109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4761
AN ACT 
To provide for exploration, development, and production ac-
tivities for mineral resources on the outer Continental 
Shelf, 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 ‘‘Deep Ocean Energy 
Resources Act of 2006’’. 
SEC. 2. POLICY. 
It is the policy of the United States that—
(1) the United States is blessed with abundant 
energy resources on the outer Continental Shelf and 
has developed a comprehensive framework of envi-
ronmental laws and regulations and fostered the de-
velopment of state-of-the-art technology that allows 
for the responsible development of these resources 
for the benefit of its citizenry; 
(2) adjacent States are required by the cir-
cumstances to commit significant resources in sup-
port of exploration, development, and production ac-
tivities for mineral resources on the outer Conti-
nental Shelf, and it is fair and proper for a portion 
of the receipts from such activities to be shared with 
Adjacent States and their local coastal governments; 
(3) the existing laws governing the leasing and 
production of the mineral resources of the outer 
Continental Shelf have reduced the production of 
mineral resources, have preempted Adjacent States 
from being sufficiently involved in the decisions re-
garding the allowance of mineral resource develop-
ment, and have been harmful to the national inter-
est; 
(4) the national interest is served by granting 
the Adjacent States more options related to whether 
or not mineral leasing should occur in the outer 
Continental Shelf within their Adjacent Zones; 
(5) it is not reasonably foreseeable that explo-
ration of a leased tract located more than 25 miles 
seaward of the coastline, development and produc-
tion of a natural gas discovery located more than 25 
miles seaward of the coastline, or development and 
production of an oil discovery located more than 50 
miles seaward of the coastline will adversely affect 
resources near the coastline; 
(6) transportation of oil from a leased tract 
might reasonably be foreseen, under limited cir-
cumstances, to have the potential to adversely affect 
resources near the coastline if the oil is within 50 
miles of the coastline, but such potential to adversely 
affect such resources is likely no greater, and prob-
ably less, than the potential impacts from tanker 
transportation because tanker spills usually involve 
large releases of oil over a brief period of time; and 
(7) among other bodies of inland waters, the 
Great Lakes, Long Island Sound, Delaware Bay,
Chesapeake Bay, Albemarle Sound, San Francisco 
Bay, and Puget Sound are not part of the outer 
Continental Shelf, and are not subject to leasing by 
the Federal Government for the exploration, develop-
ment, and production of any mineral resources that 
might lie beneath them. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS UNDER THE OUTER CONTINENTAL 
SHELF LANDS ACT. 
Section 2 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 
(43 U.S.C. 1331) is amended—
(1) by amending paragraph (f) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(f) The term ‘affected State’ means the Adjacent 
State.’’; 
(2) by striking the semicolon at the end of each 
of paragraphs (a) through (o) and inserting a pe-
riod; 
(3) by striking ‘‘; and’’ at the end of paragraph 
(p) and inserting a period; 
(4) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(r) The term ‘Adjacent State’ means, with respect 
to any program, plan, lease sale, leased tract or other ac-
tivity, proposed, conducted, or approved pursuant to the 
provisions of this Act, any State the laws of which are 
declared, pursuant to section 4(a)(2), to be the law of the
United States for the portion of the outer Continental 
Shelf on which such program, plan, lease sale, leased tract 
or activity appertains or is, or is proposed to be, con-
ducted. For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘State’ 
includes Puerto Rico and the other Territories of the 
United States. 
‘‘(s) The term ‘Adjacent Zone’ means, with respect 
to any program, plan, lease sale, leased tract, or other ac-
tivity, proposed, conducted, or approved pursuant to the 
provisions of this Act, the portion of the outer Continental 
Shelf for which the laws of a particular Adjacent State 
are declared, pursuant to section 4(a)(2), to be the law 
of the United States. 
‘‘(t) The term ‘miles’ means statute miles. 
‘‘(u) The term ‘coastline’ has the same meaning as 
the term ‘coast line’ as defined in section 2(c) of the Sub-
merged Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1301(c)). 
‘‘(v) The term ‘Neighboring State’ means a coastal 
State having a common boundary at the coastline with the 
Adjacent State.’’; and 
(5) in paragraph (a), by inserting after ‘‘con-
trol’’ the following: ‘‘or lying within the United 
States exclusive economic zone adjacent to the Terri-
tories of the United States’’.
SEC. 4. DETERMINATION OF ADJACENT ZONES AND PLAN-
NING AREAS. 
Section 4(a)(2)(A) of the Outer Continental Shelf 
Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1333(a)(2)(A)) is amended in the 
first sentence by striking ‘‘, and the President’’ and all 
that follows through the end of the sentence and inserting 
the following: ‘‘. The lines extending seaward and defining 
each State’s Adjacent Zone, and each OCS Planning Area, 
are as indicated on the maps for each outer Continental 
Shelf region entitled ‘Alaska OCS Region State Adjacent 
Zone and OCS Planning Areas’, ‘Pacific OCS Region 
State Adjacent Zones and OCS Planning Areas’, ‘Gulf of 
Mexico OCS Region State Adjacent Zones and OCS Plan-
ning Areas’, and ‘Atlantic OCS Region State Adjacent 
Zones and OCS Planning Areas’, all of which are dated 
September 2005 and on file in the Office of the Director, 
Minerals Management Service.’’. 
SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATION OF LEASING. 
Section 5 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 
(43 U.S.C. 1334) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(k) VOLUNTARY PARTIAL RELINQUISHMENT OF A 
LEASE.—Any lessee of a producing lease may relinquish 
to the Secretary any portion of a lease that the lessee has 
no interest in producing and that the Secretary finds is 
geologically prospective. In return for any such relinquish-
ment, the Secretary shall provide to the lessee a royalty 
incentive for the portion of the lease retained by the lessee, 
in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Sec-
retary to carry out this subsection. The Secretary shall 
publish final regulations implementing this subsection 
within 365 days after the date of the enactment of the 
Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act of 2006. 
‘‘(l) NATURAL GAS LEASE REGULATIONS.—Not later 
than July 1, 2007, the Secretary shall publish a final regu-
lation that shall—
‘‘(1) establish procedures for entering into nat-
ural gas leases; 
‘‘(2) ensure that natural gas leases are only 
available for tracts on the outer Continental Shelf 
that are wholly within 100 miles of the coastline 
within an area withdrawn from disposition by leas-
ing on the day after the date of enactment of the 
Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act of 2006; 
‘‘(3) provide that natural gas leases shall con-
tain the same rights and obligations established for 
oil and gas leases, except as otherwise provided in 
the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act of 2006; 
‘‘(4) provide that, in reviewing the adequacy of 
bids for natural gas leases, the value of any crude