I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1782 
To require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct offshore oil and gas 
Lease Sale 220 as soon as practicable, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 26, 2013 
Mr. RIGELL (for himself, Mr. WITTMAN, Mr. GRIFFITH of Virginia, and Mr. 
HURT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct offshore 
oil and gas Lease Sale 220 as soon as practicable, and 
for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Virginia Jobs and En-
ergy Act’’. 
SEC. 2. LEASE SALE 220 AND OTHER OCS OIL AND GAS 
LEASE SALES OFFSHORE VIRGINIA. 
(a) CONDUCT OF LEASE SALE.—Notwithstanding in-
clusion in the current 5-year oil and gas leasing program 
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under section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 
Act (43 U.S.C. 1344), the Secretary of the Interior shall 
conduct lease sale 220 (as defined in the Draft Proposed 
Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Pro-
gram for 2010–2015 as published in the Federal Register 
on January 21, 2009 (74 Fed. Reg. 3631)) under section 
8 of such Act (43 U.S.C. 1337) as soon as practicable, 
but not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this Act. 
(b) INCLUSION IN FUTURE LEASING PROGRAMS.— 
The Secretary of the Interior shall include at least one 
lease sale in the Virginia lease sale planning area in each 
5-year oil and gas leasing program that applies after the 
current leasing program. 
SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF MILITARY OPERATIONS. 
(a) PROHIBITION.—No person may engage in any ex-
ploration, development, or production of oil or natural gas 
off the coast of Virginia that would conflict with any mili-
tary operation, as determined in accordance with the 
Memorandum of Agreement between the Department of 
Defense and the Department of the Interior on Mutual 
Concerns on the Outer Continental Shelf signed July 20, 
1983, and any revision or replacement for that agreement 
that is agreed to by the Secretary of Defense and the Sec-
retary of the Interior after that date but before the date 
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of issuance of the lease under which such exploration, de-
velopment, or production is conducted. 
(b) REVIEW AND UPDATING OF MOA.—The Sec-
retary of the Interior and the Secretary of Defense shall 
periodically review and revise such memorandum of agree-
ment to account for new offshore energy production tech-
nologies, including those that use wind energy. 
SEC. 4. DISPOSITION OF REVENUE. 
(a) PAYMENT OF NEW LEASING REVENUES TO MID- 
ATLANTIC STATES.—Notwithstanding section 9 of the 
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1338), of 
the amount of new leasing revenues received by the United 
States each fiscal year under any lease issued under this 
Act, 37.5 percent shall be allocated and paid in accordance 
with subsection (b) to Mid-Atlantic States that are af-
fected States with respect to the leases under which those 
revenues are received by the United States. 
(b) ALLOCATION OF PAYMENTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The amount of new leasing 
revenues received by the United States with respect 
to a leased tract that are required to be paid to Mid- 
Atlantic States in accordance with this subsection 
each fiscal year shall be allocated among and paid 
to Mid-Atlantic States that are within 200 miles of 
the leased tract, in amounts that are inversely pro-
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portional to the respective distances between the 
point on the coastline of each such State that is clos-
est to the geographic center of the lease tract, as de-
termined by the Secretary. 
(2) MINIMUM
AND
MAXIMUM
ALLOCATION.— 
The amount allocated to a Mid-Atlantic State under 
paragraph (1) each fiscal year with respect to a 
leased tract shall be— 
(A) in the case of a Mid-Atlantic State 
that is the nearest Mid-Atlantic State to the ge-
ographic center of the leased tract, not less 
than 25 percent of the total amounts allocated 
with respect to the leased tract; and 
(B) in the case of any other Mid-Atlantic 
State, not less than 10 percent, and not more 
than 15 percent, of the total amounts allocated 
with respect to the leased tract. 
(3) ADMINISTRATION.—Amounts allocated to a 
Mid-Atlantic State under this subsection— 
(A) shall be available to the State without 
further appropriation; 
(B) shall remain available until expended; 
and 
(C) shall be in addition to any other 
amounts available to the State under the Outer 
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Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 
et seq.). 
(4) USE OF FUNDS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B), a Mid-Atlantic State may 
use funds allocated and paid to it under this 
subsection for any purpose as determined by 
the laws of that State. 
(B) RESTRICTION
ON
USE
FOR
MATCH-
ING.—Funds allocated and paid to a Mid-Atlan-
tic State under this subsection may not be used 
as matching funds for any other Federal pro-
gram. 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) AFFECTED
STATE.—The term ‘‘affected 
State’’ has the meaning that term has under section 
2 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 
U.S.C. 1331). 
(2) MID-ATLANTIC STATE.—The term ‘‘Mid-At-
lantic State’’ means each of the States of Delaware, 
North Carolina, Maryland, and Virginia. 
(3) NEW LEASING REVENUES.—The term ‘‘new 
leasing revenues’’ means amounts received by the 
United States as bonuses, rents, and royalties under 
leases for oil and gas, wind, tidal, or other energy 
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exploration, development, and production on areas of 
the Outer Continental Shelf that are authorized to 
be made available for leasing as a result of enact-
ment of this Act. 
(4) VIRGINIA LEASE SALE PLANNING AREA.— 
The term ‘‘Virginia lease sale planning area’’ means 
the area of the outer Continental Shelf (as that term 
is defined in the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 
(33 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.)) that has— 
(A) a boundary consisting of a straight 
line extending from the northernmost point of 
Virginia’s seaward boundary to the point on the 
seaward boundary of the United States exclu-
sive economic zone located at 37 degrees 17 
minutes 1 second North latitude, 71 degrees 5 
minutes 16 seconds West longitude; and 
(B) a southern boundary consisting of a 
straight line extending from the southernmost 
point of Virginia’s seaward boundary to the 
point on the seaward boundary of the United 
States exclusive economic zone located at 36 de-
grees 31 minutes 58 seconds North latitude, 71 
degrees 30 minutes 1 second West longitude. 
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SEC. 5. OFFSHORE METEOROLOGICAL SITE TESTING AND 
MONITORING PROJECTS. 
(a) OFFSHORE METEOROLOGICAL PROJECT PERMIT-
TING.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte-
rior shall by regulation require that any applicant 
seeking to conduct an offshore meteorological site 
testing and monitoring project on the outer Conti-
nental Shelf (as that term is defined in the Outer 
Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et 
seq.)) must obtain a permit and right of way for the 
project in accordance with this subsection. 
(2) PERMIT AND RIGHT-OF-WAY TIMELINE AND 
CONDITIONS.— 
(A) DEADLINE FOR APPROVAL.—The Sec-
retary shall decide whether to issue a permit 
and right of way for an offshore meteorological 
site testing and monitoring project within 30 
days after receiving an application. 
(B) PUBLIC
COMMENT
AND
CONSULTA-
TION.—During the period referred to in sub-
paragraph (A), the Secretary shall— 
(i) provide an opportunity for submis-
sion of comments by the public; and 
(ii) consult with the Secretary of De-
fense, the Commandant of the Coast 
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Guard, and the heads of other Federal, 
State, and local agencies that would be af-
fected by issuance of the permit and right 
of way. 
(C) DENIAL OF PERMIT; OPPORTUNITY TO 
REMEDY DEFICIENCIES.—If the application is 
denied, the Secretary shall provide the appli-
cant— 
(i) in writing, clear and comprehensive 
reasons why the application was not ap-
proved and detailed information concerning 
any deficiencies in the application; and 
(ii) an opportunity to remedy such de-
ficiencies. 
(b) NEPA EXCLUSION.—Section 102(2)(C) of the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 
4332(2)(C)) shall not apply with respect to an offshore 
meteorological site testing and monitoring project. 
(c) PROTECTION OF INFORMATION.—The informa-
tion provided to the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to 
subsection (d)(3) shall be treated by the Secretary as pro-
prietary information and protected against disclosure. 
(d) DEFINITION OF AN OFFSHORE METEOROLOG-
ICAL SITE TESTING AND MONITORING PROJECT.—In this 
section, the term ‘‘offshore meteorological site testing and 
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monitoring project’’ means a project carried out on or in 
the waters of the Outer Continental Shelf administered 
by the Department of the Interior to test or monitor 
weather (including wind, tidal, current, and solar energy) 
using towers, buoys, or other temporary ocean infrastruc-
ture, that— 
(1) causes— 
(A) less than 1 acre of surface or seafloor 
disruption at the location of each meteorological 
tower or other device; and 
(B) not more than 5 acres of surface or 
seafloor disruption within the proposed area af-
fected by the project (including hazards to navi-
gation); 
(2) is decommissioned not more than 5 years 
after the date of commencement of the project, in-
cluding— 
(A) removal of towers, buoys, or other tem-
porary ocean infrastructure from the project 
site; and 
(B) restoration of the project site to ap-
proximately the original condition of the site; 
and 
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