II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3649 

To expedite the consideration of permits for refineries, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 12, 2006 

Mr. ALLEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To expedite the consideration of permits for refineries, and 

for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bolster Our Energy 

5 Security for Tomorrow Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis9 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ10 mental Protection Agency. 


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1 (2) APPLICANT.—The term ‘‘applicant’’ means 

2 a person who is seeking a Federal refinery author3 ization. 

4 (3) BASE CLOSURE LAW.—The term ‘‘base clo5 sure law’’ means— 

6 (A) the Defense Base Closure and Realign7 ment Act of 1990 (10 U.S.C. 2687 note; part 

8 A of title XXIX of Public Law 101–510); and 

9 (B) title II of the Defense Authorization 

10 Amendments and Base Closure and Realign11 ment Act (10 U.S.C. 2687 note; Public Law 

12 100–526). 

13 (4) BIOMASS.—The term ‘‘biomass’’ has the 

14 meaning given the term in section 932(a) of the En15 ergy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16232(a)). 

16 (5) CLOSED MILITARY INSTALLATION.—The 

17 term ‘‘closed military installation’’ means a military 

18 installation closed or approved for closure pursuant 

19 to a base closure law. 

20 (6) FEDERAL REFINERY AUTHORIZATION.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Federal re22 finery authorization’’ means any authorization 

23 required under Federal law, whether adminis24 tered by a Federal or State administrative 


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1 agency or official, with respect to siting, con2 struction, expansion, or operation of a refinery. 

3 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘Federal re4 finery authorization’’ includes any permit, li5 cense, special use authorization, certification, 

6 opinion, or other approval required under Fed7 eral law with respect to siting, construction, ex8 pansion, or operation of a refinery. 

9 (7) REFINERY.—The term ‘‘refinery’’ means— 

10 (A) a facility designed and operated to re11 ceive, load, unload, store, transport, process, 

12 and refine crude oil by any chemical or physical 

13 process (including distillation, fluid catalytic 

14 cracking, hydrocracking, coking, alkylation, 

15 etherification, polymerization, catalytic reform16 ing, isomerization, hydrotreating, blending, or 

17 any combination thereof) in order to produce 

18 gasoline or distillate; 

19 (B) a facility designed and operated to re20 ceive, load, unload, store, transport, process, 

21 and refine coal by any chemical or physical 

22 process (including liquefaction) in order to 

23 produce gasoline or diesel as its primary out24 put; or 


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1 (C) a facility designed and operated to re2 ceive, load, unload, store, transport, process (in3 cluding biochemical, photochemical, and bio4 technology processes), and refine biomass in 

5 order to produce biofuel. 

6 (8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 

7 (A) a State; 

8 (B) the District of Columbia; 

9 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 

10 and 

11 (D) any other territory or possession of the 

12 United States. 

13 SEC. 3. STATE ASSISTANCE. 

14 (a) STATE ASSISTANCE.—At the request of a chief 

15 executive officer of a State, the Administrator may provide 

16 financial assistance to the State to facilitate the hiring of 

17 additional personnel to assist the State with expertise in 

18 fields relevant to consideration of Federal refinery author19 izations. 

20 (b) OTHER ASSISTANCE.—At the request of a chief 

21 executive officer of a State, a Federal agency responsible 

22 for a Federal refinery authorization shall provide tech23 nical, legal, or other nonfinancial assistance to the State 

24 to facilitate the consideration by the State of Federal re25 finery authorizations. 


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1 SEC. 4. REFINERY PROCESS COORDINATION AND PROCE2 DURES. 

3 (a) APPOINTMENT OF FEDERAL COORDINATOR.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall appoint 

5 a Federal coordinator to perform the responsibilities 

6 assigned to the Federal coordinator under this Act. 

7 (2) OTHER AGENCIES.—Each Federal or State 

8 agency or official that is responsible for a Federal 

9 refinery authorization shall cooperate with the Fed10 eral coordinator. 

11 (b) FEDERAL REFINERY AUTHORIZATIONS.— 

12 (1) MEETING PARTICIPANTS.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days 

14 after receiving a notification from an applicant 

15 that the applicant is seeking a Federal refinery 

16 authorization pursuant to Federal law, the Fed17 eral coordinator appointed under subsection (a) 

18 shall convene a meeting of representatives from 

19 all Federal and State agencies responsible for a 

20 Federal refinery authorization with respect to 

21 the refinery. 

22 (B) STATE AGENCIES.—The chief execu23 tive officer of a State shall identify each agency 

24 of the State that is responsible for a Federal re25 finery authorization with respect to the refin26 ery. 


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1 (2) MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 

3 after receipt of a notification described in para4 graph (1), the Federal coordinator and the 

5 other participants at a meeting convened under 

6 paragraph (1) shall enter into a memorandum 

7 of agreement setting forth the most expeditious 

8 coordinated schedule practicable for completion 

9 of all Federal refinery authorizations with re10 spect to the refinery, consistent with the full 

11 substantive and procedural review required 

12 under Federal law. 

13 (B) ABSENT AGENCIES.—If a Federal or 

14 State agency responsible for a Federal refinery 

15 authorization with respect to the refinery is not 

16 represented at the meeting, the Federal coordi17 nator shall ensure that the schedule accommo18 dates the Federal refinery authorization, con19 sistent with Federal law. 

20 (C) CONFLICTING REQUIREMENTS.—If a 

21 conflict arises among Federal refinery author22 ization scheduling requirements, the require23 ments of the Environmental Protection Agency 

24 shall be given priority. 


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1 (D) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 15 

2 days after completing the memorandum of 

3 agreement, the Federal coordinator shall pub4 lish the memorandum of agreement in the Fed5 eral Register. 

6 (E) ADMINISTRATION.—The Federal coor7 dinator shall, to the maximum extent prac8 ticable— 

9 (i) ensure that all parties to the 

10 memorandum of agreement are working in 

11 good faith to carry out the memorandum 

12 of agreement; and 

13 (ii) facilitate the implementation of 

14 the schedule established in the memo15 randum of agreement. 

16 (c) CONSOLIDATED RECORD.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal coordinator 

18 shall, with the cooperation of Federal and State ad19 ministrative agencies and officials, maintain a com20 plete consolidated record of all decisions made and 

21 actions taken by the Federal coordinator or by a 

22 Federal administrative agency or officer (or State 

23 administrative agency or officer acting under dele24 gated Federal authority) with respect to any Federal 

25 refinery authorization. 


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1 (2) JUDICIAL RECORD.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara3 graph (B), the record shall be the record for ju4 dicial review under subsection (d) of a decision 

5 made or action taken by a Federal or State ad6 ministrative agency or official under this sec7 tion. 

8 (B) REMAND FOR FURTHER DEVELOP9 MENT.—If the court determines that the record 

10 does not contain sufficient information, the 

11 court may remand the proceeding to the Fed12 eral coordinator for further development of the 

13 consolidated record. 

14 (d) REMEDIES.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The United States district 

16 court for the district in which the refinery is located 

17 or proposed to be located shall have exclusive juris18 diction over any civil action for the review of the 

19 failure of an agency or official to act on a Federal 

20 refinery authorization in accordance with the sched21 ule established pursuant to the memorandum of 

22 agreement. 

23 (2) STANDING.—If an applicant or a party to 

24 a memorandum of agreement alleges that a failure 

25 to act described in paragraph (1) has occurred and 


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1 that the failure to act would jeopardize timely com2 pletion of the entire schedule as established in the 

3 memorandum of agreement, the applicant or other 

4 party may bring a cause of action under this sub5 section. 

6 (3) COURT ACTION.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—If an action is brought 

8 under paragraph (2), the court shall review— 

9 (i) whether the parties to the memo10 randum of agreement have been acting in 

11 good faith; 

12 (ii) whether the applicant has been co13 operating fully with the agencies that are 

14 responsible for issuing a Federal refinery 

15 authorization; and 

16 (iii) any other relevant materials in 

17 the consolidated record. 

18 (B) NEW SCHEDULE.—Taking into consid19 eration the factors described in subparagraph 

20 (A), if the court finds that a failure to act de21 scribed in paragraph (1) has occurred and that 

22 the failure to act would jeopardize timely com23 pletion of the entire schedule as established in 

24 the memorandum of agreement, the court shall 

25 establish a new schedule that is the most expeVerDate Aug 31 2005 21:54 Jul 13, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3649.IS S3649

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1 ditious coordinated schedule practicable for 

2 completion of proceedings, consistent with the 

3 full substantive and procedural review required 

4 by Federal law. 

5 (C) ENFORCEMENT.—The court may issue 

6 orders to enforce any schedule the court estab7 lishes under this paragraph. 

8 (4) FILING OF CONSOLIDATED RECORD.—When 

9 any civil action is brought under this subsection, the 

10 Federal coordinator shall immediately file with the 

11 court the consolidated record compiled by the Fed12 eral coordinator pursuant to subsection (c). 

13 (5) EXPEDITED REVIEW.—The court shall set 

14 any civil action brought under this subsection for ex15 pedited consideration. 

16 (e) APPLICABILITY.—This section shall only apply to 

17 a refinery sited or proposed to be sited, or expanded or 

18 proposed to be expanded, in— 

19 (1) a State the chief executive officer of which 

20 has submitted a request to the President for the ap21 plication of this section to the siting, construction, 

22 expansion, or operation of any refinery in the State; 

23 or 

24 (2) all or part of a closed military installation 

25 made available for the siting of a refinery in the 


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1 manner provided by the base closure law applicable 

2 to the closed military installation. 

3 SEC. 5. DESIGNATION OF CLOSED MILITARY BASES. 

4 (a) DESIGNATION REQUIREMENT.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act, the President 

7 shall designate not less than 3 closed military instal8 lations, or portions thereof, as potentially suitable 

9 for the construction of a refinery. 

10 (2) BIOMASS.—At least 1 site designated under 

11 paragraph (1) shall be designated as potentially suit12 able for construction of a refinery to refine biomass 

13 in order to produce biofuel. 

14 (b) REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY.—In preparing or 

15 revising the redevelopment plan for the closed military in16 stallation, the redevelopment authority with jurisdiction 

17 over each closed military installation designated under 

18 subsection (a)(1) shall consider the feasibility and prac19 ticability of siting a refinery on the closed military installa20 tion. 

21 (c) MANAGEMENT AND DISPOSAL OF REAL PROP22 ERTY.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—In managing and disposing 

24 of real property at a closed military installation des25 ignated under subsection (a) pursuant to the base 


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1 closure law applicable to the closed military installa2 tion, the Secretary of Defense shall give substantial 

3 deference to the recommendations of the redevelop4 ment authority, as contained in the redevelopment 

5 plan for the closed military installation, regarding 

6 the siting of a refinery on the closed military instal7 lation. 

8 (2) REAL PROPERTY.—The management and 

9 disposal of real property at all or part of a closed 

10 military installation found to be suitable for the 

11 siting of a refinery under subsection (a) shall be car12 ried out in the manner provided by the base closure 

13 law applicable to the closed military installation. 

14 SEC. 6. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS AND ACTIONS. 

15 Nothing in this Act— 

16 (1) affects the application of any environmental 

17 or other law; or 

18 (2) prevents any party from bringing a cause of 

19 action under any environmental or other law, includ20 ing a citizen suit. 

21 SEC. 7. REPEAL OF REFINERY REVITALIZATION AUTHOR22 ITY. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle H of title III of the En24 ergy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15951 et seq.) is re25 pealed. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con2 tents in section 1(b) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 

3 (Public Law 109–58; 119 Stat. 594) is amended by strik4 ing the items relating to subtitle H of title III. 

Æ 


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