I 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7211 
To improve the administration of the Minerals Management Service, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 28, 2008 
Mrs. MALONEY of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To improve the administration of the Minerals Management 
Service, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Minerals Management Service Improvement Act of 
2008’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Definitions. 
TITLE I—EMPLOYEES OF SERVICE 
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Sec. 101. Employee ethical standards. 
TITLE II—PROGRAMS OF SERVICE 
Sec. 201. Suspension of royalty-in-kind program. 
Sec. 202. Audits. 
Sec. 203. Annual reports. 
Sec. 204. Prohibition on use of royalty-in-kind revenues for administrative 
costs. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 
means the Department of the Interior. 
(2) MINERAL.—The term ‘‘mineral’’ has the 
meaning given the term ‘‘minerals’’ in section 2 of 
the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 
1331). 
(3) MINERAL MINING.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘‘mineral 
mining’’ means— 
(i) any activity carried out on Federal 
land on or off a claim (with or without a 
discovery) for mineral leasing, preleasing, 
any related activity, prospecting, explo-
ration, development, mining, extraction, 
milling, beneficiation, processing, or stor-
age of mined or processed materials with 
respect to any mineral that is under the 
jurisdiction of the Service and uses reason-
ably incident to the activity; and 
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(ii) any reclamation activity for any 
mineral and uses reasonably incident to 
the activity. 
(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘mineral ac-
tivity’’ includes the construction and use of 
roads, transmission lines, pipelines, utility cor-
ridors, and other means of access across Fed-
eral land for an ancillary facility. 
(4) ROYALTY-IN-KIND
PROGRAM.—The term 
‘‘royalty-in-kind program’’ means the program es-
tablished under— 
(A) section 342 of the Energy Policy Act 
of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15902); 
(B) section 36 of the Mineral Leasing Act 
(30 U.S.C. 192); 
(C) section 27 of the Outer Continental 
Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1353); or 
(D) any other similar provision of law. 
(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of the Interior. 
(6) SERVICE.—The term ‘‘Service’’ means the 
Minerals Management Service. 
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TITLE I—EMPLOYEES OF 
SERVICE 
SEC. 101. EMPLOYEE ETHICAL STANDARDS. 
(a) GIFTS.— 
(1) PROHIBITION.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—An employee of the 
Service may not knowingly accept a gift from 
an entity that is engaged in the business of 
mineral mining. 
(B) EXCEPTIONS.—Except for the value 
exception, the regulations providing exceptions 
to the gift rules for Federal employees for gifts 
from outside sources (5 C.F.R. Part 2635) 
shall apply to subparagraph (A). 
(2) VIOLATION.—Whoever violates paragraph 
(1) shall be guilty of a felony and fined under title 
18, United States Code, or imprisoned for not more 
than 2 years, or both. 
(b) FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE.—The filing require-
ments of section 101(f) of the Ethics in Government Act 
of 1978 shall apply to an employee of the Service in a 
position classified at an annual income equivalent to GS– 
13 or higher. 
(c) DIVESTITURE REQUIREMENT.—An employee of 
the Service may not own stock or any other interest in 
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an entity that is engaged in the business of mineral mining 
during the period of employment of that employee by the 
Service. 
(d) OUTSIDE EMPLOYMENT.—An employee of the 
Service may not be employed by any entity that is engaged 
in the business of mineral mining during the period of em-
ployment of that employee by the Service. 
(e) REVOLVING DOOR.— 
(1) ANY WORK FOR THE INDUSTRY.—An em-
ployee of the Service shall not work for an entity en-
gaged in the business of mineral mining during the 
1-year period after the termination of his or her em-
ployment with the Service. 
(2) VIOLATION.—Whoever violates paragraph 
(1) shall be guilty of a felony and punished as pro-
vided in section 216 of title 18, United States Code. 
TITLE II—PROGRAMS OF 
SERVICE 
SEC. 201. SUSPENSION OF ROYALTY-IN-KIND PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, the authority of the Secretary to carry out 
each royalty-in-kind program is suspended during the pe-
riod— 
(1) beginning on the date of enactment of this 
Act; and 
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(2) ending on the date the Secretary certifies to 
Congress that the Secretary, acting through the 
Service, has— 
(A) conducted a comprehensive review to 
determine if the Service is accurately collecting 
royalties and reported the results of the review 
to Congress; 
(B) conducted a thorough review to ensure 
that metering equipment properly measures 
what royalties are owed to the Federal Govern-
ment and reported the results of the review to 
Congress; 
(C) implemented a robust training pro-
gram for employees of the Service that cul-
minates in a certification signed by an employee 
that the employee understands the ethics laws 
(including regulations); and 
(D) created an ombudsman position that— 
(i) monitors the progress of the Serv-
ice in carrying out the actions described in 
this paragraph; and 
(ii) is appointed by, and reports exclu-
sively to, the Inspector General of the De-
partment. 
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(b) APPLICATION.—Subsection (a) applies to a con-
tract entered into on or after the date of enactment of 
this Act. 
SEC. 202. AUDITS. 
(a) NUMBER OF AUDITS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ensure 
that by fiscal year 2009 the Service shall perform 
each fiscal year not less that 550 audits of oil and 
gas leases entered into by the Secretary for which 
payment is made under a royalty-in-kind program. 
(2) COMPLIANCE
REVIEWS.—For purposes of 
paragraph (1), a compliance review shall not be con-
sidered an audit. 
(b) STANDARDS.—Not later than 120 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall promul-
gate regulations that— 
(1) require that all employees that conduct au-
dits or compliance reviews of oil and gas leases en-
tered into by the Secretary shall meet professional 
auditor qualifications that are consistent with the 
latest revision of the Government Auditing Stand-
ards issued by the Comptroller General of the 
United States; and 
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(2) ensure that all audits conducted by the De-
partment are performed in accordance with the 
Standards. 
SEC. 203. ANNUAL REPORTS. 
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act and each year thereafter, the Inspector General 
of the Department shall submit to Congress a report that 
evaluates— 
(1) the performance of the Secretary in car-
rying out each royalty-in-kind program; and 
(2) whether the royalty-in-kind program costs 
or saves taxpayer dollars as compared to receiving 
revenues in cash. 
SEC. 204. PROHIBITION ON USE OF ROYALTY-IN-KIND REV-
ENUES FOR ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS. 
Section 342(b)(5) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 
(42 U.S.C. 15902(b)(5)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘LIMITATION.—’’ and all that 
follows through ‘‘subparagraph (B), the’’ in sub-
paragraph (A) and inserting ‘‘LIMITATION.—The’’; 
and 
(2) by striking subparagraph (B). 
Æ 
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