Fueling American Prosperity Act

To require the Secretary of the Interior to carry out certain offshore oil and gas lease sales and finalize the next offshore oil and gas leasing program, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Fueling American Prosperity Act 2. Deadline for Certain Offshore Lease Sales (a) In general Notwithstanding any other provision of law, by not later than June 30, 2022, the Secretary of the Interior shall hold the following lease sales, as provided under the 2017–2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Final Program (November 2016): (1) Lease Sale 258, relating to the Cook Inlet Planning Area. (2) Lease Sales 259 and 261, relating to the Gulf of Mexico Region. (b) NEPA exemption Any lease sale held under this section shall not be considered a major Federal action under section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C) 3. Deadline to finalize offshore oil and gas leasing program (a) Deadline Not later than June 30, 2022, the Secretary of the Interior shall, under section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act ( 43 U.S.C. 1344 (b) Lease sales The program finalized under subsection (a) shall provide for at least 11 oil and gas lease sales. (c) NEPA exemption The finalization of an offshore oil and gas leasing program under this section shall not be considered a major Federal action under section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C) 4. Onshore oil and gas leasing (a) Requirement To immediately resume onshore oil and gas lease sales (1) In general The Secretary of the Interior shall immediately resume onshore oil and gas lease sales in compliance with the Mineral Leasing Act ( 30 U.S.C. 181 et seq. (2) Requirement The Secretary of the Interior shall ensure that any oil and gas lease sale pursuant to paragraph (1) is conducted immediately on completion of all applicable scoping, public comment, and environmental analysis requirements under the Mineral Leasing Act ( 30 U.S.C. 181 et seq. 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. (b) Annual lease sales (1) In general In accordance with the Mineral Leasing Act ( 30 U.S.C. 181 et seq. (A) Wyoming. (B) New Mexico. (C) Colorado. (D) Utah. (E) Montana. (F) North Dakota. (G) Oklahoma. (H) Nevada. (I) Any other State in which there is land available for oil and gas leasing under the Mineral Leasing Act ( 30 U.S.C. 181 et seq. (2) Requirement In conducting a lease sale under paragraph (1) in a State described in that paragraph, the Secretary of the Interior shall offer all parcels eligible for oil and gas exploration, development, and production under the resource management plan in effect for the State. (3) Replacement sales If, for any reason, a lease sale under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year is canceled, delayed, or deferred, including for a lack of eligible parcels, the Secretary of the Interior shall conduct a replacement sale during the same fiscal year. (c) Onshore oil and gas leasing delays Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act ( 30 U.S.C. 226 (q) Unreasonable delays (1) In general The President shall not, through Executive order or any other administrative procedure, unreasonably pause, cancel, delay, defer, or otherwise impede or circumvent any Federal energy mineral leasing processes under this Act, or a related rulemaking process required by subchapter II of chapter 5, and chapter 7, of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the Administrative Procedure Act (2) Rebuttable presumption There shall be a rebuttable presumption that any attempt by the President to pause, cancel, delay, defer, or otherwise impede or circumvent any Federal energy mineral leasing process, or a related rulemaking process, described in paragraph (1), without congressional approval, is considered unreasonable for purposes of paragraph (1). . 5. Effect of gasoline price increases on environmental reviews (a) Deadline for certain environmental reviews During any period of time in which the national average price of a gallon of gas is greater than $3.99 per gallon (as determined by the Energy Information Administration)— (1) any environmental assessment required pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. (2) any environmental impact statement required pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. (b) Effect of deadline on nEPA If an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement described in subsection (a) is not finalized by the applicable deadline provided in such subsection, then the major Federal action that is the subject of the environmental assessment or environmental impact statement shall not be subject to the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. (c) Applicability of requirement This section shall not apply to any environmental assessment or environmental impact statement finalized before the date of enactment of this section. 6. Hiring freeze and other limitations (a) In general If each of the requirements under sections 2, 3, and 4(a) of this Act are not met on or before June 30, 2022, during the period beginning on July 1, 2022, and ending on the date that each of such requirement is met— (1) no individual may be appointed to any position within the Department of the Interior; (2) no new position may be established at the Department; (3) no officer or employee of the Department on July 1, 2022, may be assigned any duties not assigned to that employee on that date; and (4) except as provided in subsection (b), no officer or employee of the Department may be transferred to a duty station other than the duty station applicable to such officer or employee on July 1, 2022. (b) Exception During the period any limitation on transfer is in effect under subsection (a)(4), an officer or employee of the Bureau of Land Management whose duty station is in Washington, DC, may be transferred to a duty station in Grand Junction, Colorado. (c) Limitation on funds No Federal funds may be obligated or expended to pay the salaries or expenses of any individual appointed, assigned duties, or transferred in contravention of subsections (a) and (b).

Summary: Fueling American Prosperity Act This bill requires the Department of the Interior to carry out sales of onshore and offshore oil and gas leases. If the sales are not carried out, the bill limits Interior from hiring, transferring, or reassigning duties among officers and employees. In addition, the bill (1) requires Interior to finalize its next offshore oil and gas leasing program by June 30, 2022; and (2) sets deadlines by which certain environmental assessments and environmental impact statements must be completed if the national average price of gasoline exceeds a specified threshold.