I 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6724 
To terminate prohibitions on expenditures for, and withdrawals from, offshore 
oil and gas leasing off the coast of Virginia, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 31, 2008 
Mr. CANTOR (for himself, Mrs. DRAKE, and Mr. WITTMAN of Virginia) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 
Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation and In-
frastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris-
diction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To terminate prohibitions on expenditures for, and with-
drawals from, offshore oil and gas leasing off the coast 
of Virginia, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Drill Offshore to Pay 
Less Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. TERMINATION OF PROHIBITIONS ON EXPENDI-
TURES FOR, AND WITHDRAWALS FROM, OFF-
SHORE OIL AND GAS LEASING OFF THE 
COAST OF VIRGINIA. 
(a) PROHIBITIONS ON EXPENDITURES.—Except as 
provided in subsection (c), all provisions of Federal law 
that prohibit the expenditure of appropriated funds to con-
duct oil and natural gas leasing and preleasing activities 
shall have no force or effect with respect to any area of 
the Outer Continental Shelf off the coast of Virginia. 
(b) WITHDRAWALS.—Except as provided in sub-
section (c), all withdrawals of Federal submerged lands 
of the Outer Continental Shelf off the coast of Virginia 
from leasing, including withdrawals by the President 
under the authority of section 12(a) of the Outer Conti-
nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1341(a)), are hereby 
revoked and are no longer in effect with respect to the 
leasing of areas for exploration for, and development and 
production of, oil and natural gas. 
(c) AREAS WITHIN 50 MILES OF THE COASTLINE.— 
Subsections (a) and (b) shall not apply with respect to 
any area of the Outer Continental Shelf located less than 
50 miles from the coastline of the United States. 
SEC. 3. STATE REQUEST FOR LEASING REQUIRED. 
Any area of the Outer Continental Shelf off the coast 
of Virginia shall not be available for leasing for exploration 
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for, or the development or production of, oil or natural 
gas unless the Governor of Virginia, with the concurrence 
of the Virginia State legislature, has submitted to the Sec-
retary of the Interior a request that the Secretary make 
such area available for such leasing. 
SEC. 4. PROTECTION OF FISH AND WILDLIFE, HABITAT, 
SUBSISTENCE RESOURCES, AND THE ENVI-
RONMENT. 
The Secretary of the Interior shall take such actions 
as are necessary to ensure that oil and gas exploration, 
development, and production activities under Federal 
leases of areas that are off the coast of Virginia will result 
in no significant adverse effect on fish and wildlife, their 
habitat, subsistence resources, and the environment, in-
cluding by requiring the application of the best commer-
cially available technology for oil and gas exploration, de-
velopment, and production to all such activities in a man-
ner that ensures the receipt by the public of the fair mar-
ket value of the mineral resources that are subject to such 
leases. 
SEC. 5. USE OF REVENUES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Amounts received by the United 
States in the form of bonus bids, rents, and royalties for 
oil and gas leases for areas of the Outer Continental Shelf 
off the coast of Virginia issued after the date of the enact-
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ment of this Act shall be deposited into a separate account 
in the Treasury and available for use in accordance with 
this section. 
(b) ALLOCATION.—Of the amount deposited under 
this section each fiscal year— 
(1) 20 percent shall be deposited in a separate 
account in the Treasury that shall be administered 
by the Secretary of the Treasury and available to 
mitigate any environmental damages that occur as a 
result of exploration, development, or production of 
oil and gas under leases for areas of the Outer Con-
tinental Shelf off the coast of Virginia, including 
damage caused by human error or natural disasters; 
and 
(2) 80 percent shall be paid by the Secretary of 
the Treasury to the State of Virginia to administer 
cleanup of the Chesapeake Bay and watersheds in 
Virginia. 
SEC. 6. LIMITATION ON CONFLICT WITH MILITARY OPER-
ATIONS. 
No person may engage in any exploration, develop-
ment, or production of oil or natural gas off the coast of 
Virginia that would conflict with any military operation, 
as determined by the Secretary of Defense. 
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SEC. 7. OFF THE COAST OF VIRGINIA DEFINED. 
For purposes of this Act— 
(1) subject to paragraph (2), the term ‘‘off the 
coast of Virginia’’ means the area for which the laws 
of the State of Virginia are declared to be the law 
of the United States under section 4(a)(2)(A) of the 
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 
1333(a)(2)(A)); and 
(2) the extended boundaries referred to in that 
section are deemed for purposes of paragraph (1) to 
be as indicated on the map entitled ‘‘Atlantic OCS 
Region State Adjacent Zones and OCS Planning 
Areas’’, dated September 2005 and on file in the Of-
fice of the Director, Minerals Management Service. 
Æ 
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