II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 736 

To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to promote uses on the 

Outer Continental Shelf. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 6, 2005 

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

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to promote 

uses on the Outer Continental Shelf. 

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 ‘‘Alternative Energy En5 hancement Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ALTERNATE ENERGY-RELATED USES ON THE 

7 OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8 of the Outer Conti9 nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337) is amended by 

10 adding at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘(p)(1) The Secretary, in consultation with the Sec2 retary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is op3 erating and other relevant departments and agencies of 

4 the Federal Government, may grant a lease, easement, 

5 right-of-way, license, or permit on the outer Continental 

6 Shelf for activities not otherwise authorized under this 

7 Act, the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 (33 U.S.C. 1501 

8 et seq.), the Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Act of 

9 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9101 et seq.), or other applicable law, 

10 if those activities support or promote— 

11 ‘‘(A) exploration, development, production, 

12 transportation, or storage of oil, natural gas, or 

13 other minerals; 

14 ‘‘(B) production, transportation, or trans15 mission of energy from sources other than oil and 

16 gas; or 

17 ‘‘(C) use, for energy-related or marine-related 

18 purposes, of facilities in use on or before the date of 

19 enactment of this subsection for activities authorized 

20 under this Act. 

21 ‘‘(2)(A)(i) Subject to paragraph (3), the Secretary 

22 shall establish reasonable forms of payment for any lease, 

23 easement, right-of-way, license, or permit under this sub24 section, including a royalty, fee, rental, bonus, or other 

25 payment, as the Secretary determines to be appropriate. 
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1 ‘‘(ii) The Secretary may establish a form of payment 

2 described in clause (i) by rule or by agreement with the 

3 holder of the lease, easement, right-of-way, license, or per4 mit. 

5 ‘‘(B) In establishing a form of, or schedule relating 

6 to, a payment under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall 

7 take into consideration the economic viability of a pro8 posed activity. 

9 ‘‘(C) The Secretary may, by rule, provide for relief 

10 from or reduction of a payment under subparagraph (A)— 

11 ‘‘(i) if, without the relief or reduction, an activ12 ity relating to a lease, easement, right-of-way, li13 cense, or permit under this subsection would be un14 economical; 

15 ‘‘(ii) to encourage a particular activity; or 

16 ‘‘(iii) for another reason, as the Secretary de17 termines to be appropriate. 

18 ‘‘(D) If the holder of a lease, easement, right-of-way, 

19 license, or permit under this subsection fails to make a 

20 payment by the date required under a rule or term of the 

21 lease, easement, right-of-way, license, or permit, the Sec22 retary may require the holder to pay interest on the pay23 ment in accordance with the underpayment rate estab24 lished under section 6621(a)(2) of the Internal Revenue 

25 Code of 1986, for the period— 
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1 ‘‘(i) beginning on the date on which the pay2 ment was due; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) ending on the date on which the payment 

4 is made. 

5 ‘‘(E)(i) The Secretary may allow a credit in the 

6 amount of any excess payment made by the holder of a 

7 lease, easement, right-of-way, license, or permit under this 

8 subsection or provide a refund in the amount of the excess 

9 payment from the account to or in which the excess pay10 ment was paid or deposited. 

11 ‘‘(ii) The Secretary shall pay, or allow the holder of 

12 a lease, easement, right-of-way, license, or permit under 

13 this subsection a credit in the amount of, any interest on 

14 an amount refunded or credited under clause (i) in accord15 ance with the overpayment rate established under section 

16 6621(a)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, for the 

17 period— 

18 ‘‘(I) beginning on the date on which the Sec19 retary received the excess payment; and 

20 ‘‘(II) ending on the date on which the refund or 

21 credit is provided. 

22 ‘‘(F)(i) The Secretary, in coordination with the Ad23 ministrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad24 ministration, may establish reasonable forms of payment, 

25 as determined by the Secretary, for a license issued under 
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1 the Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Act of 1980 (42 

2 U.S.C. 9101 et seq.), including a royalty, fee, rental, 

3 bonus, or other payment, as the Secretary determines to 

4 be appropriate, in addition to the administrative fee under 

5 section 102(h) of that Act (42 U.S.C. 9112(h)). 

6 ‘‘(ii) A form of payment under clause (i) may be es7 tablished by rule or by agreement with the holder of the 

8 lease, easement, right-of-way, license, or permit. 

9 ‘‘(3)(A) Any funds received by the Secretary from a 

10 holder of a lease, easement, right-of-way, license, or permit 

11 under this subsection shall be distributed in accordance 

12 with this paragraph. 

13 ‘‘(B)(i) If a lease, easement, right-of-way, license, or 

14 permit under this subsection covers a specific tract of, or 

15 regards a facility located on, the outer Continental Shelf 

16 and is not an easement or right-of-way for transmission 

17 or transportation of energy, minerals, or other natural re18 sources, the Secretary shall pay 50 percent of any amount 

19 received from the holder of the lease, easement, right-of20 way, license, or permit to the State off the shore of which 

21 the geographic center of the area covered by the lease, 

22 easement, right-of-way, license, permit, or facility is lo23 cated, in accordance with Federal law determining the sea24 ward lateral boundaries of the coastal States. 
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1 ‘‘(ii) Not later than the last day of the month after 

2 the month during which the Secretary receives a payment 

3 from the holder of a lease, easement, right-of-way, license, 

4 or permit described in clause (i), the Secretary shall make 

5 payments in accordance with clause (i). 

6 ‘‘(C)(i) The Secretary shall deposit 20 percent of the 

7 funds described in subparagraph (A) to a special account 

8 maintained and administered by the Secretary to provide 

9 research and development grants for improving energy 

10 technologies. 

11 ‘‘(ii) An amount deposited under clause (i) shall re12 main available until expended, without further appropria13 tion. 

14 ‘‘(D) The Secretary shall credit 5 percent of the 

15 funds described in subparagraph (A) to the annual oper16 ating appropriation of the Minerals Management Service. 

17 ‘‘(E) The Secretary shall deposit any funds described 

18 in subparagraph (A) that are not deposited or credited 

19 under subparagraphs (B) through (D) in the general fund 

20 of the Treasury. 

21 ‘‘(F) This paragraph does not apply to any amount 

22 received by the Secretary under section 9701 of title 31, 

23 United States Code, or any other law (including regula24 tions) under which the Secretary may recover the costs 

25 of administering this subsection. 
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1 ‘‘(4) Before carrying out this subsection, the Sec2 retary shall consult with the Secretary of Defense and 

3 other appropriate Federal agencies regarding the effect of 

4 this subsection on national security and navigational ob5 struction. 

6 ‘‘(5)(A) The Secretary may issue a lease, easement, 

7 right-of-way, license, or permit under paragraph (1) on 

8 a competitive or noncompetitive basis. 

9 ‘‘(B) In determining whether a lease, easement right10 of-way, license, or permit shall be granted competitively 

11 or noncompetitively, the Secretary shall consider factors 

12 including— 

13 ‘‘(i) prevention of waste and conservation of 

14 natural resources; 

15 ‘‘(ii) the economic viability of a project; 

16 ‘‘(iii) protection of the environment; 

17 ‘‘(iv) the national interest and national security; 

18 ‘‘(v) human safety; 

19 ‘‘(vi) protection of correlative rights; and 

20 ‘‘(vii) the potential return of the lease, ease21 ment, right-of-way, license, or permit. 

22 ‘‘(6) The Secretary, in consultation with the Sec23 retary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is op24 erating, other relevant Federal agencies, and affected 

25 States, as the Secretary determines appropriate, shall pro-
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1 mulgate any regulation the Secretary determines to be 

2 necessary to administer this subsection to achieve the 

3 goals of— 

4 ‘‘(A) ensuring public safety; 

5 ‘‘(B) protecting the environment; 

6 ‘‘(C) preventing waste; 

7 ‘‘(D) conserving the natural resources of, and 

8 protecting correlative rights in, the outer Conti9 nental Shelf; 

10 ‘‘(E) protecting national security interests; 

11 ‘‘(F) auditing and reconciling payments made 

12 and owed by each holder of a lease, easement, right13 of-way, license, or permit under this subsection to 

14 ensure a correct accounting and collection of the 

15 payments; and 

16 ‘‘(G) requiring each holder of a lease, easement, 

17 right-of-way, license, or permit under this subsection 

18 to— 

19 ‘‘(i) establish such records as the Secretary 

20 determines to be necessary; 

21 ‘‘(ii) retain all records relating to an activ22 ity under a lease, easement, right-of-way, li23 cense, or permit under this subsection for such 

24 period as the Secretary may prescribe; and 
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1 ‘‘(iii) produce the records on receipt of a 

2 request from the Secretary. 

3 ‘‘(7) Section 22 shall apply to any activity relating 

4 to a lease, easement, right-of-way, license, or permit under 

5 this subsection. 

6 ‘‘(8) The Secretary shall require the holder of a lease, 

7 easement, right-of-way, license, or permit under this sub8 section to— 

9 ‘‘(A) submit to the Secretary a surety bond or 

10 other form of security, as determined by the Sec11 retary; and 

12 ‘‘(B) comply with any other requirement the 

13 Secretary determines to be necessary to protect the 

14 interests of the United States. 

15 ‘‘(9) Nothing in this subsection displaces, supersedes, 

16 limits, or modifies the jurisdiction, responsibility, or au17 thority of any Federal or State agency under any other 

18 Federal law. 

19 ‘‘(10) This subsection does not apply to any area on 

20 the outer Continental Shelf designated as a National Ma21 rine Sanctuary.’’. 

22 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 8 of the 

23 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337) is 

24 amended in the section heading by striking ‘‘LEASING’’ 

25 and all that follows and inserting ‘‘LEASES, EASE-
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1 MENTS, AND RIGHTS-OF-WAY ON THE OUTER CONTI2 NENTAL SHELF.’’. 

3 (c) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in the amendment 

4 made by subsection (a) requires any resubmission of docu5 ments previously submitted or any reauthorization of ac6 tions previously authorized with respect to any project— 

7 (1) for which offshore test facilities have been 

8 constructed before the date of enactment of this Act; 

9 or 

10 (2) for which a request for proposals has been 

11 issued by a public authority.

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