138
when the Commission is acting under sections 3 and 7 
of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b, 717f) to deter-
mine whether a certificate of public convenience and neces-
sity should be issued for a proposed interstate natural gas 
pipeline. 
(c) AGENCY OF RECORD, OFFSHORE MINERAL DE-
VELOPMENT
PROJECTS.—Any Federal administrative 
agency proceeding that is an appeal or review under sec-
tion 319 of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 
(16 U.S.C. 1465), as amended by this Act, related to Fed-
eral authority for the permitting, approval, or other au-
thorization of energy projects, including projects to ex-
plore, develop, or produce mineral resources in or under-
lying the outer Continental Shelf shall use as its exclusive 
record for all purposes (except for the filing of pleadings) 
the record compiled by the relevant Federal permitting 
agency. 
SEC. 333. NATURAL GAS MARKET TRANSPARENCY. 
The Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C 717 et seq.) is 
amended—
(1) by redesignating section 24 as section 25; 
and 
(2) by inserting after section 23 the following:
139
‘‘SEC. 24. NATURAL GAS MARKET TRANSPARENCY. 
‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—(1) Not later than 180 days 
after the date of enactment of the Energy Policy Act of 
2005, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission shall 
issue rules directing all entities subject to the Commis-
sion’s jurisdiction as provided under this Act to timely re-
port information about the availability and prices of nat-
ural gas sold at wholesale in interstate commerce to the 
Commission and price publishers. 
‘‘(2) The Commission shall evaluate the data for ade-
quate price transparency and accuracy. 
‘‘(3) Rules issued under this subsection requiring the 
reporting of information to the Commission that may be-
come publicly available shall be limited to aggregate data 
and transaction-specific data that are otherwise required 
by the Commission to be made public. 
‘‘(4) In exercising its authority under this section, the 
Commission shall not—
‘‘(A) compete with, or displace from the market 
place, any price publisher; or 
‘‘(B) regulate price publishers or impose any re-
quirements on the publication of information. 
‘‘(b) TIMELY ENFORCEMENT.—No person shall be 
subject to any penalty under this section with respect to 
a violation occurring more than 3 years before the date
140
on which the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 
seeks to assess a penalty. 
‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON COMMISSION AUTHORITY.—(1) 
The Commission shall not condition access to interstate 
pipeline transportation upon the reporting requirements 
authorized under this section. 
‘‘(2) Natural gas sales by a producer that are attrib-
utable to volumes of natural gas produced by such pro-
ducer shall not be subject to the rules issued pursuant to 
this section. 
‘‘(3) The Commission shall not require natural gas 
producers, processors, or users who have a de minimis 
market presence to participate in the reporting require-
ments provided in this section.’’. 
Subtitle C—Access to Federal Land 
SEC. 344. CONSULTATION REGARDING OIL AND GAS LEAS-
ING ON PUBLIC LAND. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior 
and the Secretary of Agriculture shall enter into a memo-
randum of understanding regarding oil and gas leasing 
on—
(1) public lands under the jurisdiction of the 
Secretary of the Interior; and
141
(2) National Forest System lands under the ju-
risdiction of the Secretary of Agriculture. 
(b) CONTENTS.—The memorandum of understanding 
shall include provisions that—
(1) establish administrative procedures and 
lines of authority that ensure timely processing of oil 
and gas lease applications, surface use plans of oper-
ation, and applications for permits to drill, including 
steps for processing surface use plans and applica-
tions for permits to drill consistent with the 
timelines established by the amendment made by 
section 348; 
(2) eliminate duplication of effort by providing 
for coordination of planning and environmental com-
pliance efforts; and 
(3) ensure that lease stipulations are—
(A) applied consistently; 
(B) coordinated between agencies; and 
(C) only as restrictive as necessary to pro-
tect the resource for which the stipulations are 
applied. 
(c) DATA RETRIEVAL SYSTEM.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall