| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 118THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 1067 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to clarify the effect of a pending civil |
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| 6 | 6 | | action on the processing of an application for a permit to drill, to |
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| 7 | 7 | | require courts to remand lease sale Environmental Impact Statements |
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| 8 | 8 | | to agencies to remedy when necessary, and to establish a term limit |
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| 9 | 9 | | for permits to drill. |
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| 10 | 10 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 11 | 11 | | FEBRUARY17, 2023 |
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| 12 | 12 | | Mrs. B |
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| 13 | 13 | | OEBERT(for herself, Mr. NEHLS, Mr. OGLES, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. |
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| 14 | 14 | | B |
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| 15 | 15 | | URLISON, Mr. TIFFANY, Mr. STAUBER, and Mr. MOOREof Alabama) |
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| 16 | 16 | | introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on |
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| 17 | 17 | | Natural Resources |
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| 18 | 18 | | A BILL |
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| 19 | 19 | | To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to clarify the effect |
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| 20 | 20 | | of a pending civil action on the processing of an applica- |
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| 21 | 21 | | tion for a permit to drill, to require courts to remand |
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| 22 | 22 | | lease sale Environmental Impact Statements to agencies |
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| 23 | 23 | | to remedy when necessary, and to establish a term limit |
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| 24 | 24 | | for permits to drill. |
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| 25 | 25 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 26 | 26 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 27 | 27 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 28 | 28 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Energy 4 |
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| 29 | 29 | | Act’’. 5 |
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| 30 | 30 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:31 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1067.IH H1067 |
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| 31 | 31 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 |
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| 32 | 32 | | •HR 1067 IH |
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| 33 | 33 | | SEC. 2. PROCESSING APPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO 1 |
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| 34 | 34 | | DRILL. 2 |
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| 35 | 35 | | (a) E |
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| 36 | 36 | | FFECT OFPENDINGCIVILACTIONS.—Section 3 |
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| 37 | 37 | | 17(p) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(p)) is 4 |
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| 38 | 38 | | amended by adding at the end the following: 5 |
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| 39 | 39 | | ‘‘(4) E |
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| 40 | 40 | | FFECT OF PENDING CIVIL ACTION ON 6 |
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| 41 | 41 | | PROCESSING APPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO 7 |
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| 42 | 42 | | DRILL.—Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 8 |
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| 43 | 43 | | (2), notwithstanding the existence of any pending 9 |
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| 44 | 44 | | civil actions affecting the application or related 10 |
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| 45 | 45 | | lease, the Secretary shall process an application for 11 |
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| 46 | 46 | | a permit to drill or other authorizations or approvals 12 |
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| 47 | 47 | | under a valid existing lease, unless a United States 13 |
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| 48 | 48 | | Federal court vacated such lease. Nothing in this 14 |
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| 49 | 49 | | paragraph shall be construed as providing authority 15 |
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| 50 | 50 | | to a Federal court to vacate a lease.’’. 16 |
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| 51 | 51 | | (b) T |
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| 52 | 52 | | ERM OFPERMITTODRILL.—Section 17 of the 17 |
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| 53 | 53 | | Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) is further amended 18 |
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| 54 | 54 | | by adding at the end the following: 19 |
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| 55 | 55 | | ‘‘(t) T |
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| 56 | 56 | | ERM OFPERMITTODRILL.—A permit to drill 20 |
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| 57 | 57 | | issued under this section after the date of the enactment 21 |
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| 58 | 58 | | of this subsection shall be valid for one four-year term 22 |
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| 59 | 59 | | from the date that the permit is approved, or until the 23 |
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| 60 | 60 | | lease regarding which the permit is issued expires, which-24 |
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| 61 | 61 | | ever occurs first.’’. 25 |
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| 62 | 62 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 |
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| 63 | 63 | | •HR 1067 IH |
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| 64 | 64 | | SEC. 3. LEASE SALE LITIGATION. 1 |
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| 65 | 65 | | (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any 2 |
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| 66 | 66 | | oil and gas lease sale held under section 17 of the Mineral 3 |
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| 67 | 67 | | Leasing Act (26 U.S.C. 226) or the Outer Continental 4 |
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| 68 | 68 | | Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) shall not be 5 |
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| 69 | 69 | | vacated and activities on leases awarded in the sale shall 6 |
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| 70 | 70 | | not be otherwise limited, delayed, or enjoined unless the 7 |
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| 71 | 71 | | court concludes allowing the development of the challenged 8 |
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| 72 | 72 | | lease will pose a risk of an imminent and substantial envi-9 |
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| 73 | 73 | | ronmental harm and there is no other equitable remedy 10 |
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| 74 | 74 | | available as a matter of law. 11 |
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| 75 | 75 | | (b) No court, in response to an action brought pursu-12 |
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| 76 | 76 | | ant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 13 |
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| 77 | 77 | | U.S.C. et seq.), may enjoin or issue any order preventing 14 |
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| 78 | 78 | | the award of leases to a bidder in a lease sale conducted 15 |
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| 79 | 79 | | pursuant to section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (26 16 |
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| 80 | 80 | | U.S.C. 226) or the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 17 |
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| 81 | 81 | | U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) if the Department of the Interior 18 |
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| 82 | 82 | | has previously opened bids for such leases or disclosed the 19 |
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| 83 | 83 | | high bidder for any tract that was included in such lease 20 |
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| 84 | 84 | | sale. 21 |
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| 85 | 85 | | Æ |
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| 86 | 86 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:31 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1067.IH H1067 |
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| 87 | 87 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS |
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