I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5616 
To require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct certain offshore lease 
sales. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 21, 2023 
Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana (for himself, Mr. SCALISE, Mr. CRENSHAW, Mr. 
ELLZEY, and Mr. EZELL) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct certain 
offshore lease sales. 
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 ‘‘Bringing Reliable In-
vestment into Domestic Gulf Energy Production Act of 
2023’’ or the ‘‘BRIDGE Production Act of 2023’’. 
SEC. 2. OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASE SALES. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) OFFSHORE LEASE SALE.—The term ‘‘off-
shore lease sale’’ means an oil and gas lease sale— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:23 Sep 26, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5616.IH
H5616
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
(A) that is held by the Secretary in accord-
ance with the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 
Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.), notwithstanding 
the requirements of section 18 of that Act (43 
U.S.C. 1344); 
(B) offers the same lease form, lease 
terms, economic conditions, and stipulations as 
contained in the final notice of sale entitled 
‘‘Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Oil 
and Gas Lease Sale 257’’ (86 Fed. Reg. 54728 
(October 4, 2021)); and 
(C) that, if any acceptable bids have been 
received for any tract offered in the lease sale, 
results in the issuance of leases within 90 days 
of the sale to the highest bids on the tracts of-
fered, subject to the Bureau of Ocean Energy 
Management ‘‘Summary of Procedures for De-
termining Bid Adequacy at Offshore Oil and 
Gas Lease Sales Effective March 2016, with 
Central Gulf of Mexico Sale 241 and Eastern 
Gulf of Mexico Sale 226’’. 
(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of the Interior. 
(b) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive any other re-
quirements under section 18 of the Outer Continental 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:23 Sep 26, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5616.IH
H5616
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344) that would delay final 
approval of an offshore lease sale under subsection (c). 
(c) REQUIREMENT.—Notwithstanding section 18 of 
the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344), 
the Secretary shall— 
(1) conduct not fewer than 4 offshore lease 
sales during the 2-year period beginning on the date 
of enactment of this Act; and 
(2) ensure that the 2017–2022 Outer Conti-
nental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program Final 
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement and 
Record of Decision shall apply to lease sales con-
ducted under this subsection and shall be sufficient 
for purposes of complying with the National Envi-
ronmental Policy Act for offshore lease sales con-
ducted under this subsection to the extent it does 
not conflict with this Act. 
(d) TIMING.—In conducting the offshore lease sales 
required under subsection (c), the Secretary shall conduct 
an offshore lease sale not later than— 
(1) March 31, 2024; 
(2) August 31, 2024; 
(3) March 31, 2025; and 
(4) August 31, 2025. 
(e) AREA OFFERED FOR LEASE.— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:23 Sep 26, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5616.IH
H5616
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
(1) ACREAGE.—The Secretary shall offer not 
fewer than 80,000,000 acres for each offshore lease 
sale conducted under subsection (c). 
(2) LOCATION.—An offshore lease sale con-
ducted under subsection (c) shall be in the Gulf of 
Mexico Region Program Area as identified in Figure 
S–1 of the 2017–2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil 
and Gas Leasing Proposed Final Program published 
on November 18, 2016, by the Bureau of Ocean En-
ergy Management (as announced in the notice of 
availability of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Manage-
ment entitled ‘‘Notice of Availability of the 2017– 
2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing 
Proposed Final Program’’ (81 Fed. Reg. 84612 (No-
vember 23, 2016)). 
(f) EFFECT OF LITIGATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—A civil action challenging an 
offshore lease sale conducted under this section shall 
not— 
(A) affect the validity of any lease issued 
under such an offshore lease sale; and 
(B) except as provided in paragraph 
(3)(B), cause a delay in the timelines for the 
consideration of any exploration plan, develop-
ment plan, development operations coordination 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:23 Sep 26, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5616.IH
H5616
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
document, applications for permit to drill, or 
other application for a Federal agency author-
ization or approval for activities on a lease 
issued under such an offshore lease sale. 
(2) REMAND; PROCESSING OF APPROVALS AND 
APPLICATIONS.—If, in a civil action described in 
paragraph (1), a court finds that the offshore lease 
sale was not carried out in compliance with Federal 
law— 
(A) the court shall not— 
(i) set aside, vacate, or enjoin the off-
shore lease sale; 
(ii) set aside, vacate, or enjoin the 
leases issued pursuant to the offshore lease 
sale; or 
(iii) enjoin the Secretary from issuing 
leases to the highest bidders in the chal-
lenged offshore lease sale; 
(B) the court shall remand the matter to 
the Secretary and require the Secretary to cor-
rect the noncompliance; and 
(C) the Secretary shall continue to process 
all exploration plans, development plans, devel-
opment operations coordination documents, ap-
plications for a permit to drill, and other appli-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:29 Sep 26, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5616.IH
H5616
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
cations for a Federal agency authorization or 
other approval for activities requested under 
any lease issued under the challenged offshore 
lease sale in accordance with the Outer Conti-
nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et 
seq.). 
(3) NOTICE.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 10 days 
after the date on which a civil action described 
in paragraph (1) is served on the United 
States, the Secretary shall notify the holder of 
any lease issued, or apparent high bidder if the 
lease has not yet been issued, under the off-
shore lease sale that is the subject of the civil 
action of the filing of the civil action. 
(B) TIMELINE.—Not later than 90 days 
after the date of receipt of a notice under sub-
paragraph (A), the holder of the lease may file 
with the Secretary, and the Secretary may ap-
prove, a request to pause the timeline with re-
spect to the term of the lease during any period 
in which the civil action is pending. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:23 Sep 26, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H5616.IH
H5616
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB