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obligations under such lease, including regarding 
any alleged breach of the lease. 
SEC. 1142. EXCLUSIVE VENUE FOR CERTAIN CIVIL ACTIONS 
RELATING TO COVERED ENERGY PROJECTS. 
Venue for any covered civil action shall lie in the dis-
trict court where the project or leases exist or are pro-
posed. 
SEC. 1143. TIMELY FILING. 
To ensure timely redress by the courts, a covered civil 
action must be filed no later than the end of the 90-day 
period beginning on the date of the final Federal agency 
action to which it relates. 
SEC. 1144. EXPEDITION IN HEARING AND DETERMINING 
THE ACTION. 
The court shall endeavor to hear and determine any 
covered civil action as expeditiously as possible. 
SEC. 1145. STANDARD OF REVIEW. 
In any judicial review of a covered civil action, admin-
istrative findings and conclusions relating to the chal-
lenged Federal action or decision shall be presumed to be 
correct, and the presumption may be rebutted only by the 
preponderance of the evidence contained in the adminis-
trative record. 
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SEC. 1146. LIMITATION ON INJUNCTION AND PROSPECTIVE 
RELIEF. 
In a covered civil action, the court shall not grant 
or approve any prospective relief unless the court finds 
that such relief is narrowly drawn, extends no further than 
necessary to correct the violation of a legal requirement, 
and is the least intrusive means necessary to correct that 
violation. In addition, courts shall limit the duration of 
preliminary injunctions to halt covered energy projects to 
no more than 60 days, unless the court finds clear reasons 
to extend the injunction. In such cases of extensions, such 
extensions shall only be in 30-day increments and shall 
require action by the court to renew the injunction. 
SEC. 1147. LIMITATION ON ATTORNEYS’ FEES. 
Sections 504 of title 5, United States Code, and 2412 
of title 28, United States Code, (together commonly called 
the Equal Access to Justice Act) do not apply to a covered 
civil action, nor shall any party in such a covered civil ac-
tion receive payment from the Federal Government for 
their attorneys’ fees, expenses, and other court costs. 
SEC. 1148. LEGAL STANDING. 
Challengers filing appeals with the Department of the 
Interior Board of Land Appeals shall meet the same 
standing requirements as challengers before a United 
States district court. 
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CHAPTER 5—KNOWING AMERICA’S OIL 
AND GAS RESOURCES 
SEC. 1151. FUNDING OIL AND GAS RESOURCE ASSESS-
MENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior shall 
provide matching funding for joint projects with States to 
conduct oil and gas resource assessments on Federal lands 
with significant oil and gas potential. 
(b) COST SHARING.—The Federal share of the cost 
of activities under this section shall not exceed 50 percent. 
(c) RESOURCE ASSESSMENT.—Any resource assess-
ment under this section shall be conducted by a State, in 
consultation with the United States Geological Survey. 
(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 
out this section a total of $50,000,000 for fiscal years 
2014 through 2017. 
Subtitle B—Oil and Gas Leasing 
Certainty 
SEC. 1201. SHORT TITLE. 
This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Providing Leasing 
Certainty for American Energy Act of 2013’’. 
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SEC. 1202. MINIMUM ACREAGE REQUIREMENT FOR ON-
SHORE 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 previously made available for lease. Acreage of-
fered for lease pursuant to this paragraph shall not 
be subject to protest and shall be eligible for cat-
egorical exclusions under section 390 of the Energy 
Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15942), 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 oc-
curs. 
SEC. 1203. 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: 
‘‘(2)(A) The Secretary shall not withdraw any cov-
ered energy project issued under this Act without finding 
a violation of the terms of the lease by the lessee. 
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‘‘(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 
protests filed following a lease sale. If after 60 days any 
protest is left unsettled, said protest is automatically de-
nied and appeal rights of the protestor begin. 
‘‘(G) No additional lease stipulations may be added 
after the parcel is sold without consultation and agree-
ment of the lessee, unless the Secretary deems such stipu-
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