I 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6515 
To amend the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976 to require 
the Secretary of the Interior to conduct an expeditious environmentally 
responsible program of competitive leasing of oil and gas in the National 
Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 16, 2008 
Mr. RAHALL (for himself, Mr. WELCH of Vermont, Ms. SUTTON, Ms. CASTOR, 
Mr. CARSON, Mrs. BOYDA of Kansas, Mr. WALZ of Minnesota, Ms. GIF-
FORDS, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. HODES, Mr. HALL of New York, Mr. 
SPACE, Mr. SIRES, Mr. WILSON of Ohio, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. COURTNEY, 
Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, and Mr. FOSTER) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, 
and in addition to the Committees on Foreign Affairs and Transportation 
and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act 
of 1976 to require the Secretary of the Interior to con-
duct an expeditious environmentally responsible program 
of competitive leasing of oil and gas in the National 
Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Drill Responsibly in 
Leased Lands Act of 2008’’. 
SEC. 2. NATIONAL PETROLEUM RESERVE IN ALASKA: 
LEASE SALES. 
Section 107(a) of the Naval Petroleum Reserves Pro-
duction Act of 1976 is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct an 
expeditious environmentally responsible program of com-
petitive leasing of oil and gas in the National Petroleum 
Reserve in Alaska in accordance with this Act. Such pro-
gram shall include no fewer than one lease sale in the Re-
serve each year during the period 2009 through 2013.’’. 
SEC. 3. NATIONAL PETROLEUM RESERVE IN ALASKA: PIPE-
LINE CONSTRUCTION. 
The Secretary of Transportation shall facilitate, in an 
environmentally responsible manner and in coordination 
with the Secretary of the Interior, the construction of 
pipelines necessary to transport oil and gas from or 
through the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska to ex-
isting transportation or processing infrastructure on the 
North Slope of Alaska. 
SEC. 4. ALASKA NATURAL GAS PIPELINE PROJECT FACILI-
TATION. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Over 35 trillion cubic feet of natural gas re-
serves have been discovered on Federal and State 
lands currently open to oil and gas leasing on the 
North Slope of Alaska. 
(2) These gas supplies could make a significant 
contribution to meeting the energy needs of the 
United States, but the lack of a natural gas trans-
portation system has prevented these gas reserves 
from reaching markets in the lower 48 States. 
(b) FACILITATION BY PRESIDENT.—The President 
shall, pursuant to the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline Act 
(division C of Public Law 108–324; 15 U.S.C. 720 et seq.) 
and other applicable law, coordinate with producers of oil 
and natural gas on the North Slope of Alaska, Federal 
agencies, the State of Alaska, Canadian authorities, and 
other interested persons in order to facilitate construction 
of a natural gas pipeline from Alaska to United States 
markets as expeditiously as possible. 
SEC. 5. PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENTS AND OTHER PIPE-
LINE REQUIREMENTS. 
(a) PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENTS.—The President, 
as a term and condition of any permit required under Fed-
eral law for the pipelines referred to in section 3 and sec-
tion 4, and in recognizing the Government’s interest in 
labor stability and in the ability of construction labor and 
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management to meet the particular needs and conditions 
of such pipelines to be developed under such permits and 
the special concerns of the holders of such permits, shall 
require that the operators of such pipelines and their 
agents and contractors negotiate to obtain a project labor 
agreement for the employment of laborers and mechanics 
on production, maintenance, and construction for such 
pipelines. 
(b) PIPELINE MAINTENANCE.—The Secretary of 
Transportation shall require every pipeline operator au-
thorized to transport oil and gas produced under Federal 
oil and gas leases in Alaska through the Trans-Alaska 
Pipeline, any pipeline constructed pursuant to section 3 
or 4 of this Act, or any other federally approved pipeline 
transporting oil and gas from the North Slope of Alaska, 
to certify to the Secretary of Transportation annually that 
such pipeline is being fully maintained and operated in 
an efficient manner. The Secretary of Transportation shall 
assess appropriate civil penalties for violations of this re-
quirement in the same manner as civil penalties are as-
sessed for violations under section 60122(a)(1) of title 49, 
United States Code. 
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SEC. 6. BAN ON EXPORT OF ALASKAN OIL. 
(a) REPEAL
OF
PROVISION
AUTHORIZING
EX-
PORTS.—Section 28(s) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 
U.S.C. 185(s)) is repealed. 
(b) REIMPOSITION OF PROHIBITION ON CRUDE OIL 
EXPORTS.—Upon the effective date of this Act, subsection 
(d) of section 7 of the Export Administration Act of 1979 
(50 U.S.C. App. 2406(d)), shall be effective, and any other 
provision of that Act (including sections 11 and 12) shall 
be effective to the extent necessary to carry out such sec-
tion 7(d), notwithstanding section 20 of that Act or any 
other provision of law that would otherwise allow exports 
of oil to which such section 7(d) applies. 
SEC. 7. ISSUANCE OF NEW LEASES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—After the date of the issuance of 
regulations under subsection (b), the Secretary of the In-
terior shall not issue to a person any new lease that au-
thorizes the exploration for or production of oil or natural 
gas, under section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (33 
U.S.C. 226), the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands 
Act (30 U.S.C. 351 et seq.), the Outer Continental Shelf 
Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.), or any other law au-
thorizing the issuance of oil and gas leases on Federal 
lands or submerged lands, unless— 
(1) the person certifies for each existing lease 
under such Acts for the production of oil or gas with 
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respect to which the person is a lessee, that the per-
son is diligently developing the Federal lands that 
are subject to the lease in order to produce oil or 
natural gas or is producing oil or natural gas from 
such land; or 
(2) the person has relinquished all ownership 
interest in all Federal oil and gas leases under which 
oil and gas is not being diligently developed. 
(b) DILIGENT DEVELOPMENT.—The Secretary shall 
issue regulations within 180 days after the date of enact-
ment of this Act that establish what constitutes ‘‘diligently 
developing’’ for purposes of this Act. 
(c) FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH REQUIREMENTS.— 
Any person who fails to comply with the requirements of 
this section or any regulation or order issued to implement 
this section shall be liable for a civil penalty under section 
109 of the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act 
of 1982 (30 U.S.C. 1719). 
(d) LESSEE DEFINED.—In this section the term ‘‘les-
see’’— 
(1) includes any person or other entity that 
controls, is controlled by, or is in or under common 
control with, a lessee; and 
(2) does not include any person who does not 
hold more than a minority ownership interest in a 
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lease under an Act referred to in subsection (a) au-
thorizing the exploration for or production of oil or 
natural gas. 
SEC. 8. FAIR RETURN ON PRODUCTION OF FEDERAL OIL 
AND GAS RESOURCES. 
(a) ROYALTY PAYMENTS.—The Secretary of the In-
terior shall take all steps necessary to ensure that lessees 
under leases for exploration, development, and production 
of oil and natural gas on Federal lands, including leases 
under the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.), 
the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands (30 U.S.C. 
351 et seq.), the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (30 
U.S.C. 1331 et seq.), and all other mineral leasing laws, 
are making prompt, transparent, and accurate royalty 
payments under such leases. 
(b) RECOMMENDATIONS
FOR
LEGISLATIVE
AC-
TION.—In order to facilitate implementation of subsection 
(a), the Secretary of the Interior shall, within 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act and in con-
sultation with the affected States, prepare and transmit 
to Congress recommendations for legislative action to im-
prove the accurate collection of Federal oil and gas royal-
ties. 
Æ 
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