Topic: Energy — Natural Gas & Oil
Subject: Energy
Date: 2015-03-18 00:00:00

American Energy Renaissance Act of 2015

 Amends the Natural Gas Act regarding natural gas exports to exclude from the expedited application and approval process any nation subject to sanctions or trade restrictions imposed by the United States.

Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) to repeal the authority of the President to restrict exports of coal, petroleum products, natural gas, or petrochemical feedstocks, and related materials or equipment.

Amends the Mineral Leasing Act (MLA) to repeal limitations on oil exports.

Amends the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) to repeal limitations on export of Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil or gas.

Declares without force or effect a specified regulation and the limitation placed upon crude oil exports under the Export Administration Act of 1979.

Directs the Bureau of Industry and Security of the Department of Commerce to grant licenses to export crude oil except in certain circumstances.

Directs the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, to take into account solely domestic environmental impacts when completing an environmental impact statement for either coal export terminals or for coal transportation to such terminals.

Prescribes an authorization and certification process for certain energy infrastructure projects pertaining to a cross-border segment of either an oil or natural gas pipeline or an electric transmission facility for the import or export of oil or the transmission of electricity to or from Canada or Mexico.

Amends the Natural Gas Act to state that no order of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is required to authorize the export or import of any natural gas to or from Canada or Mexico. Amends the Federal Power Act to repeal the prerequisite that, before transmitting electric energy to a foreign country, a person must first obtain authorization from FERC.

Declares that a presidential permit shall not be required for a certain pipeline application by TransCanada Corporation to the Department of State for the northern portion of the Keystone XL pipeline from the Canadian border to the border between the states of South Dakota and Nebraska.

Prescribes guidelines for leasing on the OCS. Deems the Draft Proposed Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program 2010-2015, issued by the Secretary of the Interior, to be the final oil and gas leasing program under the OCSLA for FY2015-FY2020, except with regard to specified lease sales.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) conduct a lease sale every 270 days in each OCS planning area for which there is a commercial interest in purchasing federal oil and gas leases, and (2) conduct Lease Sale 220 for areas offshore of Virginia.

Permits a state, in lieu of being subject to a federal oil and gas leasing system, to elect to control energy development and production on available federal land in accordance with certain state leasing, permitting and regulatory programs prescribed by this Act.

Amends the MLA to require the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) to offer for sale all nominated acreage not previously made available for lease, unless an individual lease should not be granted.

Prescribes guidelines governing leasing certainty for onshore lease sales.

 Permits the Secretary to extend for up to 2 periods of 15 days each the initial 30-day period after receipt of an application for deciding whether to issue a drilling permit. Deems an application approved if a decision has not been made within 60 days after the application is received.

 Imposes a $5,000 documentation fee upon each administrative protest concerning a lease, right-of-way, or application for a drill permit.

Directs the Secretary to establish a Federal Permit Streamlining Project in each field office of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) with responsibility for permitting energy projects on federal land.

Considers final regulations governing oil shale management published by BLM on November 18, 2008, to satisfy all legal and procedural requirements. Directs the Secretary to implement them and the oil shale leasing program without any other administrative action necessary.

Considers the Approved Resource Management Plan Amendments/Record of Decision for Oil Shale and Tar Sands Resources to Address Land Use Allocations in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, and the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement of the Bureau of Land Management (Plan), as in effect on November 17, 2008, to satisfy all legal and procedural requirements. Directs the Secretary to implement, without additional administrative action, the oil shale leasing program and regulations authorized in such Plan.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) hold a lease sale offering an additional 10 parcels for lease for research, development, and demonstration of oil shale resources, under certain terms; and (2) hold at least five separate commercial lease sales of at least 25,000 acres considered to have the most potential for oil shale development in areas nominated through public comment.

Amends the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976 to direct the Secretary to conduct a competitive oil and gas leasing program that includes at least one lease sale annually in areas most likely to produce commercial quantities of oil and natural gas in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPRA) for each of calendar years 2015 through 2024.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) facilitate and ensure permits for all surface development activities, including pipeline and road construction; (2) issue an integrated activity plan from among the nonadopted alternatives in the NPRA Integrated Activity Plan Record of Decision, and (3) issue an environmental impact statement for issuance of oil and gas leases in the NPRA.

Declares without force or effect the NPRA Integrated Activity Plan Record of Decision, dated February 21, 2013, including the integrated activity plan and environmental impact statement to which it refers.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) promulgate regulations to ensure that the Department of the Interior is supporting development of oil and gas leases in the NPRA, and (2) complete a comprehensive assessment of all technically recoverable NPRA fossil fuel resources.

 Declares that this Act does not authorize issuance of a lease under the MLA to persons designated for the imposition of specified sanctions.

Amends the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to declare certain federal actions inapplicable to an endangered or threatened species, unless: (1) the Secretary has reported to Congress economic costs and benefits of the application; and (2) the application is authorized expressly for that species in a law enacted by Congress after the date of enactment of this Act.

Directs the Secretary to implement a competitive leasing program for the exploration, development, and production of the oil and gas resources on the Coastal Plain of Alaska.

Amends the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act to repeal the prohibition against leasing or other development leading to production of oil and gas from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

Deems oil and gas leasing programs and activities authorized by this Act to be in compliance with the purposes of ANWR, so that no further findings or decisions are required to implement this determination.

States that the Secretary is neither required to identify nonleasing alternative courses of action, nor to analyze their environmental effects.

Deems compliance with this Act satisfies all requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) governing analysis and consideration of the environmental effects of proposed leasing.

Authorizes the Secretary, after consultation with the state of Alaska, the city of Kaktovik, and the North Slope Borough, to designate as a Special Area up to 45,000 acres of the Coastal Plain. Directs the Secretary to designate the Sadlerochit Spring area as a Special Area.

Authorizes the Secretary to exclude any Special Area from leasing.

Permits directional (horizontal) drilling in a Special Area.

Restricts to the terms of this Act the Secretary's authority to close lands within the Coastal Plain to oil and gas leasing, exploration, development, and production.

Instructs the Secretary to offer: (1) tracts with the greatest potential for hydrocarbon discovery; (2) at least 50,000 acres for lease within 22 months after enactment of this Act; and (3) at least an additional 50,000 acres at 6-, 12-, and 18-month intervals thereafter.

Authorizes the Secretary to grant to the highest responsible qualified bidder in a lease sale, upon payment of a bonus, any lands to be leased on the Coastal Plain.

Prescribes a "no significant adverse effect" standard to govern Coastal Plain activities.

Directs the Secretary to develop a facility consolidation plan for the exploration, development, production, and transportation of Coastal Plain oil and gas resources.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) issue rights-of-way and easements across the Coastal Plain for the transportation of oil and gas produced under leases under this Act, (2) convey to the Kaktovik Inupiat Corporation the surface estate of specified lands, and (3) convey to the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation a certain subsurface estate to which it is entitled pursuant to a specified agreement.

 Amends the Energy Policy Act of 1992 to allow either the Secretary, an affected Indian tribe, or a certified third-party appraiser under contract with the Indian tribe, to appraise Indian land or trust assets involved in a transaction requiring the Secretary's approval. Deems approved any appraisal conducted by an Indian tribe or by such an appraiser if the Secretary neither approves nor disapproves it within 60 days after it is received.

 Gives tribes the option of waiving such appraisals if they give the Secretary an unambiguous indication of tribal intent, including an express waiver of any claims they might have against the United States as a consequence of forgoing the appraisal.

States that, when sustainability is federally required, any activities or resources conducted or produced pursuant to either a tribal resource management plan or a Secretary-approved integrated resource management plan shall be deemed to be sustainable. Amends the Long-Term Leasing Act to authorize the Navajo Nation to enter into 99-year leases on their restricted lands without the Secretary's approval, if they are executed under tribal regulations approved by the Secretary.

Permits the Navajo Nation to enter into mineral resource leases on restricted lands without the Secretary's approval if they are executed under approved tribal regulations not to exceed 25 years. Permits a renewal option for one additional term not exceeding 25 years.

Declares inapplicable, except with the express consent of Indian beneficiaries, any rule promulgated by the Secretary regarding hydraulic fracturing in oil and gas development or production on land either held in trust or restricted status for Indians.

Grants to the states sole authority to promulgate or enforce requirements for hydraulic fracturing within their boundaries.

Subjects federal land upon which hydraulic fracturing is performed to the law of the state in which the land is located.

Prohibits award of legal fees to any nongovernmental organization related to an action that: (1) prevents, terminates, or reduces access to or the production of specified enterprises; (2) diminishes the private property value of a property owner; or (3) eliminates or prevents jobs.

Prohibits the Secretary from establishing a master leasing plan as part of any guidance the Secretary issues. Declares certain existing master leasing plans without force or effect.

Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), upon request of a state or the governing body of an Indian tribe, to enter into a prescribed refinery permitting agreement to streamline the permitting process using a specified systematic, interdisciplinary multimedia approach.

Prescribes deadlines for approval or disapproval of consolidated permits for new refineries and for expansion of existing ones.

Amends the Clean Air Act to phase out the renewable fuel standard.

Repeals greenhouse gas regulation. Redefines air pollutant to exclude carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, or sulfur hexafluoride.

Declares that the following acts neither authorize nor require the regulation of climate change or global warming: (1) the Clean Air Act, (2) the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, (3) the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, (4) the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and (5) the Solid Waste Disposal Act.

Declares void and without force or effect certain proposed EPA rules regarding greenhouse gas emissions and carbon pollution.

Prohibits both the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, and EPA from: (1) finalizing the proposed rule entitled "Definition of Waters of the United States Under the Clean Water Act," or (2) using that rule (or substantially similar guidance) as the basis for any rulemaking or decision regarding either the scope or enforcement of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Makes violation of the latter prohibition grounds for vacation of the final rule, the decision, or enforcement action.

Requires the Administrator, before proposing or finalizing any regulation, rule, or policy, to first analyze and describe its direct and indirect net and gross impact upon employment in the United States.

Establishes the Debt Freedom Fund to pay down the national debt of the United States.