Title: Lease Now Act of 2022
Policy area: Energy

Summary:
Lease Now Act of 2022
This bill directs the Department of the Interior to resume sales of onshore and offshore oil and gas leases and specifies lease terms and other requirements related to those sales. The bill also prohibits the President from taking actions to cancel, delay, or otherwise impede federal processes related to energy mineral leasing without congressional approval.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4228 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4228

To require the Secretary of the Interior to immediately resume oil and 
                gas lease sales, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 17, 2022

  Mr. Barrasso (for himself, Ms. Lummis, Mr. Risch, Mr. Marshall, Mr. 
 Hoeven, Mr. Cruz, and Mrs. Hyde-Smith) introduced the following bill; 
   which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Secretary of the Interior to immediately resume oil and 
                gas 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 ``Lease Now Act of 2022''.

SEC. 2. ONSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASING.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Onshore oil and gas lease sale.--The term ``onshore oil 
        and gas lease sale'' means an oil and gas lease sale conducted 
        under section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226).
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.
    (b) Onshore Oil and Gas Lease Sales.--
            (1) Congressional declaration of policy.--Consistent with 
        the policy described in section 102(a)(12) of the Federal Land 
        Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701(a)(12)) that 
        the Bureau of Land Management manage public land ``in a manner 
        which recognizes the Nation's need for domestic sources of 
        minerals'' from public land, Congress declares that it is the 
        policy of the United States that it is in the national interest 
        for the Department of the Interior to move forward 
        expeditiously to immediately resume--
                    (A) onshore oil and gas lease sales; and
                    (B) the processing and authorization of onshore oil 
                and gas permits.
            (2) Requirement to immediately resume onshore oil and gas 
        lease sales.--
                    (A) In general.--The Secretary shall immediately 
                resume quarterly onshore oil and gas lease sales in 
                accordance with section 17(b)(1)(A) of the Mineral 
                Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(b)(1)(A)).
                    (B) Third quarter lease sale.--The Secretary shall 
                immediately begin the leasing process for the quarterly 
                onshore oil and gas lease sale for the third quarter of 
                calendar year 2022, including the scoping process, if 
                needed.
                    (C) Minimum statutory lease terms.--During the 5-
                year period beginning on the date of enactment of this 
                Act, the Secretary shall offer all onshore oil and gas 
                lease sales subject to the following minimum lease 
                terms:
                            (i) A royalty rate of 12.5 percent.
                            (ii) A minimum acceptable bid of $2 per 
                        acre.
                            (iii) Rental rates of--
                                    (I) not less than $1.50 per acre 
                                per year for the first through fifth 
                                years of the onshore oil and gas lease; 
                                and
                                    (II) not less $2 per acre per year 
                                for each year thereafter of the onshore 
                                oil and gas lease.
                            (iv) The applicable bond amount pursuant to 
                        subpart 3104 of part 3100 of title 43, Code of 
                        Federal Regulations (as in effect as of the 
                        date of enactment of this Act).
                    (D) Resource management plan requirement.--In 
                conducting an onshore oil and gas lease sale in a State 
                described in section 17(b)(1)(A) of the Mineral Leasing 
                Act (30 U.S.C. 226(b)(1)(A)), the Secretary shall offer 
                not less than 70 percent of parcels nominated for oil 
                and gas development under the applicable resource 
                management plan in effect for relevant Bureau of Land 
                Management resource management areas within the 
                applicable State.
                    (E) Replacement sales.--If, for any reason, an 
                onshore oil and gas lease sale for a calendar year is 
                canceled, delayed, or deferred or is paused due to 
                section 208 of Executive Order 14008 (42 U.S.C. 4321 
                note; relating to tackling the climate crisis at home 
                and abroad), the Secretary shall conduct a replacement 
                sale by not later than 3 calendar years after the date 
                of the cancellation, delay, deferral, or pause, as 
                applicable.

SEC. 3. OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASING.

    (a) 2017-2022 Oil and Gas Leasing Program.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall conduct all lease 
        sales described in the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil 
        and Gas Leasing Proposed Final Program (November 2016) that 
        have not been conducted as of the date of enactment of this Act 
        by not later than December 31, 2023.
            (2) Lease sale 257.--Not later than 30 days after the date 
        of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue leases to 
        the successful bidders for Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 257 
        conducted on November 17, 2021.
    (b) 2022-2027 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing 
Program.--
            (1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        law, not later than June 30, 2022, the Secretary of the 
        Interior (referred to in this section as the ``Secretary'') 
        shall approve a final 2022-2027 oil and gas leasing program 
        under section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 
        U.S.C. 1344).
            (2) Waiver.--In order to meet the deadline described in 
        paragraph (1), the Secretary may--
                    (A) limit any comment periods required under 
                subsections (c) and (d) of section 18 of the Outer 
                Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344); and
                    (B) waive any other requirements under that section 
                that would delay final approval of the oil and gas 
                leasing program described in paragraph (1).
            (3) Requirements.--The oil and gas leasing program 
        described in paragraph (1) shall include not fewer than 10 
        lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska regions of the 
        outer Continental Shelf, with a minimum of 2 lease sales to be 
        held in those regions each calendar year, not fewer than 1 of 
        which shall be in the Gulf of Mexico region.
            (4) Limitation.--The royalty rate for a lease issued under 
        the oil and gas leasing program described in paragraph (1) 
        shall not exceed 18.75 percent.
    (c) Subsequent Offshore Leasing Programs.--Section 18 of the Outer 
Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), in the first sentence of the matter 
        preceding paragraph (1), by striking ``subsections (c) and (d) 
        of this section'' and inserting ``subsections (c) through 
        (f)'';
            (2) by redesignating subsections (f) through (h) as 
        subsections (g) through (i), respectively; and
            (3) by inserting after subsection (e) the following:
    ``(f) Subsequent Leasing Programs.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 36 months after 
        conducting the first lease sale under an oil and gas leasing 
        program prepared pursuant to this section, the Secretary shall 
        begin preparing the subsequent oil and gas leasing program 
        under this section.
            ``(2) Requirement.--Each subsequent oil and gas leasing 
        program under this section--
                    ``(A) shall be approved not later than 180 days 
                before the expiration of the previous oil and gas 
                leasing program; and
                    ``(B) shall contain a minimum of 5 lease sales.''.

SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON DELAYS.

    (a) In General.--The President shall not, through Executive order 
or any other administrative procedure, pause, cancel, delay, defer, or 
otherwise impede or circumvent the Federal energy mineral leasing 
processes under the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) or the 
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) or a related 
rulemaking process required by subchapter II of chapter 5, and chapter 
7, of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the 
``Administrative Procedure Act''), without Congressional approval.
    (b) Rebuttable Presumption.--There shall be a rebuttable 
presumption that any attempt by the President to pause, cancel, delay, 
defer, or otherwise impede or circumvent any Federal energy mineral 
leasing or permitting process under the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 
181 et seq.) or the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 
et seq.) or a related rulemaking process required by subchapter II of 
chapter 5, and chapter 7, of title 5, United States Code (commonly 
known as the ``Administrative Procedure Act''), without Congressional 
approval, is a violation of the applicable law.
                                 <all>