101 
organizations, the Department of the Interior, and other 
Federal agencies. 
‘‘(c) On or before the first day of July of each year 
beginning after the date of enactment of this sentence, 
schools, universities, and institutions receiving funds 
under this Act shall certify compliance with this Act. An 
individual granted a scholarship or fellowship with funds 
provided under this Act, shall through their respective 
school, university, or institution, advise the Secretary upon 
completion of the course of studies and the awarding of 
the degree within 30 days after the award. As needed the 
Secretary shall ascertain whether the requirements of this 
Act have been met by schools, universities, and institutions 
and individuals. 
‘‘SEC. 10. COORDINATION. 
‘‘(a) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to impair 
or modify the legal relationship existing between any of 
the schools, universities, and institutions under whose di-
rection a program is established with funds provided under 
this Act and the government of the State in which it is 
located. Nothing in this Act shall in any way be construed 
to authorize Federal control or direction of education at 
any school, university, or institution. 
‘‘(b) The programs authorized by this Act are in-
tended to enhance the Nation’s petroleum, mining, and
102 
mineral engineering education programs and to enhance 
educational programs in petroleum and mining exploration 
and to increase the number of individuals enrolled in and 
completing these programs. To achieve this intent, the 
Secretary and the Committee established by section 11 
shall receive the continuing advice and cooperation of all 
agencies of the Federal Government concerned with the 
identification, exploration, and development energy and 
mineral resources. 
‘‘(c) Nothing in this Act is intended to give or shall 
be construed as giving the Secretary any authority over 
mining and mineral resources research conducted by any 
agency of the Federal Government, or as repealing or di-
minishing existing authorities or responsibilities of any 
agency of the Federal Government to plan and conduct, 
contract for, or assist in research in its area of responsi-
bility and concern with regard to mining and mineral re-
sources. 
‘‘(d) The schools, universities, and institutions receiv-
ing funding under this Act shall generally make publicly 
available the information and reports on projects com-
pleted, in progress, or planned with funds provided under 
this Act. This information shall be made available on an 
annual basis. All uses, products, processes, patents, and 
other developments resulting from any research, dem-
103 
onstration, or experiment funded in whole or in part under 
this Act shall be made available promptly to the general 
public, subject to exception or limitation, if any, as the 
Secretary may find necessary in the interest of national 
security. Schools, universities, and institutions receiving 
patents for inventions funded in whole or in part under 
this Act shall be governed by the applicable Federal law, 
except that one percent of gross revenues derived from 
such patents shall be paid by the schools and the institu-
tions to the Federal Energy and Mineral Resources Pro-
fessional Development Fund established by section 23(a) 
of the Domestic Energy Production through Offshore Ex-
ploration and Equitable Treatment of State Holdings Act 
of 2006. 
‘‘SEC. 11. COMMITTEE ON PETROLEUM, MINING, AND MIN-
ERAL ENGINEERING AND ENERGY AND MIN-
ERAL RESOURCE EDUCATION. 
‘‘(a) The Secretary shall appoint a Committee on Pe-
troleum, Mining, and Mineral Engineering and Energy 
and Mineral Resource Education composed of— 
‘‘(1) the Assistant Secretary of the Interior re-
sponsible for land and minerals management and 
not more than 16 other persons who are knowledge-
able in the fields of mining and mineral resources re-
search, including 2 university administrators one of
104 
whom shall be from historic and existing petroleum 
and mining schools; a community, technical, or tribal 
college administrator; a career technical education 
educator; 6 representatives equally distributed from 
the petroleum, mining, and aggregate industries; a 
working miner; a working oilfield worker; a rep-
resentative of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact 
Commission; a representative from the Interstate 
Mining Compact Commission; a representative from 
the Western Governors Association; a representative 
of the State geologists, and a representative of a 
State mining and reclamation agency. In making 
these 16 appointments, the Secretary shall consult 
with interested groups. 
‘‘(2) The Assistant Secretary for Land and 
Minerals Management, in the capacity of the Chair-
man of the Committee, may have present during 
meetings of the Committee representatives of Fed-
eral agencies with responsibility for energy and min-
erals resources management, energy and mineral re-
source investigations, energy and mineral commodity 
information, international trade in energy and min-
eral commodities, mining regulation and mine safety 
research, and research into the development, produc-
tion, and utilization of energy and mineral commod-
105 
ities. These representatives shall serve as technical 
advisors to the committee and shall have no voting 
responsibilities. 
‘‘(b) The Committee shall consult with, and make rec-
ommendations to, the Secretary on all matters relating to 
funding energy and mineral resources research and the 
awarding and allocation of funding made under this Act. 
The Secretary shall consult with and carefully consider 
recommendations of the Committee in such matters. 
‘‘(c) Committee members, other than officers or em-
ployees of Federal, State, or local governments, shall be, 
for each day (including traveltime) during which they are 
performing Committee business, paid at a rate fixed by 
the Secretary but not in excess of the daily equivalent of 
the maximum rate of pay for level IV of the Executive 
Schedule under section 5136 of title 5, United States 
Code, and shall be fully reimbursed for travel, subsistence, 
and related expenses. 
‘‘(d) The Committee shall be chaired by the Assistant 
Secretary of the Interior responsible for land and minerals 
management. There shall also be elected a Vice Chairman 
by the Committee from among the members referred to 
in this section. The Vice Chairman shall perform such du-
ties as are determined to be appropriate by the committee, 
except that the Chairman of the Committee must person-
106 
ally preside at all meetings of the full Committee. The 
Committee may organize itself into such subcommittees as 
the Committee may deem appropriate. 
‘‘(e) Following completion of the report required by 
section 385 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Com-
mittee shall consider the recommendations of the report, 
ongoing efforts in the schools, universities, and institu-
tions receiving funding under this Act, the Federal and 
State Governments, and the private sector, and shall for-
mulate and recommend to the Secretary a national plan 
for a program utilizing the fiscal resources provided under 
this Act. The Committee shall submit such plan to the 
Secretary for approval. Upon approval, the plan shall 
guide the Secretary and the Committee in their actions 
under this Act. 
‘‘(f) Section 10 of the Federal Advisory Committee 
Act (5 U.S.C. App. 2) shall not apply to the Committee. 
‘‘SEC. 12. CAREER TECHNICAL EDUCATION. 
‘‘(a) Up to 15 percent of the annual outlay of funds 
under this Act may be granted to schools or institutions 
including, but not limited to, colleges, universities, commu-
nity colleges, tribal colleges, technical institutes, and sec-
ondary schools, other than those described in sections 3, 
4, 5, and 6.
107 
‘‘(b) The Secretary, as advised by the Committee es-
tablished under section 11, shall determine the eligibility 
of a school or institution to receive funding under this sec-
tion using criteria that include— 
‘‘(1) the presence of a substantial program of 
training, including vocational education for individ-
uals seeking to enter the oil and gas, coal mining, 
or mineral mining industries in a skilled technical 
trade offered by the schools or institutions referred 
to in subsection (a); or 
‘‘(2) the presence of a State-approved program 
of career technical education at a secondary school, 
offered cooperatively with a schools or institutions 
referred to in subsection (a) in one of the industrial 
sectors of— 
‘‘(A) agriculture, forestry, or fisheries; 
‘‘(B) utilities; 
‘‘(C) construction; 
‘‘(D) manufacturing; and 
‘‘(E) transportation and warehousing. 
‘‘(c) Schools or institutions receiving funds under this 
section must show evidence of an institutional commit-
ment for the purposes career technical education and pro-
vide evidence that the school or institution can obtain in-
108 
dustrial cooperation in activities within the scope of this 
Act. 
‘‘(d) Schools or institutions receiving funds under 
this section must agree to maintain the programs for 
which the funding is sought for a period of 10 years begin-
ning on the date the school or institution receives such 
funds, unless the Secretary finds that a shorter period of 
time is appropriate for the local labor market or is re-
quired by State authorities.’’. 
SEC. 24. ONSHORE AND OFFSHORE MINERAL LEASE FEES. 
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the De-
partment of the Interior is prohibited from charging fees 
applicable to actions on Federal onshore and offshore oil 
and gas, coal, geothermal, and other mineral leases, in-
cluding transportation of any production from such leases, 
if such fees were not established in final regulations prior 
to the date of issuance of the lease. 
SEC. 25. OCS REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS. 
The headquarters for the Gulf of Mexico Region shall 
permanently be located within the State of Louisiana with-
in 25 miles of the center of Jackson Square, New Orleans, 
Louisiana. Further, not later than July 1, 2008, the Sec-
retary of the Interior shall establish the headquarters for 
the Atlantic OCS Region and the headquarters for the Pa-
cific OCS Region within a State bordering the Atlantic
109 
OCS Region and a State bordering the Pacific OCS Re-
gion, respectively, from among the States bordering those 
Regions, that petitions by no later than January 1, 2008, 
for leasing, for oil and gas or natural gas, covering at least 
40 percent of the area of its Adjacent Zone within 100 
miles of the coastline. Such Atlantic and Pacific OCS Re-
gions headquarters shall be located within 25 miles of the 
coastline and each MMS OCS regional headquarters shall 
be the permanent duty station for all Minerals Manage-
ment Service personnel that on a daily basis spend on av-
erage 60 percent or more of their time in performance of 
duties in support of the activities of the respective Region, 
except that the Minerals Management Service may house 
regional inspection staff in other locations. Each OCS Re-
gion shall each be led by a Regional Director who shall 
be an employee within the Senior Executive Service. 
SEC. 26. NATIONAL GEOLOGIC DATA AND MAPPING FUND 
ACT OF 2005. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the 
‘‘National Geologic Data and Mapping Fund Act of 
2006’’. 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purpose of this section is to— 
(1) establish a fund to provide funding for geo-
logic mapping and the preservation and use of geo-
logic data;
110 
(2) make available receipts derived from sales, 
bonus bids, and royalties from onshore and offshore 
gas, minerals, oil, and any additional form of energy 
exploration and development under the laws of the 
United States for the purposes of the such fund; 
(3) distribute funds from such fund each fiscal 
year to the Secretary of the Interior and the States; 
and 
(4) use the distributed funds to secure the nec-
essary trained workforce, contractual services, and 
other support, including maintenance and capital in-
vestments, to conduct geologic mapping and preserve 
and make geologic data available for use. 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) GEOLOGIC
FUND.—The term ‘‘Geologic 
Fund’’ means the National Geologic Data and Map-
ping Fund established by subsection (d). 
(2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 
geological survey, the agency that acts as the State 
geological survey, or any other State government 
agency primarily responsible for geologic mapping or 
geologic data preservation (or both) within a State. 
(d) ESTABLISHMENT AND USE OF NATIONAL GEO-
LOGIC DATA AND MAPPING FUND.—
111 
(1) GEOLOGIC FUND.—There is established in 
the Treasury a separate account to be known as the 
‘‘National Geologic Data and Mapping Fund’’. 
(2) FUNDING.—The Secretary of the Treasury 
shall deposit in the Enhancement Fund— 
(A) such sums as are provided by sections 
9(b)(5)(A)(iv), 9(b)(5)(B)(iv), 9(c)(4)(A)(iv), 
and 9(c)(4)(B)(iv) of the Outer Continental 
Shelf Lands Act, as amended by this Act; 
(B)(i) during the period of October 1, 
2006, through September 30, 2015, 0.1 percent 
of all sums paid into the Treasury under sec-
tion 35 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 
191), and 
(ii) beginning October 1, 2015, and there-
after, 0.5 percent of all sums paid into the 
Treasury under section 35 of the Mineral Leas-
ing Act (30 U.S.C. 191); and 
(C)(i) during the period of October 1, 
2006, through September 30, 2015, 0.1 percent 
of all sums paid into the Treasury from receipts 
derived from bonus bids and royalties from 
other mineral leasing on public lands, and 
(ii) beginning October 1, 2015, and there-
after, 0.5 percent of all sums paid into the
112 
Treasury from receipts derived from bonus bids 
and royalties from other mineral leasing on 
public lands. 
(3) INVESTMENTS.—The Secretary of the 
Treasury shall invest the amounts deposited under 
paragraph (2) and all accrued interest on the 
amounts deposited under paragraph (2) only in in-
terest bearing obligations of the United States or in 
obligations guaranteed as to both principal and in-
terest by the United States. 
(4) AVAILABILITY TO SECRETARY OF THE IN-
TERIOR.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning with fiscal 
year 2007, and in each fiscal year thereafter, 
one-third of amounts deposited into the Geo-
logic Fund, together with the interest thereon, 
shall be available, without fiscal year limita-
tions, to the Secretary of the Interior for use 
for the purposes described in subsection (b)(4). 
(B) WITHDRAWALS
AND
TRANSFER
OF 
FUNDS.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall 
withdraw such amounts from the Geologic Fund 
as the Secretary of the Interior may request, 
subject to the limitation in subparagraph (A), 
and transfer such amounts to the Secretary of