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SEC. 604. ORPHANED AND ABANDONED WELLS ON FEDERAL
LAND.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—(1) The Secretary of the Inte-
rior, in cooperation with the Secretary of Agriculture, shall
establish a program to ensure within 3 years after the date
of enactment of this Act, remediation, reclamation, and clo-
sure of orphaned oil and gas wells located on lands admin-
istered by the land management agencies within the De-
partment of the Interior and the United States Forest Serv-
ice that are—
(A) abandoned;
(B) orphaned; or
(C) idled for more than 5 years and having no
beneficial use.
(2) The program shall include a means of ranking crit-
ical sites for priority in remediation based on potential en-
vironmental harm, other land use priorities, and public
health and safety.
(3) The program shall provide that responsible parties
be identified wherever possible and that the costs of remedi-
ation be recovered.
(4) In carrying out the program, the Secretary of the
Interior shall work cooperatively with the Secretary of Agri-
culture and the States within which the Federal lands are
located, and shall consult with the Secretary of Energy, and
the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission.
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(b) PLAN.—Within 6 months from the date of enact-
ment of this section, the Secretary of the Interior, in co-
operation with the Secretary of Agriculture, shall prepare
a plan for carrying out the program established under sub-
section (a). Copies of the plan shall be transmitted to the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate
and the Committee on Resources of the House of Representa-
tives.
(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the Inte-
rior $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2003 through 2005
to carry out the activities provided for in this section.
SEC. 605. ORPHANED AND ABANDONED OIL AND GAS WELL
PROGRAM.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Energy shall
establish a program to provide technical assistance to the
various oil and gas producing States to facilitate State ef-
forts over a 10-year period to ensure a practical and eco-
nomical remedy for environmental problems caused by or-
phaned and abandoned exploration or production well sites
on State and private lands. The Secretary shall work with
the States, through the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact
Commission, to assist the States in quantifying and miti-
gating environmental risks of onshore abandoned and or-
phaned wells on State and private lands.
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(b) PROGRAM
ELEMENTS.—The program should
include—
(1) mechanisms to facilitate identification of re-
sponsible parties wherever possible;
(2) criteria for ranking critical sites based on
factors such as other land use priorities, potential en-
vironmental harm and public visibility; and
(3) information and training programs on best
practices for remediation of different types of sites.
(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Energy
for the activities under this section $5,000,000 for each of
fiscal years 2003 through 2005 to carry out the provisions
of this section.
SEC. 606. OFFSHORE DEVELOPMENT.
Section 5 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act
of 1953 (43 U.S.C. 1334) is amended by adding at the end
the following:
‘‘(k) SUSPENSION OF OPERATIONS FOR SUBSALT EX-
PLORATION.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law
or regulation, the Secretary may grant a request for a sus-
pension of operations under any lease to allow the lessee
to reprocess or reinterpret geologic or geophysical data be-
neath allocthonous salt sheets, when in the Secretary’s judg-
ment such suspension is necessary to prevent waste caused
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by the drilling of unnecessary wells, and to maximize ulti-
mate recovery of hydrocarbon resources under the lease.
Such suspension shall be limited to the minimum period
of time the Secretary determines is necessary to achieve the
objectives of this subsection.’’.
SEC. 607. COALBED METHANE STUDY.
(a) STUDY.—The National Academy of Sciences shall
conduct a study on the effects of coalbed methane production
on surface and water resources.
(b) DATA ANALYSIS.—The study shall analyze avail-
able hydrogeologic and water quality data, along with other
pertinent 
environmental 
or 
other 
information 
to
determine—
(1) adverse effects associated with surface or sub-
surface disposal of waters produced during extraction
of coalbed methane;
(2) depletion of groundwater aquifers or drink-
ing water sources associated with production of coal-
bed methane;
(3) any other significant adverse impacts to sur-
face or water resources associated with production of
coalbed methane; and
(4) production techniques or other factors that
can mitigate adverse impacts from coalbed methane
development.
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(c) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The study shall analyze ex-
isting Federal and State laws and regulations, and make
recommendations as to changes, if any, to Federal law nec-
essary to address adverse impacts to surface or water re-
sources attributable to coalbed methane development.
(d) COMPLETION OF STUDY.—The National Academy
of Sciences shall submit the study to the Secretary of the
Interior within 18 months after the date of enactment of
this Act, and shall make the study available to the public
at the same time.
(e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary of the Inte-
rior shall report to Congress within 6 months of her receipt
of the study on—
(1) the findings and recommendations of the
study;
(2) the Secretary’s agreement or disagreement
with each of its findings and recommendations; and
(3) any recommended changes in funding to ad-
dress the effects of coalbed methane production on sur-
face and water resources.
SEC. 608. FISCAL POLICIES TO MAXIMIZE RECOVERY OF DO-
MESTIC OIL AND GAS RESOURCES.
(a) EVALUATION.—The Secretary of Energy, in coordi-
nation with the Secretaries of the Interior, Commerce, and
Treasury, Indian tribes and the Interstate Oil and Gas