II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 490 

To achieve domestic energy independence by empowering States to control 

the development and production of all forms of energy on all available 

Federal land. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 12, 2015 

Mr. INHOFE (for himself, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. 

LANKFORD, Mr. LEE, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. VITTER, and Mr. COTTON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To achieve domestic energy independence by empowering 

States to control the development and production of all 

forms of energy on all available Federal land. 

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 ‘‘Federal Land Freedom 

5 Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) as of the date of enactment of this Act— 


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1 (A) 113,000,000 acres of onshore Federal 

2 land are open and accessible for oil and natural 

3 gas development; and 

4 (B) approximately 166,000,000 acres of 

5 onshore Federal land are off-limits or inacces6 sible for oil and natural gas development; 

7 (2) despite the recent oil and natural gas boom 

8 in the United States, the number of acres of Federal 

9 land leased for oil and natural gas exploration has 

10 decreased by 24 percent since 2008; 

11 (3) in 2013, the Federal Government leased 

12 only 36,000,000 acres of Federal land, in contrast to 

13 the 131,000,000 acres that were leased in 1984; 

14 (4) the reduction in leasing of Federal land 

15 harms economic growth and Federal revenues; 

16 (5) in 2013, it took 197 days to process appli17 cations for permits to drill on Federal land; and 

18 (6) the States have extensive and sufficient reg19 ulatory frameworks for permitting oil and natural 

20 gas development. 

21 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act: 

23 (1) AVAILABLE FEDERAL LAND.—The term 

24 ‘‘available Federal land’’ means any Federal land 

25 that, as of May 31, 2013— 


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1 (A) is located within the boundaries of a 

2 State; 

3 (B) is not held by the United States in 

4 trust for the benefit of a federally recognized 

5 Indian tribe; 

6 (C) is not a unit of the National Park Sys7 tem; 

8 (D) is not a unit of the National Wildlife 

9 Refuge System; and 

10 (E) is not a congressionally designated wil11 derness area. 

12 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 

13 (A) a State; and 

14 (B) the District of Columbia. 

15 (3) STATE LEASING, PERMITTING, AND REGU16 LATORY PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘State leasing, per17 mitting, and regulatory program’’ means a program 

18 established pursuant to State law that regulates the 

19 exploration and development of oil, natural gas, and 

20 other forms of energy on land located in the State. 


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1 SEC. 4. STATE CONTROL OF ENERGY DEVELOPMENT AND 

2 PRODUCTION ON ALL AVAILABLE FEDERAL 

3 LAND. 

4 (a) STATE LEASING, PERMITTING, AND REGU5 LATORY PROGRAMS.—Any State that has established a 

6 State leasing, permitting, and regulatory program may— 

7 (1) submit to the Secretaries of the Interior, 

8 Agriculture, and Energy a declaration that a State 

9 leasing, permitting, and regulatory program has 

10 been established or amended; and 

11 (2) seek to transfer responsibility for leasing, 

12 permitting, and regulating oil, natural gas, and 

13 other forms of energy development from the Federal 

14 Government to the State. 

15 (b) STATE ACTION AUTHORIZED.—Notwithstanding 

16 any other provision of law, on submission of a declaration 

17 under subsection (a)(1), the State submitting the declara18 tion may lease, permit, and regulate the exploration and 

19 development of oil, natural gas, and other forms of energy 

20 on Federal land located in the State in lieu of the Federal 

21 Government. 

22 (c) EFFECT OF STATE ACTION.—Any action by a 

23 State to lease, permit, or regulate the exploration and de24 velopment of oil, natural gas, and other forms of energy 

25 pursuant to subsection (b) shall not be subject to, or conVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Feb 24, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S490.IS S490

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1 sidered a Federal action, Federal permit, or Federal li2 cense under— 

3 (1) subchapter II of chapter 5, and chapter 7, 

4 of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as 

5 the ‘‘Administrative Procedure Act’’); 

6 (2) the National Historic Preservation Act (16 

7 U.S.C. 470 et seq.); 

8 (3) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 

9 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); or 

10 (4) the National Environmental Policy Act of 

11 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

12 SEC. 5. NO EFFECT ON FEDERAL REVENUES. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any lease or permit issued by a 

14 State pursuant to section 4 shall include provisions for 

15 the collection of royalties or other revenues in an amount 

16 equal to the amount of royalties or revenues that would 

17 have been collected if the lease or permit had been issued 

18 by the Federal Government. 

19 (b) DISPOSITION OF REVENUES.—Any revenues col20 lected by a State from leasing or permitting on Federal 

21 land pursuant to section 4 shall be deposited in the same 

22 Federal account in which the revenues would have been 

23 deposited if the lease or permit had been issued by the 

24 Federal Government. 


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1 (c) EFFECT ON STATE PROCESSING FEES.—Nothing 

2 in this Act prohibits a State from collecting and retaining 

3 a fee from an applicant to cover the administrative costs 

4 of processing an application for a lease or permit. 

Æ 


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