I 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6251 
To prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from issuing new Federal oil and 
gas leases to holders of existing leases who do not diligently develop 
the lands subject to such existing leases or relinquish such leases, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 12, 2008 
Mr. RAHALL (for himself, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. EMANUEL, Mrs. 
CAPPS, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. LARSON of 
Connecticut, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, and Mr. HALL of New 
York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from issuing new 
Federal oil and gas leases to holders of existing leases 
who do not diligently develop the lands subject to such 
existing leases or relinquish such leases, 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 ‘‘Responsible Federal 
Oil and Gas Lease Act’’. 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
03:51 Jun 13, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6251.IH
H6251
wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
SEC. 2. ISSUANCE OF NEW LEASES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior shall 
not issue any new lease that authorizes 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.), or the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 
U.S.C. 1331 et seq.), to a person unless the person— 
(1) certifies for each existing lease under such 
Acts for the production of oil or gas with respect to 
which the person is a lessee, that the person has dili-
gently developed 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 lands; 
or 
(2) has relinquished 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 define ‘‘diligently developed’’ for 
purposes of subsection (a). Such regulations shall— 
(1) include benchmarks for oil and gas develop-
ment that will ensure that leaseholders produce oil 
and gas from each lease within the 5-year original 
term of the lease; and 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
03:51 Jun 13, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6251.IH
H6251
wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
(2) require each leaseholder to submit to the 
Secretary a diligent development plan showing how 
the lessee will meet the benchmarks. 
(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’’ includes any person or other entity that controls, is 
controlled by, or is in or under common control with, a 
lessee. 
SEC. 3. LEASE TERMS. 
(a) 
LEASES
FOR
OFFSHORE
LANDS.—Section 
8(b)(2) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 
U.S.C. 1337(b)(2)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(2)(A) be for an initial period of 5 years, and 
may be renewed for additional 1-year periods, sub-
ject to subparagraphs (B) and (C); 
‘‘(B) not be renewed for an additional period, 
unless the Secretary determines that as of the date 
of the expiration of the preceding period— 
‘‘(i) production of oil or gas is occurring 
under the lease; or 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
03:51 Jun 13, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6251.IH
H6251
wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
‘‘(ii) the lessee is making good-faith 
progress towards such production and addi-
tional time is required to initiate such produc-
tion; and 
‘‘(C) be subject to a rental for each such addi-
tional period that is not less than double the rental 
rate that applied for the last year of the initial pe-
riod;’’. 
(b) LEASES FOR ONSHORE LANDS.— 
(1) LEASES UNDER MINERAL LEASING ACT.— 
Section 17(e) of the Mineral Leasing Act (33 U.S.C. 
226(e)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(e) Leases issued under this section shall— 
‘‘(1) be for an initial period of 5 years, and may 
be renewed for additional 1-year periods, subject to 
paragraphs (2) and (3); 
‘‘(2) not be renewed for an additional period, 
unless the Secretary determines that as of the date 
of the expiration of the preceding period— 
‘‘(A) production of oil or gas is occurring 
under the lease; or 
‘‘(B) the lessee is making good-faith 
progress towards such production and addi-
tional time is required to initiate such produc-
tion; and 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
03:51 Jun 13, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6251.IH
H6251
wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
‘‘(3) be subject to a rental for each such addi-
tional period that is not less than double the rental 
rate that applied for the last year of the initial pe-
riod.’’. 
(2) LEASES UNDER MINERAL LEASING ACT FOR 
ACQUIRED
LANDS.—The Mineral Leasing Act for 
Acquired Lands Act (30 U.S.C. 351 et seq.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 12. LEASE TERMS. 
‘‘Leases issued under this section shall— 
‘‘(1) be for an initial period of 5 years, and may 
be renewed for additional 1-year periods, subject to 
paragraphs (2) and (3); 
‘‘(2) not be renewed for an additional period, 
unless the Secretary determines that as of the date 
of the expiration of the preceding period— 
‘‘(A) production of oil or gas is occurring 
under the lease; or 
‘‘(B) the lessee is making good-faith 
progress towards such production and addi-
tional time is required to initiate such produc-
tion; and 
‘‘(3) be subject to a rental for each such addi-
tional period that is not less than double the rental 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
03:51 Jun 13, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6251.IH
H6251
wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS