Ending Duplicative Permitting Act

Bill: 116-hr-1650
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Cheney, Liz [R-WY-At Large]
Introduced: 2019-03-08
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Environmental assessment, monitoring, research

Land use and conservation

Licensing and registrations

Oil and gas
Latest action: action_date: 2019-03-29
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.

Summaries:
action_date: 2019-03-08
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><b>Ending Duplicative Permitting Act</b></p> <p>This bill prohibits the Department of the Interior from requiring a federal drilling permit for oil and gas exploration and production activities on the nonfederal surface estate if the subsurface mineral estate is less than 50% federally-owned and the operator submits a state permit for such activities.</p>

tv_txt: I 116th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 1650 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 8, 2019 Ms. Cheney (for herself, Mr. Gosar , Mr. Gohmert , Mr. Hunter , and Mr. Meadows ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To clarify that the Bureau of Land Management shall not require permits for oil and gas activities conducted on non-Federal surface estate to access subsurface mineral estate that is less than 50 percent federally owned, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Ending Duplicative Permitting Act . 2. Access to Federal oil and gas from non-Federal surface estate Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act ( 30 U.S.C. 226 ) is amended by adding at the end the following: (q) No Federal permit required for oil and gas activities on certain land (1) In general The Secretary shall not require an operator to obtain a Federal drilling permit for oil and gas exploration and production activities conducted on non-Federal surface estate, provided that— (A) the United States holds an ownership interest of less than 50 percent of the subsurface mineral estate to be accessed by the proposed action; and (B) the operator submits to the Secretary a State permit to conduct oil and gas exploration and production activities on the non-Federal surface estate. (2) No Federal action Oil and gas exploration and production activities carried out under paragraph (1)— (A) shall require no additional Federal action; (B) may commence 30 days after submission of the State permit to the Secretary; (C) are categorically excluded from any further analysis and documentation under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); (D) shall not require any analysis under section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended ( 54 U.S.C. 306108 ); and (E) shall not require any analysis, assessment, or consultation under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 ( 16 U.S.C. 1536 ). (3) Royalties and production accountability (A) Nothing in this subsection shall affect the amount of royalties due to the United States under this Act from the production of oil and gas, or alter the Secretary’s authority to conduct audits and collect civil penalties pursuant to the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982 ( 30 U.S.C. 1711 et seq.). (B) The Secretary may conduct on-site reviews and inspections to ensure proper accountability, measurement, and reporting of production of Federal oil and gas, and payment of royalties. (4) Exceptions This subsection shall not apply to actions on Indian lands or resources managed in trust for the benefit of Indian tribes. .