IB 
Union Calendar No. 552 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5577 
[Report No. 114–713] 
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 
SEPTEMBER 6, 2016 
Additional sponsors: Mr. BOUSTANY, Mr. ABRAHAM, Mr. FLEMING, and Mr. 
GENE GREEN of Texas 
SEPTEMBER 6, 2016 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on June 24, 2016] 
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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’’. 
SEC. 2. INTERNET-BASED OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASE 
SALES. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION.—Section 8 of the Outer Conti-
nental Shelf Lands 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 en-
sure a fair and competitive leasing process, the Sec-
retary may conduct lease sales under this section 
through Internet-based, sealed-bidding methods. 
‘‘(2) SALE
REQUIREMENTS.—Sales conducted 
under paragraph (1) shall ensure— 
‘‘(A) a publicly and freely accessible digital 
delivery of the bid reading process, such as live 
Internet streaming, and an option for bidders to 
submit bids electronically; 
‘‘(B) a bidder verification process that dis-
closes to bidders, by no later than 5 p.m. Central 
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Time of the day before each sale, a list of all bids 
submitted (including the person submitting each 
bid) on each lease tract without disclosing bid 
amounts; 
‘‘(C) the ability for a bidder to correct a 
possible misreading of a submitted bid; 
‘‘(D) a designee from within the Office of 
the Solicitor of the Department of the Interior to 
act as an independent, third-party observer who 
will be present during the bid reading process to 
prevent wrongdoing, independently certify the 
bidding process, and maintain 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 STATISTICS.— 
‘‘(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; 
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‘‘(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; 
‘‘(vii) the average number of bids per 
tract; 
‘‘(viii) the total number of bidders par-
ticipating; 
‘‘(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 submitted; 
‘‘(xi) of tracts receiving bids, the num-
ber 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 Secretary 
shall ensure all data regarding lease sales under 
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this subsection is publicly available and easily 
accessible, free of charge, on the Internet, includ-
ing for download and aggregation in machine- 
readable format.’’. 
(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 company 
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 opportunity to share innova-
tive ideas, methods, and concerns 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 leasing 
process through Internet-based leasing options. 
(3) USER WORKSHOP.—The Secretary shall con-
duct not less than one user workshop with viable bid-
ders prior to conducting an Internet-based lease sale 
to provide the bidding public with an opportunity to 
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beta test any prototype of an Internet-based leasing 
platform. 
(c) DEADLINE FOR GULF OF MEXICO LEASE SALE.— 
Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment 
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 LEAS-
ING.—Not later than 90 days after the third Internet-based 
lease sale conducted under the amendment made by sub-
section (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-Inter-
net-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; 
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(3) voluntary and anonymous feedback from per-
sons participating in such sales, on the Internet-based 
leasing process and potential areas for improvement 
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 maxi-
mize bidder participation, ensure the highest return 
to the Federal taxpayers, minimize opportunities for 
fraud or collusion, and ensure the security and integ-
rity of the leasing process. 
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Union Calendar No. 552 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5577 
[Report No. 114–713] 
A BILL 
To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 
to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to con-
duct offshore oil and gas lease sales through 
Internet-based live lease sales, and for other pur-
poses. 
SEPTEMBER 6, 2016 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 
and ordered to be printed 
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