485
(5) APPLICATION.—Applicants shall submit a
proposal including such information as the Secretary
may require. At a minimum, each proposal shall—
(A) list all members of the consortium;
(B) fully describe the structure of the con-
sortium, including any provisions relating to in-
tellectual property; and
(C) describe how the applicant would carry
out the activities of the program consortium
under this section.
(6) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to be selected
as the program consortium, an applicant must be an
entity whose members have collectively demonstrated
capabilities and experience in planning and man-
aging research, development, demonstration, and
commercial application programs for ultra-deepwater
and unconventional natural gas or other petroleum
exploration or production.
(7) FOCUS AREAS FOR AWARDS.—
(A) 
ULTRA-DEEPWATER
RESOURCES.—
Awards 
from 
allocations 
under 
section
976(d)(1) shall focus on the development and
demonstration of individual exploration and
production technologies as well as integrated
486
systems technologies including new architec-
tures for production in ultra-deepwater.
(B) 
UNCONVENTIONAL
RESOURCES.—
Awards 
from 
allocations 
under 
section
976(d)(2) shall focus on areas including ad-
vanced coalbed methane, deep drilling, natural
gas production from tight sands, natural gas
production from gas shales, stranded gas, inno-
vative exploration and production techniques,
enhanced recovery techniques, and environ-
mental mitigation of unconventional natural gas
and other petroleum resources exploration and
production.
(C) SMALL PRODUCERS.—Awards from al-
locations under section 976(d)(3) shall be made
to consortia consisting of small producers or or-
ganized primarily for the benefit of small pro-
ducers, and shall focus on areas including com-
plex geology involving rapid changes in the type
and quality of the oil and gas reservoirs across
the reservoir; low reservoir pressure; unconven-
tional natural gas reservoirs in coalbeds, deep
reservoirs, tight sands, or shales; and unconven-
tional oil reservoirs in tar sands and oil shales.
487
(8) CRITERION.—The Secretary shall consider
the amount of the fee an applicant proposes to re-
ceive under subsection (g) in selecting a consortium
under this section.
(e) ANNUAL PLAN.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The program under this sec-
tion shall be carried out pursuant to an annual plan
prepared by the Secretary in accordance with para-
graph (2).
(2) DEVELOPMENT.—
(A) 
SOLICITATION
OF
RECOMMENDA-
TIONS.—Before drafting an annual plan under
this subsection, the Secretary shall solicit spe-
cific written recommendations from the pro-
gram consortium for each element to be ad-
dressed in the plan, including those described in
paragraph (4). The program consortium shall
submit its recommendations in the form of a
draft annual plan.
(B) SUBMISSION
OF
RECOMMENDATIONS;
OTHER COMMENT.—The Secretary shall submit
the recommendations of the program consor-
tium under subparagraph (A) to the Ultra-
Deepwater Advisory Committee established
under section 972(a) and to the Unconventional
488
Resources Technology Advisory Committee es-
tablished under section 972(b), and such Advi-
sory Committees shall provide to the Secretary
written comments by a date determined by the
Secretary. The Secretary may also solicit com-
ments from any other experts.
(C) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall
consult regularly with the program consortium
throughout the preparation of the annual plan.
(3) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall trans-
mit to Congress and publish in the Federal Register
the annual plan, along with any written comments
received under paragraph (2)(A) and (B).
(4) CONTENTS.—The annual plan shall describe
the ongoing and prospective activities of the pro-
gram under this section and shall include—
(A) a list of any solicitations for awards to
carry out research, development, demonstration,
or commercial application activities, including
the topics for such work, who would be eligible
to apply, selection criteria, and the duration of
awards; and
(B) a description of the activities expected
of the program consortium to carry out sub-
section (f)(3).
489
(5) ESTIMATES
OF
INCREASED
ROYALTY
RE-
CEIPTS.—The Secretary, in consultation with the
Secretary of the Interior, shall provide an annual re-
port to Congress with the President’s budget on the
estimated cumulative increase in Federal royalty re-
ceipts (if any) resulting from the implementation of
this part. The initial report under this paragraph
shall be submitted in the first President’s budget fol-
lowing the completion of the first annual plan re-
quired under this subsection.
(f) AWARDS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon approval of the Sec-
retary the program consortium shall make awards to
carry out research, development, demonstration, and
commercial application activities under the program
under this section. The program consortium shall
not be eligible to receive such awards, but members
of the program consortium may receive such awards.
(2) PROPOSALS.—Upon approval of the Sec-
retary the program consortium shall solicit proposals
for awards under this subsection in such manner
and at such time as the Secretary may prescribe, in
consultation with the program consortium.
(3) OVERSIGHT.—