragraph (1) may, by unanimous agreement, 

18 adjust— 

19 ‘‘(i) any deadlines described in sub20 paragraph (A); and 

21 ‘‘(ii) any deadlines extended under 

22 subparagraph (B). 

23 ‘‘(3) EFFECT ON PENDING APPLICATIONS.— 

24 Upon a written request by a project applicant, the 

25 requirements of this subsection shall apply to any 


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1 application for a mineral exploration or mine permit 

2 or mineral lease that was submitted before the date 

3 of the enactment of the TAPP American Resources 

4 Act.’’. 

5 SEC. 20303. FEDERAL REGISTER PROCESS IMPROVEMENT. 

6 Section 7002(f) of the Energy Act of 2020 (30 

7 U.S.C. 1606(f)) is amended— 

8 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘critical’’ both 

9 places such term appears; and 

10 (2) by striking paragraph (4). 

11 SEC. 20304. DESIGNATION OF MINING AS A COVERED SEC12 TOR FOR FEDERAL PERMITTING IMPROVE13 MENT PURPOSES. 

14 Section 41001(6)(A) of the FAST Act (42 U.S.C. 

15 4370m(6)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘mineral produc16 tion,’’ before ‘‘or any other sector’’. 

17 SEC. 20305. TREATMENT OF ACTIONS UNDER PRESI18 DENTIAL DETERMINATION 2022–11 FOR FED19 ERAL PERMITTING IMPROVEMENT PUR20 POSES. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided by subsection 

22 (c), an action described in subsection (b) shall be— 

23 (1) treated as a covered project, as defined in 

24 section 41001(6) of the FAST Act (42 U.S.C. 


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1 4370m(6)), without regard to the requirements of 

2 that section; and 

3 (2) included in the Permitting Dashboard main4 tained pursuant to section 41003(b) of that Act (42 

5 13 U.S.C. 4370m–2(b)). 

6 (b) ACTIONS DESCRIBED.—An action described in 

7 this subsection is an action taken by the Secretary of De8 fense pursuant to Presidential Determination 2022–11 

9 (87 Fed. Reg. 19775; relating to certain actions under 

10 section 303 of the Defense Production Act of 1950) or 

11 the Presidential Memorandum of February 27, 2023, ti12 tled ‘‘Presidential Waiver of Statutory Requirements Pur13 suant to Section 303 of the Defense Production Act of 

14 1950, as amended, on Department of Defense Supply 

15 Chains Resilience’’ (88 Fed. Reg. 13015) to create, main16 tain, protect, expand, or restore sustainable and respon17 sible domestic production capabilities through— 

18 (1) supporting feasibility studies for mature 

19 mining, beneficiation, and value-added processing 

20 projects; 

21 (2) byproduct and co-product production at ex22 isting mining, mine waste reclamation, and other in23 dustrial facilities; 


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1 (3) modernization of mining, beneficiation, and 

2 value-added processing to increase productivity, envi3 ronmental sustainability, and workforce safety; or 

4 (4) any other activity authorized under section 

5 303(a)(1) of the Defense Production Act of 1950 15 

6 (50 U.S.C. 4533(a)(1)). 

7 (c) EXCEPTION.—An action described in subsection 

8 (b) may not be treated as a covered project or be included 

9 in the Permitting Dashboard under subsection (a) if the 

10 project sponsor (as defined in section 41001(18) of the 

11 FAST Act (42 U.S.C. 21 4370m(18))) requests that the 

12 action not be treated as a covered project. 

13 SEC. 20306. NOTICE FOR MINERAL EXPLORATION ACTIVI14 TIES WITH LIMITED SURFACE DISTURBANCE. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 15 days before 

16 commencing an exploration activity with a surface disturb17 ance of not more than 5 acres of public lands, the operator 

18 of such exploration activity shall submit to the Secretary 

19 concerned a complete notice of such exploration activity. 

20 (b) INCLUSIONS.—Notice submitted under subsection 

21 (a) shall include such information the Secretary concerned 

22 may require, including the information described in sec23 tion 3809.301 of title 43, Code of Federal Regulations (or 

24 any successor regulation). 


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1 (c) REVIEW.—Not later than 15 days after the Sec2 retary concerned receives notice submitted under sub3 section (a), the Secretary concerned shall— 

4 (1) review and determine completeness of the 

5 notice; and 

6 (2) allow exploration activities to proceed if— 

7 (A) the surface disturbance of such explo8 ration activities on such public lands will not 

9 exceed 5 acres; 

10 (B) the Secretary concerned determines 

11 that the notice is complete; and 

12 (C) the operator provides financial assur13 ance that the Secretary concerned determines is 

14 adequate. 

15 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

16 (1) EXPLORATION ACTIVITY.—The term ‘‘explo17 ration activity’’— 

18 (A) means creating surface disturbance 

19 greater than casual use that includes sampling, 

20 drilling, or developing surface or underground 

21 workings to evaluate the type, extent, quantity, 

22 or quality of mineral values present; 

23 (B) includes constructing drill roads and 

24 drill pads, drilling, trenching, excavating test 


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1 pits, and conducting geotechnical tests and geo2 physical surveys; and 

3 (C) does not include activities where mate4 rial is extracted for commercial use or sale. 

5 (2) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec6 retary concerned’’ means— 

7 (A) with respect to lands administered by 

8 the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of 

9 the Interior; and 

10 (B) with respect to National Forest Sys11 tem lands, the Secretary of Agriculture. 

12 SEC. 20307. USE OF MINING CLAIMS FOR ANCILLARY AC13 TIVITIES. 

14 Section 10101 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation 

15 Act of 1993 (30 U.S.C. 28f) is amended by adding at the 

16 end the following: 

17 ‘‘(e) SECURITY OF TENURE.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A claimant shall have 

20 the right to use, occupy, and conduct operations 

21 on public land, with or without the discovery of 

22 a valuable mineral deposit, if— 

23 ‘‘(i) such claimant makes a timely 

24 payment of the location fee required by 


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1 section 10102 and the claim maintenance 

2 fee required by subsection (a); or 

3 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a claimant who 

4 qualifies for a waiver under subsection (d), 

5 such claimant makes a timely payment of 

6 the location fee and complies with the re7 quired assessment work under the general 

8 mining laws. 

9 ‘‘(B) OPERATIONS DEFINED.—For the 

10 purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘oper11 ations’ means— 

12 ‘‘(i) any activity or work carried out 

13 in connection with prospecting, exploration, 

14 processing, discovery and assessment, de15 velopment, or extraction with respect to a 

16 locatable mineral; 

17 ‘‘(ii) the reclamation of any disturbed 

18 areas; and 

19 ‘‘(iii) any other reasonably incident 

20 uses, whether on a mining claim or not, in21 cluding the construction and maintenance 

22 of facilities, roads, transmission lines, pipe23 lines, and any other necessary infrastruc24 ture or means of access on public land for 

25 support facilities. 


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1 ‘‘(2) FULFILLMENT OF FEDERAL LAND POLICY

2 AND MANAGEMENT ACT.—A claimant that fulfills 

3 the requirements of this section and section 10102 

4 shall be deemed to satisfy the requirements of any 

5 provision of the Federal Land Policy and Manage6 ment Act that requires the payment of fair market 

7 value to the United States for use of public lands 

8 and resources relating to use of such lands and re9 sources authorized by the general mining laws. 

10 ‘‘(3) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this sub11 section may be construed to diminish the rights of 

12 entry, use, and occupancy, or any other right, of a 

13 claimant under the general mining laws.’’. 

14 SEC. 20308. ENSURING CONSIDERATION OF URANIUM AS A 

15 CRITICAL MINERAL. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7002(a)(3)(B)(i) of the 

17 Energy Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(a)(3)(B)(i)) is 

18 amended to read as follows: 

19 ‘‘(i) oil, oil shale, coal, or natural 

20 gas;’’. 

21 (b) UPDATE.—Not later than 60 days after the date 

22 of the enactment of this section, the Secretary, acting 

23 through the Director of the United States Geological Sur24 vey, shall publish in the Federal Register an update to 

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1 ergy Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(c)(3)) in accordance 

2 with subsection (a) of this section. 

3 SEC. 20309. BARRING FOREIGN BAD ACTORS FROM OPER4 ATING ON FEDERAL LANDS. 

5 A mining claimant shall be barred from the right to 

6 use, occupy, and conduct operations on Federal land if the 

7 Secretary of the Interior finds the claimant has a foreign 

8 parent company that has (including through a sub9 sidiary)— 

10 (1) a known record of human rights violations; 

11 or 

12 (2) knowingly operated an illegal mine in an13 other country. 

14 TITLE IV—FEDERAL LAND USE 

15 PLANNING 

16 SEC. 20401. FEDERAL LAND USE PLANNING AND WITH17 DRAWALS. 

18 (a) RESOURCE ASSESSMENTS REQUIRED.—Federal 

19 lands and waters may not be withdrawn from entry under 

20 the mining laws or operation of the mineral leasing and 

21 mineral materials laws unless— 

22 (1) a quantitative and qualitative geophysical 

23 and geological mineral resource assessment of the 

24 impacted area has been completed during the 10- 

25 year period ending on the date of such withdrawal; 


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1 (2) the Secretary, in consultation with the Sec2 retary of Commerce, the Secretary of Energy, and 

3 the Secretary of Defense, conducts an assessment of 

4 the economic, energy, strategic, and national secu5 rity value of mineral deposits identified in such min6 eral resource assessment; 

7 (3) the Secretary conducts an assessment of the 

8 reduction in future Federal revenues to the Treas9 ury, States, the Land and Water Conservation 

10 Fund, the Historic Preservation Fund, and the Na11 tional Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration 

12 Fund resulting from the proposed mineral with13 drawal; 

14 (4) the Secretary, in consultation with the Sec15 retary of Defense, conducts an assessment of mili16 tary readiness and training activities in the proposed 

17 withdrawal area; and 

18 (5) the Secretary submits a report to the Com19 mittees on Natural Resources, Agriculture, Energy 

20 and Commerce, and Foreign Affairs of the House of 

21 Representatives and the Committees on Energy and 

22 Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Foreign Affairs 

23 of the Senate, that includes the results of the assess24 ments completed pursuant to this subsection. 


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1 (b) LAND USE PLANS.—Before a resource manage2 ment plan under the Federal Land Policy and Manage3 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) or a forest 

4 management plan under the National Forest Management 

5 Act is updated or completed, the Secretary or Secretary 

6 of Agriculture, as applicable, in consultation with the Di7 rector of the United States Geological Survey, shall— 

8 (1) review any quantitative and qualitative min9 eral resource assessment that was completed or up10 dated during the 10-year period ending on the date 

11 that the applicable land management agency pub12 lishes a notice to prepare, revise, or amend a land 

13 use plan by the Director of the United States Geo14 logical Survey for the geographic area affected by 

15 the applicable management plan; 

16 (2) the Secretary, in consultation with the Sec17 retary of Commerce, the Secretary of Energy, and 

18 the Secretary of Defense, conducts an assessment of 

19 the economic, energy, strategic, and national secu20 rity value of mineral deposits identified in such min21 eral resource assessment; and 

22 (3) submit a report to the Committees on Nat23 ural Resources, Agriculture, Energy and Commerce, 

24 and Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 

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1 sources, Agriculture, and Foreign Affairs of the Sen2 ate, that includes the results of the assessment com3 pleted pursuant to this subsection. 

4 (c) NEW INFORMATION.—The Secretary shall provide 

5 recommendations to the President on appropriate meas6 ures to reduce unnecessary impacts that a withdrawal of 

7 Federal lands or waters from entry under the mining laws 

8 or operation of the mineral leasing and mineral materials 

9 laws may have on mineral exploration, development, and 

10 other mineral activities (including authorizing exploration 

11 and development of such mineral deposits) not later than 

12 180 days after the Secretary has notice that a resource 

13 assessment completed by the Director of the United States 

14 Geological Survey, in coordination with the State geologi15 cal surveys, determines that a previously undiscovered 

16 mineral deposit may be present in an area that has been 

17 withdrawn from entry under the mining laws or operation 

18 of the mineral leasing and mineral materials laws pursu19 ant to— 

20 (1) section 204 of the Federal Land Policy and 

21 Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1714); or 

22 (2) chapter 3203 of title 54, United States 

23 Code. 


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1 SEC. 20402. PROHIBITIONS ON DELAY OF MINERAL DEVEL2 OPMENT OF CERTAIN FEDERAL LAND. 

3 (a) PROHIBITIONS.—Notwithstanding any other pro4 vision of law, the President shall not carry out any action 

5 that would pause, restrict, or delay the process for or 

6 issuance of any of the following on Federal land, unless 

7 such lands are withdrawn from disposition under the min8 eral leasing laws, including by administrative withdrawal: 

9 (1) New oil and gas lease sales, oil and gas 

10 leases, drill permits, or associated approvals or au11 thorizations of any kind associated with oil and gas 

12 leases. 

13 (2) New coal leases (including leases by applica14 tion in process, renewals, modifications, or expan15 sions of existing leases), permits, approvals, or au16 thorizations. 

17 (3) New leases, claims, permits, approvals, or 

18 authorizations for development or exploration of 

19 minerals. 

20 (b) PROHIBITION ON RESCISSION OF LEASES, PER21 MITS, OR CLAIMS.—The President, the Secretary, or Sec22 retary of Agriculture as applicable, may not rescind any 

23 existing lease, permit, or claim for the extraction and pro24 duction of any mineral under the mining laws or mineral 

25 leasing and mineral materials laws on National Forest 

26 System land or land under the jurisdiction of the Bureau 


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1 of Land Management, unless specifically authorized by 

2 Federal statute, or upon the lessee, permittee, or claim3 ant’s failure to comply with any of the provisions of the 

4 applicable lease, permit, or claim. 

5 (c) MINERAL DEFINED.—In subsection (a)(3), the 

6 term ‘‘mineral’’ means any mineral of a kind that is 

7 locatable (including such minerals located on ‘‘lands ac8 quired by the United States’’, as such term is defined in 

9 section 2 of the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands) 

10 under the Act of May 10, 1872 (Chapter 152; 17 Stat. 

11 91). 

12 SEC. 20403. DEFINITIONS. 

13 In this title: 

14 (1) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 

15 means— 

16 (A) National Forest System land; 

17 (B) public lands (as defined in section 103 

18 of the Federal Land Policy and Management 

19 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702)); 

20 (C) the outer Continental Shelf (as defined 

21 in section 2 of the Outer Continental Shelf 

22 Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331)); and 

23 (D) land managed by the Secretary of En24 ergy. 


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1 (2) PRESIDENT.—The term ‘‘President’’ 

2 means— 

3 (A) the President; and 

4 (B) any designee of the President, includ5 ing— 

6 (i) the Secretary of Agriculture; 

7 (ii) the Secretary of Commerce; 

8 (iii) the Secretary of Energy; and 

9 (iv) the Secretary of the Interior. 

10 (3) PREVIOUSLY UNDISCOVERED DEPOSIT.— 

11 The term ‘‘previously undiscovered mineral deposit’’ 

12 means— 

13 (A) a mineral deposit that has been pre14 viously evaluated by the United States Geologi15 cal Survey and found to be of low mineral po16 tential, but upon subsequent evaluation is de17 termined by the United States Geological Sur18 vey to have significant mineral potential; or 

19 (B) a mineral deposit that has not pre20 viously been evaluated by the United States Ge21 ological Survey. 

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

23 the Secretary of the Interior. 


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1 TITLE V—ENSURING COMPETI2 TIVENESS ON FEDERAL 

3 LANDS 

4 SEC. 20501. INCENTIVIZING DOMESTIC PRODUCTION. 

5 (a) OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS ROYALTY RATE.—Sec6 tion 8(a)(1) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 

7 U.S.C. 1337(a)(1)) is amended— 

8 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘not less 

than 162⁄3 percent, but not more than 183 9 ⁄4 percent, 

10 during the 10-year period beginning on the date of 

11 enactment of the Act titled ‘An Act to provide for 

12 reconciliation pursuant to title II of S. Con. Res. 

14’, and not less than 162 13 ⁄3 percent thereafter,’’ 

14 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘not less than 

15 12.5 percent’’; 

16 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘not less 

than 162⁄3 percent, but not more than 183 17 ⁄4 percent, 

18 during the 10-year period beginning on the date of 

19 enactment of the Act titled ‘An Act to provide for 

20 reconciliation pursuant to title II of S. Con. Res. 

14’, and not less than 162 21 ⁄3 percent thereafter,’’ 

22 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘not less than 

23 12.5 percent’’; 

24 (3) in subparagraph (F), by striking ‘‘not less 

than 162⁄3 percent, but not more than 183 25 ⁄4 percent, 


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1 during the 10-year period beginning on the date of 

2 enactment of the Act titled ‘An Act to provide for 

3 reconciliation pursuant to title II of S. Con. Res. 

14’, and not less than 162 4 ⁄3 percent thereafter,’’ and 

5 inserting ‘‘not less than 12.5 percent’’; and 

6 (4) in subparagraph (H), by striking ‘‘not less 

than 162⁄3 percent, but not more than 183 7 ⁄4 percent, 

8 during the 10-year period beginning on the date of 

9 enactment of the Act titled ‘An Act to provide for 

10 reconciliation pursuant to title II of S. Con. Res. 

14’, and not less than 162 11 ⁄3 percent thereafter,’’ and 

12 inserting ‘‘not less than 12.5 percent’’. 

13 (b) MINERAL LEASING ACT.— 

14 (1) ONSHORE OIL AND GAS ROYALTY RATES.— 

15 (A) LEASE OF OIL AND GAS LAND.—Sec16 tion 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

17 226) is amended— 

18 (i) in subsection (b)(1)(A)— 

19 (I) by striking ‘‘not less than 

162 20 ⁄3’’ and inserting ‘‘not less than 

21 12.5’’; and 

22 (II) by striking ‘‘or, in the case 

23 of a lease issued during the 10-year 

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1 vide for reconciliation pursuant to 

title II of S. Con. Res. 14’, 162 2 ⁄3 per3 cent in amount or value of the pro4 duction removed or sold from the 

5 lease’’; and 

(ii) by striking ‘‘162 6 ⁄3 percent’’ each 

7 place it appears and inserting ‘‘12.5 per8 cent’’. 

9 (B) CONDITIONS FOR REINSTATEMENT.— 

10 Section 31(e)(3) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 

11 U.S.C. 188(e)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘20’’ 

inserting ‘‘162 12 ⁄3’’. 

13 (2) OIL AND GAS MINIMUM BID.—Section 17(b) 

14 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(b)) is 

15 amended— 

16 (A) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ‘‘$10 

17 per acre during the 10-year period beginning on 

18 the date of enactment of the Act titled ‘An Act 

19 to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II 

20 of S. Con. Res. 14’.’’ and inserting ‘‘$2 per 

21 acre for a period of 2 years from the date of 

22 the enactment of the Federal Onshore Oil and 

23 Gas Leasing Reform Act of 1987.’’; and 

24 (B) in paragraph (2)(C), by striking ‘‘$10 

25 per acre’’ and inserting ‘‘$2 per acre’’. 


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1 (3) FOSSIL FUEL RENTAL RATES.—Section 

2 17(d) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

3 226(d)) is amended to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘(d) All leases issued under this section, as amended 

5 by the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Reform Act 

6 of 1987, shall be conditioned upon payment by the lessee 

7 of a rental of not less than $1.50 per acre per year for 

8 the first through fifth years of the lease and not less than 

9 $2 per acre per year for each year thereafter. A minimum 

10 royalty in lieu of rental of not less than the rental which 

11 otherwise would be required for that lease year shall be 

12 payable at the expiration of each lease year beginning on 

13 or after a discovery of oil or gas in paying quantities on 

14 the lands leased.’’. 

15 (4) EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FEE.—Section 

16 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) is 

17 further amended by repealing subsection (q). 

18 (5) ELIMINATION OF NONCOMPETITIVE LEAS19 ING.—Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 

20 U.S.C. 226) is further amended— 

21 (A) in subsection (b)— 

22 (i) in paragraph (1)(A)— 

23 (I) in the first sentence, by strik24 ing ‘‘paragraph (2)’’ and inserting 

25 ‘‘paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; and 


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1 (II) by adding at the end ‘‘Lands 

2 for which no bids are received or for 

3 which the highest bid is less than the 

4 national minimum acceptable bid shall 

5 be offered promptly within 30 days 

6 for leasing under subsection (c) of this 

7 section and shall remain available for 

8 leasing for a period of 2 years after 

9 the competitive lease sale.’’; and 

10 (ii) by adding at the end the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(3)(A) If the United States held a vested fu13 ture interest in a mineral estate that, immediately 

14 prior to becoming a vested present interest, was sub15 ject to a lease under which oil or gas was being pro16 duced, or had a well capable of producing, in paying 

17 quantities at an annual average production volume 

18 per well per day of either not more than 15 barrels 

19 per day of oil or condensate, or not more than 

20 60,000 cubic feet of gas, the holder of the lease may 

21 elect to continue the lease as a noncompetitive lease 

22 under subsection (c)(1). 

23 ‘‘(B) An election under this paragraph is effec24 tive— 


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1 ‘‘(i) in the case of an interest which vested 

2 after January 1, 1990, and on or before Octo3 ber 24, 1992, if the election is made before the 

4 date that is 1 year after October 24, 1992; 

5 ‘‘(ii) in the case of an interest which vests 

6 within 1 year after October 24, 1992, if the 

7 election is made before the date that is 2 years 

8 after October 24, 1992; and 

9 ‘‘(iii) in any case other than those de10 scribed in clause (i) or (ii), if the election is 

11 made prior to the interest becoming a vested 

12 present interest.’’; 

13 (B) by striking subsection (c) and insert14 ing the following: 

15 ‘‘(c) LANDS SUBJECT TO LEASING UNDER SUB16 SECTION (B); FIRST QUALIFIED APPLICANT.— 

17 ‘‘(1) If the lands to be leased are not leased 

18 under subsection (b)(1) of this section or are not 

19 subject to competitive leasing under subsection 

20 (b)(2) of this section, the person first making appli21 cation for the lease who is qualified to hold a lease 

22 under this chapter shall be entitled to a lease of 

23 such lands without competitive bidding, upon pay24 ment of a non-refundable application fee of at least 

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1 tioned upon the payment of a royalty at a rate of 

2 12.5 percent in amount or value of the production 

3 removed or sold from the lease. Leases shall be 

4 issued within 60 days of the date on which the Sec5 retary identifies the first responsible qualified appli6 cant. 

7 ‘‘(2)(A) Lands (i) which were posted for sale 

8 under subsection (b)(1) of this section but for which 

9 no bids were received or for which the highest bid 

10 was less than the national minimum acceptable bid 

11 and (ii) for which, at the end of the period referred 

12 to in subsection (b)(1) of this section no lease has 

13 been issued and no lease application is pending 

14 under paragraph (1) of this subsection, shall again 

15 be available for leasing only in accordance with sub16 section (b)(1) of this section. 

17 ‘‘(B) The land in any lease which is issued 

18 under paragraph (1) of this subsection or under sub19 section (b)(1) of this section which lease terminates, 

20 expires, is cancelled or is relinquished shall again be 

21 available for leasing only in accordance with sub22 section (b)(1) of this section.’’; and 

23 (C) by striking subsection (e) and inserting 

24 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(e) PRIMARY TERM.—Competitive and noncompeti2 tive leases issued under this section shall be for a primary 

3 term of 10 years: Provided, however, That competitive 

4 leases issued in special tar sand areas shall also be for 

5 a primary term of 10 years. Each such lease shall continue 

6 so long after its primary term as oil or gas is produced 

7 in paying quantities. Any lease issued under this section 

8 for land on which, or for which under an approved cooper9 ative or unit plan of development or operation, actual drill10 ing operations were commenced prior to the end of its pri11 mary term and are being diligently prosecuted at that time 

12 shall be extended for two years and so long thereafter as 

13 oil or gas is produced in paying quantities.’’. 

14 (6) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 31 of 

15 the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 188) is amend16 ed— 

17 (A) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘sec18 tion 17(b)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (b) or (c) 

19 of section 17 of this Act’’; 

20 (B) in subsection (e)— 

21 (i) in paragraph (2)— 

22 (I) insert ‘‘either’’ after ‘‘rentals 

23 and’’; and 

24 (II) insert ‘‘or the inclusion in a 

25 reinstated lease issued pursuant to the 


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1 provisions of section 17(c) of this Act 

2 of a requirement that future rentals 

3 shall be at a rate not less than $5 per 

4 acre per year, all’’ before ‘‘as deter5 mined by the Secretary’’; and 

6 (ii) by amending paragraph (3) to 

7 read as follows: 

8 ‘‘(3)(A) payment of back royalties and the in9 clusion in a reinstated lease issued pursuant to the 

10 provisions of section 17(b) of this Act of a require11 ment for future royalties at a rate of not less than 

162 12 ⁄3 percent computed on a sliding scale based 

13 upon the average production per well per day, at a 

14 rate which shall be not less than 4 percentage points 

15 greater than the competitive royalty schedule then in 

16 force and used for royalty determination for com17 petitive leases issued pursuant to such section as de18 termined by the Secretary: Provided, That royalty 

19 on such reinstated lease shall be paid on all produc20 tion removed or sold from such lease subsequent to 

21 the termination of the original lease; 

22 ‘‘(B) payment of back royalties and inclusion in 

23 a reinstated lease issued pursuant to the provisions 

24 of section 17(c) of this Act of a requirement for future royalties at a rate not less than 162 25 ⁄3 percent: 


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1 Provided, That royalty on such reinstated lease shall 

2 be paid on all production removed or sold from such 

3 lease subsequent to the cancellation or termination 

4 of the original lease; and’’; 

5 (C) in subsection (f)— 

6 (i) in paragraph (1), strike ‘‘in the 

7 same manner as the original lease issued 

8 pursuant to section 17’’ and insert ‘‘as a 

9 competitive or a noncompetitive oil and gas 

10 lease in the same manner as the original 

11 lease issued pursuant to subsection (b) or 

12 (c) of section 17 of this Act’’; 

13 (ii) by redesignating paragraphs (2) 

14 and (3) as paragraph (3) and (4), respec15 tively; and 

16 (iii) by inserting after paragraph (1) 

17 the following: 

18 ‘‘(2) Except as otherwise provided in this sec19 tion, the issuance of a lease in lieu of an abandoned 

20 patented oil placer mining claim shall be treated as 

21 a noncompetitive oil and gas lease issued pursuant 

22 to section 17(c) of this Act.’’; 

23 (D) in subsection (g), by striking ‘‘sub24 section (d)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (d) and 

25 (f)’’; 


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1 (E) by amending subsection (h) to read as 

2 follows: 

3 ‘‘(h) ROYALTY REDUCTIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) In acting on a petition to issue a non5 competitive oil and gas lease, under subsection (f) of 

6 this section or in response to a request filed after 

7 issuance of such a lease, or both, the Secretary is 

8 authorized to reduce the royalty on such lease if in 

9 his judgment it is equitable to do so or the cir10 cumstances warrant such relief due to uneconomic 

11 or other circumstances which could cause undue 

12 hardship or premature termination of production. 

13 ‘‘(2) In acting on a petition for reinstatement 

14 pursuant to subsection (d) of this section or in re15 sponse to a request filed after reinstatement, or 

16 both, the Secretary is authorized to reduce the roy17 alty in that reinstated lease on the entire leasehold 

18 or any tract or portion thereof segregated for royalty 

19 purposes if, in his judgment, there are uneconomic 

20 or other circumstances which could cause undue 

21 hardship or premature termination of production; or 

22 because of any written action of the United States, 

23 its agents or employees, which preceded, and was a 

24 major consideration in, the lessee’s expenditure of 

25 funds to develop the property under the lease after 


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1 the rent had become due and had not been paid; or 

2 if in the judgment of the Secretary it is equitable to 

3 do so for any reason.’’; 

4 (F) by redesignating subsections (f) 

5 through (i) as subsections (g) through (j), re6 spectively; and 

7 (G) by inserting after subsection (e) the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(f) ISSUANCE OF NONCOMPETITIVE OIL AND GAS

10 LEASE; CONDITIONS.—Where an unpatented oil placer 

11 mining claim validly located prior to February 24, 1920, 

12 which has been or is currently producing or is capable of 

13 producing oil or gas, has been or is hereafter deemed con14 clusively abandoned for failure to file timely the required 

15 instruments or copies of instruments required by section 

16 1744 of title 43, and it is shown to the satisfaction of 

17 the Secretary that such failure was inadvertent, justifi18 able, or not due to lack of reasonable diligence on the part 

19 of the owner, the Secretary may issue, for the lands cov20 ered by the abandoned unpatented oil placer mining claim, 

21 a noncompetitive oil and gas lease, consistent with the pro22 visions of section 17(e) of this Act, to be effective from 

23 the statutory date the claim was deemed conclusively 

24 abandoned. Issuance of such a lease shall be conditioned 

25 upon: 


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1 ‘‘(1) a petition for issuance of a noncompetitive 

2 oil and gas lease, together with the required rental 

3 and royalty, including back rental and royalty accru4 ing from the statutory date of abandonment of the 

5 oil placer mining claim, being filed with the 

6 Secretary- (A) with respect to any claim deemed 

7 conclusively abandoned on or before January 12, 

8 1983, on or before the one hundred and twentieth 

9 day after January 12, 1983, or (B) with respect to 

10 any claim deemed conclusively abandoned after Jan11 uary 12, 1983, on or before the one hundred and 

12 twentieth day after final notification by the Sec13 retary or a court of competent jurisdiction of the de14 termination of the abandonment of the oil placer 

15 mining claim; 

16 ‘‘(2) a valid lease not having been issued affect17 ing any of the lands covered by the abandoned oil 

18 placer mining claim prior to the filing of such peti19 tion: Provided, however, That after the filing of a 

20 petition for issuance of a lease under this subsection, 

21 the Secretary shall not issue any new lease affecting 

22 any of the lands covered by such abandoned oil plac23 er mining claim for a reasonable period, as deter24 mined in accordance with regulations issued by him; 


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1 ‘‘(3) a requirement in the lease for payment of 

2 rental, including back rentals accruing from the 

3 statutory date of abandonment of the oil placer min4 ing claim, of not less than $5 per acre per year; 

5 ‘‘(4) a requirement in the lease for payment of 

6 royalty on production removed or sold from the oil 

7 placer mining claim, including all royalty on produc8 tion made subsequent to the statutory date the claim 

9 was deemed conclusively abandoned, of not less than 

121 10 ⁄2 percent; and 

11 ‘‘(5) compliance with the notice and reimburse12 ment of costs provisions of paragraph (4) of sub13 section (e) but addressed to the petition covering the 

14 conversion of an abandoned unpatented oil placer 

15 mining claim to a noncompetitive oil and gas lease.’’. 

16 TITLE VI—ENERGY REVENUE 

17 SHARING 

18 SEC. 20601. GULF OF MEXICO OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF 

19 REVENUE. 

20 (a) DISTRIBUTION OF OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF

21 REVENUE TO GULF PRODUCING STATES.—Section 105 of 

22 the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 (43 

23 U.S.C. 1331 note) is amended— 

24 (1) in subsection (a)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘50’’ and 

2 inserting ‘‘37.5’’; and 

3 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

4 (i) by striking ‘‘50’’ and inserting 

5 ‘‘62.5’’; 

6 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

7 ‘‘75’’ and inserting ‘‘80’’; and 

8 (iii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

9 ‘‘25’’ and inserting ‘‘20’’; and 

10 (2) by striking subsection (f) and inserting the 

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(f) TREATMENT OF AMOUNTS.—Amounts disbursed 

13 to a Gulf producing State under this section shall be treat14 ed as revenue sharing and not as a Federal award or grant 

15 for the purposes of part 200 of title 2, Code of Federal 

16 Regulations.’’. 

17 (b) EXEMPTION OF CERTAIN PAYMENTS FROM SE18 QUESTRATION.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 255(g)(1)(A) of the 

20 Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control 

21 Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 905(g)(1)(A)) is amended by 

22 inserting after ‘‘Payments to Social Security Trust 

23 Funds (28–0404–0–1–651).’’ the following: 

24 ‘‘Payments to States pursuant to section 

25 105(a)(2)(A) of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security 


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1 Act of 2006 (Public Law 109–432; 43 U.S.C. 1331 

2 note) (014–5535–0–2–302).’’. 

3 (2) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by 

4 this subsection shall apply to any sequestration 

5 order issued under the Balanced Budget and Emer6 gency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900 et 

7 seq.) on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

8 SEC. 20602. PARITY IN OFFSHORE WIND REVENUE SHAR9 ING. 

10 (a) PAYMENTS AND REVENUES.—Section 8(p)(2) of 

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

12 1337(p)(2)) is amended— 

13 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘(A) The 

14 Secretary’’ and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara16 graphs (B) and (C), the Secretary’’; 

17 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘(B) The 

18 Secretary’’ and inserting the following: 

19 ‘‘(B) DISPOSITION OF REVENUES FOR

20 PROJECTS LOCATED WITHIN 3 NAUTICAL MILES

21 SEAWARD OF STATE SUBMERGED LAND.—The 

22 Secretary’’; and 

23 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(C) DISPOSITION OF REVENUES FOR OFF25 SHORE WIND PROJECTS IN CERTAIN AREAS.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this subpara2 graph: 

3 ‘‘(I) COVERED OFFSHORE WIND

4 PROJECT.—The term ‘covered off5 shore wind project’ means a wind 

6 powered electric generation project in 

7 a wind energy area on the outer Con8 tinental Shelf that is not wholly or 

9 partially located within an area sub10 ject to subparagraph (B). 

11 ‘‘(II) ELIGIBLE STATE.—The 

12 term ‘eligible State’ means a State a 

13 point on the coastline of which is lo14 cated within 75 miles of the geo15 graphic center of a covered offshore 

16 wind project. 

17 ‘‘(III) QUALIFIED OUTER CONTI18 NENTAL SHELF REVENUES.—The 

19 term ‘qualified outer Continental 

20 Shelf revenues’ means all royalties, 

21 fees, rentals, bonuses, or other pay22 ments from covered offshore wind 

23 projects carried out pursuant to this 

24 subsection on or after the date of en25 actment of this subparagraph. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENT.— 

2 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The Sec3 retary of the Treasury shall deposit— 

4 ‘‘(aa) 12.5 percent of quali5 fied outer Continental Shelf reve6 nues in the general fund of the 

7 Treasury; 

8 ‘‘(bb) 37.5 percent of quali9 fied outer Continental Shelf reve10 nues in the North American Wet11 lands Conservation Fund; and 

12 ‘‘(cc) 50 percent of qualified 

13 outer Continental Shelf revenues 

14 in a special account in the Treas15 ury from which the Secretary 

16 shall disburse to each eligible 

17 State an amount determined pur18 suant to subclause (II). 

19 ‘‘(II) ALLOCATION.— 

20 ‘‘(aa) IN GENERAL.—Sub21 ject to item (bb), for each fiscal 

22 year beginning after the date of 

23 enactment of this subparagraph, 

24 the amount made available under 

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1 cated to each eligible State in 

2 amounts (based on a formula es3 tablished by the Secretary by 

4 regulation) that are inversely 

5 proportional to the respective dis6 tances between the point on the 

7 coastline of each eligible State 

8 that is closest to the geographic 

9 center of the applicable leased 

10 tract and the geographic center 

11 of the leased tract. 

12 ‘‘(bb) MINIMUM ALLOCA13 TION.—The amount allocated to 

14 an eligible State each fiscal year 

15 under item (aa) shall be at least 

16 10 percent of the amounts made 

17 available under subclause (I)(cc). 

18 ‘‘(cc) PAYMENTS TO COAST19 AL POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS.— 

20 ‘‘(AA) IN GENERAL.— 

21 The Secretary shall pay 20 

22 percent of the allocable 

23 share of each eligible State, 

24 as determined pursuant to 

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1 litical subdivisions of the eli2 gible State. 

3 ‘‘(BB) ALLOCATION.— 

4 The amount paid by the 

5 Secretary to coastal political 

6 subdivisions under subitem 

7 (AA) shall be allocated to 

8 each coastal political sub9 division in accordance with 

10 subparagraphs (B) and (C) 

11 of section 31(b)(4) of this 

12 Act. 

13 ‘‘(iii) TIMING.—The amounts required 

14 to be deposited under subclause (I) of 

15 clause (ii) for the applicable fiscal year 

16 shall be made available in accordance with 

17 such subclause during the fiscal year im18 mediately following the applicable fiscal 

19 year. 

20 ‘‘(iv) AUTHORIZED USES.— 

21 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Subject to 

22 subclause (II), each eligible State 

23 shall use all amounts received under 

24 clause (ii)(II) in accordance with all 

25 applicable Federal and State laws, 


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1 only for 1 or more of the following 

2 purposes: 

3 ‘‘(aa) Projects and activities 

4 for the purposes of coastal pro5 tection and resiliency, including 

6 conservation, coastal restoration, 

7 estuary management, beach 

8 nourishment, hurricane and flood 

9 protection, and infrastructure di10 rectly affected by coastal wetland 

11 losses. 

12 ‘‘(bb) Mitigation of damage 

13 to fish, wildlife, or natural re14 sources, including through fish15 eries science and research. 

16 ‘‘(cc) Implementation of a 

17 federally approved marine, coast18 al, or comprehensive conservation 

19 management plan. 

20 ‘‘(dd) Mitigation of the im21 pact of outer Continental Shelf 

22 activities through the funding of 

23 onshore infrastructure projects. 


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1 ‘‘(ee) Planning assistance 

2 and the administrative costs of 

3 complying with this section. 

4 ‘‘(ff) Infrastructure improve5 ments at ports, including modi6 fications to Federal navigation 

7 channels, to support installation 

8 of offshore wind energy projects. 

9 ‘‘(II) LIMITATION.—Of the 

10 amounts received by an eligible State 

11 under clause (ii)(II), not more than 3 

12 percent shall be used for the purposes 

13 described in subclause (I)(ee). 

14 ‘‘(v) ADMINISTRATION.—Subject to 

15 clause (vi)(III), amounts made available 

16 under items (aa) and (cc) of clause (ii)(I) 

17 shall— 

18 ‘‘(I) be made available, without 

19 further appropriation, in accordance 

20 with this subparagraph; 

21 ‘‘(II) remain available until ex22 pended; and 

23 ‘‘(III) be in addition to any 

24 amount appropriated under any other 

25 Act. 


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1 ‘‘(vi) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.— 

2 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Not later 

3 than 180 days after the end of each 

4 fiscal year, the Governor of each eligi5 ble State that receives amounts under 

6 clause (ii)(II) for the applicable fiscal 

7 year shall submit to the Secretary a 

8 report that describes the use of the 

9 amounts by the eligible State during 

10 the period covered by the report. 

11 ‘‘(II) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—On 

12 receipt of a report submitted under 

13 subclause (I), the Secretary shall 

14 make the report available to the pub15 lic on the website of the Department 

16 of the Interior. 

17 ‘‘(III) LIMITATION.—If the Gov18 ernor of an eligible State that receives 

19 amounts under clause (ii)(II) fails to 

20 submit the report required under sub21 clause (I) by the deadline specified in 

22 that subclause, any amounts that 

23 would otherwise be provided to the eli24 gible State under clause (ii)(II) for 


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1 the succeeding fiscal year shall be de2 posited in the Treasury. 

3 ‘‘(vii) TREATMENT OF AMOUNTS.— 

4 Amounts disbursed to an eligible State 

5 under this subsection shall be treated as 

6 revenue sharing and not as a Federal 

7 award or grant for the purposes of part 

8 200 of title 2, Code of Federal Regula9 tions.’’. 

10 (b) WIND LEASE SALES FOR AREAS OF THE OUTER

11 CONTINENTAL SHELF OFFSHORE OF TERRITORIES OF

12 THE UNITED STATES.—Section 33 of the Outer Conti13 nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1356c) is amended by 

14 adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(b) WIND LEASE SALE PROCEDURE.—Any wind 

16 lease granted pursuant to this section shall be considered 

17 a wind lease granted under section 8(p), including for pur18 poses of the disposition of revenues pursuant to subpara19 graphs (B) and (C) of section 8(p)(2).’’. 

20 (c) EXEMPTION OF CERTAIN PAYMENTS FROM SE21 QUESTRATION.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 255(g)(1)(A) of the 

23 Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control 

24 Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 905(g)(1)(A)) is amended by 


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1 inserting after ‘‘Payments to Social Security Trust 

2 Funds (28–0404–0–1–651).’’ the following: 

3 ‘‘Payments to States pursuant to subparagraph 

4 (C)(ii)(I)(cc) of section 8(p)(2) of the Outer Conti5 nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337(p)(2)).’’. 

6 (2) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by 

7 this subsection shall apply to any sequestration 

8 order issued under the Balanced Budget and Emer9 gency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900 et 

10 seq.) on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

11 SEC. 20603. ELIMINATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE FEE UNDER 

12 THE MINERAL LEASING ACT. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 35 of the Mineral Leasing 

14 Act (30 U.S.C. 191) is amended— 

15 (1) in subsection (a), in the first sentence, by 

16 striking ‘‘and, subject to the provisions of subsection 

17 (b),’’; 

18 (2) by striking subsection (b); 

19 (3) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 

20 subsections (b) and (c), respectively; 

21 (4) in paragraph (3)(B)(ii) of subsection (b) (as 

22 so redesignated), by striking ‘‘subsection (d)’’ and 

23 inserting ‘‘subsection (c)’’; and 


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1 (5) in paragraph (3)(A)(ii) of subsection (c) (as 

2 so redesignated), by striking ‘‘subsection (c)(2)(B)’’ 

3 and inserting ‘‘subsection (b)(2)(B)’’. 

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

5 (1) Section 6(a) of the Mineral Leasing Act for 

6 Acquired Lands (30 U.S.C. 355(a)) is amended— 

7 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘Sub8 ject to the provisions of section 35(b) of the 

9 Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 191(b)), all’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘All’’; and 

11 (B) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘of 

12 the Act of February 25, 1920 (41 Stat. 450; 30 

13 U.S.C. 191),’’ and inserting ‘‘of the Mineral 

14 Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 191)’’. 

15 (2) Section 20(a) of the Geothermal Steam Act 

16 of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1019(a)) is amended, in the sec17 ond sentence of the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

18 by striking ‘‘the provisions of subsection (b) of sec19 tion 35 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

20 191(b)) and section 5(a)(2) of this Act’’ and insert21 ing ‘‘section 5(a)(2)’’. 

22 (3) Section 205(f) of the Federal Oil and Gas 

23 Royalty Management Act of 1982 (30 U.S.C. 

24 1735(f)) is amended— 


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1 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘this 

2 Section’’ and inserting ‘‘this section’’; and 

3 (B) by striking the fourth, fifth, and sixth 

4 sentences. 

5 DIVISION C—WATER QUALITY 

6 CERTIFICATION AND ENERGY 

7 PROJECT IMPROVEMENT 

8 SEC. 30001. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

9 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This division may be cited as the 

10 ‘‘Water Quality Certification and Energy Project Improve11 ment Act of 2023’’. 

12 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

13 this division is as follows: 

DIVISION C—WATER QUALITY CERTIFICATION AND ENERGY 

PROJECT IMPROVEMENT 

Sec. 30001. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 30002. Certification. 

14 SEC. 30002. CERTIFICATION. 

15 Section 401 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

16 Act (33 U.S.C. 1341) is amended— 

17 (1) in subsection (a)— 

18 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

19 (i) in the first sentence, by striking 

20 ‘‘may result’’ and inserting ‘‘may directly 

21 result’’; 

22 (ii) in the second sentence, by striking 

23 ‘‘activity’’ and inserting ‘‘discharge’’; 


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1 (iii) in the third sentence, by striking 

2 ‘‘applications’’ each place it appears and 

3 inserting ‘‘requests’’; 

4 (iv) in the fifth sentence, by striking 

5 ‘‘act on’’ and inserting ‘‘grant or deny’’; 

6 and 

7 (v) by inserting after the fourth sen8 tence the following: ‘‘Not later than 30 

9 days after the date of enactment of the 

10 Water Quality Certification and Energy 

11 Project Improvement Act of 2023, each 

12 State and interstate agency that has au13 thority to give such a certification, and the 

14 Administrator, shall publish requirements 

15 for certification to demonstrate to such 

16 State, such interstate agency, or the Ad17 ministrator, as the case may be, compli18 ance with the applicable provisions of sec19 tions 301, 302, 303, 306, and 307. A deci20 sion to grant or deny a request for certifi21 cation shall be based only on the applicable 

22 provisions of sections 301, 302, 303, 306, 

23 and 307, and the grounds for the decision 

24 shall be set forth in writing and provided 

25 to the applicant. Not later than 90 days 


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1 after receipt of a request for certification, 

2 the State, interstate agency, or Adminis3 trator, as the case may be, shall identify in 

4 writing all specific additional materials or 

5 information that are necessary to grant or 

6 deny the request.’’; 

7 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

8 (i) in the second sentence, by striking 

9 ‘‘notice of application for such Federal li10 cense or permit’’ and inserting ‘‘receipt of 

11 a notice under the preceding sentence’’; 

12 (ii) in the third sentence, by striking 

13 ‘‘any water quality requirement’’ and in14 serting ‘‘any applicable provision of section 

15 301, 302, 303, 306, or 307’’; 

16 (iii) in the fifth sentence, by striking 

17 ‘‘insure compliance with applicable water 

18 quality requirements.’’ and inserting ‘‘en19 sure compliance with the applicable provi20 sions of sections 301, 302, 303, 306, and 

21 307.’’; 

22 (iv) in the final sentence, by striking 

23 ‘‘insure’’ and inserting ‘‘ensure’’; and 

24 (v) by striking the first sentence and 

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1 tification, the certifying State or interstate 

2 agency, as applicable, shall immediately 

3 notify the Administrator of the request.’’; 

4 (C) in paragraph (3), in the second sen5 tence, by striking ‘‘section’’ and inserting ‘‘any 

6 applicable provision of section’’; 

7 (D) in paragraph (4)— 

8 (i) in the first sentence, by striking 

9 ‘‘applicable effluent limitations or other 

10 limitations or other applicable water qual11 ity requirements will not be violated’’ and 

12 inserting ‘‘no applicable provision of sec13 tion 301, 302, 303, 306, or 307 will be vio14 lated’’; 

15 (ii) in the second sentence, by striking 

16 ‘‘will violate applicable effluent limitations 

17 or other limitations or other water quality 

18 requirements’’ and inserting ‘‘will directly 

19 result in a discharge that violates an appli20 cable provision of section 301, 302, 303, 

21 306, or 307,’’; and 

22 (iii) in the third sentence, by striking 

23 ‘‘such facility or activity will not violate the 

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1 rectly result in a discharge that violates 

2 any applicable provision’’; and 

3 (E) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘the ap4 plicable provisions’’ and inserting ‘‘any applica5 ble provision’’; 

6 (2) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘any applica7 ble effluent limitations and other limitations, under 

8 section 301 or 302 of this Act, standard of perform9 ance under section 306 of this Act, or prohibition, 

10 effluent standard, or pretreatment standard under 

11 section 307 of this Act, and with any other appro12 priate requirement of State law set forth in such 

13 certification, and’’ and inserting ‘‘the applicable pro14 visions of sections 301, 302, 303, 306, and 307, and 

15 any such limitations or requirements’’; and 

16 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(e) For purposes of this section, the applicable pro18 visions of sections 301, 302, 303, 306, and 307 are any 

19 applicable effluent limitations and other limitations, under 

20 section 301 or 302, standard of performance under section 

21 306, prohibition, effluent standard, or pretreatment stand22 ard under section 307, and requirement of State law im23 plementing water quality criteria under section 303 necVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:17 Mar 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00174 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1.IH H1

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1 essary to support the designated use or uses of the receiv2 ing navigable waters.’’. 

Æ 


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