zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
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 for the period FY2012-FY2017. Considers the Secretary to have issued a final environmental impact statement to the FY2012-FY2017 leasing program in accordance with certain requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. Excludes Lease Sales 214, 232, and 239, from the FY2012-FY2017 final oil and gas leasing program. Declares that this Act does not affect restrictions on oil and gas leasing under the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006.

Date: 2012-07-12
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Energy
State Natural Gas Act of 2012 - Amends the Natural Gas Act to require the Secretary of Energy (DOE) to make grants available to states to independently carry out initiatives to promote the following purposes: (1) the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel, and (2) investment in natural gas vehicles and transportation infrastructure. Establishes $1 million as the minimum grant amount to a state. Requires the Secretary to increase the grant amount above the minimum to reflect the potential of applications and plans to promote the purposes of this Act, taking into consideration: (1) the relative amount of funds likely to be leveraged by initiatives described in the state plan, (2) the degree that initiatives will support a need unlikely to be met by the private sector absent program funding, (3) the degree that initiatives will be a bridge to private investment and sustainable market conditions, and (4) the amount of funds invested in public and private investment in states in natural gas transportation and infrastructure.

Date: 2012-07-25
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Energy
Offshore Petroleum Expansion Now Act of 2012 - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to implement the Proposed Oil & Gas Leasing Program: 2012-2017 in accordance with the schedule for conducting oil and gas lease sales set forth in it and in the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. Directs the Secretary to conduct each of specified oil and gas lease sales in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Planning Areas, including certain ones in the Draft Proposed Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program (2010-2015), during its specified year. Requires the Secretary to offer for sale, no later than December 31, 2013, leases of tracts in the Santa Maria and Santa Barbara or Ventura Basins of the Southern California OCS Planning Area. Directs the Secretary to revise a specified Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement map, dated January 2010, to ensure that the square footage of the leasable area in the Mid-Atlantic planning area is directly proportional to the length of the tidal shoreline of the Mid-Atlantic States (Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia). Retains the authority of the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to designate national defense areas on the OCS. Requires the Secretary to prepare a multisale environmental impact statement pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 for lease sales required under this Act that are not included in the Proposed Leasing Program (2012-2017). Declares that nothing in this Act affects restrictions on oil and gas leasing under the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006. Requires all lease sales conducted pursuant to this Act, with specified exceptions, to be area-wide lease sales. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury, for each of FY2012-FY2022, to deposit in a special account in the Treasury 37.5 % of all revenues due and payable to the United States from OCS areas not scheduled for lease sale under Proposed Oil and Gas Leasing Program: 2012-2017. Instructs the Secretary of the Interior to disburse such funds to coastal states and coastal political subdivisions. Prescribes an allocation formula for coastal states and coastal political subdivisions. Amends the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 to repeal limitations placed upon the amount of distributed qualified OCS revenues.

Date: 2012-07-25
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Energy
Declares that no presidential permit shall be required for a specified pipeline application filed on May 4, 2012, by TransCanada Corporation to the Department of State for the northern portion of the Keystone XL pipeline from the Canadian border to the South Dakota/Nebraska border. Considers the final environmental impact statement regarding such pipeline issued by the Secretary of State on August 26, 2011, to satisfy all requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. States that nothing in this Act affects the ongoing work of the state of Nebraska with regard to the fully intrastate portion of the Keystone XL pipeline.

Date: 2012-09-20
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Energy
Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Act of 2012 - Amends the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline Act to redefine the term "Alaska natural gas transportation project" to include in the natural gas pipeline system carrying Alaska natural gas to a market any pipeline segment that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) finds could feasibly be incorporated into, and serve as an integrated segment of, that system regardless of whether the segment: (1) is proposed and constructed before the construction of the system, or (2) initially transports Alaska natural gas solely for delivery to consumers within Alaska. Confers upon the Federal Coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects responsibility for providing federal agencies with comprehensive information about Alaska natural gas transportation projects, including industry developments, market factors, technology, and regulatory issues that could affect such projects. Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the accelerated cost recovery system, to redefine the term "Alaska natural gas pipeline" as the natural gas pipeline system: (1) located in the area of Alaska lying north of 64 degrees North latitude, and (2) carrying Alaska natural gas from the area of the United States lying north of 64 degrees North latitude to a market. Removes from qualified enhanced oil recovery costs, with respect to the qualified enhanced oil recovery tax credit, any amount paid or incurred during the taxable year to construct a gas treatment plant which: (1) is located in the area of the United States lying north of 64 degrees North latitude, (2) prepares Alaska natural gas for transportation through a pipeline with a capacity of at least 2 trillion Btu of natural gas per day, and (3) produces carbon dioxide which is injected into hydrocarbon-bearing geological formations.

Date: 2012-11-14
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Energy
Northern Route Approval Act - (Sec. 1) Declares that a presidential permit shall not be required for the pipeline described in the application filed on May 4, 2012, by TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, L.P. to the Department of State for the Keystone XL pipeline, including the Nebraska reroute evaluated in the Final Evaluation Report issued by the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality in January 2013 and approved by the Nebraska governor.

(Sec. 3) Deems the final environmental impact statement issued by the Secretary of State on August 26, 2011, coupled with such Final Evaluation Report, to satisfy all requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and of the National Historic Preservation Act.

(Sec. 4) Grants original and exclusive jurisdiction to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to determine specified issues (except for review by the Supreme Court on writ of certiorari).

(Sec. 5) Deems the Secretary of the Interior to have issued a written statement setting forth the Secretary's opinion that the Keystone XL pipeline project will not jeopardize the continued existence of the American burying beetle or destroy or adversely modify American burying beetle critical habitat.

States that any taking of the American burying beetle that is incidental to the construction or operation and maintenance of the Keystone XL pipeline shall not be considered a prohibited taking of such species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.

(Sec. 6) Deems the Secretary to have issued a grant of right-of-way and temporary use permit pursuant to the Mineral Leasing Act and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976.

(Sec. 7) Requires the Secretary of the Army, within 90 days after receipt of an application, to issue certain permits under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and the Rivers and Harbors Appropriations Act of 1899 which are necessary for pipeline construction, operation, and maintenance described in the May 4, 2012, application, as supplemented by the Nebraska reroute. Deems such a permit issued on the 91st day if the Secretary has not issued them within 90 days after receipt of a permit application.

Authorizes such Secretary to waive any procedural requirement of law or regulation that the Secretary considers desirable to waive in order to accomplish the purposes of this Act.

Prohibits the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from prohibiting or restricting an activity or use of an area authorized under this Act.

(Sec. 8) Deems the Secretary to have issued a special purpose permit under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, as described in the application filed with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service for the Keystone XL pipeline on January 11, 2013.

(Sec. 9) Requires a pipeline owner or operator required under federal law to develop an oil spill response plan for the Keystone XL pipeline to make such plan available to the governor of each state in which the pipeline operates. Requires a plan update to be submitted to the governor within seven days after it is made.

Date: 2013-03-15
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Energy
Domestic Prosperity and Global Freedom Act - (Sec. 2) Directs the Department of Energy (DOE), for proposals that must also obtain authorization from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or the United States Maritime Administration to site, construct, expand, or operate liquified natural gas (LNG) export facilities, to issue a decision on an application for authorization to export natural gas within 30 days after the later of: (1) the conclusion of the review to site, construct, expand, or operate the LNG facilities required by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA); or (2) the date of enactment of this Act.

Deems any NEPA review to be concluded: (1) 30 days after publication of a required Environmental Impact Statement if the project needs one; (2) 30 days after publication by DOE of a Finding of No Significant Impact if the project needs an Environmental Assessment; and (3) upon a determination by the lead agency that an application is eligible for a categorical exclusion pursuant to regulations under NEPA.

(A "categorical exclusion" under NEPA is a category of actions which do not individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the human environment and which have been found to have no such effect in procedures adopted by a federal agency in implementing environmental regulations and for which, therefore, neither an Environmental Assessment nor an Environmental Impact Statement is required.) Confers original and exclusive jurisdiction upon the U.S. Court of Appeals for the circuit in which the export facility under an application will be located over any civil action for the review of: (1) a DOE order regarding the application, or (2) DOE failure to issue a final decision on the application.

Requires the Court, if it finds in a civil action that DOE has failed to issue a final decision on an application, to order DOE to issue one within 30 days.

Requires the Court to set any civil action brought under this Act on the docket, for expedited consideration, as soon as practical after the filing date of the initial pleading.

(Sec. 3) Amends the Natural Gas Act to set, as a condition for approval of any authorization to export LNG, that the DOE Secretary require the applicant to disclose publicly the specific destination or destinations of any such authorized LNG exports.

Date: 2014-03-06
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Energy
American Energy Independence and Price Reduction Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to implement a competitive leasing program for the exploration, development, and production of the oil and gas resources on the Coastal Plain of Alaska.

Permits lease sales to be conducted through an Internet leasing program if such a system will result in savings to the taxpayer, an increase in the number of bidders participating, and higher returns than oral bidding or a sealed bidding system.

Amends the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 to repeal the prohibition against leasing or other development leading to production of oil and gas from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

Deems any oil and gas leasing programs and activities authorized by this Act to be in compliance with ANWR purposes.

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

Permits directional drilling in the Special Area.

Prescribes procedures governing Coastal Plain lease sales, as well as terms and conditions, including: (1) environmental protection; (2) federal and state distribution of revenues; and (3) rights-of-way.

Sets forth: (1) a "no significant adverse effect" standard to govern Coastal Plain activities; and (2) guidelines for expedited judicial review of complaints.

Establishes the ANWR Alternative Energy Trust Fund, into which shall be deposited 50% of the amount of bonus, rental, and royalty revenues from Federal oil and gas leasing and operations authorized under this Act.

Date: 2013-01-03
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Energy
Deficit Reduction, Job Creation, and Energy Security Act - Requires the Secretary of the Interior to conduct oil and gas lease sales under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act for an additional 10% of acreage of the outer Continental Shelf proposed to be leased under the Proposed Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2012-2017. Requires: (1) such additional acreage to be known as the Deficit Reduction Acreage, and (2) the Secretary to lease at least 20% of such Deficit Reduction Acreage in each such year.

Establishes the Deficit Reduction Energy Security Fund. Requires all sums due under Deficit Reduction Acreage lease sales during the 15 fiscal years beginning when sums are first received from such sales to be deposited into such Fund.

Establishes the Coastal and Ocean Sustainability and Health Fund to be administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for: (1) the Coastal and Ocean Disaster Grant Program for restoring, mitigating, monitoring, or otherwise managing coastal and ocean natural resources in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida impacted by coastal or ocean disasters; and (2) the National Grant Program for Coastal and Ocean Sustainability and Health for restoring, protecting, maintaining, managing, or understanding marine resources and their habitats and resources in coastal and ocean water.

Amends the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to reinstate expired producible leases in the offshore Gulf or Mexico upon the petition of a prior leaseholder if such reinstatement furthers the purposes and objectives of such Act.

Requires the Secretary to establish: (1) an Office of Energy Employment and Training to oversee the efforts of the Department of the Interior's energy planning, permitting, and regulatory activities to carry out the purposes, objectives, and requirements of this Act; and (2) an Office of Minority and Women Inclusion to be responsible for all matters of the Department of the Interior relating to diversity in management, employment, and business activities. Requires the Secretary to take affirmative steps to seek diversity in all levels of such Department.

Date: 2013-01-03
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Energy
Keystone For a Secure Tomorrow Act - Approves a specified permit regarding certain energy-related facilities and land transportation crossings on the international boundaries of the United States for the Keystone XL pipeline project. Includes within such permit the Nebraska reroute evaluated in the Final Evaluation Report issued the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality in January 2013. Prescribes permit requirements.

Date: 2013-01-22
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Energy
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

 BLM Live Internet Auctions Act - Amends the Mineral Leasing Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct onshore oil and gas lease sales through Internet-based live bidding methods.

Requires each individual Internet-based lease sale to conclude within seven days.

Directs the Secretary to analyze the first 10 such lease sales, including estimates of: (1) increases or decreases in such lease sales, compared to sales conducted by oral bidding; and (2) the total cost or savings to the Department of the Interior as a result of such sales, compared to sales conducted by oral bidding.

Requires the report to evaluate the demonstrated or expected effectiveness of different structures for lease sales which may provide an opportunity to better maximize bidder participation, ensure the highest return to the federal taxpayers, minimize opportunities for fraud or collusion, and ensure the security and integrity of the leasing process.

Date: 2013-02-06
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Energy
Expedited LNG for American Allies Act of 2013 - Amends the Natural Gas Act to deem consistent with the public interest an expedited application and approval process without modification or delay for the exportation of natural gas to a foreign country that is: (1) a nation with which there is in effect a free trade agreement requiring national treatment for trade in natural gas (as under existing law); (2) a member country of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO); (3) Japan, as long as the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan remains in effect; and (4) any other foreign country if the Secretary of State determines that such exportation promotes U.S. national security interests.

Date: 2013-02-06
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Foreign trade and international finance
End Big Oil Tax Subsidies Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require seven-year amortization of the geological and geophysical expenditures of covered large oil companies. Defines "covered large oil company" as a taxpayer which is a major integrated oil company or which has gross receipts in excess of $50 million in a taxable year.

Denies certain tax benefits to any taxpayer that is not a small, independent oil and gas company, including: (1) the tax credits for producing oil and gas from marginal wells and for enhanced oil recovery, (2) expensing of intangible drilling and development costs in the case of gas wells and geothermal wells, (3) percentage depletion, (4) the tax deduction for qualified tertiary injectant expenses, (5) the exemption from limitations on passive activity losses, and (6) the tax deduction for income attributable to domestic production activities.

Prohibits the use of the last-in, first-out (LIFO) accounting method by major integrated oil companies.

Limits or denies the foreign tax credit and tax deferrals for amounts paid or accrued by a dual capacity taxpayer to a foreign country or U.S. possession for any period with respect to combined foreign oil and gas income. Defines "dual capacity taxpayer" as a person who is subject to a levy of a foreign country or U.S. possession and receives (or will receive) directly or indirectly a specific economic benefit from such county or possession..

Date: 2013-02-12
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Taxation
South Carolina Offshore Drilling Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of the Interior, when determining the areas off the coast of South Carolina that are to be made available for leasing under Final Outer Continental Shelf Oil & Gas Leasing Program (2012-2017), to: (1) consider the laws, goals, and policies of the state of South Carolina; and (2) focus upon areas considered to have the most geologically promising energy resources.

Date: 2013-02-15
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Energy
Tar Sands Tax Loophole Elimination Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to include tar sands in the definition of "crude oil" for purposes of the excise tax on petroleum.

Date: 2013-02-15
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Taxation
Prohibits the Secretary of the Interior from issuing a lease, permit, or license for oil exploration or extraction from specified submerged Outer Continental Shelf lands located within 125 miles of the coast of New Jersey, including areas with respect to which a moratorium on oil and gas leasing activities existed before enactment of this Act.

Date: 2013-03-06
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Directs the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) to exempt from the requirement to obtain a hazardous material (hazmat) endorsement all class A commercial driver's license (CDL) holders who are custom harvesters, agricultural retailers, agricultural business employees, agricultural cooperative employees, or agricultural producers who operate a service vehicle with a fuel tank containing 3,785 liters (1,000) gallons or less of diesel fuel if the tank is clearly marked with a placard reading "Diesel Fuel."

Date: 2013-03-07
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Transportation and public works
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Public Power Risk Management Act of 2013 - Amends the Commodity Exchange Act to direct the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), when it determines whether to provide an exemption to designation as a swap dealer, to treat a utility operations-related swap entered into with a utility special entity as if such swap were entered into with an entity that is not a special entity. (Thus exempts an entity entering into a utility operations-related swap with a utility special entity from mandatory registration as a swap dealer.)

Requires transactions in utility operations-related swaps to be reported according to requirements for the reporting of uncleared swaps.

Defines "utility special entity" as a special entity, or any instrumentality, department, or corporation of or established by a state or local government, that: (1) owns or operates an electric or natural gas facility or an electric or natural gas operation; (2) supplies natural gas or electric energy to another utility special entity; (3) has public service obligations under federal, state, or local law or regulation to deliver electric energy or natural gas service to customers; or (4) is a federal power marketing agency.

Redefines swap to include a utility operations-related swap.

Defines "utility operations-related swap" as one that: (1) is entered into to hedge or mitigate commercial risk; (2) is associated with specified transactions in electric energy or natural gas; and (3) is not a contract, agreement, or transaction based on, derived on, or referencing

 an interest rate, credit, equity, or currency asset class; or a metal, agricultural commodity, or crude oil or gasoline commodity of any grade, except as used as fuel for electric energy generation.

Date: 2013-03-11
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Surface Transportation and Taxation Equity Act or the STATE Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce the federal excise tax on gasoline and special fuels (but not below two cents per gallon) by corresponding increases in fuel taxes imposed by states as of March 12, 2013 (the date of introduction of this Act).

Date: 2013-03-12
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Taxation
Preserving Jobs in the Oilfield Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) to ensure that, with respect to maximum hours of service for drivers, on-duty time does not include waiting time at a natural gas or oil well site for operators of commercial motor vehicles transporting supplies, equipment, or materials, including sand or water, to or from a natural gas or oil well site.

Applies this exclusion without regard to whether operators have received special training or operate vehicles specially constructed to service wells.

Date: 2013-03-12
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Maximize Offshore Resource Exploration Act of 2013 or MORE Act of 2013 - Declares without force or effect all federal prohibitions against the expenditure of appropriated funds to conduct natural gas leasing and preleasing activities for any area of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).

Revokes all withdrawals of federal submerged lands from leasing for oil and natural gas exploration and production.

Amends the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from granting an oil or natural gas lease for any OCS located within 25 miles of a state coastline unless the state has enacted a law approving the issuance of such leases by the Secretary.

Sets forth an allocation schedule for a: (1) 75% state share of revenues derived from U.S. royalties under qualified oil and gas leases on submerged lands located within the seaward boundaries of a state, and (2) 90% state share of revenues derived from royalties under leases that are located within 25 miles of the coastline of a state and within the seaward boundaries.

Extends the jurisdiction of state civil and criminal law, as appropriate, to the Alaska, Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, and Atlantic OCS Region State Adjacent Zones and OCS Planning Areas.

Establishes a separate account in the Treasury to be known as the Renewable Energy Reserve, consisting of 12.5% of revenues derived from U.S. royalties under such oil and gas leases located within the seaward boundaries and 5% of revenues derived from leases located within 25 miles of the coastline of a state and within the seaward boundaries.

Makes the Reserve available to offset the cost of subsequently enacted legislation to: (1) accelerate the use of cleaner domestic energy resources and alternative fuels; (2) promote the utilization of energy-efficient products and practices; and (3) increase research, development, and deployment of clean renewable energy and efficiency technologies and job training programs for those purposes.

Date: 2013-03-14
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Focused Reduction of Effluence and Stormwater runoff through Hydrofracking Environmental Regulation Act of 2013 or the FRESHER Act of 2013 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to repeal provisions prohibiting the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from requiring or directing a state to require a permit under the national pollutant discharge elimination system for discharges of stormwater runoff from mining, oil, and gas operations or transmission facilities composed entirely of flows from conveyances used for collecting and conveying precipitation runoff that are not contaminated by contact with any overburden, raw material, intermediate products, finished product, byproduct, or waste products located on the site of such operations.

Requires the Secretary of the Interior to study and report on stormwater impacts with respect to any area that may be contaminated by stormwater runoff associated with oil or gas operations, including an analysis of: (1) measurable contamination in such area, (2) ground water resources in such area, and (3) the susceptibility of aquifers in such area to contamination from stormwater runoff associated with such operations.

Date: 2013-03-14
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Environmental protection
American Natural Gas Security and Consumer Protection Act - Amends the Natural Gas Act to prohibit any person from exporting any natural gas from the United States to a foreign country without first having secured an order of the Secretary of Energy (DOE) authorizing such person to do so. Allows the Secretary to issue an order authorizing such exportation, upon application, if the Secretary determines that the proposed exportation will be consistent with the public interest.

Requires the Secretary to issue an environmental impact statement (EIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 on such an order, including by analyzing the impacts of extraction of exported natural gas on the environment in communities where the natural gas is extracted.

Directs the Secretary to issue final regulations for determining whether an export of natural gas from the United States to a foreign country is in the public interest.

Exempts any export authorization order from such EIS and public interest requirements if the natural gas would be exported solely to meet certain requirements of: (1) the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (regarding presidential foreign exchange transaction authorities), (2) the Trading with the Enemy Act (regarding such transaction authorities in wartime), or (3) the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (regarding the International Energy Program). Authorizes the Secretary to issue such an order upon application in such cases without modification or delay.

Date: 2013-03-14
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Energy
Keep America's Oil Here Act - Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to accept bids on any new oil and gas leases of federal lands (including submerged lands) only from bidders certifying that all crude oil produced under such leases, and all refined petroleum products made from such crude oil, shall be offered for sale only in the United States.

Authorizes the President to waive such limited leasing authorization upon specified determinations, including that waiver is in the national interest because it will not lead to: (1) an increase in domestic consumption of crude oil obtained from countries hostile to U.S. interests or that have political and economic instability compromising energy supply security, (2) higher costs to oil refiners purchasing the crude oil than the refiners would have to pay in the absence of such a waiver, and (3) higher gasoline costs paid by consumers than they would have to pay in the absence of such a waiver.

Declares this Act without force or effect 10 years after enactment of this Act.

Instructs the Secretary of the Interior and the Comptroller General to report separately to Congress on the impact of this Act upon: (1) oil production on federal lands, (2) consumption of oil and refined petroleum products in the United States, and (3) prices and markets for oil and refined petroleum products in the United States.

Date: 2013-03-14
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Energy
Keep American Natural Gas Here Act - Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to accept bids on any new oil and gas leases of federal lands (including submerged lands) under the Mineral Leasing Act or the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act only from bidders certifying that all natural gas produced pursuant to such leases will be offered for sale only in the United States.

 Amends the Mineral Leasing Act to prohibit granting a new right-of-way for a natural gas pipeline unless the right-of-way applicant certifies that all natural gas transported via such pipeline will be offered for sale only in the United States.

Declares this Act without force or effect 10 years after enactment of this Act.

 Instructs the Secretary of the Interior and the Comptroller General to report separately to Congress on the impact of this Act upon: (1) natural gas production on federal lands, (2) consumption of natural gas in the United States, and (3) prices and markets for natural gas in the United States.

Date: 2013-03-14
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Energy
Domestic Fuels Protection Act of 2013 - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to provide that no person shall be liable under any federal, state, or local law, and no provider of financial assurance may deny payment for a claim, because an underground storage tank, underground storage tank system, or associated dispensing equipment at a stationary facility is not compatible with any fuel or fuel additive for use in a motor vehicle, nonroad vehicle, or engine if such tank or equipment has been determined to be compatible pursuant to the guidelines and regulations issued under this Act.

Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue regulations setting standards for determining whether underground storage tanks and systems and associated dispensing equipment are compatible with any fuel or fuel additive that is authorized and registered by the Administrator or by statute for use in a motor vehicle or engine or nonroad vehicle, engine, or equipment.

Deems tanks, systems, and equipment that are listed by a nationally recognized testing laboratory as compatible with such a fuel or fuel additive as of the date of enactment of this Act to be compatible under such regulations.

Amends the Clean Air Act to prohibit a person selling such fuel who complies with such regulations from being liable under any federal, state, or local law if: (1) a self-service purchaser introduces any such fuel into a vehicle, engine, or equipment for which the fuel has not been approved under such Act; or (2) the introduction of any such fuel voids the warranty of the manufacturer of such vehicles, engines, or equipment. Excludes from such protection: (1) a person who sells a transportation fuel and does not comply with the misfueling regulations adopted by the Administrator, and (2) a person who intentionally misfuels.

Prohibits filing or maintaining in any U.S. or state court any civil action or proceeding against an entity engaged in the design, manufacture, sale, or distribution of any qualified product or of any motor vehicle, engine, or nonroad equipment for damages, abatement, restitution, fines, penalties, or other relief resulting from the introduction of any such product into a motor vehicle, engine, or nonroad equipment. Requires actions filed or pending upon enactment of this Act to be dismissed with prejudice. Defines a "qualified product" as any fuel or fuel additive that is registered under federal law or any transportation fuel or fuel additive that contains renewable fuel and that is designated for introduction into interstate commerce under federal law, any component thereof, or any blend stock.

Prohibits a qualified productfrom being considered a defective product if it does not violate a control or prohibition with respect to any of its characteristics or components imposed by the Administrator under the Clean Air Act.

Date: 2013-03-15
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Environmental protection
Big Oil Welfare Repeal Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to eliminate the tax deduction for income attributable to domestic production activities for major integrated oil companies (companies that have an average daily worldwide production of crude oil of at least 500,000 barrels for a taxable year and gross receipts exceeding $1 billion for their last taxable year ending during 2005).

Date: 2013-04-09
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Taxation
Amends the Children's Gasoline Burn Prevention Act to require each portable fuel container manufactured for sale in the United States and intended for use by consumers to conform to American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) International standard specifications for: (1) child resistance of portable fuel containers for consumer use; (2) cautionary labeling of portable gasoline, kerosene, and diesel containers for consumer use; and (3) portable kerosene and diesel containers for consumer use. Considers such standards to be a consumer product safety rule issued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

Requires ASTM International to notify CPSC of any proposed revision to applicable standards. Requires the proposed revision to be incorporated in the consumer product safety rule unless CPSC notifies ASTM International that such revision does not carry out the purposes of this Act.

Date: 2013-04-10
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Commerce
RFS Reform Act of 2013 - Amends the Clean Air Act to revise the renewable fuel program. Requires "renewable fuel," beginning on January 1, 2014, to be advanced biofuel.

Revises the renewable fuel standards by: (1) decreasing the volume of renewable fuel that is required to be contained in gasoline sold or introduced into commerce in the United States in 2014 through 2022; and (2) eliminating the separate advanced biofuel volume requirements for those years.

Requires the Administrator of the Energy Information Administration, in estimating the projected volume of cellulosic biofuel production in the next year, to determine for each cellulosic biofuel production facility: (1) the average monthly volume of biofuel produced by such facility based on the actual volume produced through October 31 of the current year, and (2) the estimated annualized volume of biofuel production for such facility for the current year. Requires the estimate of cellulosic biofuel projected to be sold or introduced into commerce in the following year to equal the total of the estimated annual volumes of cellulosic biofuel production for all such facilities.

Requires (currently, authorizes) the Administrator, in any year in which the Administrator reduces the applicable volume of cellulosic biofuel required in gasoline, to also reduce the applicable volume of renewable fuel and advanced biofuels required by the same (currently, by the same or a lesser) volume.

Prohibits the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from allowing the introduction into commerce of gasoline containing greater than 10-volume-percent ethanol. Nullifies waivers from requirements for new fuels and fuel additives that were granted before this Act's enactment and that allow the introduction of such gasoline for use in motor vehicles.

Nullifies portions of the rule entitled, "Regulation to Mitigate the Misfueling of Vehicles and Engines with Gasoline Containing Greater Than Ten Volume Percent Ethanol and Modifications to the Reformulated and Conventional Gasoline Programs."

Date: 2013-04-10
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Energy
Energy Infrastructure Improvement Act - Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior (or the Secretary of Agriculture, as appropriate for administrative jurisdiction over the federal lands involved) to issue permits for rights-of-way, temporary easements, or other necessary authorizations to allow a permittee to construct, operate, maintain, expand, or modify a natural gas, oil, or petroleum products pipeline and related facilities on eligible federal lands.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) charge fees for such permits, (2) determine the initial fixed term for a permit, and (3) renew any right-of-way issued under this Act if the pipeline and its related facility is in commercial operation and operated and maintained in accordance with this Act.

Grants the Secretary enforcement and modification powers, including fines and suspension or termination of rights-of-way.

Date: 2013-04-16
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Energy
Offshore Oil and Gas Worker Whistleblower Protection Act of 2013 - Prohibits an employer from discharging, discriminating, or engaging in retaliatory actions against specified employees who report to a government official any violation or unsafe condition under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.

Sets forth procedures for the filing, investigation, and adjudication of a complaint regarding such retaliation.

Requires employers to: (1) post a notice approved by the Secretary of Labor explaining employee rights and remedies under this Act in a conspicuous location in the place of employment where employees frequent; (2) provide training to employees about their rights under this Act within 30 days of employment, and at least once every 12 months thereafter; and (3) provide employees with a card containing a toll free telephone number at the Department of Labor to get information or file a complaint under this Act.

Directs the Secretary of Labor, within 30 days after enactment of this Act, to designate agency officials to receive, investigate, and adjudicate complaints concerning violations under this Act.

Date: 2013-04-18
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Labor and employment
Mobile Mammography Promotion Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt from the motor fuel excise tax fuel used in any highway vehicle designed exclusively to provide mobile mammography services.

Date: 2013-04-24
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Taxation
Big Oil Bailout Prevention Act of 2013 - Amends the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to remove the limit on liability (currently, the total of all removal costs plus $75 million) of a party responsible for an offshore facility except a deepwater port, from which oil is discharged into or upon navigable waters or adjoining shorelines.

Date: 2013-04-25
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Environmental protection
Virginia Jobs and Energy Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) to: (1) conduct lease sale 220 within one year after enactment of this Act, and (2) include at least one lease sale in the Virginia lease sale planning area in each five-year oil and gas leasing program that applies after the current leasing program.

Prohibits any oil or natural gas exploration, development, or production off the Virginia coast that would conflict with an military operation. Directs the Secretary and the Secretary of Defense (DOD) periodically to review and revise a specified Memorandum of Agreement concerning such operations to account for new offshore energy production technologies, including those using wind energy. Allocates 37.5% of new leasing revenues received by the United States each fiscal year under any lease issued under this Act for payment to Delaware, North Carolina, Maryland, and Virginia (Mid-Atlantic states) affected with respect to the leases under which those revenues are received by the United States. Sets forth a payments allocation schedule for Mid-Atlantic States within 200 miles of the leased tract. Exempts from environmental impact statement requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) any project determined by the Secretary to be an offshore meteorological site testing and monitoring project.

Defines such a project as one administered by the Department of the Interior and carried out on or in the waters of the Outer Continental Shelf 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 the project (including hazards to navigation), (2) is decommissioned within five years of its commencement, and (3) provides meteorological information to the Secretary.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) require that any applicant seeking to conduct such a project obtain a permit and right of way; (2) determine, within 30 days after receiving an application, whether to issue such a permit and right of way; (3) provide an opportunity for public comment; (4) consult with DOD, the Commandant of the Coast Guard, and the heads of other federal, state, and local agencies affected by issuance of the permit and right of way; and (5) provide an applicant the opportunity to remedy deficiencies in an application that was denied.

Date: 2013-04-26
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Secure All Facilities to Effectively Guard the United States Against and Respond to Dangerous Spills Act of 2013 or the SAFEGUARDS Act of 2013 - Amends the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to: (1) prohibit the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) from issuing a permit or other authorization for exploration for or production of oil or gas under a lease under such Act unless an oil spill response plan for the operations of the facility on which the activity is conducted has been approved by the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating as meeting requirements for such a plan under the National Response System of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act); (2) require the Secretary to approve an oil and gas exploration plan within 90 (currently 30) days of submission, with a 60-day extension authorized if the Secretary certifies that it's necessary to allow adequate consideration of the plan; and (3) prohibit an exploration plan from being eligible for a categorical exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA).

Amends the Clean Water Act to require: (1) the President to issue regulations to require owners or operators of offshore facilities to have their plans for responding to a worst case discharge of oil or a hazardous substance approved by the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating; and (2) such worst case plans of owners and operators of tank vessels, nontank vessels, offshore facilities, or onshore facilities to include plans for responding to uncontrolled or uncontained discharges from wells.

Requires the National Contingency Plan for removal of oil and hazardous substances to: (1) include water quality monitoring by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of waters affected by discharges of oil or other hazardous substances that begins not later than 48 hours after such a discharge is reported; (2) include designation of the Commandant of the Coast Guard as the National Incident Commander for activities in response to a discharge that results in a substantial threat to the public health or welfare of the United States if such a discharge affects waters with respect to which the Coast Guard is responsible for response efforts under the Plan; and (3) be updated by the President every five years, including separate response plans for discharges of oil or other hazardous materials into or upon land and water.

Date: 2013-04-26
Topic: Energy (Natural Gas & Oil)
Subject: Energy