Topic: Energy — Natural Gas & Oil
Subject: Energy
Date: 2012-02-02 00:00:00

Mid-Atlantic Energy and Jobs Act of 2012 - Directs the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) to include: (1) Lease Sale 220 off the coast of Virginia in the proposed Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and gas leasing program for the 2012-2017 period, and (2) the OCS off the coast of Virginia in the leasing program for each 5-year period after the 2012-2017 period. Directs the Secretary to implement within one year after enactment of this Act: (1) Lease Sale 220; and (2) lease sales for any other OCS areas in the Mid-Atlantic planning area as a result of the map revision specified in this Act. Prohibits oil or natural gas exploration, development, or production off the coast of Virginia that would conflict with any military operation. Prescribes revenue sharing procedures that require the Secretary of the Treasury to deposit 50% of qualified revenues in: (1) the general fund of the Treasury, and (2) 50% of qualified revenues in a special Treasury account. Requires disbursement of: (1) 75% of such qualified revenues to the Mid-Atlantic state from the administrative planning area that generated the qualified revenues; and (2) 25% at the discretion of the governor of such state for environmental cleanup, restoration, and enhanced public access to public lands. Instructs the Secretary, acting through the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, to revise a specified map to make the best effort to ensure that the northern and southern boundaries of the OCS administrative planning area of each Mid-Atlantic state extends from the coastal shoreline at the northern and southern borders, respectively, of the state to the outer boundary of the Exclusive Economic Zone. Directs the Secretary to: (1) require that any applicant seeking to conduct an offshore meteorological site testing and monitoring project on the OCS obtain a permit and right-of-way; (2) determine whether to issue such a permit and right-of-way within 30 days after receiving an application; (3) provide an opportunity for submission of comments by the public; (4) consult with the Secretary of Defense (DOD), the Commandant of the Coast Guard, and the heads of other federal, state, and local agencies affected by issuance of the permit; and (5) provide an applicant the opportunity to remedy deficiencies in a permit application that was denied. Exempts projects determined by the Secretary to be an offshore meteorological site testing and monitoring project from environmental impact statement requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). Defines an "offshore meteorological site testing and monitoring project" as a project administered by the Department of the Interior and carried out on or in the waters of the OCS 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 for the project (including hazards to navigation); (2) is decommissioned within five years of its commencement; and (3) provides meteorological information to the Secretary.