I
118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1067
To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to clarify the effect of a pending civil
action on the processing of an application for a permit to drill, to
require courts to remand lease sale Environmental Impact Statements
to agencies to remedy when necessary, and to establish a term limit
for permits to drill.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY17, 2023
Mrs. B
OEBERT(for herself, Mr. NEHLS, Mr. OGLES, Mr. GOSAR, Mr.
B
URLISON, Mr. TIFFANY, Mr. STAUBER, and Mr. MOOREof Alabama)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Natural Resources
A BILL
To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to clarify the effect
of a pending civil action on the processing of an applica-
tion for a permit to drill, to require courts to remand
lease sale Environmental Impact Statements to agencies
to remedy when necessary, and to establish a term limit
for permits to drill.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Energy 4
Act’’. 5
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•HR 1067 IH
SEC. 2. PROCESSING APPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO 1
DRILL. 2
(a) E
FFECT OFPENDINGCIVILACTIONS.—Section 3
17(p) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(p)) is 4
amended by adding at the end the following: 5
‘‘(4) E
FFECT OF PENDING CIVIL ACTION ON 6
PROCESSING APPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO 7
DRILL.—Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 8
(2), notwithstanding the existence of any pending 9
civil actions affecting the application or related 10
lease, the Secretary shall process an application for 11
a permit to drill or other authorizations or approvals 12
under a valid existing lease, unless a United States 13
Federal court vacated such lease. Nothing in this 14
paragraph shall be construed as providing authority 15
to a Federal court to vacate a lease.’’. 16
(b) T
ERM OFPERMITTODRILL.—Section 17 of the 17
Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) is further amended 18
by adding at the end the following: 19
‘‘(t) T
ERM OFPERMITTODRILL.—A permit to drill 20
issued under this section after the date of the enactment 21
of this subsection shall be valid for one four-year term 22
from the date that the permit is approved, or until the 23
lease regarding which the permit is issued expires, which-24
ever occurs first.’’. 25
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SEC. 3. LEASE SALE LITIGATION. 1
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any 2
oil and gas lease sale held under section 17 of the Mineral 3
Leasing Act (26 U.S.C. 226) or the Outer Continental 4
Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) shall not be 5
vacated and activities on leases awarded in the sale shall 6
not be otherwise limited, delayed, or enjoined unless the 7
court concludes allowing the development of the challenged 8
lease will pose a risk of an imminent and substantial envi-9
ronmental harm and there is no other equitable remedy 10
available as a matter of law. 11
(b) No court, in response to an action brought pursu-12
ant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 13
U.S.C. et seq.), may enjoin or issue any order preventing 14
the award of leases to a bidder in a lease sale conducted 15
pursuant to section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (26 16
U.S.C. 226) or the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 17
U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) if the Department of the Interior 18
has previously opened bids for such leases or disclosed the 19
high bidder for any tract that was included in such lease 20
sale. 21
Æ
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