Offshore Lands Authorities Act of 2025

Bill: 119-hr-513
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Higgins, Clay [R-LA-3]
Introduced: 2025-01-16
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Congressional-executive branch relations

Land use and conservation

Legislative rules and procedure

Marine and coastal resources, fisheries

Mining

Oil and gas

Presidents and presidential powers, Vice Presidents

Seashores and lakeshores
Latest action: action_date: 2025-05-20
text: Subcommittee Hearings Held

Summaries:

tv_txt: I 119th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 513 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 16, 2025 Mr. Higgins of Louisiana (for himself, Mr. Hunt , Mr. Weber of Texas , Mr. Burchett , Mr. Shreve , Mr. Meuser , Mr. Arrington , Mrs. Miller of West Virginia , Mr. Crenshaw , Mr. Brecheen , Ms. Van Duyne , Mr. Perry , Mr. Tiffany , Mrs. Miller of Illinois , Mr. Ogles , Mr. Burlison , Mr. Clyde , Mr. Biggs of Arizona , Mr. Harris of Maryland , and Mr. Moore of Alabama ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources , and in addition to the Committee on Rules , for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To nullify certain Presidential withdrawals of unleased offshore land, amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to establish limits on the authority of the President to withdraw unleased offshore land, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Offshore Lands Authorities Act of 2025 . 2. Nullification of Presidential withdrawals of unleased offshore land The following Presidential withdrawals of unleased offshore land shall have no force or effect: (1) The Presidential Memorandum of December 20, 2016, titled Memorandum on Withdrawal of Certain Portions of the United States Arctic Outer Continental Shelf From Mineral Leasing (relating to the Chukchi Sea Planning Area and the Beaufort Sea Planning Area). (2) The Presidential Memorandum of December 16, 2014, titled Memorandum on Withdrawal of Certain Areas of the United States Outer Continental Shelf From Leasing Disposition (relating to the North Aleutian Basin Planning Area). (3) Section 3 of Executive Order 13754 (81 Fed. Reg. 90669; relating to Northern Bering Sea climate resilience). (4) Section 4(b) of Executive Order 13990 (86 Fed. Reg. 7037; relating to reinstating Executive Order 13754 and the Presidential Memorandum of December 20, 2016). (5) The Presidential Memorandum of March 13, 2023, titled Memorandum on Withdrawal of Certain Areas off the United States Arctic Coast of the Outer Continental Shelf from Oil or Gas Leasing (relating to the Beaufort Planning Area). (6) The Presidential Memorandum of December 20, 2016, titled Memorandum on Withdrawal of Certain Areas off the Atlantic Coast on the Outer Continental Shelf From Mineral Leasing (relating to canyons and canyon complexes offshore the Atlantic coast). (7) The Presidential Memorandum of January 6, 2025, titled Memorandum on the Withdrawal of Certain Areas of the United States Outer Continental Shelf from Oil or Natural Gas Leasing (relating to the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic, and Pacific areas). (8) The Presidential Memorandum of January 6, 2025, titled Memorandum on the Withdrawal of Certain Areas of the United States Outer Continental Shelf from Oil or Natural Gas Leasing (relating to the Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area). 3. Limitation of authority of the President to withdraw unleased offshore lands Section 12(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act ( 43 U.S.C. 1341(a) ) is amended— (1) by striking (a) The President and inserting the following: (a) Withdrawal of unleased lands by the President (1) In general Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3), the President ; (2) by inserting Beginning on the date of enactment of the Offshore Lands Authorities Act of 2025 , the President shall transmit a withdrawal made under the preceding sentence to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. after outer Continental Shelf. ; and (3) by adding at the end the following: (2) Limitations (A) Acres A withdrawal under paragraph (1) may not exceed an area larger than 150,000 acres in total or contiguous with any other withdrawal under such paragraph. (B) Period A withdrawal under paragraph (1) may not be made for a period longer than 20 years. (C) Cumulative withdrawals No President may, under paragraph (1), withdraw more than 500,000 acres cumulatively without obtaining Congressional approval. (3) Assessments required The President may not withdraw unleased lands of the outer Continental Shelf under paragraph (1) unless— (A) the Secretary completed a quantitative and qualitative geophysical and geological mineral resource assessment of the lands to be withdrawn during the 5-year period ending on the date of such withdrawal; (B) the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Agriculture, completed an assessment of the economic, energy, and national security value of mineral deposits identified in the mineral resource assessment completed under subparagraph (A); (C) the Secretary completed an assessment of the expected reduction in future Federal revenues resulting from the proposed withdrawal to the Treasury, States (including from allocations made under section 105 of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 ( 43 U.S.C. 1331 note)), the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and the Historic Preservation Fund; and (D) the Secretary submits to the Committees on Natural Resources, Agriculture, Armed Services, Energy and Commerce, and Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committees on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, Armed Services, Energy and Natural Resources, and Foreign Relations of the Senate a report that includes the results of the assessments completed under this subsection. (4) Congressional disapproval procedure (A) Joint resolution defined For the purposes of this paragraph, the term joint resolution means only a joint resolution, which may not have a preamble, the matter after the resolving clause of which is as follows: That Congress disapproves the withdrawal made under section 12(a)(1) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act on ____, relating to ____, and such withdrawal shall have no force or effect. (the blank spaces being appropriately filled in). (B) Referral A joint resolution described in subparagraph (A) shall be referred to the committees in each House of Congress with jurisdiction. (C) Discharge In the Senate, if the committee to which is referred a joint resolution described in subparagraph (A) has not reported such joint resolution (or a joint resolution aimed at the same Presidential withdrawal) at the end of 20 calendar days after the submission or introduction of legislation to disapprove the withdrawal, such committee may be discharged from further consideration of such joint resolution and placed on the appropriate calendar of the Senate upon a petition supported in writing by 30 Members of the Senate. (D) Floor consideration (i) In general In the Senate, when the committee to which a joint resolution is referred has reported, or when a committee is discharged (under subparagraph (C)) from further consideration of, a joint resolution described in subparagraph (A), it is at any time thereafter in order (even though a previous motion to the same effect has been disagreed to) for a motion to proceed to the consideration of the joint resolution, and all points of order against the joint resolution (and against consideration of joint resolution) are waived. The motion is not subject to amendment, to a motion to postpone, or to a motion to proceed to the consideration of other business. A motion to reconsider the vote by which the motion is agreed to or disagreed to shall not be in order. If a motion to proceed to the consideration of the joint resolution is agreed to, the joint resolution shall remain the unfinished business of the Senate until disposed of. (ii) Debate In the Senate, debate on the joint resolution, and on all debatable motions and appeals in connection therewith, shall be limited to not more than 10 hours, which shall be divided equally between those favoring and those opposing the resolution. A motion further to limit debate is in order and not debatable. An amendment to, or a motion to postpone, or a motion to proceed to the consideration of other business, or a motion to recommit the resolution is not in order. (iii) Final passage In the Senate, immediately following the conclusion of the debate on a resolution described in subparagraph (A), and a single quorum call at the conclusion of the debate if requested in accordance with the rules of the Senate, the vote on final passage of the resolution shall occur. (iv) Appeals In the Senate, appeals from the decisions of the Chair relating to the application of the rules of the Senate to the procedure relating to a resolution described in subparagraph (A) shall be decided without debate. (v) Treatment if other House has acted If, before the passage by one House of a resolution of that House described in subparagraph (A), that House receives from the other House a resolution described in subparagraph (A), then the following procedures shall apply: (I) Nonreferral The resolution of the other House shall not be referred to a committee. (II) Final passage With respect to a resolution described in subparagraph (A) of the House receiving the resolution— (aa) the procedure in that House shall be the same as if no resolution had been received from the other House; but (bb) the vote on final passage shall be on the resolution of the other House. (vi) Debate on veto message In the Senate, debate on a veto message from the President on a joint resolution described in subparagraph (A), including all debatable motions and appeals in connection therewith, shall be limited to not more than 10 hours, equally divided between those favoring and those opposing the resolution. A motion further to limit debate is in order and not debatable. No amendment to the veto message shall be in order. The vote on passage of the joint resolution following the veto message shall occur immediately following the conclusion of debate. (E) Constitutional authority Subparagraphs (A) through (D) are enacted by Congress— (i) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the Senate and the House of Representatives, respectively, and as such it is deemed a part of the rules of each House, respectively, but applicable only with respect to procedure to be followed in this paragraph, and it supersedes other rules only to the extent that it is inconsistent with such rules; and (ii) with full recognition of the constitutional right of either House to change the rules (so far as relating to the procedure of that House) at any time, in the same manner, and to the same extent as in the case of any other rule of that House. (F) Lack of effect or continuance; Substantially similar withdrawals (i) Lack of effect or continuance A withdrawal made under section 12(a)(1) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act shall not take effect (or continue), if the Congress enacts a joint resolution of disapproval, described under subparagraph (A), of the withdrawal. (ii) Substantially similar withdrawals A withdrawal that does not take effect (or does not continue) under clause (i) may not be reissued in substantially the same form, and a new withdrawal that is substantially the same as such a withdrawal may not be issued, unless the reissued or new withdrawal is specifically authorized by a law enacted after the date of the joint resolution disapproving the original withdrawal. (G) Judicial review No determination, finding, action, or omission under this paragraph shall be subject to judicial review. (H) Submission of covered agency action to Congress (i) Requirement to submit Any covered agency action subject to the disapproval procedures under this subsection shall be submitted to Congress by the agency responsible for the action. Such submission must include the text of the agency action, a concise summary of the action, and the date on which the action was taken. (ii) Transmittal For purposes of this subsection, the date of submission of the covered agency action to Congress shall be the later of— (I) the date on which the agency submits the action to both the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives; or (II) the date on which the agency makes the action publicly available in the Federal Register or by another publicly accessible method. (iii) Start of procedures The submission of the covered agency action under clause (i) shall trigger the expedited parliamentary procedures set forth in this subsection. No resolution under this subsection may be considered in either chamber until such submission has occurred. (iv) Notice of submission Upon receipt of a covered agency action, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall cause a notice of such submission to be published in the Congressional Record on the next calendar day of their respective chambers. (5) Integration with 5-year oil and gas leasing program The President may not make a withdrawal under paragraph (1) that conflicts with areas included in a lease sale scheduled under an oil and gas leasing program approved under Section 18. .