Virginia Jobs and Energy Act

Bill: 114-hr-1840
Sponsor: Rep. Rigell, E. Scott [R-VA-2]
Introduced: 2015-04-16 in the House
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Administrative remedies
Alternative and renewable resources
Atmospheric science and weather
Department of the Interior
Energy revenues and royalties
Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
Environmental regulatory procedures
Licensing and registrations
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Military operations and strategy
Oil and gas
State and local finance
Virginia

Summary:
action_date: 2015-04-16
text: 
 
Virginia Jobs and Energy Act

 
 Directs the Secretary of the Interior to: (1) conduct lease sale 220 within one year after enactment of this Act, and (2) include at least two lease sales in the Virginia lease sale planning area in each five-year oil and gas leasing program that applies after the current leasing program.
 Prohibits any oil or natural gas exploration, development, or production off the Virginia coast that would conflict with a military operation. Directs the Secretary and the Secretary of Defense (DOD) periodically to review and revise a specified Memorandum of Agreement concerning such operations to account for new offshore energy production technologies, including those using wind energy. 
Allocates 37.5% of new leasing revenues received by the United States each fiscal year under any lease issued under this Act for payment to states affected with respect to the leases under which those revenues are received by the United States. 
Sets forth a payments allocation schedule for states within 200 miles of the leased tract. 
Exempts from environmental impact statement requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) any project determined by the Secretary to be an offshore meteorological site testing and monitoring project.
 
Defines such project as one administered by the Department of the Interior and carried out on or in the waters of the Outer Continental Shelf to test or monitor weather (including wind, tidal, current, and solar energy) using towers, buoys, or other temporary ocean infrastructure and that: (1) causes less than one acre of surface or seafloor disruption at the location of each meteorological tower or other device and no more than five acres of surface or seafloor disruption within the proposed area affected by the project (including hazards to navigation); (2) is decommissioned within five years of its commencement; and (3) provides meteorological information to the Secretary.
 
Directs the Secretary to: (1) require that any applicant seeking to conduct such a project obtain a permit and right of way; (2) determine, within 30 days after receiving an application, whether to issue such a permit and right of way; (3) provide an opportunity for public comment; (4) consult with DOD, the Commandant of the Coast Guard, and the heads of other federal, state, and local agencies affected by issuance of the permit and right of way; and (5) provide an applicant the opportunity to remedy deficiencies in an application that was denied.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-05-07
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.
action_date: 2015-04-16
text: Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
action_date: 2015-04-16
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2015-04-16
text: Introduced in House