I 117th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 7298 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 30, 2022 Mr. Moore of Utah (for himself, Mr. Carl , Mr. Newhouse , Mr. Stauber , Mr. Rosendale , Mr. Westerman , Mr. Wittman , Ms. Herrell , Mr. McClintock , Mr. Stewart , Ms. Van Duyne , Mr. Tiffany , Mr. Van Drew , Mr. Graves of Louisiana , Ms. Cheney , Mr. Lamborn , Mr. Balderson , Ms. Stefanik , Mr. Webster of Florida , Mr. Gohmert , and Mr. Bentz ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To require the Secretary of the Interior to submit a report on expressions of interest and applications for permits to drill, to amend the Mineral Leasing Act to require the publication of data on expressions of interest and applications for permits to drill, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Promoting Energy Independence and Transparency Act . 2. Expressions of interest; applications for permits to drill (a) Report Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary of the Interior shall submit to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report that describes— (1) the status of nominated parcels for future onshore oil and gas lease sales, including— (A) the number of expressions of interest that the Bureau of Land Management has not taken any action to review, or not completed review of, as of the date of enactment of this section; and (B) how long such expressions of interest have been pending; (2) the status of each pending application for a permit to drill in each Bureau of Land Management State office as of the date of enactment of this section, including— (A) a description of the cause of delay for outstanding applications, including as a result of staffing shortages, technical limitations, incomplete applications, and incomplete review pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. ) or other applicable laws; (B) the number of days a permit has been outstanding in violation of section 17(p)(2) of the Mineral Leasing Act ( 30 U.S.C. 226(p)(2) ); and (C) steps the office is taking to come into compliance with the requirements of section 17(p)(2) of the Mineral Leasing Act ( 30 U.S.C. 226(p)(2) ); (3) the number of applications for a permit to drill issued by each Bureau of Land Management State office as of the date of enactment of this section; (4) how the Bureau of Land Management determines whether to— (A) issue a permit to drill; and (B) issue, extend, or suspend an oil and gas lease; (5) when determinations described in paragraph (4) are sent to the national office of the Bureau of Land Management for final approval; and (6) the degree to which the Bureau of Land Management field offices exercise discretion on such final approval. (b) Pending applications for permits To drill Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary of the Interior shall issue all pending applications for a permit to drill that meet the requirements of section 17(p)(2) of the Mineral Leasing Act ( 30 U.S.C. 226(p)(2) ). (c) Public availability of data Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act ( 30 U.S.C. 226 ) is amended by adding at the end the following: (q) Public availability of data (1) Expressions of interest Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, and each month thereafter, the Secretary of the Interior shall publish on the website of the Department of the Interior the number of pending, approved, and not approved expressions of interest in nominated parcels for future onshore oil and gas lease sales in the preceding month. (2) Applications for permits to drill Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, and each month thereafter, the Secretary of the Interior shall publish on the website of the Department of the Interior the number of pending and approved applications for permits to drill in the preceding month. .