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tate is conveyed to the Arctic Slope Regional Cor-
poration; and 
‘‘(2) if any such conveyance of such subsurface 
estate does not cover all the land embraced within 
any such oil and gas lease— 
‘‘(A) the person who owns the subsurface 
estate in any particular portion of the land cov-
ered by such lease shall be entitled to all of the 
revenues reserved under such lease as to such 
portion, including, without limitation, all the 
royalty payable with respect to oil or gas pro-
duced from or allocated to such particular por-
tion of the land covered by such lease; and 
‘‘(B) the Secretary of the Interior shall 
segregate such lease into 2 leases, 1 of which 
shall cover only the subsurface estate conveyed 
to the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, and 
operations, production, or other circumstances 
(other than payment of rentals or royalties) 
that satisfy obligations of the lessee under, or 
maintain, either of the segregated leases shall 
likewise satisfy obligations of the lessee under, 
or maintain, the other segregated lease to the 
same extent as if such segregated leases re-
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mained a part of the original unsegregated 
lease.’’. 
SEC. 2008. ORPHANED, ABANDONED, OR IDLED WELLS ON 
FEDERAL LAND. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in cooperation 
with the Secretary of Agriculture, shall establish a pro-
gram not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act to remediate, reclaim, and close orphaned, 
abandoned, or idled oil and gas wells located on land ad-
ministered by the land management agencies within the 
Department of the Interior and the Department of Agri-
culture. 
(b) ACTIVITIES.—The program under subsection (a) 
shall— 
(1) include a means of ranking orphaned, aban-
doned, or idled wells sites for priority in remedi-
ation, reclamation, and closure, based on public 
health and safety, potential environmental harm, 
and other land use priorities; 
(2) provide for identification and recovery of 
the costs of remediation, reclamation, and closure 
from persons or other entities currently providing a 
bond or other financial assurance required under 
State or Federal law for an oil or gas well that is 
orphaned, abandoned, or idled; and
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(3) provide for recovery from the persons or en-
tities identified under paragraph (2), or their sure-
ties or guarantors, of the costs of remediation, rec-
lamation, and closure of such wells. 
(c) COOPERATION
AND CONSULTATIONS.—In car-
rying out the program under subsection (a), the Secretary 
shall— 
(1) work cooperatively with the Secretary of Ag-
riculture and the States within which Federal land 
is located; and 
(2) consult with the Secretary of Energy and 
the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission. 
(d) PLAN.—Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in cooperation with 
the Secretary of Agriculture, shall submit to Congress a 
plan for carrying out the program under subsection (a). 
(e) IDLED WELL.—For the purposes of this section, 
a well is idled if— 
(1) the well has been nonoperational for at least 
7 years; and 
(2) there is no anticipated beneficial use for the 
well. 
(f) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
FOR NON- 
FEDERAL LAND.—
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(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy 
shall establish a program to provide technical and fi-
nancial assistance to oil and gas producing States to 
facilitate State efforts over a 10-year period to en-
sure a practical and economical remedy for environ-
mental problems caused by orphaned or abandoned 
oil and gas exploration or production well sites on 
State or private land. 
(2) ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of Energy 
shall work with the States, through the Interstate 
Oil and Gas Compact Commission, to assist the 
States in quantifying and mitigating environmental 
risks of onshore orphaned or abandoned oil or gas 
wells on State and private land. 
(3) ACTIVITIES.—The program under para-
graph (1) shall include— 
(A) mechanisms to facilitate identification, 
if feasible, of the persons currently providing a 
bond or other form of financial assurance re-
quired under State or Federal law for an oil or 
gas well that is orphaned or abandoned; 
(B) criteria for ranking orphaned or aban-
doned well sites based on factors such as public 
health and safety, potential environmental 
harm, and other land use priorities;
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(C) information and training programs on 
best practices for remediation of different types 
of sites; and 
(D) funding of State mitigation efforts on 
a cost-shared basis. 
(g) FEDERAL REIMBURSEMENT
FOR ORPHANED 
WELL RECLAMATION PILOT PROGRAM.— 
(1) REIMBURSEMENT FOR REMEDIATING, RE-
CLAIMING, AND CLOSING WELLS ON LAND SUBJECT 
TO A NEW LEASE.—The Secretary shall carry out a 
pilot program under which, in issuing a new oil and 
gas lease on federally owned land on which 1 or 
more orphaned wells are located, the Secretary— 
(A) may require, but not as a condition of 
the lease, that the lessee remediate, reclaim, 
and close in accordance with standards estab-
lished by the Secretary, all orphaned wells on 
the land leased; and 
(B) shall develop a program to reimburse 
a lessee, through a royalty credit against the 
Federal share of royalties owed or other means, 
for the reasonable actual costs of remediating, 
reclaiming, and closing the orphaned well pur-
suant to that requirement.
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(2) REIMBURSEMENT
FOR
RECLAIMING
OR-
PHANED WELLS ON OTHER LAND.—In carrying out 
this subsection, the Secretary— 
(A) may authorize any lessee under an oil 
and gas lease on federally owned land to re-
claim in accordance with the Secretary’s stand-
ards— 
(i) an orphaned well on unleased fed-
erally owned land; or 
(ii) an orphaned well located on an ex-
isting lease on federally owned land for the 
reclamation of which the lessee is not le-
gally responsible; and 
(B) shall develop a program to provide re-
imbursement of 115 percent of the reasonable 
actual costs of remediating, reclaiming, and 
closing the orphaned well, through credits 
against the Federal share of royalties or other 
means. 
(3) EFFECT OF REMEDIATION, RECLAMATION, 
OR CLOSURE OF WELL PURSUANT TO AN APPROVED 
REMEDIATION PLAN.— 
(A) 
DEFINITION
OF
REMEDIATING 
PARTY.—In this paragraph the term ‘‘remedi-
ating party’’ means a person who remediates,
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reclaims, or closes an abandoned, orphaned, or 
idled well pursuant to this subsection. 
(B) GENERAL RULE.—A remediating party 
who remediates, reclaims, or closes an aban-
doned, orphaned, or idled well in accordance 
with a detailed written remediation plan ap-
proved by the Secretary under this subsection, 
shall be immune from civil liability under Fed-
eral environmental laws, for— 
(i) pre-existing environmental condi-
tions at or associated with the well, unless 
the remediating party owns or operates, in 
the past owned or operated, or is related to 
a person that owns or operates or in the 
past owned or operated, the well or the 
land on which the well is located; or 
(ii) any remaining releases of pollut-
ants from the well during or after comple-
tion of the remediation, reclamation, or 
closure of the well, unless the remediating 
party causes increased pollution as a result 
of activities that are not in accordance 
with the approved remediation plan. 
(C) LIMITATIONS.—Nothing in this section 
shall limit in any way the liability of a remedi-
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ating party for injury, damage, or pollution re-
sulting from the remediating party’s acts or 
omissions that are not in accordance with the 
approved remediation plan, are reckless or will-
ful, constitute gross negligence or wanton mis-
conduct, or are unlawful. 
(4) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary may issue 
such regulations as are appropriate to carry out this 
subsection. 
(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $25,000,000 
for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2010. 
(2) USE.—Of the amounts authorized under 
paragraph (1), $5,000,000 are authorized for each 
fiscal year for activities under subsection (f). 
SEC. 2009. COMBINED HYDROCARBON LEASING. 
(a) SPECIAL PROVISIONS REGARDING LEASING.— 
Section 17(b)(2) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 
226(b)(2)) is amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(2)’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(B) For any area that contains any combination of 
tar sand and oil or gas (or both), the Secretary may issue 
under this Act, separately—
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‘‘(i) a lease for exploration for and extraction of 
tar sand; and 
‘‘(ii) a lease for exploration for and development 
of oil and gas. 
‘‘(C) A lease issued for tar sand shall be issued using 
the same bidding process, annual rental, and posting pe-
riod as a lease issued for oil and gas, except that the min-
imum acceptable bid required for a lease issued for tar 
sand shall be $2 per acre. 
‘‘(D) The Secretary may waive, suspend, or alter any 
requirement under section 26 that a permittee under a 
permit authorizing prospecting for tar sand must exercise 
due diligence, to promote any resource covered by a com-
bined hydrocarbon lease.’’. 
(b) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section 
17(b)(1)(B) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 
226(b)(1)(B)) is amended in the second sentence by in-
serting ‘‘, subject to paragraph (2)(B),’’ after ‘‘Sec-
retary’’. 
(c) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 45 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue 
final regulations to implement this section.
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SEC. 2010. ALTERNATE ENERGY-RELATED USES ON THE 
OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF. 
(a) AMENDMENT TO OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF 
LANDS ACT.—Section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf 
Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337) is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘(p) LEASES, EASEMENTS, OR RIGHTS-OF-WAY FOR 
ENERGY AND RELATED PURPOSES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta-
tion with the Secretary of the Department in which 
the Coast Guard is operating and other relevant de-
partments and agencies of the Federal Government, 
may grant a lease, easement, or right-of-way on the 
outer Continental Shelf for activities not otherwise 
authorized in this Act, the Deepwater Port Act of 
1974 (33 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.), the Ocean Thermal 
Energy Conversion Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9101 et 
seq.), or other applicable law, if those activities— 
‘‘(A) support exploration, development, 
production, transportation, or storage of oil, 
natural gas, or other minerals; 
‘‘(B) produce or support production, trans-
portation, or transmission of energy from 
sources other than oil and gas; or
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‘‘(C) use, for energy-related or marine-re-
lated purposes, facilities currently or previously 
used for activities authorized under this Act. 
‘‘(2) PAYMENTS.—The Secretary shall establish 
reasonable forms of payments for any easement or 
right-of-way granted under this subsection. Such 
payments shall not be assessed on the basis of 
throughput or production. The Secretary may estab-
lish fees, rentals, bonus, or other payments by rule 
or by agreement with the party to which the lease, 
easement, or right-of-way is granted. If a lease, 
easement, right-of-way, license, or permit under this 
subsection covers a specific tract of, or regards a fa-
cility located on, the outer Continental Shelf and is 
not an easement or right-of-way for transmission or 
transportation of energy, minerals, or other natural 
resources, the Secretary shall pay 50 percent of any 
amount received from the holder of the lease, ease-
ment, right-of-way, license, or permit to the State 
off the shore of which the geographic center of the 
area covered by the lease, easement, right-of-way, li-
cense, permit, or facility is located, in accordance 
with Federal law determining the seaward lateral 
boundaries of the coastal States.
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‘‘(3) CONSULTATION.—Before exercising au-
thority under this subsection, the Secretary shall 
consult with the Secretary of Defense and other ap-
propriate agencies concerning issues related to na-
tional security and navigational obstruction. 
‘‘(4) 
COMPETITIVE
OR
NONCOMPETITIVE 
BASIS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary may 
issue a lease, easement, or right-of-way for en-
ergy and related purposes as described in para-
graph (1) on a competitive or noncompetitive 
basis. 
‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In determining 
whether a lease, easement, or right-of-way shall 
be granted competitively or noncompetitively, 
the Secretary shall consider such factors as— 
‘‘(i) prevention of waste and conserva-
tion of natural resources; 
‘‘(ii) the economic viability of an en-
ergy project; 
‘‘(iii) protection of the environment; 
‘‘(iv) the national interest and na-
tional security; 
‘‘(v) human safety;