I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5259 
To direct the Secretary of the Interior to reestablish the Royalty Policy 
Committee in order to further a more consultative process with key 
Federal, State, tribal, environmental, and energy stakeholders, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 17, 2016 
Mr. ZINKE (for himself, Mrs. LUMMIS, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mr. TIPTON, Mr. 
GOSAR, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. WESTERMAN, and Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Nat-
ural Resources 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of the Interior to reestablish the 
Royalty Policy Committee in order to further a more 
consultative process with key Federal, State, tribal, envi-
ronmental, and energy stakeholders, and for other pur-
poses. 
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 ‘‘Certainty for States 
and Tribes Act’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:30 May 19, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5259.IH
H5259
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
SEC. 2. RECONSTITUTION OF THE ROYALTY POLICY COM-
MITTEE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior 
shall, by not later than 90 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, reconstitute the Royalty Policy Com-
mittee as last chartered on March 26, 2010, except as oth-
erwise provided in this Act. 
(b) CORRECTIONS AND UPDATES.—In reconstituting 
the Committee, the Secretary shall make appropriate tech-
nical corrections and updates to the charter of the Com-
mittee, including the following: 
(1) Revision of all references to the Minerals 
Management Service or Minerals Revenue Manage-
ment so as to refer to the Office of Natural Re-
sources Revenue. 
(2) Revision of the estimated number and fre-
quency of meetings of the Committee to not less 
than once each year. 
(3) Revision of the non-Federal members of the 
Committee to include— 
(A) not fewer than 5 members rep-
resenting Governors of States that each receive 
more than $10,000,000 annually in royalty rev-
enues from Federal leases; and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:30 May 19, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5259.IH
H5259
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
(B) not more than 5 members representing 
Indian tribes that are mineral-producing Indian 
tribes under— 
(i) the Act of May 11, 1938 (com-
monly known as the ‘‘Indian Mineral Leas-
ing Act of 1938’’) (25 U.S.C. 396a et 
seq.); 
(ii) title XXVI of the Energy Policy 
Act of 1992 (25 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.); 
(iii) the Indian Mineral Development 
Act of 1982 (25 U.S.C. 2101 et seq.); or 
(iv) any other law relating to mineral 
development that is specific to one or more 
Indian tribes. 
(4) Creation of a subcommittee of the Com-
mittee to be known as the State and Tribal Re-
sources Board, comprised of designees of States’ 
Governors and tribes participating as non-Federal 
members of the reconstituted Committee. 
SEC. 3. REVIEW OF REGULATIONS AND POLICIES THE ROY-
ALTY POLICY COMMITTEE ADVISORY ACTIVI-
TIES SHOULD INCLUDE. 
(a) CONSULTATION AND REPORT.—Not later than 
180 days after the date of the issuance by the Department 
of the Interior of any proposed regulation or policy related 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:30 May 19, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5259.IH
H5259
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
to mineral leasing policy for Federal land for exploration, 
development, or production of oil, gas, or coal (including 
valuation methodologies and royalty and lease rates for oil, 
gas, or coal), and not later than 180 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act with respect to any proposed 
regulation of such Department relating to such policy that 
is pending as of the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Committee shall— 
(1) assess the proposed regulation or policy; 
and 
(2) issue a report that describes the potential 
impact of the proposed regulation or policy, includ-
ing any State and tribal economic impacts described 
in subsection (b). 
(b) STATE AND TRIBAL IMPACT DETERMINATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Before the date on which 
any proposed regulation related to mineral leasing 
policy on Federal land (including valuation meth-
odologies and royalty and lease rates for oil, gas, or 
coal) may be issued as a final rule, the State and 
Tribal Resources Board shall publish a determina-
tion of the impact of the regulation on school fund-
ing, public safety, and other essential State or In-
dian tribal government services. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:30 May 19, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5259.IH
H5259
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
(2) DELAY REQUEST.—If the State and Tribal 
Resources Board determines that a regulation de-
scribed in paragraph (1) will have a negative State 
or tribal budgetary impact, the State and Tribal Re-
sources Board may request a delay in the finaliza-
tion of the regulation for the purposes of further— 
(A) stakeholder consultation; 
(B) budgetary review; and 
(C) development of a proposal to mitigate 
the negative economic impact. 
(3) LIMITATION.—A delay under paragraph (2) 
shall not exceed 180 days from the date on which 
the State and Tribal Resources Board requested the 
delay in finalization. 
(c) REVISION OF PROPOSED REGULATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Before the date on which 
any proposed regulation related to mineral leasing 
policy on Federal land (including valuation meth-
odologies and royalty and lease rates for oil, gas, or 
coal) is issued as a final rule, the Secretary shall re-
vise the proposed regulation to avoid any negative 
State or tribal economic impact determined by the 
Committee under subsection (a)(2). 
(2) FINAL RULE.—Any final regulation subject 
to paragraph (1) must include— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:30 May 19, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5259.IH
H5259
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
(A) a summary of the report required 
under subsection (a)(2); and 
(B) a clear explanation of why the rec-
ommendations of that report (including the 
State and tribal determination) were or were 
not taken into account in the finalization of the 
regulation. 
SEC. 4. SPECIAL REVIEW OF PROGRAMMATIC ENVIRON-
MENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT. 
(a) PARTICIPANTS IN PROGRAMMATIC REVIEW.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—In carrying out the pro-
grammatic review of coal leasing on Federal land as 
described in section 4 of the order of the Secretary 
of the Interior entitled ‘‘Discretionary Programmatic 
Environmental Impact Statement to Modernize the 
Federal Coal Program’’, numbered 3338 and dated 
January 15, 2016, the Secretary shall confer with, 
and take into consideration the views of, representa-
tives appointed to the review board described in 
paragraph (2). 
(2) REVIEW
BOARD.—The Governor of each 
State in which more than $10,000,000 in revenue is 
collected annually by the United States as bonus 
bids, royalties, and rentals, and fees for production 
of coal under leases of Federal land or Indian land 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:30 May 19, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5259.IH
H5259
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
may each appoint not more than 3 representatives to 
a review board for purposes of paragraph (1), at 
least one of whom shall be a member of the State 
and Tribal Resources Board. 
(3) DEADLINE.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 
complete the programmatic review referred to 
in paragraph (1) not later than January 15, 
2019. 
(B) FAILURE TO MEET DEADLINE.—If the 
programmatic review is not completed by the 
deadline described in subparagraph (A), the 
programmatic review shall be considered to be 
complete as of that deadline. 
(b) TERMINATION OF OTHER PROGRAMMATIC RE-
VIEW.—No Federal funds may be used to carry out the 
programmatic review of coal leasing on Federal land de-
scribed in subsection (a)(1) after January 15, 2019. 
(c) NO IMPLEMENTATION REQUIREMENT.—Nothing 
in this section requires the Secretary to conduct or com-
plete the programmatic review of coal leasing on Federal 
land described in subsection (a)(1) after January 20, 
2017. 
(d) TERMINATION OF MORATORIUM.—Effective Jan-
uary 16, 2019— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:30 May 19, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5259.IH
H5259
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
(1) the pause or moratorium on the issuance of 
new Federal coal leases under the Secretarial order 
referred to in subsection (a)(1) is terminated; and 
(2) that Secretarial order shall have no force or 
effect. 
SEC. 5. GRANDFATHERING OF COAL LEASES ON APPLICA-
TION AND COAL LEASE MODIFICATIONS. 
Nothing in the order of the Secretary of the Interior 
entitled ‘‘Discretionary Programmatic Environmental Im-
pact Statement to Modernize the Federal Coal Program’’, 
numbered 3338 and dated January 15, 2016, shall be con-
sidered to prohibit or restrict any issuance of a coal lease 
on application or coal lease modification, pursuant to sec-
tion 3432 of title 43, Code of Federal Regulations, for 
which the Bureau of Land Management has begun its re-
view under section 102 of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332) as of January 15, 
2016. 
SEC. 6. DEADLINE FOR COAL LEASE SALES AND MODIFICA-
TIONS. 
Not later than 1 year after the date on which the 
Secretary completes the analysis required under section 
102 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 
U.S.C. 4332) for an application for a coal lease, or an 
application for a modification to a coal lease pursuant to 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:34 May 19, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5259.IH
H5259
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
subpart 3432 of part 3430 of title 43, Code of Federal 
Regulations (or successor regulations), accepted by the 
Secretary, the Secretary shall conduct the lease sale and 
issue the lease, or approve the modification, unless the ap-
plicant indicates in writing that the applicant no longer 
seeks the lease or modification to the lease. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:30 May 19, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H5259.IH
H5259
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS