Title: A bill to amend the Mineral Leasing Act to repeal a provision relating to the suspension, waiver, or reduction of rents or royalties by the Secretary of the Interior to promote development or operation, to amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to limit the authority of the Secretary to reduce or eliminate certain royalties and net profit shares, and for other purposes.
Policy area: Energy

Summary:
This bill prohibits the Department of the Interior from suspending, waiving, or reducing rents or royalties that the government receives for the production of certain mineral resources (e.g., fossil fuel) on leased public land, including royalties or net profit shares received from oil and gas exploration on the Outer Continental Shelf.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3488 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3488

To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to repeal a provision relating to the 
suspension, waiver, or reduction of rents or royalties by the Secretary 
of the Interior to promote development or operation, to amend the Outer 
Continental Shelf Lands Act to limit the authority of the Secretary to 
 reduce or eliminate certain royalties and net profit shares, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 12, 2020

 Mr. Merkley (for himself, Mr. Markey, and Mr. Sanders) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                      Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to repeal a provision relating to the 
suspension, waiver, or reduction of rents or royalties by the Secretary 
of the Interior to promote development or operation, to amend the Outer 
Continental Shelf Lands Act to limit the authority of the Secretary to 
 reduce or eliminate certain royalties and net profit shares, 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. REPEAL OF PROVISION OF THE MINERAL LEASING ACT RELATING TO 
              THE SUSPENSION, WAIVER, OR REDUCTION OF RENTS OR 
              ROYALTIES BY THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR TO PROMOTE 
              DEVELOPMENT OR OPERATION.

    (a) Repeal.--Section 39 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 209) 
is repealed.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Section 8721(b) of title 10, United States Code, is 
        amended by striking ``202-209'' and inserting ``202-208''.
            (2) Section 8735(a) of title 10, United States Code, is 
        amended by striking ``202-209'' and inserting ``202-208''.
            (3) Section 31(h) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 
        188(h)) is amended by striking ``and the provisions of section 
        39 of this Act''.

SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON THE AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY TO REDUCE OR 
              ELIMINATE CERTAIN ROYALTIES AND NET PROFIT SHARES UNDER 
              THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF LANDS ACT.

    Section 8(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 
1337(a)) is amended by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the 
following:
            ``(3) Limitation on authority of secretary to reduce or 
        eliminate certain royalties or net profit shares.--
        Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the Secretary 
        may not reduce or eliminate any royalty or net profit share 
        established under a lease.''.
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