Use it or Lose It Act
Bill: S.4733 | Sponsor: Sen. Cortez Masto, Catherine (D-NV)
Policy area: Energy

Summary:
Use it or Lose It Act
This bill modifies requirements for certain oil and gas leases and related drilling permits. For example, it requires prospective leaseholders to, as a condition of participating in certain oil and gas lease sales, certify that they have diligently developed any prior leases and relinquished any undeveloped leases.

To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to provide for certain reforms to the 
     process relating to applications for permits to drill and the 
 eligibility requirements for prospective bidders in lease sales, and 
                          for other purposes.

    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 ``Use it or Lose It Act''.

SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY TO PARTICIPATE IN LEASE SALES.

    Section 17(h) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(h)) is 
amended by striking the subsection designation and all that follows 
through ``The Secretary'' and inserting the following:
    ``(h) Limitations.--
            ``(1) Required certification.--A prospective lessee shall 
        not be eligible to participate in a lease sale or otherwise 
        acquire a new lease under this section until the date on which 
        the prospective lessee, in accordance with procedures developed 
        by the Secretary of the Interior, certifies to the Secretary of 
        the Interior that the prospective lessee--
                    ``(A) has diligently developed all other leases 
                issued to the prospective bidder under this section by 
                not later than the expiration of the applicable primary 
                lease term, as determined by the Secretary of the 
                Interior;
                    ``(B) has relinquished any other leases issued to 
                the prospective bidder under this section that have not 
                been diligently developed by the prospective bidder by 
                not later than the expiration of the applicable primary 
                lease term, as determined by the Secretary; and
                    ``(C) has complied with any other certifications 
                that the Secretary of the Interior may reasonably 
                require.
            ``(2) National forest system land.--The Secretary''.

SEC. 3. APPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO DRILL.

    Section 17(p) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(p)) is 
amended adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) Priority for issuing applications for permits to 
        drill.--For purposes of considering applications for permits to 
        drill submitted to the Secretary of the Interior under this 
        subsection, the Secretary of the Interior shall give priority 
        to any applicant that has--
                    ``(A) demonstrated, to the satisfaction of the 
                Secretary of the Interior, an ability and willingness 
                to commit to climate mitigation and other forms of 
                environmental mitigation with respect to the proposed 
                activities, including--
                            ``(i) binding commitments to plug and 
                        reclaim inactive wells; and
                            ``(ii) a willingness to relinquish leases 
                        in sensitive areas, particularly areas that 
                        were subsequently closed to, or withdrawn from, 
                        leasing;
                    ``(B) provided production estimates for the 
                proposed drilling activities; or
                    ``(C) demonstrated previous success with respect to 
                completing wells.
            ``(5) Expiration of unused applications for permits to 
        drill; extensions.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), an 
                application for a permit to drill that is approved 
                under this subsection after the date of enactment of 
                this paragraph that is considered to be unused, as 
                determined by the Secretary of the Interior, shall 
                expire on the date that is 1 year after the date of the 
                approval of the application for a permit to drill.
                    ``(B) Extensions.--The Secretary of the Interior--
                            ``(i) may extend, not more than 1 time, the 
                        expiration date of an unused approved 
                        application for a permit to drill that would 
                        otherwise expire under subparagraph (A) for a 
                        period of not more than 180 days; and
                            ``(ii) may not extend the expiration date 
                        of an approved application for a permit to 
                        drill that was approved before the date of 
                        enactment of this paragraph that is considered 
                        to be unused, as determined by the Secretary of 
                        the Interior.
                    ``(C) Disqualification of certain applicants.--
                Beginning on the date of enactment of this paragraph, 
                an applicant for a permit to drill that has a higher 
                than average number of unused approved applications for 
                permits to drill under this subsection, as determined 
                by the Secretary of the Interior, shall not be eligible 
                for a new application for a permit to drill under this 
                subsection unless the Secretary of the Interior 
                determines that--
                            ``(i) the applicant has relinquished a 
                        sufficient number of unused approved 
                        applications for permits to drill; or
                            ``(ii) the applicant has converted a 
                        sufficient number of unused approved 
                        applications for permits to drill of the 
                        applicant to `in use' status.''.
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