I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 910

To provide for the distribution to coastal States and counties of revenues 

collected under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 25, 2003

Mr. ROHRABACHER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Resources 

A BILL

To provide for the distribution to coastal States and counties 

of revenues collected under the Outer Continental Shelf 

Lands Act.

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 ‘‘Fair Disbursement of 

5 Offshore Oil Revenue Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) the demand for energy in the United States 

9 is increasing and will continue to increase for the 

10 foreseeable future; 
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1 (2) domestic production of oil and gas is declin2 ing; 

3 (3) the United States continues to be overly de4 pendent on foreign sources of oil and gas; 

5 (4) the Outer Continental Shelf contains signifi6 cant quantities of oil and gas that should be devel7 oped to meet United States energy needs while safe8 guarding important environmental values; 

9 (5) the exploration, development, and produc10 tion of Outer Continental Shelf resources, and the 

11 siting of related energy facilities, may impact various 

12 State and local governments; and 

13 (6) coastal States and counties should be pro14 vided with a share of the revenues derived from 

15 Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas leasing, explo16 ration, development, and production activities. 

17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

18 For purposes of this Act—

19 (1) the term ‘‘coastal State’’ means any State 

20 of the United States bordering on the Atlantic 

21 Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Arctic Ocean, or the 

22 Gulf of Mexico; 

23 (2) the term ‘‘coastal county’’ means a unit of 

24 general government immediately below the level of 

25 State government, as determined by the Secretary 
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1 under section 6, with jurisdiction over lands along 

2 the coast line; 

3 (3) the term ‘‘coast line’’ has the meaning given 

4 such term under the Submerged Lands Act (43 

5 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.); 

6 (4) the term ‘‘Outer Continental Shelf’’ has the 

7 meaning given the term ‘‘outer Continental Shelf’’ 

8 under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 

9 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.); 

10 (5) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

11 of the Interior; and 

12 (6) the term ‘‘revenues’’ means all bonuses, 

13 rents, royalties, and other moneys collected under 

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

15 1331 et seq.), and interest thereon. 

16 SEC. 4. COASTAL COMMUNITIES OUTER CONTINENTAL 

17 SHELF RECEIPT FUND. 

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established an inter19 est bearing account in the Treasury of the United States 

20 to be known as the Coastal Communities Outer Conti21 nental Shelf Receipt Fund (hereafter in this Act referred 

22 to as ‘‘the Fund’’). 

23 (b) PAYMENTS TO FUND.—Beginning in fiscal year 

24 2004, the Secretary shall pay into the Fund all revenues 

25 described in subsection (c) that are attributable to an 
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1 Outer Continental Shelf lease, any part of which is within 

2 200 geographical miles of the coast line. The Secretary 

3 may adjust amounts in the Fund at any time to account 

4 for overpayments, underpayments, and errors. 

5 (c) NEW REVENUES.—Subsection (b) shall apply only 

6 to—

7 (1) bonus revenues under a lease if no bonus 

8 revenues have been received by the Secretary under 

9 that lease before January 1, 2003; 

10 (2) rent revenues under a lease if no rent reve11 nues have been received by the Secretary under that 

12 lease before January 1, 2003; 

13 (3) royalty revenues under a lease if no royalty 

14 revenues have been received by the Secretary under 

15 that lease before January 1, 2003; and 

16 (4) other revenues under a lease if the lease 

17 was issued on or after January 1, 2003. 

18 SEC. 5. DISPOSITION OF FUND. 

19 (a) STATE SHARE.—(1) Six months after the end of 

20 fiscal year 2004, and annually thereafter, the Secretary 

21 shall pay from the Fund to each coastal State one-half 

22 of such revenues paid into the Fund with respect to the 

23 fiscal year most recently completed, and any interest 

24 earned thereon, as may be attributable to that State. 
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1 (2) In order to determine to which State revenues are 

2 attributable for purposes of this Act, the Secretary shall 

3 delimit the lateral boundaries between the coastal States 

4 to a point 200 geographic miles seaward of the coast line. 

5 Such boundaries shall be set according to the following 

6 principles, listed in order of the priority of their applica7 tion: 

8 (A) Any judicial decrees or interstate compacts 

9 delimiting lateral offshore boundaries between coast10 al States. 

11 (B) Principles of domestic and international law 

12 governing the delimitation of lateral offshore bound13 aries. 

14 (C) The desirability of following existing lease 

15 boundaries and block lines on the Secretary’s official 

16 protraction diagrams. 

17 (3) Each coastal State, before receiving funds under 

18 this subsection, shall annually enact the necessary legisla19 tion to provide any State permits required for onshore fa20 cilities needed to support offshore oil or gas development 

21 or production in the area adjacent to that coastal State. 

22 If a State fails to enact such legislation, the funds attrib23 utable to that State shall not be disbursed, and the Sec24 retary shall take into consideration that failure before of-
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1 fering any additional leases for sale in the offshore area 

2 adjacent to that State. 

3 (b) COASTAL COUNTY SHARE.—(1) At the same time 

4 that the Secretary pays revenues to coastal States under 

5 subsection (a), the Secretary shall pay to coastal counties 

6 within that State the remaining one-half of the revenues, 

7 and any interest earned on those revenues, in the Fund 

8 for that fiscal year attributable to that State. 

9 (2) In order to determine to which coastal county rev10 enues are attributable for purposes of this Act, the Sec11 retary shall delimit the lateral boundaries between the 

12 coastal counties to a point 200 geographic miles seaward 

13 of the coast line. Such boundaries shall be set according 

14 to the following principles, listed in order of the priority 

15 of their application: 

16 (A) Existing boundaries between coastal coun17 ties with valid supporting legal authority. 

18 (B) The desirability of following existing lease 

19 boundaries and block lines on the Secretary’s official 

20 protraction diagrams. 

21 (C) The principle that, to the extent consistent 

22 with subparagraphs (A) and (B), the size of the 

23 coastal county’s adjacent offshore area, as a percent24 age of all of that State’s adjacent offshore areas, 

25 shall be based on a formula giving equal weight to—
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1 (i) the coastal county’s coast line as a per2 centage of the State’s coast line, calculated 

3 using the same large-scale charts of the Na4 tional Ocean Service that are used to delimit 

5 the territorial sea under international law; and 

6 (ii) the coastal county’s population as a 

7 percentage of the population of all coastal coun8 ties in the State, calculated by the Secretary 

9 using the best available national census data. 

10 (3) Each coastal county, before receiving funds under 

11 this subsection, shall annually enact by county statute or 

12 ordinance the necessary legislation to provide the local 

13 permits required for onshore facilities needed to support 

14 offshore oil or gas development or production in the area 

15 adjacent to that coastal county, and the necessary legisla16 tion to expend such funds. If a county fails to enact such 

17 legislation, the funds attributable to that county shall not 

18 be disbursed, and the Secretary shall take into consider19 ation that failure before offering any additional leases for 

20 sale in the offshore area adjacent to that county. 

21 (c) USE OF FUNDS BY STATES.—Each coastal State 

22 shall use funds received pursuant to subsection (a)—

23 (1) to pay for the administrative costs the State 

24 incurs in the leasing and permitting process as spec25 ified in the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act; 
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1 (2) for such environmental and natural resource 

2 projects as the State determines; or 

3 (3) for such educational projects as the State 

4 determines. 

5 (d) COUNTY DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.—Each coast6 al county shall develop a formula to allocate at least two7 thirds of the funds received pursuant to subsection (b) to 

8 local communities within its jurisdiction based on the 

9 proximity of these communities to the coast, except that 

10 funds shall be withheld from communities that the Sec11 retary determines have failed to issue permits required for 

12 onshore facilities needed to support offshore oil or gas de13 velopment or production in the area adjacent to that 

14 coastal county. 

15 SEC. 6. DESIGNATION OF COASTAL COUNTIES. 

16 For the purposes of this Act, the Secretary, after con17 sultation with the Governor of each coastal State, shall 

18 determine which counties, parishes, boroughs, tribal gov19 ernments, or other units of general government imme20 diately below the level of State government shall be des21 ignated as coastal counties. 

22 SEC. 7. LIMITATIONS ON APPLICABILITY OF BOUNDARIES. 

23 The boundaries and areas delimited under section 5 

24 are solely for the purposes of this Act.

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