I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1205 
To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to streamline the oil and gas permitting 
process and to recognize fee ownership for certain oil and gas drilling 
or spacing units, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 27, 2023 
Mrs. BICE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to streamline the oil 
and gas permitting process and to recognize fee owner-
ship for certain oil and gas drilling or spacing units, 
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 ‘‘Bureau of Land Man-
agement Mineral Spacing Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. ACCESS TO FEDERAL ENERGY RESOURCES FROM 
NON-FEDERAL SURFACE ESTATE. 
Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 
226) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(r) NO FEDERAL PERMIT REQUIRED FOR OIL AND 
GAS ACTIVITIES ON CERTAIN LAND.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall not re-
quire an operator to obtain a Federal drilling permit 
for oil and gas exploration and production activities 
conducted on non-Federal surface estate, provided 
that— 
‘‘(A) the United States holds an ownership 
interest of less than 50 percent of the sub-
surface mineral estate to be accessed by the 
proposed action; and 
‘‘(B) the operator submits to the Secretary 
a State permit to conduct oil and gas explo-
ration and production activities on the non-Fed-
eral surface estate. 
‘‘(2) NO FEDERAL ACTION.—An oil and gas ex-
ploration and production activity carried out under 
paragraph (1)— 
‘‘(A) shall not be considered a major Fed-
eral action for the purposes of section 
102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy 
Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332); 
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‘‘(B) shall require no additional Federal 
action; 
‘‘(C) may commence 30 days after submis-
sion of the State permit to the Secretary; and 
‘‘(D) shall not be subject to— 
‘‘(i) section 306108 of title 54, United 
States Code (commonly known as the Na-
tional Historic Preservation Act of 1966); 
and 
‘‘(ii) section 7 of the Endangered Spe-
cies Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536). 
‘‘(3) ROYALTIES AND PRODUCTION ACCOUNT-
ABILITY.—(A) Nothing in this subsection shall affect 
the amount of royalties due to the United States 
under this Act from the production of oil and gas, 
or alter the Secretary’s authority to conduct audits 
and collect civil penalties pursuant to the Federal 
Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982 (30 
U.S.C. 1701 et seq.). 
‘‘(B) The Secretary may conduct onsite reviews 
and inspections to ensure proper accountability, 
measurement, and reporting of production of Fed-
eral oil and gas, and payment of royalties. 
‘‘(4) NONAPPLICABILITY TO INDIAN LANDS.— 
This subsection shall not apply to Indian lands. 
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‘‘(5) INDIAN
LAND.—In this subsection, the 
term ‘Indian land’ means— 
‘‘(A) any land located within the bound-
aries of an Indian reservation, pueblo, or 
rancheria; and 
‘‘(B) any land not located within the 
boundaries of an Indian reservation, pueblo, or 
rancheria, the title to which is held— 
‘‘(i) in trust by the United States for 
the benefit of an Indian tribe or an indi-
vidual Indian; 
‘‘(ii) by an Indian tribe or an indi-
vidual Indian, subject to restriction against 
alienation under laws of the United States; 
or 
‘‘(iii) by a dependent Indian commu-
nity.’’. 
Æ 
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