I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4103 
To require the Secretary of the Interior to submit an annual report to 
Congress on certain statistics related to applications for a permit to 
drill an oil or gas well, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 24, 2017 
Mr. LOWENTHAL (for himself, Mr. GRIJALVA, and Ms. BARRAGA´N) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To require the Secretary of the Interior to submit an annual 
report to Congress on certain statistics related to appli-
cations for a permit to drill an oil or gas well, 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 ‘‘Having Open Access 
to Relevant Data Act’’ or the ‘‘HOARD Act’’. 
SEC. 2. REPORT REQUIRED. 
(a) REPORT ON APDS.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than January 1 of 
each year, the Secretary of the Interior shall submit 
to Congress a report on the following statistics: 
(A) The number of APDs approved by the 
BLM during the previous fiscal year for which 
the applicant has not begun drilling by the end 
of such year. 
(B) The number of APDs approved by the 
BLM during any fiscal year for which the appli-
cant has not begun drilling by the end of the 
previous fiscal year. 
(C) With respect to APDs approved by the 
BLM during the previous fiscal year, the aver-
age number of days between receipt of an APD 
by the BLM and the approval of such APD, 
disaggregated by the average number of such 
days— 
(i) the APD was being processed by 
BLM; and 
(ii) the BLM was waiting on addi-
tional information from the applicant. 
(D) With respect to APDs approved by the 
BLM during the previous fiscal year, the aver-
age cost of approving an APD. 
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(2) DISAGGREGATION.—The Secretary of the 
Interior shall disaggregate each statistic required 
under paragraph (1) by the location of the site for 
which the APD was requested, including by— 
(A) the State in which such site is located; 
(B) the BLM field office that administers 
the land upon which such site is located; 
(C) whether or not the site is located on 
Federal land; and 
(D) whether or not the site is located on 
Indian land. 
(b) DISCOURAGING HOARDING AND SPECULATION.— 
(1) LIMITATION ON FEDERAL FUNDS USED FOR 
STREAMLINING PROCESSING OF APDS.—No Federal 
funds may be used to streamline BLM processing of 
APDs during a fiscal year if, on the last day of the 
previous fiscal year, the number of APDs approved 
by the BLM during any fiscal year, but for which 
the applicant has not begun drilling, is greater than 
twice the number of APDs received by the BLM 
during any fiscal year for which the BLM has nei-
ther approved nor requested more information from 
the applicant. 
(2) LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF OUTSTANDING 
APDS PER APPLICANT.—If any applicant, including 
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its affiliates, has received greater than 100 approved 
APDs from the BLM for which such applicant, in-
cluding its affiliates, has not begun drilling, then 
such applicant, including its affiliates, shall not be 
eligible to participate in the competitive and non-
competitive bidding processes for oil and gas explo-
ration and production under the Minerals Leasing 
Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) during the 5-year period 
beginning on the first day of the next fiscal year. 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 
(1) AFFILIATE.—With respect to an applicant, 
the term ‘‘affiliate’’ means any person that controls, 
is controlled by, or is under common control with the 
applicant. 
(2) APD.—The term ‘‘APD’’ means an applica-
tion received by the BLM for a permit to drill an 
oil or gas well. 
(3) BLM.—The term ‘‘BLM’’ means the Bu-
reau of Land Management. 
Æ 
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