I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2157 
To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to limit the authority 
of the President to withdraw areas from oil and gas leasing, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 26, 2017 
Mr. BRAT (for himself, Mr. MEADOWS, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mr. JODY B. HICE 
of Georgia, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, 
Mr. OLSON, Mr. PALMER, Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. 
DUNCAN of South Carolina, Mr. WESTERMAN, Mr. LOUDERMILK, Mr. 
ROUZER, Mr. BIGGS, Mr. LABRADOR, Mr. BURGESS, Mr. SCALISE, Mr. 
LAMBORN, Mr. GUTHRIE, Mr. WITTMAN, and Mr. BABIN) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to limit 
the authority of the President to withdraw areas from 
oil and gas leasing, 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 ‘‘Outer Continental 
Shelf Energy Access Now Act’’ or the ‘‘OCEAN Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. LIMITATION OF AUTHORITY OF THE PRESIDENT TO 
WITHDRAW AREAS OF THE OUTER CONTI-
NENTAL SHELF FROM OIL AND GAS LEASING. 
(a) WITHDRAWALS.— 
(1) LIMITATION.—Section 12 of the Outer Con-
tinental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1341) is 
amended— 
(A) by amending subsection (a) to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(a) LIMITATION ON WITHDRAWALS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro-
vided in this section, no unleased lands of the outer 
Continental Shelf may be withdrawn from disposi-
tion except by statute. 
‘‘(2) NATIONAL
MARINE
SANCTUARIES.—The 
President may withdraw from disposition any of the 
unleased lands of the outer Continental Shelf located 
in a national marine sanctuary designated in accord-
ance with the National Marine Sanctuaries Act (16 
U.S.C. 1431 et seq.) or by statute, by issuance of 
a rule in accordance with section 553 of title 5, 
United State Code.’’; and 
(B) in subsection (c), by adding at the end 
the following: ‘‘Any suspension of operations 
under this subsection shall be for a period of 
not more than 90 days, and may be renewed 
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one or more times for an additional period of 
not more than 90 days.’’. 
(2) EXISTING WITHDRAWALS.—Any withdrawal 
before the date of the enactment of this Act under 
section 12(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 
Act (43 U.S.C. 1341), other than a withdrawal of an 
area in a national marine sanctuary established in 
accordance with the National Marine Sanctuaries 
Act (16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.) or in a national monu-
ment declared under the Act of June 8, 1906 (ch. 
3060; 34 Stat. 225), or chapter 3203 of title 54, 
United States Code, shall have no force or effect. 
(b) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY TO ESTABLISH 
MARINE NATIONAL MONUMENTS.— 
(1) TERMINATION
OF
AUTHORITY.—Section 
320301 of title 54, United States Code, is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(e) LIMITATION
ON
MARINE
AREAS.—Notwith-
standing subsections (a) and (b), the President may not 
declare or reserve any ocean waters (as such term is de-
fined in section 3 of the Marine Protection, Research, and 
Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (33 U.S.C. 1402)) or lands be-
neath ocean waters as a national monument.’’. 
(2) EXISTING MONUMENTS NOT AFFECTED.— 
Nothing in this subsection affects any national 
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monument declared before the date of the enactment 
of this Act. 
Æ 
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