I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4318 
To terminate the effect of all provisions of Federal law that prohibit the 
expenditure of appropriated funds to conduct natural gas leasing and 
preleasing activities for any area of the Outer Continental Shelf, to 
terminate all withdrawals of Federal submerged lands of the Outer Conti-
nental Shelf from leasing for exploration for, and development and pro-
duction of, natural gas, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 15, 2005 
Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania (for himself and Mr. ABERCROMBIE) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Re-
sources, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce and 
Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined 
by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To terminate the effect of all provisions of Federal law 
that prohibit the expenditure of appropriated funds to 
conduct natural gas leasing and preleasing activities for 
any area of the Outer Continental Shelf, to terminate 
all withdrawals of Federal submerged lands of the Outer 
Continental Shelf from leasing for exploration for, and 
development and production of, natural gas, 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 Natural Gas Relief Act’’. 
SEC. 2. TERMINATION OF PROHIBITIONS ON EXPENDI-
TURES FOR, AND WITHDRAWALS FROM, OFF-
SHORE GAS LEASING. 
(a) PROHIBITIONS ON EXPENDITURES.—All provi-
sions of Federal law that prohibit the expenditure of ap-
propriated funds to conduct natural gas leasing and 
preleasing activities for any area of the Outer Continental 
Shelf shall have no force or effect. 
(b) REVOCATION WITHDRAWALS.—All withdrawals 
of Federal submerged lands of the Outer Continental Shelf 
from leasing, including withdrawals by the President 
under the authority of section 12(a) of the Outer Conti-
nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1341(a)), are hereby 
revoked and are no longer in effect with respect to the 
leasing of areas for exploration for, and development and 
production of, natural gas. 
SEC. 3. OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF LEASING PROGRAM. 
(a) STATE APPROVAL REQUIREMENTS.—The Outer 
Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) is 
amended by inserting after section 9 the following:
‘‘SEC. 10. STATE APPROVAL REQUIREMENT WITH RESPECT 
TO GAS LEASING. 
‘‘The Secretary may not grant any gas lease for any 
area of the outer Continental Shelf that is located within 
20 miles of the coastline of a State unless the Governor 
of the State notifies the Secretary that the State approves 
of the granting of such a lease for such area.’’. 
(b) MINIMUM AREA SUBJECT TO GAS LEASING.— 
(1) REQUIREMENT.—Section 18(a) of the Outer 
Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344(a)) is 
amended by inserting after the second sentence the 
following: ‘‘The Secretary shall, in each 5-year pro-
gram, include lease sales that when viewed as a 
whole propose to offer for gas leasing at least 75 
percent of the available unleased acreage within each 
outer Continental Shelf planning area.’’. 
(2) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by 
paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to the 5-year 
Outer Continental Shelf gas leasing program in ef-
fect on the date of the enactment of this Act, and 
to each such 5-year program thereafter. 
SEC. 4. SHARING OF REVENUES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8(g) of the Outer Conti-
nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337(g)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘Notwith-
standing’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in 
paragraph (6), and notwithstanding’’; 
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (6) and (7) as 
paragraphs (7) and (8); and 
(3) by inserting after paragraph (5) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(6) BONUS BIDS AND ROYALTIES AFTER SEP-
TEMBER 30, 2006.— 
‘‘(A) NEW GAS LEASES.—Of amounts re-
ceived by the United States as bonus bids and 
royalties under new Federal gas leases on sub-
merged lands that are located within the sea-
ward boundaries of a State established under 
section 4(a)(2)(A)— 
‘‘(i) 40 percent shall be paid to the 
State; and 
‘‘(ii) 10 percent shall be available for 
the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance 
Program under the Low-Income Home En-
ergy Assistance Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 
8621 et seq.). 
‘‘(B) EXISTING GAS LEASES.—Of amounts 
received by the United States as bonus bids and 
royalties under existing Federal gas leases on
submerged lands that are located within the 
seaward boundaries of a State established 
under section 4(a)(2)(A), there shall be paid to 
the State— 
‘‘(i) in the case of amounts received in 
the first full fiscal year after the date of 
the enactment of the Outer Continental 
Shelf Natural Gas Relief Act, 10 percent; 
‘‘(ii) in the case of amounts received 
in the second full fiscal year after such 
date of enactment, 20 percent; 
‘‘(iii) in the case of amounts received 
in the third full fiscal year after such date 
of enactment, 30 percent; and 
‘‘(iv) in the case of amounts received 
in the fourth full fiscal year after such 
date of enactment and each fiscal year 
thereafter, 40 percent. 
‘‘(C) LEASED
TRACT
THAT
LIES
PAR-
TIALLY WITHIN THE SEAWARD BOUNDARIES OF 
A STATE.—In the case of a leased tract that lies 
partially within the seaward boundaries of a 
State, the amounts of bonus bids and royalties 
from such tract that are subject to subpara-
graph (A) or (B), as applicable, with respect to
such State shall be a percentage of the total 
amounts of bonus bids and royalties from such 
tract that is equivalent to the total percentage 
of surface acreage of the tract that lies within 
such seaward boundaries. 
‘‘(D) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 
‘‘(i) 
EXISTING
FEDERAL
GAS 
LEASE.—The term ‘existing Federal gas 
lease’ means a gas lease under this Act 
granted before the date of the enactment 
of the Outer Continental Shelf Natural 
Gas Relief Act. 
‘‘(ii) NEW FEDERAL GAS LEASE.—The 
term ‘new Federal gas lease’ means a gas 
lease under this Act granted on or after 
the date of the enactment of the Outer 
Continental Shelf Natural Gas Relief Act. 
‘‘(E) APPLICATION.—This paragraph shall 
apply to bonus bids and royalties received by 
the United States after September 30, 2006,’’. 
(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF STATE SEAWARD BOUND-
ARIES.—Section 4(a)(2)(A) of the Outer Continental Shelf 
Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1333(a)(2)(A)) is amended in the 
first sentence by striking ‘‘, and the President’’ and all 
that follows through the end of the sentence and inserting
the following: ‘‘. Such extended lines are deemed to be as 
indicated on the maps for each outer Continental Shelf 
region entitled ‘Alaska OCS Region State Adjacent Zone 
and OCS Planning Areas’, ‘Pacific OCS Region State Ad-
jacent Zones and OCS Planning Areas’, ‘Gulf of Mexico 
OCS Region State Adjacent Zones and OCS Planning 
Areas’, and ‘Atlantic OCS Region State Adjacent Zones 
and OCS Planning Areas’, all of which are dated Sep-
tember 2005 and on file in the Office of the Director, Min-
erals Management Service.’’. 
SEC. 5. NATURAL GAS-ONLY LEASING. 
Section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 
(43 U.S.C. 1337) is amended by adding at the end the 
following subsection: 
‘‘(p) NATURAL GAS-ONLY LEASING.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may issue 
leases under this section that authorize development 
and production only of natural gas and associated 
condensate in accordance with regulations promul-
gated under paragraph (2). 
‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—Before issuing any lease 
under paragraph (1), the Secretary must promulgate 
regulations that— 
‘‘(A) define what constitutes natural gas, 
condensate, and oil;
‘‘(B) establish the lessee’s rights and obli-
gations regarding condensate produced in asso-
ciation with natural gas; 
‘‘(C) prescribe procedures and require-
ments that the lessee of a lease issued under 
this subsection must follow if the lessee dis-
covers oil deposits in the course of exploration 
or development; and 
‘‘(D) establish such other requirements for 
natural gas-only leases as the Secretary con-
siders appropriate. 
‘‘(3) APPLICATION OF OTHER LAWS.—All provi-
sions of this Act or any other Federal law or regula-
tions that apply to oil and natural gas leases for the 
outer Continental Shelf shall apply to natural gas- 
only leases authorized under this subsection. 
‘‘(4) EXISTING LEASES.—At the request of the 
lessee of an oil and gas lease in effect under this sec-
tion on the date of enactment of this subsection, and 
under the requirements prescribed in regulations 
promulgated under paragraph (2), the Secretary 
may restrict development under such a lease to nat-
ural gas and associated condensate only. 
‘‘(5) OIL AND GAS LEASING PROGRAMS.—
‘‘(A) PROGRAM FOR 2002–2007.—The Sec-
retary may issue a natural gas-only lease in ac-
cordance with this subsection before June 30, 
2007, without amending the outer Continental 
shelf leasing program that applies for the pe-
riod beginning on the date of the enactment of 
this subsection and ending June 30, 2007, if 
the Secretary provides public notice and an op-
portunity to comment on the proposed notice of 
sale. 
‘‘(B) PROGRAM FOR 2007–2012.—The Sec-
retary 
may 
include 
provisions 
regarding 
issuance of natural gas-only leases in the outer 
Continental shelf leasing program that applies 
for the 5-year period beginning in 2007, not-
withstanding any draft proposal for such pro-
gram issued before the date of the enactment of 
this subsection.’’. 
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