I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2375 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to identify high-potential oil and 

gas leases located on Federal land, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 24, 2011 

Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to identify highpotential oil and gas leases located on Federal land, 

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 ‘‘Facilitating American 

5 Security Through Energy Resources Act’’ or the ‘‘FAST6 ER Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 

9 (1) The Obama Administration has restricted 

10 access to potential onshore Federal energy resources. 


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1 (2) The non-partisan Congressional Research 

2 Service reported that the combined recoverable oil, 

3 natural gas, and coal resources of the United States 

4 is 1,300,000,000,000 barrels of oil equivalent, the 

5 largest barrel equivalent in the world, much of which 

6 is located on Federal lands. 

7 (3) In 2008 there were 2,416 new oil and nat8 ural gas leases issued on Bureau of Land Manage9 ment land and 2,600,000 acres leased. In 2010, 

10 under the Obama Administration, the number of 

11 new leases issued dropped to 1,308 and the number 

12 of acres leased dropped to 1,300,000. 

13 (4) Oil and natural gas jobs pay an average sal14 ary of $84,500 and are important sources of oppor15 tunity to rural communities, yet the Western Energy 

16 Alliance estimates that 16,200 jobs have been pre17 vented in the American West due to policies that re18 strict energy resource development on public lands. 

19 (5) After the Internal Revenue Service, the oil 

20 and natural gas industry is the second largest source 

21 of Federal revenue. The industry averages a 40:1 re22 turn on royalties and leasing revenue for every dollar 

23 spent on administering Federal oil and natural gas 

24 programs. These revenues and royalties not only 

25 help balance the Federal budget, but are shared with 


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1 states, and assist in funding of education, infra2 structure, and public safety. 

3 (6) Increasing oil and natural gas production by 

4 the equivalent 1,000,000 barrels a day would gen5 erate 225,000 jobs, $36,300,000,000 in gross do6 mestic product, and $3,900,000,000 in revenue and 

7 royalties. 

8 (7) In 2007, the Energy Information Adminis9 tration projected that the 2010 total oil production 

10 on Federal lands would be 850,000,000 barrels, 

11 while current production on Federal lands is 

12 714,000,000 barrels, which is a 16 percent decline 

13 from that projection. 

14 (8) Approximately one-half of nonproducing 

15 leases are waiting to complete environmental review 

16 and obtain permits to drill, and the Obama Adminis17 tration has added new delays of additional regula18 tions and hurdles to slow this process. 

19 (9) The Bureau of Land Management has ac20 knowledged a 206-day average processing time for 

21 Applications for Permits to Drill, but the actual time 

22 from when a company submits an Application for 

23 Permit to Drill to final approval is close to 2 years 

24 in some field offices. 


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1 (10) Congress should act to increase the ap2 proval of oil and gas production on Federal land. 

3 SEC. 3. REPORT ON POTENTIAL PRODUCTION OF OIL AND 

4 GAS LEASES ON FEDERAL LAND. 

5 (a) ASSESSMENT.—The Secretary of the Interior 

6 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’), in consulta7 tion with lease holders, shall identify on an annual basis 

8 200 non-producing oil and gas leases held for onshore 

9 Federal land that— 

10 (1) have the highest potential for oil and gas 

11 production; and 

12 (2) for which the Department of the Interior 

13 has already received an Application for Permit to 

14 Drill. 

15 (b) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not less than 60 days after 

16 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sectretary shall 

17 submit to Congress a report including all findings and de18 terminations of the assessment under subsection (a). 

19 SEC. 4. PERMIT ISSUANCE FOR DEVELOPMENT OF OIL AND 

20 GAS LEASES ON FEDERAL LAND. 

21 (a) PERMIT ISSUANCE.—Not later than 180 days 

22 after issuing the report under section 3(b), the Secretary 

23 of the Interior shall issue permits to drill on the 200 leases 

24 identified in the assessment under section 3(a). 


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1 (b) OTHER PERMITS.—Issuing permits under sub2 section (a) shall not delay, reduce, or defer action upon, 

3 any other permitting processes. 

Æ 


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