OWNER Act
Bill: H.R.7554 | Sponsor: Rep. Malliotakis, Nicole (R-NY)
Policy area: Energy

Summary:
Offshore Wind for Northeastern Energy Revenue Act or the OWNER Act
This bill expands revenue sharing for offshore wind projects on the Outer Continental Shelf within the New York Bright Area, including for rentals, royalties, and bonus bids. The New York Bright Area is the area extending generally northeast from Cape May in New Jersey to Montauk Point on the eastern tip of Long Island, New York.

To distribute revenue from offshore wind projects in the New York Bight 
Area to certain coastal States, and promote conservation and workforce 
                              development.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Offshore Wind for Northeastern 
Energy Revenue Act'' or the ``OWNER Act''.

SEC. 2. PARITY IN OFFSHORE WIND REVENUE SHARING WITHIN THE NEW YORK 
              BIGHT AREA.

    Section 8(p)(2) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 
1337(p)(2)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``(A) The Secretary'' 
        and inserting the following:
                    ``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraphs (B) and 
                (C), the Secretary'';
            (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``(B) The Secretary'' 
        and inserting the following:
                    ``(B) Disposition of revenues from projects located 
                within 3 nautical miles seaward of state submerged 
                land.--The Secretary''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(C) Disposition of revenues from offshore wind 
                projects in certain areas.--
                            ``(i) Deposits.--For each fiscal year, the 
                        Secretary of the Treasury shall deposit--
                                    ``(I) 50 percent of qualified 
                                revenue in the general fund of the 
                                Treasury and credited to miscellaneous 
                                receipts; and
                                    ``(II) 50 percent of qualified 
                                revenue in a special account in the 
                                Treasury to be allocated to eligible 
                                States and coastal political 
                                subdivisions in accordance with clause 
                                (ii).
                            ``(ii) Allocations.--
                                    ``(I) Eligible states.--
                                            ``(aa) In general.--Subject 
                                        to item (bb), for each fiscal 
                                        year the amount made available 
                                        under clause (i)(II) shall be 
                                        allocated to each eligible 
                                        State in amounts (based on a 
                                        formula established by the 
                                        Secretary by a regulation 
                                        issued not later than 180 days 
                                        after the date of enactment of 
                                        this subparagraph) that are 
                                        inversely proportional to the 
                                        respective distances between 
                                        the point on the coastline of 
                                        each eligible State that is 
                                        closest to the geographic 
                                        center of the applicable leased 
                                        tract and the geographic center 
                                        of the leased tract.
                                            ``(bb) Minimum 
                                        allocation.--The amount 
                                        allocated to an eligible State 
                                        each fiscal year under item 
                                        (aa) shall be at least 10 
                                        percent of the amounts made 
                                        available under clause (i)(II).
                                    ``(II) Coastal political 
                                subdivisions.--
                                            ``(aa) In general.--For 
                                        each fiscal year, the Secretary 
                                        shall pay 25 percent of the 
                                        allocable share of each 
                                        eligible State, as determined 
                                        under subclause (I), to any 
                                        coastal political subdivisions 
                                        of the eligible State.
                                            ``(bb) Formula.--The amount 
                                        paid by the Secretary to a 
                                        coastal political subdivision 
                                        under item (aa) shall be 
                                        determined in accordance with 
                                        section 31(b)(4)(B).
                            ``(iii) Timing.--The amounts required to be 
                        deposited under clause (i)(II) for the 
                        applicable fiscal year shall be made available 
                        in accordance with clause (i)(II) during the 
                        fiscal year immediately following the 
                        applicable fiscal year.
                            ``(iv) Authorized uses.--
                                    ``(I) In general.--Subject to 
                                subclause (II), each eligible State and 
                                coastal political subdivision shall, in 
                                accordance with all applicable Federal 
                                and State laws, use all amounts 
                                received under clause (ii) for one or 
                                more of the following purposes:
                                            ``(aa) Coastal protection, 
                                        including conservation, coastal 
                                        restoration, hurricane 
                                        protection, and infrastructure 
                                        directly affected by coastal 
                                        wetland losses.
                                            ``(bb) Workforce training, 
                                        including for employment in the 
                                        renewable energy sector and 
                                        related sectors.
                                            ``(cc) Infrastructure 
                                        development to support 
                                        renewable energy projects, 
                                        including the transmission of 
                                        renewable energy.
                                            ``(dd) Supporting science, 
                                        technology, engineering, and 
                                        mathematics education.
                                            ``(ee) Reducing carbon 
                                        dioxide emissions and improving 
                                        air quality.
                                            ``(ff) Mitigation of damage 
                                        to fish, wildlife, or natural 
                                        resources.
                                            ``(gg) Mitigation of the 
                                        impact of outer Continental 
                                        Shelf activities through the 
                                        funding of onshore 
                                        infrastructure projects.
                                            ``(hh) Planning assistance 
                                        and the administrative costs of 
                                        complying with this 
                                        subparagraph.
                                    ``(II) Limitation.--An eligible 
                                State and coastal political subdivision 
                                may not use more than 3 percent of the 
                                amounts such eligible State or coastal 
                                political subdivision receives for a 
                                fiscal year under clause (ii) for the 
                                purposes described in subclause 
                                (I)(hh).
                            ``(v) Administration.--Subject to clause 
                        (vi)(III), amounts made available under clause 
                        (i)(II) shall--
                                    ``(I) be made available, without 
                                further appropriation, in accordance 
                                with this subparagraph;
                                    ``(II) remain available until 
                                expended; and
                                    ``(III) be in addition to any 
                                amount appropriated under any other 
                                provision of law.
                            ``(vi) Reporting.--
                                    ``(I) In general.--Not later than 
                                180 days after the end of each 
                                applicable fiscal year, the Governor of 
                                each eligible State that receives an 
                                amount under clause (ii) for a fiscal 
                                year shall submit to the Secretary a 
                                report that describes the use of such 
                                amounts by the eligible State during 
                                the period covered by the report.
                                    ``(II) Public availability.--On 
                                receipt of a report under subclause 
                                (I), the Secretary shall make the 
                                report available to the public on the 
                                website of the Department of the 
                                Interior.
                                    ``(III) Limitation.--If the 
                                Governor of an eligible State that 
                                receives an amount under clause (ii) 
                                for a fiscal year fails to submit the 
                                report required under subclause (I) by 
                                the deadline specified in that 
                                subclause, any amount that would 
                                otherwise be provided to the eligible 
                                State under clause (ii) for the 
                                succeeding fiscal year shall be 
                                deposited in the general fund of the 
                                Treasury and credited to miscellaneous 
                                receipts.
                            ``(vii) Definitions.--In this subparagraph:
                                    ``(I) Coastal political 
                                subdivision.--The term `coastal 
                                political subdivision' means a 
                                political subdivision of an eligible 
                                State any part of which political 
                                subdivision is--
                                            ``(aa) within the coastal 
                                        zone (as defined in section 304 
                                        of the Coastal Zone Management 
                                        Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1453)) 
                                        of the eligible State as of the 
                                        date of enactment of this 
                                        subparagraph; and
                                            ``(bb) not more than 100 
                                        nautical miles from the 
                                        geographic center of any 
                                        covered offshore wind project.
                                    ``(II) Covered offshore wind 
                                project.--The term `covered offshore 
                                wind project' means a wind-powered 
                                electric generation project in a wind 
                                energy area on the outer Continental 
                                Shelf within the New York Bight Area 
                                that is not wholly or partially located 
                                within an area subject to subparagraph 
                                (B), including--
                                            ``(aa) Hudson North OCS-A 
                                        0544;
                                            ``(bb) Central Bight OCS-A 
                                        0537; and
                                            ``(cc) Hudson South OCS-A 
                                        0538, OCS-A 0539, OCS-A 0541, 
                                        and OCS-A 0542.
                                    ``(III) Eligible state.--The term 
                                `eligible State' means a State a point 
                                on the coastline of which is located 
                                within 75 nautical miles of the 
                                geographic center of a covered offshore 
                                wind project.
                                    ``(IV) New york bight area.--The 
                                term `New York Bight Area' means the 
                                area extending generally northeast from 
                                Cape May in New Jersey to Montauk Point 
                                on the eastern tip of Long Island, as 
                                described by the Bureau of Ocean Energy 
                                Management in the final environmental 
                                assessment titled `Commercial and 
                                Research Wind Lease and Grant Issuance 
                                and Site Assessment Activities on the 
                                Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf of the 
                                New York Bight' (December 16, 2021; 
                                BOEM 2021-073).
                                    ``(V) Qualified revenue.--The term 
                                `qualified revenue' means all rentals, 
                                royalties, bonus bids, and other sums 
                                due and payable to the United States 
                                from leases for covered offshore wind 
                                projects.''.

SEC. 3. REVENUE SHARING FOR WIND LEASE SALES IN THE NEW YORK BIGHT AREA 
              IN FISCAL YEAR 2022.

    (a) In General.--For any lease sales held in the New York Bight 
Area before the date of enactment of this Act, including OCS-A 0544, 
OCS-A 0537, OCS-A 0538, OCS-A 0539, OCS-A 0541, and OCS-A 0542, the 
Secretary of the Interior shall disburse the revenue generated by the 
bonus bids from such lease sales to eligible States pursuant to 
subparagraph (C) of section 8(p)(2) of the Outer Continental Shelf 
Lands Act, as added by this Act.
    (b) Eligible State; New York Bight Area.--In this section, the 
terms ``eligible State'' and ``New York Bight Area'' have the meanings 
given such terms in subparagraph (C) of section 8(p)(2) of the Outer 
Continental Shelf Lands Act, as added by this Act.

SEC. 4. EXEMPTION OF CERTAIN PAYMENTS FROM SEQUESTRATION.

    (a) In General.--Section 255(g)(1)(A) of the Balanced Budget and 
Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 905(g)(1)(A)) is 
amended by inserting after ``Payments to Social Security Trust Funds 
(28-0404-0-1-651).'' the following:
                    ``Payments to States pursuant to subparagraph (C) 
                of section 8(p)(2) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 
                Act (43 U.S.C. 1337(p)(2)(C)).''.
    (b) Applicability.--The amendment made by section shall apply to 
any sequestration order issued under the Balanced Budget and Emergency 
Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900 et seq.) on or after the date 
of enactment of this Act.
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