Title: Virginia Jobs and Energy Act
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources

Summary:
Virginia Jobs and Energy Act
This bill directs the Department of the Interior to conduct an oil and gas lease sale off the coast of Virginia within one year, and conduct at least two lease sales in the area during the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program. During each of Interior's five-year leasing programs, two lease sales must be conducted off the coast of Virginia.
The bill prohibits oil or natural gas exploration, development, or production off the Virginia coast that would conflict with a military operation.
The bill allocates 37.5% of new leasing revenues received each fiscal year by the federal government for payment to states affected with respect to the leases that generate these revenues.	Additionally, the bill sets forth the minimum and maximum revenues that an affected state may receive.
Interior must require any applicant seeking to conduct an offshore meteorological site testing and monitoring project to obtain a permit and right-of-way.	(An offshore meteorological site testing and monitoring project is carried out on or in the waters of the outer Continental Shelf to test or monitor weather using towers, buoys, or other temporary ocean infrastructure).	These projects shall be exempt from environmental impact statement requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.




[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1756 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1756

 To require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct offshore oil and 
   gas Lease Sale 220 as soon as practicable, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 28, 2017

 Mrs. Comstock (for herself, Mr. Wittman, and Mr. Griffith) introduced 
  the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 
                               Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct offshore oil and 
   gas Lease Sale 220 as soon as practicable, 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 ``Virginia Jobs and Energy Act''.

SEC. 2. LEASE SALE 220 AND OTHER OCS OIL AND GAS LEASE SALES OFFSHORE 
              VIRGINIA.

    (a) Conduct of Lease Sale.--Notwithstanding any 5-year oil and gas 
leasing program in effect under section 18 of the Outer Continental 
Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344), the Secretary of the Interior shall 
conduct lease sale 220 (as defined in the Draft Proposed Outer 
Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2010-2015 as 
published in the Federal Register on January 21, 2009 (74 Fed. Reg. 
3631)) under section 8 of such Act (43 U.S.C. 1337) as soon as 
practicable, but not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this Act.
    (b) Inclusion in Future Leasing Programs.--The Secretary of the 
Interior shall--
            (1) conduct at least 2 lease sales in the Virginia lease 
        sale planning area during the effective period of the 2017-2022 
        OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program; and
            (2) include at least 2 lease sales in the Virginia lease 
        sale planning area in each 5-year oil and gas leasing program 
        proposed after the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (c) NEPA Exclusion.--Section 102(2)(C) of the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)) shall not apply 
with respect to any lease sale conducted under subsection (a) or 
subsection (b)(1).

SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF MILITARY OPERATIONS.

    (a) Prohibition.--No person may engage in any exploration, 
development, or production of oil or natural gas off the coast of 
Virginia that would conflict with any military operation, as determined 
in accordance with the Memorandum of Agreement between the Department 
of Defense and the Department of the Interior on Mutual Concerns on the 
Outer Continental Shelf signed July 20, 1983, and any revision or 
replacement for that agreement that is agreed to by the Secretary of 
Defense and the Secretary of the Interior after that date but before 
the date of issuance of the lease under which such exploration, 
development, or production is conducted.
    (b) Review and Updating of MOA.--The Secretary of the Interior and 
the Secretary of Defense shall periodically review and revise such 
memorandum of agreement to account for new offshore energy production 
technologies, including those that use wind energy.

SEC. 4. DISPOSITION OF REVENUE.

    (a) Payment of Covered Leasing Revenues to States.--Notwithstanding 
section 9 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1338), of 
the amount of covered leasing revenues received by the United States 
each fiscal year under any lease in the Virginia lease sale planning 
area, 37.5 percent shall be allocated and paid in accordance with 
subsection (b) to States that are affected States with respect to the 
leases under which those revenues are received by the United States.
    (b) Allocation of Payments.--
            (1) In general.--The amount of covered leasing revenues 
        received by the United States with respect to a leased tract 
        that are required to be paid to States in accordance with this 
        subsection each fiscal year shall be allocated among and paid 
        to affected States that are within 200 miles of the leased 
        tract, in amounts that are inversely proportional to the 
        respective distances between the point on the coastline of each 
        such affected State that is closest to the geographic center of 
        the lease tract, as determined by the Secretary.
            (2) Minimum and maximum allocation.--The amount allocated 
        to a State under paragraph (1) each fiscal year with respect to 
        a leased tract shall be--
                    (A) in the case of a State that is the nearest 
                State to the geographic center of the leased tract, not 
                less than 25 percent of the total amounts allocated 
                with respect to the leased tract; and
                    (B) in the case of any other State, not less than 
                10 percent, and not more than 15 percent, of the total 
                amounts allocated with respect to the leased tract.
            (3) Administration.--Amounts allocated to a State under 
        this subsection--
                    (A) shall be available to the State without further 
                appropriation;
                    (B) shall remain available until expended; and
                    (C) shall be in addition to any other amounts 
                available to the State under the Outer Continental 
                Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.).
            (4) Use of funds.--
                    (A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph 
                (B), a State may use funds allocated and paid to it 
                under this subsection for any purpose as determined by 
                the laws of that State.
                    (B) Restriction on use for matching.--Funds 
                allocated and paid to a State under this subsection may 
                not be used as matching funds for any other Federal 
                program.
    (c) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Affected state.--The term ``affected State'' has the 
        meaning that term has under section 2 of the Outer Continental 
        Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331).
            (2) Covered leasing revenues.--The term ``covered leasing 
        revenues'' means amounts received by the United States as 
        bonuses, rents, and royalties under leases for oil and gas, 
        wind, tidal, or other energy exploration, development, and 
        production under any lease in the Virginia lease sale planning 
        area.

SEC. 5. OFFSHORE METEOROLOGICAL SITE TESTING AND MONITORING PROJECTS.

    (a) Offshore Meteorological Project Permitting.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of the Interior shall by 
        regulation require that any applicant seeking to conduct an 
        offshore meteorological site testing and monitoring project on 
        the outer Continental Shelf (as that term is defined in the 
        Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.)) 
        must obtain a permit and right of way for the project in 
        accordance with this subsection.
            (2) Permit and right-of-way timeline and conditions.--
                    (A) Deadline for approval.--The Secretary shall 
                decide whether to issue a permit and right of way for 
                an offshore meteorological site testing and monitoring 
                project within 30 days after receiving an application.
                    (B) Public comment and consultation.--During the 
                period referred to in subparagraph (A), the Secretary 
                shall--
                            (i) provide an opportunity for submission 
                        of comments by the public; and
                            (ii) consult with the Secretary of Defense, 
                        the Commandant of the Coast Guard, and the 
                        heads of other Federal, State, and local 
                        agencies that would be affected by issuance of 
                        the permit and right of way.
                    (C) Denial of permit; opportunity to remedy 
                deficiencies.--If the application is denied, the 
                Secretary shall provide the applicant--
                            (i) in writing, clear and comprehensive 
                        reasons why the application was not approved 
                        and detailed information concerning any 
                        deficiencies in the application; and
                            (ii) an opportunity to remedy such 
                        deficiencies.
    (b) NEPA Exclusion.--Section 102(2)(C) of the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)) shall not apply 
with respect to an offshore meteorological site testing and monitoring 
project.
    (c) Protection of Information.--The information provided to the 
Secretary of the Interior pursuant to subsection (d)(3) shall be 
treated by the Secretary as proprietary information and protected 
against disclosure.
    (d) Definition of an Offshore Meteorological Site Testing and 
Monitoring Project.--In this section, the term ``offshore 
meteorological site testing and monitoring project'' means a project 
carried out on or in the waters of the Outer Continental Shelf 
administered by the Department of the Interior to test or monitor 
weather (including wind, tidal, current, and solar energy) using 
towers, buoys, or other temporary ocean infrastructure, that--
            (1) causes--
                    (A) less than 1 acre of surface or seafloor 
                disruption at the location of each meteorological tower 
                or other device; and
                    (B) not more than 5 acres of surface or seafloor 
                disruption within the proposed area affected by the 
                project (including hazards to navigation);
            (2) is decommissioned not more than 5 years after the date 
        of commencement of the project, including--
                    (A) removal of towers, buoys, or other temporary 
                ocean infrastructure from the project site; and
                    (B) restoration of the project site to 
                approximately the original condition of the site; and
            (3) provides meteorological information obtained by the 
        project to the Secretary of the Interior.

SEC. 6. DEFINITION OF VIRGINIA LEASE SALE PLANNING AREA.

    In this Act, the term ``Virginia lease sale planning area'' means 
the area of the outer Continental Shelf (as that term is defined in the 
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.)) that has--
            (1) a boundary consisting of a straight line extending from 
        the northernmost point of Virginia's seaward boundary to the 
        point on the seaward boundary of the United States exclusive 
        economic zone located at 37 degrees 17 minutes 1 second North 
        latitude, 71 degrees 5 minutes 16 seconds West longitude; and
            (2) a southern boundary consisting of a straight line 
        extending from the southernmost point of Virginia's seaward 
        boundary to the point on the seaward boundary of the United 
        States exclusive economic zone located at 36 degrees 31 minutes 
        58 seconds North latitude, 71 degrees 30 minutes 1 second West 
        longitude.

SEC. 7. CLARIFICATIONS WITH RESPECT TO EXISTING EXECUTIVE AUTHORITIES.

    Subsection (a) of section 12 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 
Act (43 U.S.C. 1341) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(a) Executive Authorities With Respect to Unleased Lands.--The 
President may make, modify, extend, or revoke withdrawals from 
disposition of any of the unleased lands of the outer Continental 
Shelf.''.
                                 <all>