Title: Fair Returns for Public Lands Act of 2021
Policy area: Energy

Summary:
Fair Returns for Public Lands Act of 2021
This bill revises the royalty system applicable to leases of public lands for oil and gas production.
Specifically, it increases royalty rates, rental rates, and minimum bidding standards for onshore oil and gas leasing. In addition, it establishes a new fee that must be paid by any person who nominates public lands for such leasing.
Finally, the bill requires the Department of the Interior to adjust these rates and fees for inflation at least every four years.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 624 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 624

  To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to increase certain royalty rates, 
     minimum bid amounts, and rental rates, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 9, 2021

Ms. Rosen (for herself and Mr. Grassley) 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 increase certain royalty rates, 
     minimum bid amounts, and rental rates, 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 ``Fair Returns for Public Lands Act of 
2021''.

SEC. 2. INCREASED ONSHORE OIL AND GAS ROYALTY RATES.

    Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``12.5'' each place it appears and 
        inserting ``18.75''; and
            (2) by striking ``12\1/2\ per centum'' each place it 
        appears and inserting ``18.75 percent''.

SEC. 3. INCREASED MINIMUM BID AMOUNT.

    Section 17(b) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(b)) is 
amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)(B)--
                    (A) by striking the subparagraph designation and 
                all that follows through the period at the end of the 
                first sentence and inserting the following:
                    ``(B) National minimum acceptable bid.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Except as provided in 
                        clauses (ii) and (v), the national minimum 
                        acceptable bid shall be $10 per acre.'';
                    (B) in the second sentence--
                            (i) by striking ``Thereafter, the 
                        Secretary'' and inserting the following:
                            ``(ii) Adjustment.--The Secretary'';
                            (ii) by striking ``is necessary: (i) to 
                        enhance'' and inserting the following: ``is 
                        necessary--
                                    ``(I) to enhance''; and
                            (iii) by striking ``(ii) to promote'' and 
                        inserting the following:
                                    ``(II) to promote'';
                    (C) in the third sentence, by striking ``Ninety 
                days'' and inserting the following:
                            ``(iii) Notification.--90 days'';
                    (D) in the fourth sentence, by striking ``The 
                proposal'' and inserting the following:
                            ``(iv) NEPA.--The proposal''; and
                    (E) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(v) Exception.--To ensure a return of 
                        fair market value, as determined by the 
                        Secretary, the Secretary may establish in a 
                        notice of competitive lease sale a minimum 
                        acceptable bid applicable to the lease sale or 
                        1 or more parcels within the lease sale that is 
                        higher than the national minimum bid under 
                        clause (i).''; and
            (2) in subsection (b)(2)(C), by striking ``$2 per acre'' 
        and inserting ``$10 per acre''.

SEC. 4. INCREASED ONSHORE OIL AND GAS RENTAL RATES.

    Section 17(d) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(d)) is 
amended, in the first sentence--
            (1) by striking ``$1.50 per acre'' and inserting ``$3 per 
        acre''; and
            (2) by striking ``$2 per acre'' and inserting ``$5 per 
        acre''.

SEC. 5. FEE FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST.

    Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``(q) Fee for Expression of Interest.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall charge any person 
        who submits, in accordance with procedures established by the 
        Secretary to carry out this subsection, an expression of 
        interest in leasing land available for disposition under this 
        section for exploration for, and development of, oil or gas a 
        fee, in an amount determined by the Secretary under paragraph 
        (2).
            ``(2) Amount.--The fee authorized under paragraph (1) shall 
        be established by the Secretary in an amount that is determined 
        by the Secretary to be appropriate to cover the aggregate cost 
        of processing an expression of interest under this subsection, 
        but not less than $15 per acre of the area covered by the 
        applicable expression of interest.''.

SEC. 6. ADJUSTMENT.

    Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) (as amended 
by section 5) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(r) Adjustment to Certain Fees.--The Secretary shall--
            ``(1) not later than 4 years after the date of enactment of 
        the Fair Returns for Public Lands Act of 2021, and at least 
        once every 4 years thereafter, promulgate regulations adjusting 
        each of the per-acre dollar amounts of fees imposed under 
        subsections (b), (d), and (q) and subsections (e) and (f) of 
        section 31 to reflect the change in the Consumer Price Index 
        for All Urban Consumers published by the Bureau of Labor 
        Statistics; and
            ``(2) as the Secretary determines to be necessary to 
        enhance financial returns to the United States or to promote 
        more efficient management of oil and gas resources on Federal 
        land, promulgate regulations adjusting any of the applicable 
        per-acre dollar amounts of fees imposed under subsection (b), 
        (d), or (q) or subsection (e) or (f) of section 31, as 
        applicable.''.

SEC. 7. REINSTATEMENT OF COMPETITIVE LEASES.

    Section 31 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 188) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (e)--
                    (A) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 
                following:
            ``(2) payment of back rentals and the inclusion in a 
        reinstated lease of a requirement for future rentals at a rate 
        of not less than $20 per acre per year;'';
                    (B) in paragraph (3)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A)--
                                    (I) by striking the subparagraph 
                                designation;
                                    (II) by striking ``issued pursuant 
                                to the provisions of section 17(b) of 
                                this Act'';
                                    (III) by striking ``16\2/3\'' and 
                                inserting ``25''; and
                                    (IV) by inserting ``and'' after the 
                                semicolon; and
                            (ii) by striking subparagraph (B); and
                    (C) in the second sentence of the undesignated 
                matter following paragraph (4), by striking ``, but not 
                to exceed $500''; and
            (2) in subsection (f)--
                    (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ``$5'' and 
                inserting ``$10''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (4), by striking ``12\1/2\'' and 
                inserting ``25''.

SEC. 8. FISCAL REFORM STUDY AND REPORT.

    (a) In General.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall 
offer to enter into an arrangement with the National Academy of 
Sciences under which the National Academy of Sciences, in cooperation 
with the Comptroller General of the United States, shall conduct a 
study evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of the implementation 
of this Act and the amendments made by this Act.
    (b) Considerations.--The study conducted under subsection (a) shall 
include consideration of--
            (1) the systems of the Department of the Interior for 
        collecting and auditing payments under this Act and the 
        amendments made by this Act;
            (2) the performance of the stewardship of the Department of 
        the Interior and the disposition of receipts by the Department 
        of the Interior in carrying out this Act and the amendments 
        made by this Act; and
            (3) the performance of the valuation approach carried out 
        under this Act and the amendments made by this Act, including a 
        review of whether other approaches could more fully capture 
        foregone revenue of leasing in low-market conditions in light 
        of other possible economic uses at different points in the 
        future.
    (c) Report.--If the Comptroller General of the United States enters 
into an arrangement with the National Academy of Sciences under 
subsection (a), not earlier than 3, but not later than 5, years after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit 
to Congress a report that describes the results of the study conducted 
under that subsection.
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