IB 
Union Calendar No. 333 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5616 
[Report No. 118–405] 
To require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct certain offshore lease 
sales. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 21, 2023 
Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana (for himself, Mr. SCALISE, Mr. CRENSHAW, Mr. 
ELLZEY, and Mr. EZELL) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
MARCH 5, 2024 
Additional sponsors: Mr. HUNT and Mr. CARL 
MARCH 5, 2024 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on September 21, 2023] 
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A BILL 
To require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct certain 
offshore lease sales. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bringing Reliable In-
vestment into Domestic Gulf Energy Production Act of 
2023’’ or the ‘‘BRIDGE Production Act of 2023’’. 
SEC. 2. OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASE SALES. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) OFFSHORE LEASE SALE.—The term ‘‘offshore 
lease sale’’ means an oil and gas lease sale— 
(A) that is held by the Secretary in accord-
ance with the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 
(43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.), notwithstanding the re-
quirements of section 18 of that Act (43 U.S.C. 
1344); 
(B) that, with respect to lease sales in the 
Gulf of Mexico region, offers the same lease form, 
lease terms, economic conditions, and stipula-
tions as contained in the final notice of sale enti-
tled ‘‘Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Oil 
and Gas Lease Sale 257’’ (86 Fed. Reg. 54728 
(October 4, 2021)); and 
(C) that, if any acceptable bids have been 
received for any tract offered in the lease sale, re-
sults in the issuance of leases within 90 days of 
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the sale to the highest bids on the tracts offered, 
subject to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Manage-
ment ‘‘Summary of Procedures for Determining 
Bid Adequacy at Offshore Oil and Gas Lease 
Sales Effective March 2016, with Central Gulf of 
Mexico Sale 241 and Eastern Gulf of Mexico 
Sale 226’’. 
(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of the Interior. 
(b) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive any other re-
quirements under section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf 
Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344) that would delay final ap-
proval of an offshore lease sale under subsection (c). 
(c) REQUIREMENT.—Notwithstanding section 18 of the 
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344), the 
Secretary shall— 
(1) conduct not fewer than 13 offshore lease sales 
during the 5-year period beginning on the date of en-
actment of this Act, including 10 lease sales in the 
Gulf of Mexico region and 3 lease sales in the Cook 
Inlet Planning Area, notwithstanding lease sales 
which are held under the 2024–2029 Proposed Final 
Program (88 Fed. Reg. 67798 (October 2, 2023)); and 
(2) ensure that the 2017–2022 Outer Continental 
Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program Final Pro-
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grammatic Environmental Impact Statement and 
Record of Decision shall apply to lease sales con-
ducted under this subsection and shall be sufficient 
for purposes of complying with the National Environ-
mental Policy Act for offshore lease sales conducted 
under this subsection to the extent it does not conflict 
with this Act. 
(d) TIMING.— 
(1) GULF OF MEXICO REGION.—In conducting 
the offshore lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico region re-
quired under subsection (c), the Secretary shall con-
duct an offshore lease sale not later than— 
(A) March 31, 2024; 
(B) August 31, 2024; 
(C) March 31, 2025; 
(D) August 31, 2025; 
(E) March 31, 2026; 
(F) August 31, 2026; 
(G) March 31, 2027; 
(H) August 31, 2027; 
(I) March 31, 2028; and 
(J) August 31, 2028. 
(2) COOK
INLET
PLANNING
AREA.—In con-
ducting the offshore lease sales in the Cook Inlet Plan-
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ning Area required under subsection (c), the Secretary 
shall conduct an offshore lease sale not later than— 
(A) August 31, 2025; 
(B) March 31, 2027; and 
(C) August 31, 2028. 
(e) AREA OFFERED FOR LEASE.— 
(1) ACREAGE.—The Secretary shall offer not 
fewer than 80,000,000 acres for each offshore lease 
sale conducted under subsection (c) for offshore lease 
sales in the Gulf of Mexico Region. The Secretary 
shall offer not fewer than 1,000,000 acres for each re-
gion wide lease sale conducted under subsection (c) in 
the Cook Inlet Planning Area. 
(2) LOCATION.—An offshore lease sale conducted 
under subsection (c)— 
(A) in the Gulf of Mexico region shall offer 
the areas identified in Figure S–1 of the 2017– 
2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leas-
ing Proposed Final Program published on No-
vember 18, 2016, by the Bureau of Ocean Energy 
Management (as announced in the notice of 
availability of the Bureau of Ocean Energy 
Management entitled ‘‘Notice of Availability of 
the 2017–2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and 
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Gas Leasing Proposed Final Program’’ (81 Fed. 
Reg. 84612 (November 23, 2016))); and 
(B) in the Cook Inlet Planning Area shall 
offer the areas identified in Figure S–2 of the 
2017–2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas 
Leasing Proposed Final Program published on 
November 18, 2016, by the Bureau of Ocean En-
ergy Management (as announced in the notice of 
availability of the Bureau of Ocean Energy 
Management entitled ‘‘Notice of Availability of 
the 2017–2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and 
Gas Leasing Proposed Final Program’’ (81 Fed. 
Reg. 84612 (November 23, 2016))). 
(f) EFFECT OF LITIGATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—A civil action challenging an 
offshore lease sale conducted under this section shall 
not— 
(A) affect the validity of any lease issued 
under such an offshore lease sale; and 
(B) except as provided in paragraph (3)(B), 
cause a delay in the timelines for the consider-
ation of any exploration plan, development plan, 
development operations coordination document, 
applications for permit to drill, or other applica-
tion for a Federal agency authorization or ap-
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proval for activities on a lease issued under such 
an offshore lease sale. 
(2) REMAND; PROCESSING OF APPROVALS AND 
APPLICATIONS.—If, in a civil action described in 
paragraph (1), a court finds that the offshore lease 
sale was not carried out in compliance with Federal 
law— 
(A) the court shall not— 
(i) set aside, vacate, or enjoin the off-
shore lease sale; 
(ii) set aside, vacate, or enjoin the 
leases issued pursuant to the offshore lease 
sale; or 
(iii) enjoin the Secretary from issuing 
leases to the highest bidders in the chal-
lenged offshore lease sale; 
(B) the court shall remand the matter to the 
Secretary and require the Secretary to correct 
the noncompliance; and 
(C) the Secretary shall continue to process 
all exploration plans, development plans, devel-
opment operations coordination documents, ap-
plications for a permit to drill, and other appli-
cations for a Federal agency authorization or 
other approval for activities requested under any 
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lease issued under the challenged offshore lease 
sale in accordance with the Outer Continental 
Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.). 
(3) NOTICE.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 10 days 
after the date on which a civil action described 
in paragraph (1) is served on the United States, 
the Secretary shall notify the holder of any lease 
issued, or apparent high bidder if the lease has 
not yet been issued, under the offshore lease sale 
that is the subject of the civil action of the filing 
of the civil action. 
(B) TIMELINE.—Not later than 90 days 
after the date of receipt of a notice under sub-
paragraph (A), the holder of the lease may file 
with the Secretary, and the Secretary may ap-
prove, a request to pause the timeline with re-
spect to the term of the lease during any period 
in which the civil action is pending. 
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Union Calendar No. 333 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5616 
[Report No. 118–405] 
A BILL 
To require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct 
certain offshore lease sales. 
MARCH 5, 2024 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 
and ordered to be printed 
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