961
‘‘(5) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to 
affect the requirement contained in the second sentence 
of subsection (a) relating to commencement of production 
at the end of 10 years.’’. 
(b) AUTHORITY TO WAIVE, SUSPEND, OR REDUCE 
ADVANCE ROYALTIES.—Section 39 of the Mineral Leas-
ing Act (30 U.S.C. 209) is amended by striking the last 
sentence. 
SEC. 2105. ELIMINATION OF DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION 
OF COAL LEASE OPERATION AND RECLAMA-
TION PLAN. 
Section 7(c) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 
207(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘and not later than three 
years after a lease is issued,’’. 
SEC. 2106. AMENDMENT RELATING TO FINANCIAL ASSUR-
ANCES WITH RESPECT TO BONUS BIDS. 
Section 2(a) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 
201(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(4)(A) The Secretary shall not require a surety bond 
or any other financial assurance to guarantee payment of 
deferred bonus bid installments with respect to any coal 
lease issued on a cash bonus bid to a lessee or successor 
in interest having a history of a timely payment of noncon-
tested coal royalties and advanced coal royalties in lieu
962
of production (where applicable) and bonus bid installment 
payments. 
‘‘(B) The Secretary may waive any requirement that 
a lessee provide a surety bond or other financial assurance 
for a coal lease issued before the date of the enactment 
of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 only if the Secretary 
determines that the lessee has a history of making timely 
payments referred to in subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(5) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if 
the lessee under a coal lease fails to pay any installment 
of a deferred cash bonus bid within 10 days after the Sec-
retary provides written notice that payment of the install-
ment is past due—
‘‘(A) the lease shall automatically terminate; 
and 
‘‘(B) any bonus payments already made to the 
United States with respect to the lease shall not be 
returned to the lessee or credited in any future lease 
sale.’’. 
SEC. 2107. INVENTORY REQUIREMENT. 
(a) REVIEW OF ASSESSMENTS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte-
rior, in consultation with the Secretary of Agri-
culture and the Secretary of Energy, shall review
963
coal assessments and other available data to iden-
tify—
(A) public lands with coal resources; 
(B) the extent and nature of any restric-
tions or impediments to the development of coal 
resources on public lands identified under para-
graph (1); and 
(C) with respect to areas of such lands for 
which sufficient data exists, resources of com-
pliant coal and supercompliant coal. 
(2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub-
section—
(A) the term ‘‘compliant coal’’ means coal 
that contains not less than 1.0 and not more 
than 1.2 pounds of sulfur dioxide per million 
Btu; and 
(B) the term ‘‘supercompliant coal’’ means 
coal that contains less than 1.0 pounds of sul-
fur dioxide per million Btu. 
(b) COMPLETION AND UPDATING OF THE INVEN-
TORY.—The Secretary—
(1) shall complete the inventory under sub-
section (a) by not later than 2 years after the date 
of enactment of this Act; and
964
(2) shall update the inventory as the availability 
of data and developments in technology warrant. 
(c) REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit to the 
Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives 
and to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 
of the Senate and make publicly available—
(1) a report containing the inventory under this 
section, by not later than 2 years after the effective 
date of this section; and 
(2) each update of such inventory. 
SEC. 2108. APPLICATION OF AMENDMENTS. 
The amendments made by this title apply with re-
spect to any coal lease issued before, on, or after the date 
of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 2109. RESOLUTION OF FEDERAL RESOURCE DEVELOP-
MENT CONFLICTS IN THE POWDER RIVER 
BASIN. 
The Secretary of the Interior shall—
(1) undertake a review of existing authorities to 
resolve conflicts between the development of Federal 
coal and the development of Federal and non-Fed-
eral coalbed methane in the Powder River Basin in 
Wyoming and Montana; and 
(2) not later than 6 months after the date of 
enactment of this Act, report to Congress on alter-
965
natives to resolve these conflicts and an identifica-
tion of a preferred alternative with specific legisla-
tive language, if any, required to implement the pre-
ferred alternative. 
TITLE XXII—ARCTIC COASTAL 
PLAIN DOMESTIC ENERGY 
SEC. 2201. SHORT TITLE. 
This title may be cited as the ‘‘Arctic Coastal Plain 
Domestic Energy Security Act of 2005’’. 
SEC. 2202. DEFINITIONS. 
In this title: 
(1) COASTAL
PLAIN.—The term ‘‘Coastal 
Plain’’ means that area identified as such in the 
map entitled ‘‘Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’’, 
dated August 1980, as referenced in section 1002(b) 
of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation 
Act (16 U.S.C. 3142(b)(1)), comprising approxi-
mately 1,549,000 acres, and as described in appen-
dix I to part 37 of title 50, Code of Federal Regula-
tions. 
(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’, except 
as otherwise provided, means the Secretary of the 
Interior or the Secretary’s designee.
966
SEC. 2203. LEASING PROGRAM FOR LANDS WITHIN THE 
COASTAL PLAIN. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall take such ac-
tions as are necessary—
(1) to establish and implement, in accordance 
with this Act and acting through the Director of the 
Bureau of Land Management in consultation with 
the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife 
Service, a competitive oil and gas leasing program 
under the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et 
seq.) that will result in an environmentally sound 
program for the exploration, development, and pro-
duction of the oil and gas resources of the Coastal 
Plain; and 
(2) to administer the provisions of this title 
through regulations, lease terms, conditions, restric-
tions, prohibitions, stipulations, and other provisions 
that ensure the oil and gas exploration, development, 
and production activities on the Coastal Plain will 
result in no significant adverse effect on fish and 
wildlife, their habitat, subsistence resources, and the 
environment, and including, in furtherance of this 
goal, by requiring the application of the best com-
mercially available technology for oil and gas explo-
ration, development, and production to all explo-
ration, development, and production operations
967
under this title in a manner that ensures the receipt 
of fair market value by the public for the mineral re-
sources to be leased. 
(b) REPEAL.—
(1) REPEAL.—Section 1003 of the Alaska Na-
tional Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 
3143) is repealed. 
(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con-
tents in section 1 of such Act is amended by striking 
the item relating to section 1003. 
(c) COMPLIANCE WITH REQUIREMENTS UNDER CER-
TAIN OTHER LAWS.—
(1) COMPATIBILITY.—For purposes of the Na-
tional Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 
1966, the oil and gas leasing program and activities 
authorized by this section in the Coastal Plain are 
deemed to be compatible with the purposes for which 
the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was established, 
and that no further findings or decisions are re-
quired to implement this determination. 
(2) ADEQUACY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE 
INTERIOR’S LEGISLATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT 
STATEMENT.—The 
‘‘Final 
Legislative 
Environ-
mental Impact Statement’’ (April 1987) on the 
Coastal Plain prepared pursuant to section 1002 of
968
the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation 
Act (16 U.S.C. 3142) and section 102(2)(C) of the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 
U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)) is deemed to satisfy the require-
ments under the National Environmental Policy Act 
of 1969 that apply with respect to prelease activities, 
including actions authorized to be taken by the Sec-
retary to develop and promulgate the regulations for 
the establishment of a leasing program authorized 
by this title before the conduct of the first lease sale. 
(3) COMPLIANCE WITH NEPA FOR OTHER AC-
TIONS.—Before conducting the first lease sale under 
this title, the Secretary shall prepare an environ-
mental impact statement under the National Envi-
ronmental Policy Act of 1969 with respect to the ac-
tions authorized by this title that are not referred to 
in paragraph (2). Notwithstanding any other law, 
the Secretary is not required to identify nonleasing 
alternative courses of action or to analyze the envi-
ronmental effects of such courses of action. The Sec-
retary shall only identify a preferred action for such 
leasing and a single leasing alternative, and analyze 
the environmental effects and potential mitigation 
measures for those two alternatives. The identifica-
tion of the preferred action and related analysis for
969
the first lease sale under this title shall be completed 
within 18 months after the date of enactment of this 
Act. The Secretary shall only consider public com-
ments that specifically address the Secretary’s pre-
ferred action and that are filed within 20 days after 
publication of an environmental analysis. Notwith-
standing any other law, compliance with this para-
graph is deemed to satisfy all requirements for the 
analysis and consideration of the environmental ef-
fects of proposed leasing under this title. 
(d) RELATIONSHIP TO STATE AND LOCAL AUTHOR-
ITY.—Nothing in this title shall be considered to expand 
or limit State and local regulatory authority. 
(e) SPECIAL AREAS.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary, after con-
sultation with the State of Alaska, the city of 
Kaktovik, and the North Slope Borough, may des-
ignate up to a total of 45,000 acres of the Coastal 
Plain as a Special Area if the Secretary determines 
that the Special Area is of such unique character 
and interest so as to require special management 
and regulatory protection. The Secretary shall des-
ignate as such a Special Area the Sadlerochit Spring 
area, comprising approximately 4,000 acres as de-
picted on the map referred to in section 2202(1).
970
(2) MANAGEMENT.—Each such Special Area 
shall be managed so as to protect and preserve the 
area’s unique and diverse character including its 
fish, wildlife, and subsistence resource values. 
(3) EXCLUSION
FROM
LEASING
OR
SURFACE 
OCCUPANCY.—The Secretary may exclude any Spe-
cial Area from leasing. If the Secretary leases a Spe-
cial Area, or any part thereof, for purposes of oil 
and gas exploration, development, production, and 
related activities, there shall be no surface occu-
pancy of the lands comprising the Special Area. 
(4) DIRECTIONAL DRILLING.—Notwithstanding 
the other provisions of this subsection, the Secretary 
may lease all or a portion of a Special Area under 
terms that permit the use of horizontal drilling tech-
nology from sites on leases located outside the area. 
(f) LIMITATION
ON
CLOSED
AREAS.—The Sec-
retary’s sole authority to close lands within the Coastal 
Plain to oil and gas leasing and to exploration, develop-
ment, and production is that set forth in this title. 
(g) REGULATIONS.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall pre-
scribe such regulations as may be necessary to carry 
out this title, including rules and regulations relating 
to protection of the fish and wildlife, their habitat,
971
subsistence resources, and environment of the Coast-
al Plain, by no later than 15 months after the date 
of enactment of this Act. 
(2) REVISION
OF
REGULATIONS.—The Sec-
retary shall periodically review and, if appropriate, 
revise the rules and regulations issued under sub-
section (a) to reflect any significant biological, envi-
ronmental, or engineering data that come to the Sec-
retary’s attention. 
SEC. 2204. LEASE SALES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Lands may be leased pursuant to 
this title to any person qualified to obtain a lease for de-
posits of oil and gas under the Mineral Leasing Act (30 
U.S.C. 181 et seq.). 
(b) PROCEDURES.—The Secretary shall, by regula-
tion, establish procedures for—
(1) receipt and consideration of sealed nomina-
tions for any area in the Coastal Plain for inclusion 
in, or exclusion (as provided in subsection (c)) from, 
a lease sale; 
(2) the holding of lease sales after such nomina-
tion process; and 
(3) public notice of and comment on designa-
tion of areas to be included in, or excluded from, a 
lease sale.
972
(c) LEASE SALE BIDS.—Bidding for leases under 
this title shall be by sealed competitive cash bonus bids. 
(d) ACREAGE MINIMUM IN FIRST SALE.—In the first 
lease sale under this title, the Secretary shall offer for 
lease those tracts the Secretary considers to have the 
greatest potential for the discovery of hydrocarbons, tak-
ing into consideration nominations received pursuant to 
subsection (b)(1), but in no case less than 200,000 acres. 
(e) TIMING
OF
LEASE
SALES.—The Secretary 
shall—
(1) conduct the first lease sale under this title 
within 22 months after the date of the enactment of 
this Act; and 
(2) conduct additional sales so long as sufficient 
interest in development exists to warrant, in the Sec-
retary’s judgment, the conduct of such sales. 
SEC. 2205. GRANT OF LEASES BY THE SECRETARY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may grant to the 
highest responsible qualified bidder in a lease sale con-
ducted pursuant to section 2204 any lands to be leased 
on the Coastal Plain upon payment by the lessee of such 
bonus as may be accepted by the Secretary. 
(b) SUBSEQUENT
TRANSFERS.—No lease issued 
under this title may be sold, exchanged, assigned, sublet, 
or otherwise transferred except with the approval of the
973
Secretary. Prior to any such approval the Secretary shall 
consult with, and give due consideration to the views of, 
the Attorney General. 
SEC. 2206. LEASE TERMS AND CONDITIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—An oil or gas lease issued pursu-
ant to this title shall—
(1) provide for the payment of a royalty of not 
less than 121⁄2 percent in amount or value of the 
production removed or sold from the lease, as deter-
mined by the Secretary under the regulations appli-
cable to other Federal oil and gas leases; 
(2) provide that the Secretary may close, on a 
seasonal basis, portions of the Coastal Plain to ex-
ploratory drilling activities as necessary to protect 
caribou calving areas and other species of fish and 
wildlife; 
(3) require that the lessee of lands within the 
Coastal Plain shall be fully responsible and liable for 
the reclamation of lands within the Coastal Plain 
and any other Federal lands that are adversely af-
fected in connection with exploration, development, 
production, or transportation activities conducted 
under the lease and within the Coastal Plain by the 
lessee or by any of the subcontractors or agents of 
the lessee;
974
(4) provide that the lessee may not delegate or 
convey, by contract or otherwise, the reclamation re-
sponsibility and liability to another person without 
the express written approval of the Secretary; 
(5) provide that the standard of reclamation for 
lands required to be reclaimed under this title shall 
be, as nearly as practicable, a condition capable of 
supporting the uses which the lands were capable of 
supporting prior to any exploration, development, or 
production activities, or upon application by the les-
see, to a higher or better use as approved by the 
Secretary; 
(6) contain terms and conditions relating to 
protection of fish and wildlife, their habitat, and the 
environment 
as 
required 
pursuant 
to 
section 
2203(a)(2); 
(7) provide that the lessee, its agents, and its 
contractors use best efforts to provide a fair share, 
as determined by the level of obligation previously 
agreed to in the 1974 agreement implementing sec-
tion 29 of the Federal Agreement and Grant of 
Right of Way for the Operation of the Trans-Alaska 
Pipeline, of employment and contracting for Alaska 
Natives and Alaska Native Corporations from 
throughout the State;