A BILL 
To ensure Federal oil and natural gas lease sales occur, 
eliminate redundant leasing bureaucracy, and provide 
leasing certainty. 
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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 ‘‘Providing Leasing Cer-
tainty for American Energy Act of 2012’’. 
SEC. 2. MINIMUM ACREAGE REQUIREMENT FOR ONSHORE 
LEASE SALES. 
In conducting lease sales as required by section 17(a) 
of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(a)), each year 
the Secretary of the Interior shall perform the following: 
(1) The Secretary shall offer for sale no less than 
25 percent of the annual nominated acreage not pre-
viously made available for lease. Acreage offered for 
lease pursuant to this paragraph shall not be subject 
to protest and shall be eligible for categorical exclu-
sions under section 390 of the Energy Policy Act of 
2005 (42 U.S.C. 15492), except that it shall not be 
subject to the test of extraordinary circumstances. 
(2) In administering this section, the Secretary 
shall only consider leasing of Federal lands that are 
available for leasing at the time the lease sale occurs. 
SEC. 3. LEASING CERTAINTY. 
Section 17(a) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 
226(a)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘All lands’’, 
and by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(2)(A) The Secretary shall not withdraw any covered 
energy project issued under this Act without finding a vio-
lation of the terms of the lease by the lessee. 
‘‘(B) The Secretary shall not infringe upon lease rights 
under leases issued under this Act by indefinitely delaying 
issuance of project approvals, drilling and seismic permits, 
and rights of way for activities under such a lease. 
‘‘(C) No later than 18 months after an area is des-
ignated as open under the current land use plan the Sec-
retary shall make available nominated areas for lease under 
the criteria in section 2. 
‘‘(D) Notwithstanding any other law, the Secretary 
shall issue all leases sold no later than 60 days after the 
last payment is made. 
‘‘(E) The Secretary shall not cancel or withdraw any 
lease parcel after a competitive lease sale has occurred and 
a winning bidder has submitted the last payment for the 
parcel. 
‘‘(F) Not later than 60 days after a lease sale held 
under this Act, the Secretary shall adjudicate any lease pro-
tests filed following a lease sale. If after 60 days any protest 
is left unsettled, said protest is automatically denied and 
appeal rights of the protestor begin. 
‘‘(G) No additional lease stipulations may be added 
after the parcel is sold without consultation and agreement 
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of the lessee, unless the Secretary deems such stipulations 
as emergency actions to conserve the resources of the United 
States.’’. 
SEC. 4. LEASING CONSISTENCY. 
Federal land managers must follow existing resource 
management plans and continue to actively lease in areas 
designated as open when resource management plans are 
being amended or revised, until such time as a new record 
of decision is signed. 
SEC. 5. REDUCE REDUNDANT POLICIES. 
Bureau of Land Management Instruction Memo-
randum 2010–117 shall have no force or effect. 
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Union Calendar No. 379 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4382 
[Report No. 112–531] 
A BILL 
To ensure Federal oil and natural gas lease sales 
occur, eliminate redundant leasing bureaucracy, 
and provide leasing certainty. 
JUNE 15, 2012 
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
State of the Union and ordered to be printed 
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