I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5577 
To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to authorize the Secretary 
of the Interior to conduct offshore oil and gas lease sales through 
Internet-based live lease sales, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 24, 2016 
Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana (for himself and Mr. LOWENTHAL) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to author-
ize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct offshore 
oil and gas lease sales through Internet-based live lease 
sales, 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 ‘‘Innovation in Offshore 
Leasing Act’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:33 Jun 28, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5577.IH
H5577
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
SEC. 2. INTERNET-BASED OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASE 
SALES. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION.—Section 8 of the Outer Conti-
nental Shelf Leasing Act (43 U.S.C. 1337) is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(q) INTERNET-BASED
OIL
AND
GAS
LEASE 
SALES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to modernize the 
Nation’s offshore leasing program to ensure the best 
return to the Federal taxpayer, reduce fraud, and 
ensure a fair and competitive leasing process, the 
Secretary may conduct lease sales under this section 
through Internet-based, sealed-bidding methods. 
‘‘(2) SALE
REQUIREMENTS.—Sales conducted 
under paragraph (1) shall ensure— 
‘‘(A) live web streaming of the bid reading 
process; 
‘‘(B) a bidder verification process that dis-
closes to bidders at least 24 hours before the 
bid reading process a list of bids submitted by 
all persons on each lease tract without dis-
closing bid amounts; 
‘‘(C) the ability for a bidder to correct a 
possible misreading of a submitted bid; 
‘‘(D) an independent, third-party observer 
from the Department of the Interior’s Office of 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:33 Jun 28, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5577.IH
H5577
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
the Inspector General present during the bid 
reading process to prevent wrongdoing, inde-
pendently certify the bidding process, and main-
tain transparency; 
‘‘(E) data security measures to ensure bid-
der data is kept secure; and 
‘‘(F) a participant survey soliciting vol-
untary feedback from bidders on the bidding 
process. 
‘‘(3) TRANSPARENCY
IN
SALE-DAY
STATIS-
TICS.— 
‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary shall 
publicly disclose statistical data regarding each 
lease sale under this subsection, on the day the 
sale is executed. 
‘‘(B) INCLUDED DATA.—Among data dis-
closed, the Secretary shall include— 
‘‘(i) the total value of high bids; 
‘‘(ii) the number of tracts offered; 
‘‘(iii) the number of acres offered; 
‘‘(iv) the number of tracts receiving 
bids; 
‘‘(v) the number of acres receiving 
bids; 
‘‘(vi) the total number of bids; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:33 Jun 28, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5577.IH
H5577
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
‘‘(vii) the average number of bids per 
tract; 
‘‘(viii) the total number of bidders 
participating; 
‘‘(ix) bidding statistics by water 
depth; 
‘‘(x) the name of the entity that sub-
mitted each bid, the amount of the bid, 
and the tract for which the bid was sub-
mitted; 
‘‘(xi) of tracts receiving bids, the 
number of bids per tract by water depth; 
‘‘(xii) the tract receiving the greatest 
number of bids; 
‘‘(xiii) the tract receiving the highest 
bid; and 
‘‘(xiv) any other statistical data that 
may be disclosed in accordance with this 
Act. 
‘‘(C) DATA
TRANSPARENCY.—The Sec-
retary shall ensure all data regarding lease 
sales under this subsection is publicly available 
and easily accessible, free of charge, on the 
Internet, including for download and aggrega-
tion in machine-readable format.’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:33 Jun 28, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5577.IH
H5577
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
(b) MODERNIZING LEASING THROUGH COLLABORA-
TION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Before conducting the first 
Internet-based lease sale under the amendment 
made by this section, the Secretary of the Interior 
shall issue a request for information from each com-
pany present for bidding at the ten most recent oil 
and gas lease sales conducted by the Secretary 
under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, in 
order to provide the bidding public sufficient oppor-
tunity to share innovative ideas, methods, and con-
cerns regarding Internet-based leasing. 
(2) INTEGRATION OF INFORMATION.—The Sec-
retary shall review, evaluate, and integrate sugges-
tions and concerns collected under paragraph (1) as 
the Secretary works to modernize the offshore leas-
ing process through Internet-based leasing options. 
(3) USER
WORKSHOP.—The Secretary shall 
conduct not less than one user workshop with viable 
bidders prior to conducting an Internet-based lease 
sale to provide the bidding public with an oppor-
tunity to beta test any prototype of an Internet- 
based leasing platform. 
(c) DEADLINE
FOR
GULF
OF
MEXICO
LEASE 
SALE.—Not later than one year after the date of the en-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:33 Jun 28, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5577.IH
H5577
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
actment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall 
conduct at least one Internet-based lease sale under the 
amendment made by subsection (a) for leasable acreage 
in the Gulf of Mexico. 
(d) 
EVALUATING
INTERNET-BASED
OFFSHORE 
LEASING.—Not later than 90 days after the third Inter-
net-based lease sale conducted under the amendment 
made by subsection (a), the Secretary of the Interior shall 
analyze all such Internet-based lease sales and transmit 
to Congress a thorough analysis of the sales. The analysis 
shall include— 
(1) estimates of increases or decreases in such 
lease sales, compared to sales conducted by non- 
Internet-based bidding, in— 
(A) the number of bidders; 
(B) the average amount of bids; 
(C) the highest bid; and 
(D) the lowest bid; 
(2) an estimate of the total cost or savings to 
the Department of the Interior as a result of such 
sales, compared to sales conducted by non-Internet- 
based bidding; 
(3) voluntary and anonymous feedback from 
persons participating in such sales, on the Internet- 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:33 Jun 28, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5577.IH
H5577
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
based leasing process and potential areas for im-
provement in such sales; and 
(4) an evaluation of the demonstrated or ex-
pected effectiveness of different structures for lease 
sales that may provide an opportunity to better 
maximize bidder participation, ensure the highest re-
turn to the Federal taxpayers, minimize opportuni-
ties for fraud or collusion, and ensure the security 
and integrity of the leasing process. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:33 Jun 28, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H5577.IH
H5577
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS