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Us Congress House Bill HB1335

Us Congress 2023-2024 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB1335 Compare Versions

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1-IB
2-Union Calendar No. 18
1+I
32 118THCONGRESS
43 1
54 STSESSION H. R. 1335
6-[Report No. 118–28, Part I]
75 To restart onshore and offshore oil, gas, and coal leasing, streamline permit-
86 ting for energy infrastructure, ensure transparency in energy development
97 on Federal lands, and for other purposes.
108 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
119 MARCH3, 2023
1210 Mr. W
1311 ESTERMAN(for himself, Mr. GRAVESof Louisiana, and Mr. STAUBER)
1412 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
1513 Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture,
1614 and the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
1715 Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within
1816 the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
19-M
20-ARCH23, 2023
21-Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with an amendment
22-[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
23-MARCH23, 2023
24-Committees on Agriculture and the Budget discharged; committed to the Com-
25-mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be
26-printed
27-[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 3, 2023]
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30-•HR 1335 RH
3117 A BILL
3218 To restart onshore and offshore oil, gas, and coal leasing,
3319 streamline permitting for energy infrastructure, ensure
3420 transparency in energy development on Federal lands,
3521 and for other purposes.
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39-Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
40-tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
22+Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
23+tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
4124 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3
42-(a) S
43-HORTTITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4
44-‘‘Transparency, Accountability, Permitting, and Produc-5
45-tion of American Resources Act’’ or the ‘‘TAPP American 6
46-Resources Act’’. 7
47-(b) T
48-ABLE OFCONTENTS.—The table of contents for 8
49-this Act is as follows: 9
50-Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
51-TITLE I—ONSHORE AND OFFSHORE LEASING AND OVERSIGHT 
52-Sec. 101. Onshore oil and gas leasing. 
53-Sec. 102. Lease reinstatement. 
54-Sec. 103. Protested lease sales. 
55-Sec. 104. Suspension of operations. 
56-Sec. 105. Administrative protest process reform. 
57-Sec. 106. Leasing and permitting transparency. 
58-Sec. 107. Offshore oil and gas leasing. 
59-Sec. 108. Five-year plan for offshore oil and gas leasing. 
60-Sec. 109. Geothermal leasing. 
61-Sec. 110. Leasing for certain qualified coal applications. 
62-Sec. 111. Future coal leasing. 
63-Sec. 112. Staff planning report. 
64-Sec. 113. Prohibition on Chinese communist party ownership interest. 
65-Sec. 114. Effect on other law. 
66-TITLE II—PERMITTING STREAMLINING 
67-Sec. 201. Definitions. 
68-Sec. 202. BUILDER Act. 
69-Sec. 203. Codification of National Environmental Policy Act regulations. 
70-Sec. 204. Non-major Federal actions. 
71-Sec. 205. No net loss determination for existing rights-of-way. 
72-Sec. 206. Determination of National Environmental Policy Act adequacy. 
73-Sec. 207. Determination regarding rights-of-way. 
74-Sec. 208. Terms of rights-of-way. 
75-Sec. 209. Funding to process permits and develop information technology. 
76-Sec. 210. Offshore geological and geophysical survey licensing. 
77-Sec. 211. Deferral of applications for permits to drill. 
78-Sec. 212. Processing and terms of applications for permits to drill. 
79-Sec. 213. Amendments to the Energy Policy Act of 2005. 
80-Sec. 214. Access to Federal energy resources from non-Federal surface estate. 
81-Sec. 215. Scope of environmental reviews for oil and gas leases. 
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85-Sec. 216. Expediting approval of gathering lines. 
86-Sec. 217. Lease sale litigation. 
87-Sec. 218. Limitation on claims. 
88-Sec. 219. Government Accountability Office report on permits to drill. 
89-Sec. 220. E-NEPA. 
90-TITLE III—PERMITTING FOR MINING NEEDS 
91-Sec. 301. Definitions. 
92-Sec. 302. Minerals supply chain and reliability. 
93-Sec. 303. Federal register process improvement. 
94-Sec. 304. Designation of mining as a covered sector for Federal permitting im-
95-provement purposes. 
96-Sec. 305. Treatment of actions under presidential determination 2022–11 for 
97-Federal permitting improvement purposes. 
98-Sec. 306. Notice for mineral exploration activities with limited surface disturb-
99-ance. 
100-Sec. 307. Use of mining claims for ancillary activities. 
101-Sec. 308. Ensuring consideration of uranium as a critical mineral. 
102-Sec. 309. Barring foreign bad actors from operating on Federal lands. 
103-TITLE IV—FEDERAL LAND USE PLANNING 
104-Sec. 401. Federal land use planning and withdrawals. 
105-Sec. 402. Prohibitions on delay of mineral development of certain Federal land. 
106-Sec. 403. Definitions. 
107-TITLE V—ENSURING COMPETITIVENESS ON FEDERAL LANDS 
108-Sec. 501. Incentivizing domestic production. 
109-TITLE VI—ENERGY REVENUE SHARING 
110-Sec. 601. Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf revenue. 
111-Sec. 602. Parity in offshore wind revenue sharing. 
112-Sec. 603. Elimination of administrative fee under the Mineral Leasing Act. 
25+(a) S
26+HORTTITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4
27+‘‘Transparency, Accountability, Permitting, and Produc-5
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30+•HR 1335 IH
31+tion of American Resources Act’’ or the ‘‘TAPP American 1
32+Resources Act’’. 2
33+(b) T
34+ABLE OFCONTENTS.—The table of contents for 3
35+this Act is as follows: 4
36+Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
37+TITLE I—ONSHORE AND OFFSHORE LEASING AND OVERSIGHT
38+Sec. 101. Onshore oil and gas leasing.
39+Sec. 102. Lease reinstatement.
40+Sec. 103. Protested lease sales.
41+Sec. 104. Suspension of operations.
42+Sec. 105. Administrative protest process reform.
43+Sec. 106. Leasing and permitting transparency.
44+Sec. 107. Offshore oil and gas leasing.
45+Sec. 108. Five-year plan for offshore oil and gas leasing.
46+Sec. 109. Geothermal leasing.
47+Sec. 110. Leasing for certain qualified coal applications.
48+Sec. 111. Future coal leasing.
49+Sec. 112. Staff planning report.
50+TITLE II—PERMITTING STREAMLINING
51+Sec. 201. Definitions.
52+Sec. 202. BUILDER Act.
53+Sec. 203. Codification of National Environmental Policy Act regulations.
54+Sec. 204. Non-major Federal actions.
55+Sec. 205. No net loss determination for existing rights-of-way.
56+Sec. 206. Determination of National Environmental Policy Act adequacy.
57+Sec. 207. Determination regarding rights-of-way.
58+Sec. 208. Terms of rights-of-way.
59+Sec. 209. Funding to process permits and develop information technology.
60+Sec. 210. Offshore geological and geophysical survey licensing.
61+Sec. 211. Deferral of applications for permits to drill.
62+Sec. 212. Processing and terms of applications for permits to drill.
63+Sec. 213. Amendments to the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
64+Sec. 214. Access to Federal energy resources from non-Federal surface estate.
65+Sec. 215. Scope of environmental reviews for oil and gas leases.
66+Sec. 216. Expediting approval of gathering lines.
67+Sec. 217. Lease sale litigation.
68+Sec. 218. Limitation on claims.
69+Sec. 219. Government Accountability Office report on permits to drill.
70+TITLE III—PERMITTING FOR MINING NEEDS
71+Sec. 301. Definitions.
72+Sec. 302. Minerals supply chain and reliability.
73+Sec. 303. Federal register process improvement.
74+Sec. 304. Designation of mining as a covered sector for Federal permitting im-
75+provement purposes.
76+Sec. 305. Treatment of actions under presidential determination 2022–11 for
77+Federal permitting improvement purposes.
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81+Sec. 306. Notice for mineral exploration activities with limited surface disturb-
82+ance.
83+Sec. 307. Use of mining claims for ancillary activities.
84+Sec. 308. Ensuring consideration of uranium as a critical mineral.
85+TITLE IV—FEDERAL LAND USE PLANNING
86+Sec. 401. Federal land use planning and withdrawals.
87+Sec. 402. Prohibitions on delay of mineral development of certain Federal land.
88+Sec. 403. Definitions.
89+TITLE V—ENSURING COMPETITIVENESS ON FEDERAL LANDS
90+Sec. 501. Incentivizing domestic production.
91+TITLE VI—ENERGY REVENUE SHARING
92+Sec. 601. Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf revenue.
93+Sec. 602. Parity in offshore wind revenue sharing.
94+Sec. 603. Elimination of administrative fee under the Mineral Leasing Act.
11395 TITLE I—ONSHORE AND OFF-1
11496 SHORE LEASING AND OVER-2
11597 SIGHT 3
11698 SEC. 101. ONSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASING. 4
117-(a) R
99+(a) R
118100 EQUIREMENTTOIMMEDIATELYRESUMEON-5
119-SHOREOIL ANDGASLEASESALES.— 6
120-(1) I
121-N GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior 7
122-shall immediately resume quarterly onshore oil and 8
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126-gas lease sales in compliance with the Mineral Leas-1
127-ing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.). 2
128-(2) R
129-EQUIREMENT.—The Secretary of the Inte-3
130-rior shall ensure— 4
131-(A) that any oil and gas lease sale pursuant 5
132-to paragraph (1) is conducted immediately on 6
133-completion of all applicable scoping, public com-7
134-ment, and environmental analysis requirements 8
135-under the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et 9
136-seq.) and the National Environmental Policy Act 10
137-of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); and 11
138-(B) that the processes described in subpara-12
139-graph (A) are conducted in a timely manner to 13
140-ensure compliance with subsection (b)(1). 14
141-(3) L
142-EASE OF OIL AND GAS LANDS .—Section 15
143-17(b)(1)(A) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 16
144-226(b)(1)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘Eligible lands 17
145-comprise all lands subject to leasing under this Act 18
146-and not excluded from leasing by a statutory or regu-19
147-latory prohibition. Available lands are those lands 20
148-that have been designated as open for leasing under 21
149-a land use plan developed under section 202 of the 22
150-Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 23
151-and that have been nominated for leasing through the 24
152-submission of an expression of interest, are subject to 25
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156-drainage in the absence of leasing, or are otherwise 1
157-designated as available pursuant to regulations 2
158-adopted by the Secretary.’’ after ‘‘sales are nec-3
159-essary.’’. 4
160-(b) Q
161-UARTERLYLEASESALES.— 5
162-(1) I
163-N GENERAL.—In accordance with the Min-6
164-eral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.), each fiscal 7
165-year, the Secretary of the Interior shall conduct a 8
166-minimum of four oil and gas lease sales in each of 9
167-the following States: 10
168-(A) Wyoming. 11
169-(B) New Mexico. 12
170-(C) Colorado. 13
171-(D) Utah. 14
172-(E) Montana. 15
173-(F) North Dakota. 16
174-(G) Oklahoma. 17
175-(H) Nevada. 18
176-(I) Alaska. 19
177-(J) Any other State in which there is land 20
178-available for oil and gas leasing under the Min-21
179-eral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) or any 22
180-other mineral leasing law. 23
181-(2) R
182-EQUIREMENT.—In conducting a lease sale 24
183-under paragraph (1) in a State described in that 25
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187-paragraph, the Secretary of the Interior shall offer all 1
188-parcels nominated and eligible pursuant to the re-2
189-quirements of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 3
190-et seq.) for oil and gas exploration, development, and 4
191-production under the resource management plan in 5
192-effect for the State. 6
193-(3) R
194-EPLACEMENT SALES.—The Secretary of the 7
195-Interior shall conduct a replacement sale during the 8
196-same fiscal year if— 9
197-(A) a lease sale under paragraph (1) is can-10
198-celed, delayed, or deferred, including for a lack 11
199-of eligible parcels; or 12
200-(B) during a lease sale under paragraph (1) 13
201-the percentage of acreage that does not receive a 14
202-bid is equal to or greater than 25 percent of the 15
203-acreage offered. 16
204-(4) N
205-OTICE REGARDING MISSED SALES .—Not 17
206-later than 30 days after a sale required under this 18
207-subsection is canceled, delayed, deferred, or otherwise 19
208-missed the Secretary of the Interior shall submit to 20
209-the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of 21
210-Representatives and the Committee on Energy and 22
211-Natural Resources of the Senate a report that states 23
212-what sale was missed and why it was missed. 24
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216-SEC. 102. LEASE REINSTATEMENT. 1
217-The reinstatement of a lease entered into under the 2
218-Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) or the Geo-3
219-thermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) by the 4
220-Secretary shall be not considered a major Federal action 5
221-under section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Pol-6
222-icy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)). 7
223-SEC. 103. PROTESTED LEASE SALES. 8
224-Section 17(b)(1)(A) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 9
225-U.S.C. 226(b)(1)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘The Sec-10
226-retary shall resolve any protest to a lease sale not later than 11
227-60 days after such payment.’’ after ‘‘annual rental for the 12
228-first lease year.’’. 13
229-SEC. 104. SUSPENSION OF OPERATIONS. 14
230-Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) 15
231-is amended by adding at the end the following: 16
232-‘‘(r) S
233-USPENSION OFOPERATIONSPERMITS.—In the 17
234-event that an oil and gas lease owner has submitted an ex-18
235-pression of interest for adjacent acreage that is part of the 19
236-nature of the geological play and has yet to be offered in 20
237-a lease sale by the Secretary, they may request a suspension 21
238-of operations from the Secretary of the Interior and upon 22
239-request, the Secretary shall grant the suspension of oper-23
240-ations within 15 days. Any payment of acreage rental or 24
241-of minimum royalty prescribed by such lease likewise shall 25
242-be suspended during such period of suspension of operations 26
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246-and production; and the term of such lease shall be extended 1
247-by adding any such suspension period thereto.’’. 2
248-SEC. 105. ADMINISTRATIVE PROTEST PROCESS REFORM. 3
249-Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) 4
250-is further amended by adding at the end the following: 5
251-‘‘(s) P
252-ROTESTFILINGFEE.— 6
253-‘‘(1) I
254-N GENERAL.—Before processing any pro-7
255-test filed under this section, the Secretary shall collect 8
256-a filing fee in the amount described in paragraph (2) 9
257-from the protestor to recover the cost for processing 10
258-documents filed for each administrative protest. 11
259-‘‘(2) A
260-MOUNT.—The amount described in this 12
261-paragraph is calculated as follows: 13
262-‘‘(A) For each protest filed in a submission 14
263-not exceeding 10 pages in length, the base filing 15
264-fee shall be $150. 16
265-‘‘(B) For each submission exceeding 10 17
266-pages in length, in addition to the base filing fee, 18
267-an assessment of $5 per page in excess of 10 19
268-pages shall apply. 20
269-‘‘(C) For protests that include more than 21
270-one oil and gas lease parcel, right-of-way, or ap-22
271-plication for permit to drill in a submission, an 23
272-additional assessment of $10 per additional lease 24
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276-parcel, right-of-way, or application for permit to 1
277-drill shall apply. 2
278-‘‘(3) A
279-DJUSTMENT.— 3
280-‘‘(A) I
281-N GENERAL.—Beginning on January 4
282-1, 2024, and annually thereafter, the Secretary 5
283-shall adjust the filing fees established in this sub-6
284-section to whole dollar amounts to reflect changes 7
285-in the Producer Price Index, as published by the 8
286-Bureau of Labor Statistics, for the previous 12 9
287-months. 10
288-‘‘(B) P
289-UBLICATION OF ADJUSTED FILING  11
290-FEES.—At least 30 days before the filing fees as 12
291-adjusted under this paragraph take effect, the 13
292-Secretary shall publish notification of the adjust-14
293-ment of such fees in the Federal Register.’’. 15
294-SEC. 106. LEASING AND PERMITTING TRANSPARENCY. 16
295-(a) R
296-EPORT.—Not later than 30 days after the date 17
297-of the enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, 18
298-the Secretary of the Interior shall submit to the Committee 19
299-on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and 20
300-the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Sen-21
301-ate a report that describes— 22
302-(1) the status of nominated parcels for future on-23
303-shore oil and gas and geothermal lease sales, includ-24
304-ing— 25
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308-(A) the number of expressions of interest re-1
309-ceived each month during the period of 365 days 2
310-that ends on the date on which the report is sub-3
311-mitted with respect to which the Bureau of Land 4
312-Management— 5
313-(i) has not taken any action to review; 6
314-(ii) has not completed review; or 7
315-(iii) has completed review and deter-8
316-mined that the relevant area meets all ap-9
317-plicable requirements for leasing, but has 10
318-not offered the relevant area in a lease sale; 11
319-(B) how long expressions of interest de-12
320-scribed in subparagraph (A) have been pending; 13
321-and 14
322-(C) a plan, including timelines, for how the 15
323-Secretary of the Interior plans to— 16
324-(i) work through future expressions of 17
325-interest to prevent delays; 18
326-(ii) put expressions of interest de-19
327-scribed in subparagraph (A) into a lease 20
328-sale; and 21
329-(iii) complete review for expressions of 22
330-interest described in clauses (i) and (ii) of 23
331-subparagraph (A); 24
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334-•HR 1335 RH
335-(2) the status of each pending application for 1
336-permit to drill received during the period of 365 days 2
337-that ends on the date on which the report is sub-3
338-mitted, including the number of applications received 4
339-each month, by each Bureau of Land Management of-5
340-fice, including— 6
341-(A) a description of the cause of delay for 7
342-pending applications, including as a result of 8
343-staffing shortages, technical limitations, incom-9
344-plete applications, and incomplete review pursu-10
345-ant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 11
346-1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) or other applicable 12
347-laws; 13
348-(B) the number of days an application has 14
349-been pending in violation of section 17(p)(2) of 15
350-the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(p)(2)); 16
351-and 17
352-(C) a plan for how the office intends to 18
353-come into compliance with the requirements of 19
354-section 17(p)(2) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 20
355-U.S.C. 226(p)(2)); 21
356-(3) the number of permits to drill issued each 22
357-month by each Bureau of Land Management office 23
358-during the 5-year period ending on the date on which 24
359-the report is submitted; 25
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362-•HR 1335 RH
363-(4) the status of each pending application for a 1
364-license for offshore geological and geophysical surveys 2
365-received during the period of 365 days that ends on 3
366-the date on which the report is submitted, including 4
367-the number of applications received each month, by 5
368-each Bureau of Ocean Energy management regional 6
369-office, including— 7
370-(A) a description of any cause of delay for 8
371-pending applications, including as a result of 9
372-staffing shortages, technical limitations, incom-10
373-plete applications, and incomplete review pursu-11
374-ant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 12
375-1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) or other applicable 13
376-laws; 14
377-(B) the number of days an application has 15
378-been pending; and 16
379-(C) a plan for how the Bureau of Ocean 17
380-Energy Management intends to complete review 18
381-of each application; 19
382-(5) the number of licenses for offshore geological 20
383-and geophysical surveys issued each month by each 21
384-Bureau of Ocean Energy Management regional office 22
385-during the 5-year period ending on the date on which 23
386-the report is submitted; 24
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389-•HR 1335 RH
390-(6) the status of each pending application for a 1
391-permit to drill received during the period of 365 days 2
392-that ends on the date on which the report is sub-3
393-mitted, including the number of applications received 4
394-each month, by each Bureau of Safety and Environ-5
395-mental Enforcement regional office, including— 6
396-(A) a description of any cause of delay for 7
397-pending applications, including as a result of 8
398-staffing shortages, technical limitations, incom-9
399-plete applications, and incomplete review pursu-10
400-ant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 11
401-1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) or other applicable 12
402-laws; 13
403-(B) the number of days an application has 14
404-been pending; and 15
405-(C) steps the Bureau of Safety and Envi-16
406-ronmental Enforcement is taking to complete re-17
407-view of each application; 18
408-(7) the number of permits to drill issued each 19
409-month by each Bureau of Safety and Environmental 20
410-Enforcement regional office during the period of 365 21
411-days that ends on the date on which the report is sub-22
412-mitted; 23
413-(8) how, as applicable, the Bureau of Land Man-24
414-agement, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, 25
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417-•HR 1335 RH
418-and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental En-1
419-forcement determines whether to— 2
420-(A) issue a license for geological and geo-3
421-physical surveys; 4
422-(B) issue a permit to drill; and 5
423-(C) issue, extend, or suspend an oil and gas 6
424-lease; 7
425-(9) when determinations described in paragraph 8
426-(8) are sent to the national office of the Bureau of 9
427-Land Management, the Bureau of Ocean Energy 10
428-Management, or the Bureau of Safety and Environ-11
429-mental Enforcement for final approval; 12
430-(10) the degree to which Bureau of Land Man-13
431-agement, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and 14
432-Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement 15
433-field, State, and regional offices exercise discretion on 16
434-such final approval; 17
435-(11) during the period of 365 days that ends on 18
436-the date on which the report is submitted, the number 19
437-of auctioned leases receiving accepted bids that have 20
438-not been issued to winning bidders and the number 21
439-of days such leases have not been issued; and 22
440-(12) a description of the uses of application for 23
441-permit to drill fees paid by permit holders during the 24
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444-•HR 1335 RH
445-5-year period ending on the date on which the report 1
446-is submitted. 2
447-(b) P
448-ENDINGAPPLICATIONS FOR PERMITSTO 3
101+SHOREOIL ANDGASLEASESALES.— 6
102+(1) I
103+N GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte-7
104+rior shall immediately resume quarterly onshore oil 8
105+and gas lease sales in compliance with the Mineral 9
106+Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.). 10
107+(2) R
108+EQUIREMENT.—The Secretary of the Inte-11
109+rior shall ensure— 12
110+(A) that any oil and gas lease sale pursu-13
111+ant to paragraph (1) is conducted immediately 14
112+on completion of all applicable scoping, public 15
113+comment, and environmental analysis require-16
114+ments under the Mineral Leasing Act (30 17
115+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
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117+•HR 1335 IH
118+U.S.C. 181 et seq.) and the National Environ-1
119+mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 2
120+seq.); and 3
121+(B) that the processes described in sub-4
122+paragraph (A) are conducted in a timely man-5
123+ner to ensure compliance with subsection (b)(1). 6
124+(3) L
125+EASE OF OIL AND GAS LANDS .—Section 7
126+17(b)(1)(A) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 8
127+226(b)(1)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘Eligible 9
128+lands comprise all lands subject to leasing under this 10
129+Act and not excluded from leasing by a statutory or 11
130+regulatory prohibition. Available lands are those 12
131+lands that have been designated as open for leasing 13
132+under a land use plan developed under section 202 14
133+of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 15
134+1976 and that have been nominated for leasing 16
135+through the submission of an expression of interest, 17
136+are subject to drainage in the absence of leasing, or 18
137+are otherwise designated as available pursuant to 19
138+regulations adopted by the Secretary.’’ after ‘‘sales 20
139+are necessary.’’. 21
140+(b) Q
141+UARTERLYLEASESALES.— 22
142+(1) I
143+N GENERAL.—In accordance with the Min-23
144+eral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.), each fiscal 24
145+year, the Secretary of the Interior shall conduct a 25
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147+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5
148+•HR 1335 IH
149+minimum of four oil and gas lease sales in each of 1
150+the following States: 2
151+(A) Wyoming. 3
152+(B) New Mexico. 4
153+(C) Colorado. 5
154+(D) Utah. 6
155+(E) Montana. 7
156+(F) North Dakota. 8
157+(G) Oklahoma. 9
158+(H) Nevada. 10
159+(I) Alaska. 11
160+(J) Any other State in which there is land 12
161+available for oil and gas leasing under the Min-13
162+eral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) or any 14
163+other mineral leasing law. 15
164+(2) R
165+EQUIREMENT.—In conducting a lease sale 16
166+under paragraph (1) in a State described in that 17
167+paragraph, the Secretary of the Interior shall offer 18
168+all parcels nominated and eligible pursuant to the 19
169+requirements of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 20
170+181 et seq.) for oil and gas exploration, develop-21
171+ment, and production under the resource manage-22
172+ment plan in effect for the State. 23
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175+•HR 1335 IH
176+(3) REPLACEMENT SALES .—The Secretary of 1
177+the Interior shall conduct a replacement sale during 2
178+the same fiscal year if— 3
179+(A) a lease sale under paragraph (1) is 4
180+canceled, delayed, or deferred, including for a 5
181+lack of eligible parcels; or 6
182+(B) during a lease sale under paragraph 7
183+(1) the percentage of acreage that does not re-8
184+ceive a bid is equal to or greater than 25 per-9
185+cent of the acreage offered. 10
186+(4) N
187+OTICE REGARDING MISSED SALES .—Not 11
188+later than 30 days after a sale required under this 12
189+subsection is canceled, delayed, deferred, or other-13
190+wise missed the Secretary of the Interior shall sub-14
191+mit to the Committee on Natural Resources of the 15
192+House of Representatives and the Committee on En-16
193+ergy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report 17
194+that states what sale was missed and why it was 18
195+missed. 19
196+SEC. 102. LEASE REINSTATEMENT. 20
197+The reinstatement of a lease entered into under the 21
198+Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) or the Geo-22
199+thermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) by 23
200+the Secretary shall be not considered a major Federal ac-24
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203+•HR 1335 IH
204+tion under section 102(2)(C) of the National Environ-1
205+mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)). 2
206+SEC. 103. PROTESTED LEASE SALES. 3
207+Section 17(b)(1)(A) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 4
208+U.S.C. 226(b)(1)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘The Sec-5
209+retary shall resolve any protest to a lease sale not later 6
210+than 60 days after such payment.’’ after ‘‘annual rental 7
211+for the first lease year.’’. 8
212+SEC. 104. SUSPENSION OF OPERATIONS. 9
213+Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 10
214+226) is amended by adding at the end the following: 11
215+‘‘(r) S
216+USPENSION OFOPERATIONSPERMITS.—In the 12
217+event that an oil and gas lease owner has submitted an 13
218+expression of interest for adjacent acreage that is part of 14
219+the nature of the geological play and has yet to be offered 15
220+in a lease sale by the Secretary, they may request a sus-16
221+pension of operations from the Secretary of the Interior 17
222+and upon request, the Secretary shall grant the suspension 18
223+of operations within 15 days. Any payment of acreage 19
224+rental or of minimum royalty prescribed by such lease like-20
225+wise shall be suspended during such period of suspension 21
226+of operations and production; and the term of such lease 22
227+shall be extended by adding any such suspension period 23
228+thereto.’’. 24
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231+•HR 1335 IH
232+SEC. 105. ADMINISTRATIVE PROTEST PROCESS REFORM. 1
233+Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 2
234+226) is further amended by adding at the end the fol-3
235+lowing: 4
236+‘‘(s) P
237+ROTESTFILINGFEE.— 5
238+‘‘(1) I
239+N GENERAL.—Before processing any pro-6
240+test filed under this section, the Secretary shall col-7
241+lect a filing fee in the amount described in para-8
242+graph (2) from the protestor to recover the cost for 9
243+processing documents filed for each administrative 10
244+protest. 11
245+‘‘(2) A
246+MOUNT.—The amount described in this 12
247+paragraph is calculated as follows: 13
248+‘‘(A) For each protest filed in a submission 14
249+not exceeding 10 pages in length, the base filing 15
250+fee shall be $150. 16
251+‘‘(B) For each submission exceeding 10 17
252+pages in length, in addition to the base filing 18
253+fee, an assessment of $5 per page in excess of 19
254+10 pages shall apply. 20
255+‘‘(C) For protests that include more than 21
256+one oil and gas lease parcel, right-of-way, or ap-22
257+plication for permit to drill in a submission, an 23
258+additional assessment of $10 per additional 24
259+lease parcel, right-of-way, or application for 25
260+permit to drill shall apply. 26
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262+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9
263+•HR 1335 IH
264+‘‘(3) ADJUSTMENT.— 1
265+‘‘(A) I
266+N GENERAL.—Beginning on January 2
267+1, 2022, and annually thereafter, the Secretary 3
268+shall adjust the filing fees established in this 4
269+subsection to whole dollar amounts to reflect 5
270+changes in the Producer Price Index, as pub-6
271+lished by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, for 7
272+the previous 12 months. 8
273+‘‘(B) P
274+UBLICATION OF ADJUSTED FILING 9
275+FEES.—At least 30 days before the filing fees 10
276+as adjusted under this paragraph take effect, 11
277+the Secretary shall publish notification of the 12
278+adjustment of such fees in the Federal Reg-13
279+ister.’’. 14
280+SEC. 106. LEASING AND PERMITTING TRANSPARENCY. 15
281+(a) R
282+EPORT.—Not later than 30 days after the date 16
283+of the enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, 17
284+the Secretary of the Interior shall submit to the Com-18
285+mittee on Natural Resources of the House of Representa-19
286+tives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Re-20
287+sources of the Senate a report that describes— 21
288+(1) the status of nominated parcels for future 22
289+onshore oil and gas and geothermal lease sales, in-23
290+cluding— 24
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293+•HR 1335 IH
294+(A) the number of expressions of interest 1
295+received each month during the period of 365 2
296+days that ends on the date on which the report 3
297+is submitted with respect to which the Bureau 4
298+of Land Management— 5
299+(i) has not taken any action to review; 6
300+(ii) has not completed review; or 7
301+(iii) has completed review and deter-8
302+mined that the relevant area meets all ap-9
303+plicable requirements for leasing, but has 10
304+not offered the relevant area in a lease 11
305+sale; 12
306+(B) how long expressions of interest de-13
307+scribed in subparagraph (A) have been pending; 14
308+and 15
309+(C) a plan, including timelines, for how the 16
310+Secretary of the Interior plans to— 17
311+(i) work through future expressions of 18
312+interest to prevent delays; 19
313+(ii) put expressions of interest de-20
314+scribed in subparagraph (A) into a lease 21
315+sale; and 22
316+(iii) complete review for expressions of 23
317+interest described in clauses (i) and (ii) of 24
318+subparagraph (A); 25
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320+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11
321+•HR 1335 IH
322+(2) the status of each pending application for 1
323+permit to drill received during the period of 365 2
324+days that ends on the date on which the report is 3
325+submitted, including the number of applications re-4
326+ceived each month, by each Bureau of Land Man-5
327+agement office, including— 6
328+(A) a description of the cause of delay for 7
329+pending applications, including as a result of 8
330+staffing shortages, technical limitations, incom-9
331+plete applications, and incomplete review pursu-10
332+ant to the National Environmental Policy Act 11
333+of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) or other ap-12
334+plicable laws; 13
335+(B) the number of days an application has 14
336+been pending in violation of section 17(p)(2) of 15
337+the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(p)(2)); 16
338+and 17
339+(C) a plan for how the office intends to 18
340+come into compliance with the requirements of 19
341+section 17(p)(2) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 20
342+U.S.C. 226(p)(2)); 21
343+(3) the number of permits to drill issued each 22
344+month by each Bureau of Land Management office 23
345+during the 5-year period ending on the date on 24
346+which the report is submitted; 25
347+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
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349+•HR 1335 IH
350+(4) the status of each pending application for a 1
351+license for offshore geological and geophysical sur-2
352+veys received during the period of 365 days that 3
353+ends on the date on which the report is submitted, 4
354+including the number of applications received each 5
355+month, by each Bureau of Ocean Energy manage-6
356+ment regional office, including— 7
357+(A) a description of any cause of delay for 8
358+pending applications, including as a result of 9
359+staffing shortages, technical limitations, incom-10
360+plete applications, and incomplete review pursu-11
361+ant to the National Environmental Policy Act 12
362+of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) or other ap-13
363+plicable laws; 14
364+(B) the number of days an application has 15
365+been pending; and 16
366+(C) a plan for how the Bureau of Ocean 17
367+Energy Management intends to complete review 18
368+of each application; 19
369+(5) the number of licenses for offshore geologi-20
370+cal and geophysical surveys issued each month by 21
371+each Bureau of Ocean Energy Management regional 22
372+office during the 5-year period ending on the date on 23
373+which the report is submitted; 24
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376+•HR 1335 IH
377+(6) the status of each pending application for a 1
378+permit to drill received during the period of 365 2
379+days that ends on the date on which the report is 3
380+submitted, including the number of applications re-4
381+ceived each month, by each Bureau of Safety and 5
382+Environmental Enforcement regional office, includ-6
383+ing— 7
384+(A) a description of any cause of delay for 8
385+pending applications, including as a result of 9
386+staffing shortages, technical limitations, incom-10
387+plete applications, and incomplete review pursu-11
388+ant to the National Environmental Policy Act 12
389+of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) or other ap-13
390+plicable laws; 14
391+(B) the number of days an application has 15
392+been pending; and 16
393+(C) steps the Bureau of Safety and Envi-17
394+ronmental Enforcement is taking to complete 18
395+review of each application; 19
396+(7) the number of permits to drill issued each 20
397+month by each Bureau of Safety and Environmental 21
398+Enforcement regional office during the period of 365 22
399+days that ends on the date on which the report is 23
400+submitted; 24
401+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
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403+•HR 1335 IH
404+(8) how, as applicable, the Bureau of Land 1
405+Management, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Manage-2
406+ment, and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental 3
407+Enforcement determines whether to— 4
408+(A) issue a license for geological and geo-5
409+physical surveys; 6
410+(B) issue a permit to drill; and 7
411+(C) issue, extend, or suspend an oil and 8
412+gas lease; 9
413+(9) when determinations described in paragraph 10
414+(8) are sent to the national office of the Bureau of 11
415+Land Management, the Bureau of Ocean Energy 12
416+Management, or the Bureau of Safety and Environ-13
417+mental Enforcement for final approval; 14
418+(10) the degree to which Bureau of Land Man-15
419+agement, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, 16
420+and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforce-17
421+ment field, State, and regional offices exercise dis-18
422+cretion on such final approval; 19
423+(11) during the period of 365 days that ends on 20
424+the date on which the report is submitted, the num-21
425+ber of auctioned leases receiving accepted bids that 22
426+have not been issued to winning bidders and the 23
427+number of days such leases have not been issued; 24
428+and 25
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431+•HR 1335 IH
432+(12) a description of the uses of application for 1
433+permit to drill fees paid by permit holders during 2
434+the 5-year period ending on the date on which the 3
435+report is submitted. 4
436+(b) P
437+ENDINGAPPLICATIONS FOR PERMITSTO 5
449438 D
450-RILL.—Not later than 30 days after the date of the enact-4
451-ment of this section, the Secretary of the Interior shall— 5
452-(1) complete all requirements under the National 6
453-Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 7
454-seq.) and other applicable law that must be met before 8
455-issuance of a permit to drill described in paragraph 9
456-(2); and 10
457-(2) issue a permit for all completed applications 11
458-to drill that are pending on the date of the enactment 12
459-of this Act. 13
460-(c) P
461-UBLICAVAILABILITY OFDATA.— 14
462-(1) M
463-INERAL LEASING ACT.—Section 17 of the 15
464-Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) is further 16
465-amended by adding at the end the following: 17
466-‘‘(t) P
467-UBLICAVAILABILITY OFDATA.— 18
468-‘‘(1) E
469-XPRESSIONS OF INTEREST .—Not later 19
470-than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this 20
471-subsection, and each month thereafter, the Secretary 21
472-shall publish on the website of the Department of the 22
473-Interior the number of pending, approved, and not 23
474-approved expressions of interest in nominated parcels 24
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477-•HR 1335 RH
478-for future onshore oil and gas lease sales in the pre-1
479-ceding month. 2
480-‘‘(2) A
481-PPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO DRILL .— 3
482-Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment 4
483-of this subsection, and each month thereafter, the Sec-5
484-retary shall publish on the website of the Department 6
485-of the Interior the number of pending and approved 7
486-applications for permits to drill in the preceding 8
487-month in each State office. 9
488-‘‘(3) P
489-AST DATA.—Not later than 30 days after 10
490-the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Sec-11
491-retary shall publish on the website of the Department 12
492-of the Interior, with respect to each month during the 13
493-5-year period ending on the date of the enactment of 14
494-this subsection— 15
495-‘‘(A) the number of approved and not ap-16
496-proved expressions of interest for onshore oil and 17
497-gas lease sales during such 5-year period; and 18
498-‘‘(B) the number of approved and not ap-19
499-proved applications for permits to drill during 20
500-such 5-year period.’’. 21
501-(2) O
502-UTER CONTINENTAL SHELF LANDS ACT .— 22
503-Section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 23
504-(43 U.S.C. 1337) is amended by adding at the end the 24
505-following: 25
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508-•HR 1335 RH
509-‘‘(q) PUBLICAVAILABILITY OFDATA.— 1
510-‘‘(1) O
511-FFSHORE GEOLOGICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL  2
512-SURVEY LICENSES.—Not later than 30 days after the 3
513-date of the enactment of this subsection, and each 4
514-month thereafter, the Secretary shall publish on the 5
515-website of the Department of the Interior the number 6
516-of pending and approved applications for licenses for 7
517-offshore geological and geophysical surveys in the pre-8
518-ceding month. 9
519-‘‘(2) A
520-PPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO DRILL .— 10
521-Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment 11
522-of this subsection, and each month thereafter, the Sec-12
523-retary shall publish on the website of the Department 13
524-of the Interior the number of pending and approved 14
525-applications for permits to drill on the outer Conti-15
526-nental Shelf in the preceding month in each regional 16
527-office. 17
528-‘‘(3) P
529-AST DATA.—Not later than 30 days after 18
530-the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Sec-19
531-retary shall publish on the website of the Department 20
532-of the Interior, with respect each month during the 5- 21
533-year period ending on the date of the enactment of 22
534-this subsection— 23
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537-•HR 1335 RH
538-‘‘(A) the number of approved applications 1
539-for licenses for offshore geological and geo-2
540-physical surveys; and 3
541-‘‘(B) the number of approved applications 4
542-for permits to drill on the outer Continental 5
543-Shelf.’’. 6
544-(d) R
545-EQUIREMENTTOSUBMITDOCUMENTS ANDCOM-7
546-MUNICATIONS.— 8
547-(1) I
548-N GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 9
549-the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary 10
550-of the Interior shall submit to the Committee on En-11
551-ergy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the 12
552-Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Rep-13
553-resentatives all documents and communications relat-14
554-ing to the comprehensive review of Federal oil and 15
555-gas permitting and leasing practices required under 16
556-section 208 of Executive Order 14008 (86 Fed. Reg. 17
557-7624; relating to tackling the climate crisis at home 18
558-and abroad). 19
559-(2) I
560-NCLUSIONS.—The submission under para-20
561-graph (1) shall include all documents and commu-21
562-nications submitted to the Secretary of the Interior by 22
563-members of the public in response to any public meet-23
564-ing or forum relating to the comprehensive review de-24
565-scribed in that paragraph. 25
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568-•HR 1335 RH
569-SEC. 107. OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASING. 1
570-(a) I
571-NGENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct all 2
572-lease sales described in the 2017–2022 Outer Continental 3
573-Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Final Program (No-4
574-vember 2016) that have not been conducted as of the date 5
575-of the enactment of this Act by not later than September 6
576-30, 2023. 7
577-(b) G
578-ULF OFMEXICOREGIONANNUALLEASE 8
439+RILL.—Not later than 30 days after the date of the en-6
440+actment of this section, the Secretary of the Interior 7
441+shall— 8
442+(1) complete all requirements under the Na-9
443+tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 10
444+4321 et seq.) and other applicable law that must be 11
445+met before issuance of a permit to drill described in 12
446+paragraph (2); and 13
447+(2) issue a permit for all completed applications 14
448+to drill that are pending on the date of the enact-15
449+ment of this Act. 16
450+(c) P
451+UBLICAVAILABILITY OFDATA.— 17
452+(1) M
453+INERAL LEASING ACT.—Section 17 of the 18
454+Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) is further 19
455+amended by adding at the end the following: 20
456+‘‘(t) P
457+UBLICAVAILABILITY OFDATA.— 21
458+‘‘(1) E
459+XPRESSIONS OF INTEREST .—Not later 22
460+than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this 23
461+subsection, and each month thereafter, the Secretary 24
462+shall publish on the website of the Department of 25
463+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
464+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 16
465+•HR 1335 IH
466+the Interior the number of pending, approved, and 1
467+not approved expressions of interest in nominated 2
468+parcels for future onshore oil and gas lease sales in 3
469+the preceding month. 4
470+‘‘(2) A
471+PPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO DRILL .— 5
472+Not later than 30 days after the date of the enact-6
473+ment of this subsection, and each month thereafter, 7
474+the Secretary shall publish on the website of the De-8
475+partment of the Interior the number of pending and 9
476+approved applications for permits to drill in the pre-10
477+ceding month in each State office. 11
478+‘‘(3) P
479+AST DATA.—Not later than 30 days after 12
480+the date of the enactment of this subsection, the 13
481+Secretary shall publish on the website of the Depart-14
482+ment of the Interior, with respect to each month 15
483+during the 5-year period ending on the date of the 16
484+enactment of this subsection— 17
485+‘‘(A) the number of approved and not ap-18
486+proved expressions of interest for onshore oil 19
487+and gas lease sales during such 5-year period; 20
488+and 21
489+‘‘(B) the number of approved and not ap-22
490+proved applications for permits to drill during 23
491+such 5-year period.’’. 24
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494+•HR 1335 IH
495+(2) OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF LANDS ACT .— 1
496+Section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 2
497+(43 U.S.C. 1337) is amended by adding at the end 3
498+the following: 4
499+‘‘(q) P
500+UBLICAVAILABILITY OFDATA.— 5
501+‘‘(1) O
502+FFSHORE GEOLOGICAL AND GEO -6
503+PHYSICAL SURVEY LICENSES .—Not later than 30 7
504+days after the date of the enactment of this sub-8
505+section, and each month thereafter, the Secretary 9
506+shall publish on the website of the Department of 10
507+the Interior the number of pending and approved 11
508+applications for licenses for offshore to geological 12
509+and geophysical surveys in the preceding month. 13
510+‘‘(2) A
511+PPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO DRILL .— 14
512+Not later than 30 days after the date of the enact-15
513+ment of this subsection, and each month thereafter, 16
514+the Secretary shall publish on the website of the De-17
515+partment of the Interior the number of pending and 18
516+approved applications for permits to drill on the 19
517+outer Continental Shelf in the preceding month in 20
518+each regional office. 21
519+‘‘(3) P
520+AST DATA.—Not later than 30 days after 22
521+the date of the enactment of this subsection, the 23
522+Secretary shall publish on the website of the Depart-24
523+ment of the Interior, with respect each month during 25
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526+•HR 1335 IH
527+the 5-year period ending on the date of the enact-1
528+ment of this subsection— 2
529+‘‘(A) the number of approved applications 3
530+for licenses for offshore geological and geo-4
531+physical surveys; and 5
532+‘‘(B) the number of approved applications 6
533+for permits to drill on the outer Continental 7
534+Shelf.’’. 8
535+(d) R
536+EQUIREMENT TOSUBMITDOCUMENTS AND 9
537+C
538+OMMUNICATIONS.— 10
539+(1) I
540+N GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 11
541+the date of the enactment of this section, the Sec-12
542+retary of the Interior shall submit to the Committee 13
543+on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and 14
544+the Committee on Natural Resources of the House 15
545+of Representatives all documents and communica-16
546+tions relating to the comprehensive review of Federal 17
547+oil and gas permitting and leasing practices required 18
548+under section 208 of Executive Order 14008 (86 19
549+Fed. Reg. 7624; relating to tackling the climate cri-20
550+sis at home and abroad). 21
551+(2) I
552+NCLUSIONS.—The submission under para-22
553+graph (1) shall include all documents and commu-23
554+nications submitted to the Secretary of the Interior 24
555+by members of the public in response to any public 25
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558+•HR 1335 IH
559+meeting or forum relating to the comprehensive re-1
560+view described in that paragraph. 2
561+SEC. 107. OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASING. 3
562+(a) I
563+NGENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct all 4
564+lease sales described in the 2017–2022 Outer Continental 5
565+Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Final Program (No-6
566+vember 2016) that have not been conducted as of the date 7
567+of the enactment of this Act by not later than September 8
568+30, 2023. 9
569+(b) G
570+ULF OFMEXICOREGIONANNUALLEASE 10
579571 S
580-ALES.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and 9
581-except within areas subject to existing oil and gas leasing 10
582-moratoria beginning in fiscal year 2023, the Secretary of 11
583-the Interior shall annually conduct a minimum of 2 region- 12
584-wide oil and gas lease sales in the following planning areas 13
585-of the Gulf of Mexico region, as described in the 2017–2022 14
586-Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed 15
587-Final Program (November 2016): 16
588-(1) The Central Gulf of Mexico Planning Area. 17
589-(2) The Western Gulf of Mexico Planning Area. 18
590-(c) A
591-LASKAREGIONANNUALLEASESALES.—Not-19
592-withstanding any other provision of law, beginning in fis-20
593-cal year 2023, the Secretary of the Interior shall annually 21
594-conduct a minimum of 2 region-wide oil and gas lease sales 22
595-in the Alaska region of the Outer Continental Shelf, as de-23
596-scribed in the 2017–2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and 24
597-Gas Leasing Proposed Final Program (November 2016). 25
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600-•HR 1335 RH
601-(d) REQUIREMENTS.—In conducting lease sales under 1
602-subsections (b) and (c), the Secretary of the Interior shall— 2
603-(1) issue such leases in accordance with the 3
604-Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1332 4
605-et seq.); and 5
606-(2) include in each such lease sale all unleased 6
607-areas that are not subject to a moratorium as of the 7
608-date of the lease sale. 8
609-SEC. 108. FIVE-YEAR PLAN FOR OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS 9
610-LEASING. 10
611-Section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 11
612-(43 U.S.C. 1344) is amended— 12
613-(1) in subsection (a)— 13
614-(A) by striking ‘‘subsections (c) and (d) of 14
615-this section, shall prepare and periodically re-15
616-vise,’’ and inserting ‘‘this section, shall issue 16
617-every five years’’; 17
618-(B) by adding at the end the following: 18
619-‘‘(5) Each five-year program shall include at 19
620-least two Gulf of Mexico region-wide lease sales per 20
621-year.’’; and 21
622-(C) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘domes-22
623-tic energy security,’’ after ‘‘between’’; 23
624-(2) by redesignating subsections (f) through (i) 24
625-as subsections (h) through (k), respectively; and 25
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628-•HR 1335 RH
629-(3) by inserting after subsection (e) the following: 1
630-‘‘(f) F
631-IVE-YEARPROGRAM FOR2023–2028.—The Sec-2
632-retary shall issue the five-year oil and gas leasing program 3
633-for 2023 through 2028 and issue the Record of Decision on 4
634-the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement 5
635-by not later than July 1, 2023. 6
636-‘‘(g) S
637-UBSEQUENTLEASINGPROGRAMS.— 7
638-‘‘(1) I
639-N GENERAL.—Not later than 36 months 8
640-after conducting the first lease sale under an oil and 9
641-gas leasing program prepared pursuant to this sec-10
642-tion, the Secretary shall begin preparing the subse-11
643-quent oil and gas leasing program under this section. 12
644-‘‘(2) R
645-EQUIREMENT.—Each subsequent oil and 13
646-gas leasing program under this section shall be ap-14
647-proved by not later than 180 days before the expira-15
648-tion of the previous oil and gas leasing program.’’. 16
649-SEC. 109. GEOTHERMAL LEASING. 17
650-(a) A
651-NNUALLEASING.—Section 4(b) of the Geothermal 18
652-Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1003(b)) is amended— 19
653-(1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘2 years’’ and 20
654-inserting ‘‘year’’; 21
655-(2) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and (4) as 22
656-paragraphs (5) and (6), respectively; and 23
657-(3) after paragraph (2), by inserting the fol-24
658-lowing: 25
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661-•HR 1335 RH
662-‘‘(3) REPLACEMENT SALES .—If a lease sale 1
663-under paragraph (1) for a year is canceled or de-2
664-layed, the Secretary of the Interior shall conduct a re-3
665-placement sale during the same year. 4
666-‘‘(4) R
667-EQUIREMENT.—In conducting a lease sale 5
668-under paragraph (2) in a State described in that 6
669-paragraph, the Secretary of the Interior shall offer all 7
670-nominated parcels eligible for geothermal development 8
671-and utilization under the resource management plan 9
672-in effect for the State.’’. 10
673-(b) D
674-EADLINES FORCONSIDERATION OFGEOTHERMAL 11
675-D
676-RILLINGPERMITS.—Section 4 of the Geothermal Steam 12
677-Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1003) is amended by adding at the 13
678-end the following: 14
679-‘‘(h) D
680-EADLINES FOR CONSIDERATION OF GEO-15
681-THERMALDRILLINGPERMITS.— 16
682-‘‘(1) N
683-OTICE.—Not later than 30 days after the 17
684-date on which the Secretary receives an application 18
685-for any geothermal drilling permit, the Secretary 19
686-shall— 20
687-‘‘(A) provide written notice to the applicant 21
688-that the application is complete; or 22
689-‘‘(B) notify the applicant that information 23
690-is missing and specify any information that is 24
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693-•HR 1335 RH
694-required to be submitted for the application to be 1
695-complete. 2
696-‘‘(2) I
697-SSUANCE OF DECISION.—If the Secretary 3
698-determines that an application for a geothermal drill-4
699-ing permit is complete under paragraph (1)(A), the 5
700-Secretary shall issue a final decision on the applica-6
701-tion not later than 30 days after the Secretary noti-7
702-fies the applicant that the application is complete.’’. 8
703-SEC. 110. LEASING FOR CERTAIN QUALIFIED COAL APPLI-9
704-CATIONS. 10
705-(a) D
706-EFINITIONS.—In this section: 11
707-(1) C
708-OAL LEASE.—The term ‘‘coal lease’’ means 12
709-a lease entered into by the United States as lessor, 13
710-through the Bureau of Land Management, and the 14
711-applicant on Bureau of Land Management Form 15
712-3400–012. 16
713-(2) Q
714-UALIFIED APPLICATION.—The term ‘‘quali-17
715-fied application’’ means any application pending 18
716-under the lease by application program administered 19
717-by the Bureau of Land Management pursuant to the 20
718-Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) and sub-21
719-part 3425 of title 43, Code of Federal Regulations (as 22
720-in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act), for 23
721-which the environmental review process under the Na-24
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724-•HR 1335 RH
725-tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 1
726-4321 et seq.) has commenced. 2
727-(b) M
728-ANDATORYLEASING ANDOTHERREQUIREDAP-3
729-PROVALS.—As soon as practicable after the date of the en-4
730-actment of this Act, the Secretary shall promptly— 5
731-(1) with respect to each qualified application— 6
732-(A) if not previously published for public 7
733-comment, publish a draft environmental assess-8
734-ment, as required under the National Environ-9
735-mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 10
736-seq.) and any applicable implementing regula-11
737-tions; 12
738-(B) finalize the fair market value of the coal 13
739-tract for which a lease by application is pend-14
740-ing; 15
741-(C) take all intermediate actions necessary 16
742-to grant the qualified application; and 17
743-(D) grant the qualified application; and 18
744-(2) with respect to previously awarded coal 19
745-leases, grant any additional approvals of the Depart-20
746-ment of the Interior or any bureau, agency, or divi-21
747-sion of the Department of the Interior required for 22
748-mining activities to commence. 23
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751-•HR 1335 RH
752-SEC. 111. FUTURE COAL LEASING. 1
753-Notwithstanding any judicial decision to the contrary 2
754-or a departmental review of the Federal coal leasing pro-3
755-gram, Secretarial Order 3338, issued by the Secretary of 4
756-the Interior on January 15, 2016, shall have no force or 5
757-effect. 6
758-SEC. 112. STAFF PLANNING REPORT. 7
759-The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Ag-8
760-riculture shall each annually submit to the Committee on 9
761-Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the 10
762-Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate 11
763-a report on the staffing capacity of each respective agency 12
764-with respect to issuing oil, gas, hardrock mining, coal, and 13
765-renewable energy leases, rights-of-way, claims, easements, 14
766-and permits. Each such report shall include— 15
767-(1) the number of staff assigned to process and 16
768-issue oil, gas, hardrock mining, coal, and renewable 17
769-energy leases, rights-of-way, claims, easements, and 18
770-permits; 19
771-(2) a description of how many staff are needed 20
772-to meet statutory requirements for such oil, gas, 21
773-hardrock mining, coal, and renewable energy leases, 22
774-rights-of-way, claims, easements, and permits; and 23
775-(3) how, as applicable, the Department of the In-24
776-terior or the Department of Agriculture plans to ad-25
777-dress staffing shortfalls and turnover to ensure ade-26
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781-quate staffing to process and issue such oil, gas, 1
782-hardrock mining, coal, and renewable energy leases, 2
783-rights-of-way, claims, easements, and permits. 3
784-SEC. 113. PROHIBITION ON CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY 4
785-OWNERSHIP INTEREST. 5
786-Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Com-6
787-munist Party of China (or a person acting on behalf of the 7
788-Community Party of China) may not acquire any interest 8
789-with respect to lands leased for oil or gas under the Mineral 9
790-Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) or the Outer Conti-10
791-nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.). 11
792-SEC. 114. EFFECT ON OTHER LAW. 12
793-Nothing in this Act, or any amendments made by this 13
794-Act, shall affect— 14
795-(1) the Presidential memorandum titled ‘‘Memo-15
796-randum on Withdrawal of Certain Areas of the 16
797-United States Outer Continental Shelf From Leasing 17
798-Disposition’’ and dated September 8, 2020; 18
799-(2) the Presidential memorandum titled ‘‘Memo-19
800-randum on Withdrawal of Certain Areas of the 20
801-United States Outer Continental Shelf From Leasing 21
802-Disposition’’ and dated September 25, 2020; 22
803-(3) the Presidential memorandum titled ‘‘Memo-23
804-randum on Withdrawal of Certain Areas off the At-24
805-lantic Coast on the Outer Continental Shelf From 25
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809-Leasing Disposition’’ and dated December 20, 2016; 1
810-or 2
811-(4) the ban on oil and gas development in the 3
812-Great Lakes described in section 386 of the Energy 4
813-Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15941). 5
814-TITLE II—PERMITTING 6
815-STREAMLINING 7
816-SEC. 201. DEFINITIONS. 8
817-In this title: 9
818-(1) E
819-NERGY FACILITY.—The term ‘‘energy facil-10
820-ity’’ means a facility the primary purpose of which 11
821-is the exploration for, or the development, production, 12
822-conversion, gathering, storage, transfer, processing, or 13
823-transportation of, any energy resource. 14
824-(2) E
825-NERGY STORAGE DEVICE .—The term ‘‘en-15
826-ergy storage device’’— 16
827-(A) means any equipment that stores en-17
828-ergy, including electricity, compressed air, 18
829-pumped water, heat, and hydrogen, which may 19
830-be converted into, or used to produce, electricity; 20
831-and 21
832-(B) includes a battery, regenerative fuel cell, 22
833-flywheel, capacitor, superconducting magnet, and 23
834-any other equipment the Secretary concerned de-24
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838-termines may be used to store energy which may 1
839-be converted into, or used to produce, electricity. 2
840-(3) P
841-UBLIC LANDS.—The term ‘‘public lands’’ 3
842-means any land and interest in land owned by the 4
843-United States within the several States and adminis-5
844-tered by the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary 6
845-of Agriculture without regard to how the United 7
846-States acquired ownership, except— 8
847-(A) lands located on the Outer Continental 9
848-Shelf; and 10
849-(B) lands held in trust by the United States 11
850-for the benefit of Indians, Indian Tribes, Aleuts, 12
851-and Eskimos. 13
852-(4) R
853-IGHT-OF-WAY.—The term ‘‘right-of-way’’ 14
854-means— 15
855-(A) a right-of-way issued, granted, or re-16
856-newed under section 501 of the Federal Land 17
857-Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 18
858-1761); or 19
859-(B) a right-of-way granted under section 28 20
860-of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 185). 21
861-(5) S
862-ECRETARY CONCERNED .—The term ‘‘Sec-22
863-retary concerned’’ means— 23
864-(A) with respect to public lands, the Sec-24
865-retary of the Interior; and 25
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869-(B) with respect to National Forest System 1
870-lands, the Secretary of Agriculture. 2
871-(6) L
872-AND USE PLAN.—The term ‘‘land use plan’’ 3
873-means— 4
874-(A) a land and resource management plan 5
875-prepared by the Forest Service for a unit of the 6
876-National Forest System pursuant to section 6 of 7
877-the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources 8
878-Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604); 9
879-(B) a Land Management Plan developed by 10
880-the Bureau of Land Management under the Fed-11
881-eral Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 12
882-(43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); or 13
883-(C) a comprehensive conservation plan de-14
884-veloped by the United States Fish and Wildlife 15
885-Service under section 4(e)(1)(A) of the National 16
886-Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 17
887-1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd(e)(1)(A)). 18
888-SEC. 202. BUILDER ACT. 19
889-(a) P
890-ARAGRAPH(2) OFSECTION102.—Section 102(2) 20
891-of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 21
892-U.S.C. 4332(2)) is amended— 22
893-(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘insure’’ 23
894-and inserting ‘‘ensure’’; 24
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898-(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘insure’’ 1
899-and inserting ‘‘ensure’’; 2
900-(3) in subparagraph (C)— 3
901-(A) by inserting ‘‘consistent with the provi-4
902-sions of this Act and except as provided by other 5
903-provisions of law,’’ before ‘‘include in every’’; 6
904-(B) by striking clauses (i) through (v) and 7
905-inserting the following: 8
906-‘‘(i) reasonably foreseeable environmental ef-9
907-fects with a reasonably close causal relationship 10
908-to the proposed agency action; 11
909-‘‘(ii) any reasonably foreseeable adverse en-12
910-vironmental effects which cannot be avoided 13
911-should the proposal be implemented; 14
912-‘‘(iii) a reasonable number of alternatives to 15
913-the proposed agency action, including an anal-16
914-ysis of any negative environmental impacts of 17
915-not implementing the proposed agency action in 18
916-the case of a no action alternative, that are tech-19
917-nically and economically feasible, are within the 20
918-jurisdiction of the agency, meet the purpose and 21
919-need of the proposal, and, where applicable, meet 22
920-the goals of the applicant; 23
921-‘‘(iv) the relationship between local short- 24
922-term uses of man’s environment and the mainte-25
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926-nance and enhancement of long-term produc-1
927-tivity; and 2
928-‘‘(v) any irreversible and irretrievable com-3
929-mitments of Federal resources which would be 4
930-involved in the proposed agency action should it 5
931-be implemented.’’; and 6
932-(C) by striking ‘‘the responsible Federal offi-7
933-cial’’ and inserting ‘‘the head of the lead agen-8
934-cy’’; 9
935-(4) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘Any’’ and 10
936-inserting ‘‘any’’; 11
937-(5) by redesignating subparagraphs (D) through 12
938-(I) as subparagraphs (F) through (K), respectively; 13
939-(6) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the fol-14
940-lowing: 15
941-‘‘(D) ensure the professional integrity, including 16
942-scientific integrity, of the discussion and analysis in 17
943-an environmental document; 18
944-‘‘(E) make use of reliable existing data and re-19
945-sources in carrying out this Act;’’; 20
946-(7) by amending subparagraph (G), as redesig-21
947-nated, to read as follows: 22
948-‘‘(G) consistent with the provisions of this Act, 23
949-study, develop, and describe technically and economi-24
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953-cally feasible alternatives within the jurisdiction and 1
954-authority of the agency;’’; and 2
955-(8) in subparagraph (H), as amended, by insert-3
956-ing ‘‘consistent with the provisions of this Act,’’ before 4
957-‘‘recognize’’. 5
958-(b) N
959-EWSECTIONS.—Title I of the National Environ-6
960-mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) is 7
961-amended by adding at the end the following: 8
962-‘‘SEC. 106. PROCEDURE FOR DETERMINATION OF LEVEL OF 9
963-REVIEW. 10
964-‘‘(a) T
965-HRESHOLDDETERMINATIONS.—An agency is 11
966-not required to prepare an environmental document with 12
967-respect to a proposed agency action if— 13
968-‘‘(1) the proposed agency action is not a final 14
969-agency action within the meaning of such term in 15
970-chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code; 16
971-‘‘(2) the proposed agency action is covered by a 17
972-categorical exclusion established by the agency, an-18
973-other Federal agency, or another provision of law; 19
974-‘‘(3) the preparation of such document would 20
975-clearly and fundamentally conflict with the require-21
976-ments of another provision of law; 22
977-‘‘(4) the proposed agency action is, in whole or 23
978-in part, a nondiscretionary action with respect to 24
979-which such agency does not have authority to take en-25
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983-vironmental factors into consideration in determining 1
984-whether to take the proposed action; 2
985-‘‘(5) the proposed agency action is a rulemaking 3
986-that is subject to section 553 of title 5, United States 4
987-Code; or 5
988-‘‘(6) the proposed agency action is an action for 6
989-which such agency’s compliance with another statute’s 7
990-requirements serve the same or similar function as the 8
991-requirements of this Act with respect to such action. 9
992-‘‘(b) L
993-EVELS OFREVIEW.— 10
994-‘‘(1) E
995-NVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT .—An 11
996-agency shall issue an environmental impact statement 12
997-with respect to a proposed agency action that has a 13
998-significant effect on the quality of the human environ-14
999-ment. 15
1000-‘‘(2) E
1001-NVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT .—An agency 16
1002-shall prepare an environmental assessment with re-17
1003-spect to a proposed agency action that is not likely 18
1004-to have a significant effect on the quality of the 19
1005-human environment, or if the significance of such ef-20
1006-fect is unknown, unless the agency finds that a cat-21
1007-egorical exclusion established by the agency, another 22
1008-Federal agency, or another provision of law applies. 23
1009-Such environmental assessment shall be a concise 24
1010-public document prepared by a Federal agency to set 25
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1014-forth the basis of such agency’s finding of no signifi-1
1015-cant impact. 2
1016-‘‘(3) S
1017-OURCES OF INFORMATION .—In making a 3
1018-determination under this subsection, an agency— 4
1019-‘‘(A) may make use of any reliable data 5
1020-source; and 6
1021-‘‘(B) is not required to undertake new sci-7
1022-entific or technical research. 8
1023-‘‘SEC. 107. TIMELY AND UNIFIED FEDERAL REVIEWS. 9
1024-‘‘(a) L
1025-EADAGENCY.— 10
1026-‘‘(1) D
1027-ESIGNATION.— 11
1028-‘‘(A) I
1029-N GENERAL.—If there are two or 12
1030-more involved Federal agencies, such agencies 13
1031-shall determine, by letter or memorandum, which 14
1032-agency shall be the lead agency based on consid-15
1033-eration of the following factors: 16
1034-‘‘(i) Magnitude of agency’s involve-17
1035-ment. 18
1036-‘‘(ii) Project approval or disapproval 19
1037-authority. 20
1038-‘‘(iii) Expertise concerning the action’s 21
1039-environmental effects. 22
1040-‘‘(iv) Duration of agency’s involve-23
1041-ment. 24
1042-‘‘(v) Sequence of agency’s involvement. 25
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1046-‘‘(B) JOINT LEAD AGENCIES.—In making a 1
1047-determination under subparagraph (A), the in-2
1048-volved Federal agencies may, in addition to a 3
1049-Federal agency, appoint such Federal, State, 4
1050-Tribal, or local agencies as joint lead agencies as 5
1051-the involved Federal agencies shall determine ap-6
1052-propriate. Joint lead agencies shall jointly fulfill 7
1053-the role described in paragraph (2). 8
1054-‘‘(C) M
1055-INERAL PROJECTS.—This paragraph 9
1056-shall not apply with respect to a mineral explo-10
1057-ration or mine permit. 11
1058-‘‘(2) R
1059-OLE.—A lead agency shall, with respect to 12
1060-a proposed agency action— 13
1061-‘‘(A) supervise the preparation of an envi-14
1062-ronmental document if, with respect to such pro-15
1063-posed agency action, there is more than one in-16
1064-volved Federal agency; 17
1065-‘‘(B) request the participation of each co-18
1066-operating agency at the earliest practicable time; 19
1067-‘‘(C) in preparing an environmental docu-20
1068-ment, give consideration to any analysis or pro-21
1069-posal created by a cooperating agency with juris-22
1070-diction by law or a cooperating agency with spe-23
1071-cial expertise; 24
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1075-‘‘(D) develop a schedule, in consultation 1
1076-with each involved cooperating agency, the ap-2
1077-plicant, and such other entities as the lead agen-3
1078-cy determines appropriate, for completion of any 4
1079-environmental review, permit, or authorization 5
1080-required to carry out the proposed agency action; 6
1081-‘‘(E) if the lead agency determines that a 7
1082-review, permit, or authorization will not be com-8
1083-pleted in accordance with the schedule developed 9
1084-under subparagraph (D), notify the agency re-10
1085-sponsible for issuing such review, permit, or au-11
1086-thorization of the discrepancy and request that 12
1087-such agency take such measures as such agency 13
1088-determines appropriate to comply with such 14
1089-schedule; and 15
1090-‘‘(F) meet with a cooperating agency that 16
1091-requests such a meeting. 17
1092-‘‘(3) C
1093-OOPERATING AGENCY.—The lead agency 18
1094-may, with respect to a proposed agency action, des-19
1095-ignate any involved Federal agency or a State, Trib-20
1096-al, or local agency as a cooperating agency. A cooper-21
1097-ating agency may, not later than a date specified by 22
1098-the lead agency, submit comments to the lead agency. 23
1099-Such comments shall be limited to matters relating to 24
1100-the proposed agency action with respect to which such 25
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1103-•HR 1335 RH
1104-agency has special expertise or jurisdiction by law 1
1105-with respect to an environmental issue. 2
1106-‘‘(4) R
1107-EQUEST FOR DESIGNATION .—Any Federal, 3
1108-State, Tribal, or local agency or person that is sub-4
1109-stantially affected by the lack of a designation of a 5
1110-lead agency with respect to a proposed agency action 6
1111-under paragraph (1) may submit a written request 7
1112-for such a designation to an involved Federal agency. 8
1113-An agency that receives a request under this para-9
1114-graph shall transmit such request to each involved 10
1115-Federal agency and to the Council. 11
1116-‘‘(5) C
1117-OUNCIL DESIGNATION.— 12
1118-‘‘(A) R
1119-EQUEST.—Not earlier than 45 days 13
1120-after the date on which a request is submitted 14
1121-under paragraph (4), if no designation has been 15
1122-made under paragraph (1), a Federal, State, 16
1123-Tribal, or local agency or person that is substan-17
1124-tially affected by the lack of a designation of a 18
1125-lead agency may request that the Council des-19
1126-ignate a lead agency. Such request shall consist 20
1127-of— 21
1128-‘‘(i) a precise description of the nature 22
1129-and extent of the proposed agency action; 23
1130-and 24
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1133-•HR 1335 RH
1134-‘‘(ii) a detailed statement with respect 1
1135-to each involved Federal agency and each 2
1136-factor listed in paragraph (1) regarding 3
1137-which agency should serve as lead agency. 4
1138-‘‘(B) T
1139-RANSMISSION.—The Council shall 5
1140-transmit a request received under subparagraph 6
1141-(A) to each involved Federal agency. 7
1142-‘‘(C) R
1143-ESPONSE.—An involved Federal 8
1144-agency may, not later than 20 days after the 9
1145-date of the submission of a request under sub-10
1146-paragraph (A), submit to the Council a response 11
1147-to such request. 12
1148-‘‘(D) D
1149-ESIGNATION.—Not later than 40 13
1150-days after the date of the submission of a request 14
1151-under subparagraph (A), the Council shall des-15
1152-ignate the lead agency with respect to the rel-16
1153-evant proposed agency action. 17
1154-‘‘(b) O
1155-NEDOCUMENT.— 18
1156-‘‘(1) D
1157-OCUMENT.—To the extent practicable, if 19
1158-there are 2 or more involved Federal agencies with re-20
1159-spect to a proposed agency action and the lead agency 21
1160-has determined that an environmental document is 22
1161-required, such requirement shall be deemed satisfied 23
1162-with respect to all involved Federal agencies if the 24
1163-lead agency issues such an environmental document. 25
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1166-•HR 1335 RH
1167-‘‘(2) CONSIDERATION TIMING.—In developing an 1
1168-environmental document for a proposed agency ac-2
1169-tion, no involved Federal agency shall be required to 3
1170-consider any information that becomes available after 4
1171-the sooner of, as applicable— 5
1172-‘‘(A) receipt of a complete application with 6
1173-respect to such proposed agency action; or 7
1174-‘‘(B) publication of a notice of intent or de-8
1175-cision to prepare an environmental impact state-9
1176-ment for such proposed agency action. 10
1177-‘‘(3) S
1178-COPE OF REVIEW.—In developing an envi-11
1179-ronmental document for a proposed agency action, the 12
1180-lead agency and any other involved Federal agencies 13
1181-shall only consider the effects of the proposed agency 14
1182-action that— 15
1183-‘‘(A) occur on Federal land; or 16
1184-‘‘(B) are subject to Federal control and re-17
1185-sponsibility. 18
1186-‘‘(c) R
1187-EQUEST FORPUBLICCOMMENT.—Each notice 19
1188-of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement 20
1189-under section 102 shall include a request for public com-21
1190-ment on alternatives or impacts and on relevant informa-22
1191-tion, studies, or analyses with respect to the proposed agen-23
1192-cy action. 24
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1195-•HR 1335 RH
1196-‘‘(d) STATEMENT OFPURPOSE ANDNEED.—Each en-1
1197-vironmental impact statement shall include a statement of 2
1198-purpose and need that briefly summarizes the underlying 3
1199-purpose and need for the proposed agency action. 4
1200-‘‘(e) E
1201-STIMATEDTOTALCOST.—The cover sheet for 5
1202-each environmental impact statement shall include a state-6
1203-ment of the estimated total cost of preparing such environ-7
1204-mental impact statement, including the costs of agency full- 8
1205-time equivalent personnel hours, contractor costs, and other 9
1206-direct costs. 10
1207-‘‘(f) P
1208-AGELIMITS.— 11
1209-‘‘(1) E
1210-NVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENTS .— 12
1211-‘‘(A) I
1212-N GENERAL.—Except as provided in 13
1213-subparagraph (B), an environmental impact 14
1214-statement shall not exceed 150 pages, not includ-15
1215-ing any citations or appendices. 16
1216-‘‘(B) E
1217-XTRAORDINARY COMPLEXITY .—An 17
1218-environmental impact statement for a proposed 18
1219-agency action of extraordinary complexity shall 19
1220-not exceed 300 pages, not including any cita-20
1221-tions or appendices. 21
1222-‘‘(2) E
1223-NVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTS .—An envi-22
1224-ronmental assessment shall not exceed 75 pages, not 23
1225-including any citations or appendices. 24
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1229-‘‘(g) SPONSORPREPARATION.—A lead agency shall 1
1230-allow a project sponsor to prepare an environmental assess-2
1231-ment or an environmental impact statement upon request 3
1232-of the project sponsor. Such agency may provide such spon-4
1233-sor with appropriate guidance and assist in the prepara-5
1234-tion. The lead agency shall independently evaluate the envi-6
1235-ronmental document and shall take responsibility for the 7
1236-contents upon adoption. 8
1237-‘‘(h) D
1238-EADLINES.— 9
1239-‘‘(1) I
1240-N GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-10
1241-graph (2), with respect to a proposed agency action, 11
1242-a lead agency shall complete, as applicable— 12
1243-‘‘(A) the environmental impact statement 13
1244-not later than the date that is 2 years after the 14
1245-sooner of, as applicable— 15
1246-‘‘(i) the date on which such agency de-16
1247-termines that section 102(2)(C) requires the 17
1248-issuance of an environmental impact state-18
1249-ment with respect to such action; 19
1250-‘‘(ii) the date on which such agency no-20
1251-tifies the applicant that the application to 21
1252-establish a right-of-way for such action is 22
1253-complete; and 23
1254-‘‘(iii) the date on which such agency 24
1255-issues a notice of intent to prepare the envi-25
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1259-ronmental impact statement for such action; 1
1260-and 2
1261-‘‘(B) the environmental assessment not later 3
1262-than the date that is 1 year after the sooner of, 4
1263-as applicable— 5
1264-‘‘(i) the date on which such agency de-6
1265-termines that section 106(b)(2) requires the 7
1266-preparation of an environmental assessment 8
1267-with respect to such action; 9
1268-‘‘(ii) the date on which such agency no-10
1269-tifies the applicant that the application to 11
1270-establish a right-of-way for such action is 12
1271-complete; and 13
1272-‘‘(iii) the date on which such agency 14
1273-issues a notice of intent to prepare the envi-15
1274-ronmental assessment for such action. 16
1275-‘‘(2) D
1276-ELAY.—A lead agency that determines it 17
1277-is not able to meet the deadline described in para-18
1278-graph (1) may extend such deadline with the ap-19
1279-proval of the applicant. If the applicant approves 20
1280-such an extension, the lead agency shall establish a 21
1281-new deadline that provides only so much additional 22
1282-time as is necessary to complete such environmental 23
1283-impact statement or environmental assessment. 24
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1286-•HR 1335 RH
1287-‘‘(3) EXPENDITURES FOR DELAY .—If a lead 1
1288-agency is unable to meet the deadline described in 2
1289-paragraph (1) or extended under paragraph (2), the 3
1290-lead agency must pay $100 per day, to the extent 4
1291-funding is provided in advance in an appropriations 5
1292-Act, out of the office of the head of the department of 6
1293-the lead agency to the applicant starting on the first 7
1294-day immediately following the deadline described in 8
1295-paragraph (1) or extended under paragraph (2) up 9
1296-until the date that an applicant approves a new 10
1297-deadline. This paragraph does not apply when the 11
1298-lead agency misses a deadline solely due to delays 12
1299-caused by litigation. 13
1300-‘‘(i) R
1301-EPORT.— 14
1302-‘‘(1) I
1303-N GENERAL.—The head of each lead agency 15
1304-shall annually submit to the Committee on Natural 16
1305-Resources of the House of Representatives and the 17
1306-Committee on Environment and Public Works of the 18
1307-Senate a report that— 19
1308-‘‘(A) identifies any environmental assess-20
1309-ment and environmental impact statement that 21
1310-such lead agency did not complete by the dead-22
1311-line described in subsection (h); and 23
1312-‘‘(B) provides an explanation for any fail-24
1313-ure to meet such deadline. 25
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1317-‘‘(2) INCLUSIONS.—Each report submitted under 1
1318-paragraph (1) shall identify, as applicable— 2
1319-‘‘(A) the office, bureau, division, unit, or 3
1320-other entity within the Federal agency respon-4
1321-sible for each such environmental assessment and 5
1322-environmental impact statement; 6
1323-‘‘(B) the date on which— 7
1324-‘‘(i) such lead agency notified the ap-8
1325-plicant that the application to establish a 9
1326-right-of-way for the major Federal action is 10
1327-complete; 11
1328-‘‘(ii) such lead agency began the 12
1329-scoping for the major Federal action; or 13
1330-‘‘(iii) such lead agency issued a notice 14
1331-of intent to prepare the environmental as-15
1332-sessment or environmental impact statement 16
1333-for the major Federal action; and 17
1334-‘‘(C) when such environmental assessment 18
1335-and environmental impact statement is expected 19
1336-to be complete. 20
1337-‘‘SEC. 108. JUDICIAL REVIEW. 21
1338-‘‘(a) L
1339-IMITATIONS ONCLAIMS.—Notwithstanding any 22
1340-other provision of law, a claim arising under Federal law 23
1341-seeking judicial review of compliance with this Act, of a 24
1342-determination made under this Act, or of Federal action 25
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1346-resulting from a determination made under this Act, shall 1
1347-be barred unless— 2
1348-‘‘(1) in the case of a claim pertaining to a pro-3
1349-posed agency action for which— 4
1350-‘‘(A) an environmental document was pre-5
1351-pared and an opportunity for comment was pro-6
1352-vided; 7
1353-‘‘(B) the claim is filed by a party that par-8
1354-ticipated in the administrative proceedings re-9
1355-garding such environmental document; and 10
1356-‘‘(C) the claim— 11
1357-‘‘(i) is filed by a party that submitted 12
1358-a comment during the public comment pe-13
1359-riod for such administrative proceedings 14
1360-and such comment was sufficiently detailed 15
1361-to put the lead agency on notice of the issue 16
1362-upon which the party seeks judicial review; 17
1363-and 18
1364-‘‘(ii) is related to such comment; 19
1365-‘‘(2) except as provided in subsection (b), such 20
1366-claim is filed not later than 120 days after the date 21
1367-of publication of a notice in the Federal Register of 22
1368-agency intent to carry out the proposed agency ac-23
1369-tion; 24
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1373-‘‘(3) such claim is filed after the issuance of a 1
1374-record of decision or other final agency action with 2
1375-respect to the relevant proposed agency action; 3
1376-‘‘(4) such claim does not challenge the establish-4
1377-ment or use of a categorical exclusion under section 5
1378-102; and 6
1379-‘‘(5) such claim concerns— 7
1380-‘‘(A) an alternative included in the environ-8
1381-mental document; or 9
1382-‘‘(B) an environmental effect considered in 10
1383-the environmental document. 11
1384-‘‘(b) S
1385-UPPLEMENTALENVIRONMENTALIMPACTSTATE-12
1386-MENT.— 13
1387-‘‘(1) S
1388-EPARATE FINAL AGENCY ACTION .—The 14
1389-issuance of a Federal action resulting from a final 15
1390-supplemental environmental impact statement shall 16
1391-be considered a final agency action for the purposes 17
1392-of chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, separate 18
1393-from the issuance of any previous environmental im-19
1394-pact statement with respect to the same proposed 20
1395-agency action. 21
1396-‘‘(2) D
1397-EADLINE FOR FILING A CLAIM .—A claim 22
1398-seeking judicial review of a Federal action resulting 23
1399-from a final supplemental environmental review 24
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1403-issued under section 102(2)(C) shall be barred un-1
1404-less— 2
1405-‘‘(A) such claim is filed within 120 days of 3
1406-the date on which a notice of the Federal agency 4
1407-action resulting from a final supplemental envi-5
1408-ronmental impact statement is issued; and 6
1409-‘‘(B) such claim is based on information 7
1410-contained in such supplemental environmental 8
1411-impact statement that was not contained in a 9
1412-previous environmental document pertaining to 10
1413-the same proposed agency action. 11
1414-‘‘(c) P
1415-ROHIBITION ONINJUNCTIVERELIEF.—Notwith-12
1416-standing any other provision of law, a violation of this Act 13
1417-shall not constitute the basis for injunctive relief. 14
1418-‘‘(d) R
1419-ULE OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-15
1420-tion shall be construed to create a right of judicial review 16
1421-or place any limit on filing a claim with respect to the 17
1422-violation of the terms of a permit, license, or approval. 18
1423-‘‘(e) R
1424-EMAND.—Notwithstanding any other provision 19
1425-of law, no proposed agency action for which an environ-20
1426-mental document is required shall be vacated or otherwise 21
1427-limited, delayed, or enjoined unless a court concludes allow-22
1428-ing such proposed action will pose a risk of an imminent 23
1429-and substantial environmental harm and there is no other 24
1430-equitable remedy available as a matter of law. 25
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1434-‘‘SEC. 109. DEFINITIONS. 1
1435-‘‘In this title: 2
1436-‘‘(1) C
1437-ATEGORICAL EXCLUSION.—The term ‘cat-3
1438-egorical exclusion’ means a category of actions that a 4
1439-Federal agency has determined normally does not sig-5
1440-nificantly affect the quality of the human environ-6
1441-ment within the meaning of section 102(2)(C). 7
1442-‘‘(2) C
1443-OOPERATING AGENCY.—The term ‘cooper-8
1444-ating agency’ means any Federal, State, Tribal, or 9
1445-local agency that has been designated as a cooper-10
1446-ating agency under section 107(a)(3). 11
1447-‘‘(3) C
1448-OUNCIL.—The term ‘Council’ means the 12
1449-Council on Environmental Quality established in title 13
1450-II. 14
1451-‘‘(4) E
1452-NVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT .—The term 15
1453-‘environmental assessment’ means an environmental 16
1454-assessment prepared under section 106(b)(2). 17
1455-‘‘(5) E
1456-NVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENT .—The term 18
1457-‘environmental document’ means an environmental 19
1458-impact statement, an environmental assessment, or a 20
1459-finding of no significant impact. 21
1460-‘‘(6) E
1461-NVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT .—The 22
1462-term ‘environmental impact statement’ means a de-23
1463-tailed written statement that is required by section 24
1464-102(2)(C). 25
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1468-‘‘(7) FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT .—The 1
1469-term ‘finding of no significant impact’ means a deter-2
1470-mination by a Federal agency that a proposed agency 3
1471-action does not require the issuance of an environ-4
1472-mental impact statement. 5
1473-‘‘(8) I
1474-NVOLVED FEDERAL AGENCY .—The term 6
1475-‘involved Federal agency’ means an agency that, with 7
1476-respect to a proposed agency action— 8
1477-‘‘(A) proposed such action; or 9
1478-‘‘(B) is involved in such action because such 10
1479-action is directly related, through functional 11
1480-interdependence or geographic proximity, to an 12
1481-action such agency has taken or has proposed to 13
1482-take. 14
1483-‘‘(9) L
1484-EAD AGENCY.— 15
1485-‘‘(A) I
1486-N GENERAL.—Except as provided in 16
1487-subparagraph (B), the term ‘lead agency’ means, 17
1488-with respect to a proposed agency action— 18
1489-‘‘(i) the agency that proposed such ac-19
1490-tion; or 20
1491-‘‘(ii) if there are 2 or more involved 21
1492-Federal agencies with respect to such action, 22
1493-the agency designated under section 23
1494-107(a)(1). 24
1495-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00050 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
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1497-•HR 1335 RH
1498-‘‘(B) SPECIFICATION FOR MINERAL EXPLO -1
1499-RATION OR MINE PERMITS .—With respect to a 2
1500-proposed mineral exploration or mine permit, 3
1501-the term ‘lead agency’ has the meaning given 4
1502-such term in section 40206(a) of the Infrastruc-5
1503-ture Investment and Jobs Act. 6
1504-‘‘(10) M
1505-AJOR FEDERAL ACTION.— 7
1506-‘‘(A) I
1507-N GENERAL.—The term ‘major Fed-8
1508-eral action’ means an action that the agency 9
1509-carrying out such action determines is subject to 10
1510-substantial Federal control and responsibility. 11
1511-‘‘(B) E
1512-XCLUSION.—The term ‘major Federal 12
1513-action’ does not include— 13
1514-‘‘(i) a non-Federal action— 14
1515-‘‘(I) with no or minimal Federal 15
1516-funding; 16
1517-‘‘(II) with no or minimal Federal 17
1518-involvement where a Federal agency 18
1519-cannot control the outcome of the 19
1520-project; or 20
1521-‘‘(III) that does not include Fed-21
1522-eral land; 22
1523-‘‘(ii) funding assistance solely in the 23
1524-form of general revenue sharing funds which 24
1525-do not provide Federal agency compliance 25
1526-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00051 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
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1528-•HR 1335 RH
1529-or enforcement responsibility over the subse-1
1530-quent use of such funds; 2
1531-‘‘(iii) loans, loan guarantees, or other 3
1532-forms of financial assistance where a Fed-4
1533-eral agency does not exercise sufficient con-5
1534-trol and responsibility over the effect of the 6
1535-action; 7
1536-‘‘(iv) farm ownership and operating 8
1537-loan guarantees by the Farm Service Agen-9
1538-cy pursuant to sections 305 and 311 10
1539-through 319 of the Consolidated Farmers 11
1540-Home Administration Act of 1961 (7 U.S.C. 12
1541-1925 and 1941 through 1949); 13
1542-‘‘(v) business loan guarantees provided 14
1543-by the Small Business Administration pur-15
1544-suant to section 7(a) or (b) and of the 16
1545-Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)), or 17
1546-title V of the Small Business Investment Act 18
1547-of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 695 et seq.); 19
1548-‘‘(vi) bringing judicial or administra-20
1549-tive civil or criminal enforcement actions; 21
1550-or 22
1551-‘‘(vii) extraterritorial activities or de-23
1552-cisions, which means agency activities or 24
1553-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00052 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
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1555-•HR 1335 RH
1556-decisions with effects located entirely outside 1
1557-of the jurisdiction of the United States. 2
1558-‘‘(C) A
1559-DDITIONAL EXCLUSIONS.—An agency 3
1560-action may not be determined to be a major Fed-4
1561-eral action on the basis of— 5
1562-‘‘(i) an interstate effect of the action or 6
1563-related project; or 7
1564-‘‘(ii) the provision of Federal funds for 8
1565-the action or related project. 9
1566-‘‘(11) M
1567-INERAL EXPLORATION OR MINE PER -10
1568-MIT.—The term ‘mineral exploration or mine permit’ 11
1569-has the meaning given such term in section 40206(a) 12
1570-of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. 13
1571-‘‘(12) P
1572-ROPOSAL.—The term ‘proposal’ means a 14
1573-proposed action at a stage when an agency has a 15
1574-goal, is actively preparing to make a decision on one 16
1575-or more alternative means of accomplishing that goal, 17
1576-and can meaningfully evaluate its effects. 18
1577-‘‘(13) R
1578-EASONABLY FORESEEABLE .—The term 19
1579-‘reasonably foreseeable’ means likely to occur— 20
1580-‘‘(A) not later than 10 years after the lead 21
1581-agency begins preparing the environmental docu-22
1582-ment; and 23
1583-‘‘(B) in an area directly affected by the pro-24
1584-posed agency action such that an individual of 25
1585-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00053 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
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1587-•HR 1335 RH
1588-ordinary prudence would take such occurrence 1
1589-into account in reaching a decision. 2
1590-‘‘(14) S
1591-PECIAL EXPERTISE.—The term ‘special 3
1592-expertise’ means statutory responsibility, agency mis-4
1593-sion, or related program experience.’’. 5
1594-SEC. 203. CODIFICATION OF NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL 6
1595-POLICY ACT REGULATIONS. 7
1596-The revisions to the Code of Federal Regulations made 8
1597-pursuant to the final rule of the Council on Environmental 9
1598-Quality titled ‘‘Update to the Regulations Implementing the 10
1599-Procedural Provisions of the National Environmental Pol-11
1600-icy Act’’ and published on July 16, 2020 (85 Fed. Reg. 12
1601-43304), shall have the same force and effect of law as if 13
1602-enacted by an Act of Congress. 14
1603-SEC. 204. NON-MAJOR FEDERAL ACTIONS. 15
1604-(a) E
1605-XEMPTION.—An action by the Secretary con-16
1606-cerned with respect to a covered activity shall be not consid-17
1607-ered a major Federal action under section 102(2)(C) of the 18
1608-National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 19
1609-4332(2)(C)). 20
1610-(b) C
1611-OVEREDACTIVITY.—In this section, the term 21
1612-‘‘covered activity’’ includes— 22
1613-(1) geotechnical investigations; 23
1614-(2) off-road travel in an existing right-of-way; 24
1615-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00054 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
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1617-•HR 1335 RH
1618-(3) construction of meteorological towers where 1
1619-the total surface disturbance at the location is less 2
1620-than 5 acres; 3
1621-(4) adding a battery or other energy storage de-4
1622-vice to an existing or planned energy facility, if that 5
1623-storage resource is located within the physical foot-6
1624-print of the existing or planned energy facility; 7
1625-(5) drilling temperature gradient wells and other 8
1626-geothermal exploratory wells, including construction 9
1627-or making improvements for such activities, where— 10
1628-(A) the last cemented casing string is less 11
1629-than 12 inches in diameter; and 12
1630-(B) the total unreclaimed surface disturb-13
1631-ance at any one time within the project area is 14
1632-less than 5 acres; 15
1633-(6) any repair, maintenance, upgrade, optimiza-16
1634-tion, or minor addition to existing transmission and 17
1635-distribution infrastructure, including— 18
1636-(A) operation, maintenance, or repair of 19
1637-power equipment and structures within existing 20
1638-substations, switching stations, transmission, 21
1639-and distribution lines; 22
1640-(B) the addition, modification, retirement, 23
1641-or replacement of breakers, transmission towers, 24
1642-transformers, bushings, or relays; 25
1643-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00055 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
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1645-•HR 1335 RH
1646-(C) the voltage uprating, modification, 1
1647-reconductoring with conventional or advanced 2
1648-conductors, and clearance resolution of trans-3
1649-mission lines; 4
1650-(D) activities to minimize fire risk, includ-5
1651-ing vegetation management, routine fire mitiga-6
1652-tion, inspection, and maintenance activities, and 7
1653-removal of hazard trees and other hazard vegeta-8
1654-tion within or adjacent to an existing right-of- 9
1655-way; 10
1656-(E) improvements to or construction of 11
1657-structure pads for such infrastructure; and 12
1658-(F) access and access route maintenance 13
1659-and repairs associated with any activity de-14
1660-scribed in subparagraph (A) through (E); 15
1661-(7) approval of and activities conducted in ac-16
1662-cordance with operating plans or agreements for 17
1663-transmission and distribution facilities or under a 18
1664-special use authorization for an electric transmission 19
1665-and distribution facility right-of-way; and 20
1666-(8) construction, maintenance, realignment, or 21
1667-repair of an existing permanent or temporary access 22
1668-road— 23
1669-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00056 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
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1671-•HR 1335 RH
1672-(A) within an existing right-of-way or with-1
1673-in a transmission or utility corridor established 2
1674-by Congress or in a land use plan; 3
1675-(B) that serves an existing transmission 4
1676-line, distribution line, or energy facility or 5
1677-(C) activities conducted in accordance with 6
1678-existing onshore oil and gas leases. 7
1679-SEC. 205. NO NET LOSS DETERMINATION FOR EXISTING 8
1680-RIGHTS-OF-WAY. 9
1681-(a) I
1682-NGENERAL.—Upon a determination by the Sec-10
1683-retary concerned that there will be no overall long-term net 11
1684-loss of vegetation, soil, or habitat, as defined by acreage and 12
1685-function, resulting from a proposed action, decision, or ac-13
1686-tivity within an existing right-of-way, within a right-of- 14
1687-way corridor established in a land use plan, or in an other-15
1688-wise designated right-of-way, that action, decision, or activ-16
1689-ity shall not be considered a major Federal action under 17
1690-section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act 18
1691-of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)). 19
1692-(b) I
1693-NCLUSION OFREMEDIATION.—In making a deter-20
1694-mination under subsection (a), the Secretary concerned 21
1695-shall consider the effect of any remediation work to be con-22
1696-ducted during the lifetime of the action, decision, or activity 23
1697-when determining whether there will be any overall long- 24
1698-term net loss of vegetation, soil, or habitat. 25
1699-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00057 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
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1701-•HR 1335 RH
1702-SEC. 206. DETERMINATION OF NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL 1
1703-POLICY ACT ADEQUACY. 2
1704-The Secretary concerned shall use previously completed 3
1705-environmental assessments and environmental impact 4
1706-statements to satisfy the requirements of section 102 of the 5
1707-National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 6
1708-4332) with respect to any major Federal action, if such Sec-7
1709-retary determines that— 8
1710-(1) the new proposed action is substantially the 9
1711-same as a previously analyzed proposed action or al-10
1712-ternative analyzed in a previous environmental as-11
1713-sessment or environmental impact statement; and 12
1714-(2) the effects of the proposed action are substan-13
1715-tially the same as the effects analyzed in such existing 14
1716-environmental assessments or environmental impact 15
1717-statements. 16
1718-SEC. 207. DETERMINATION REGARDING RIGHTS-OF-WAY. 17
1719-Not later than 60 days after the Secretary concerned 18
1720-receives an application to grant a right-of-way, the Sec-19
1721-retary concerned shall notify the applicant as to whether 20
1722-the application is complete or deficient. If the Secretary 21
1723-concerned determines the application is complete, the Sec-22
1724-retary concerned may not consider any other application 23
1725-to grant a right-of-way on the same or any overlapping 24
1726-parcels of land while such application is pending. 25
1727-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00058 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
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1729-•HR 1335 RH
1730-SEC. 208. TERMS OF RIGHTS-OF-WAY. 1
1731-(a) F
1732-IFTYYEARTERMS FORRIGHTS-OF-WAY.— 2
1733-(1) I
1734-N GENERAL.—Any right-of-way for pipelines 3
1735-for the transportation or distribution of oil or gas 4
1736-granted, issued, amended, or renewed under Federal 5
1737-law may be limited to a term of not more than 50 6
1738-years before such right-of-way is subject to renewal or 7
1739-amendment. 8
1740-(2) F
1741-EDERAL LAND POLICY AND MANAGEMENT  9
1742-ACT OF 1976.—Section 501 of the Federal Land Policy 10
1743-and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1761) is 11
1744-amended by adding at the end the following: 12
1745-‘‘(e) Any right-of-way granted, issued, amended, or re-13
1746-newed under subsection (a)(4) may be limited to a term 14
1747-of not more than 50 years before such right-of-way is subject 15
1748-to renewal or amendment.’’. 16
1749-(b) M
1750-INERALLEASINGACT.—Section 28(n) of the 17
1751-Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 185(n)) is amended by 18
1752-striking ‘‘thirty’’ and inserting ‘‘50’’. 19
1753-SEC. 209. FUNDING TO PROCESS PERMITS AND DEVELOP 20
1754-INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY. 21
1755-(a) I
1756-NGENERAL.—In fiscal years 2023 through 2025, 22
1757-the Secretary of Agriculture (acting through the Forest 23
1758-Service) and the Secretary of the Interior, after public no-24
1759-tice, may accept and expend funds contributed by non-Fed-25
1760-eral entities for dedicated staff, information resource man-26
1761-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00059 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
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1763-•HR 1335 RH
1764-agement, and information technology system development 1
1765-to expedite the evaluation of permits, biological opinions, 2
1766-concurrence letters, environmental surveys and studies, 3
1767-processing of applications, consultations, and other activi-4
1768-ties for the leasing, development, or expansion of an energy 5
1769-facility under the jurisdiction of the respective Secretaries. 6
1770-(b) E
1771-FFECT ONPERMITTING.—In carrying out this 7
1772-section, the Secretary of the Interior shall ensure that the 8
1773-use of funds accepted under subsection (a) will not impact 9
1774-impartial decision making with respect to permits, either 10
1775-substantively or procedurally. 11
1776-(c) S
1777-TATEMENT FORFAILURE TOACCEPT OREXPEND 12
1778-F
1779-UNDS.—Not later than 60 days after the end of the appli-13
1780-cable fiscal year, if the Secretary of Agriculture (acting 14
1781-through the Forest Service) or the Secretary of the Interior 15
1782-does not accept funds contributed under subsection (a) or 16
1783-accepts but does not expend such funds, that Secretary shall 17
1784-submit to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House 18
1785-of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Nat-19
1786-ural Resources of the Senate a statement explaining why 20
1787-such funds were not accepted, were not expended, or both, 21
1788-as the case may be. 22
1789-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00060 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
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1791-•HR 1335 RH
1792-SEC. 210. OFFSHORE GEOLOGICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL SUR-1
1793-VEY LICENSING. 2
1794-The Secretary of the Interior shall authorize geological 3
1795-and geophysical surveys related to oil and gas activities on 4
1796-the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf, except within 5
1797-areas subject to existing oil and gas leasing moratoria. Such 6
1798-authorizations shall be issued within 30 days of receipt of 7
1799-a completed application and shall, as applicable to survey 8
1800-type, comply with the mitigation and monitoring measures 9
1801-in subsections (a), (b), (c), (d), (f), and (g) of section 10
1802-217.184 of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect 11
1803-on January 1, 2022), and section 217.185 of title 50, Code 12
1804-of Federal Regulations (as in effect on January 1, 2022). 13
1805-Geological and geophysical surveys authorized pursuant to 14
1806-this section are deemed to be in full compliance with the 15
1807-Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1361 16
1808-et seq.) and the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 17
1809-1531 et seq.), and their implementing regulations. 18
1810-SEC. 211. DEFERRAL OF APPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO 19
1811-DRILL. 20
1812-Section 17(p)(3) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 21
1813-226(p)(3)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 22
1814-‘‘(D) D
1815-EFERRAL BASED ON FORMATTING  23
1816-ISSUES.—A decision on an application for a 24
1817-permit to drill may not be deferred under para-25
1818-graph (2)(B) as a result of a formatting issue 26
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1821-•HR 1335 RH
1822-with the permit, unless such formatting issue re-1
1823-sults in missing information.’’. 2
1824-SEC. 212. PROCESSING AND TERMS OF APPLICATIONS FOR 3
1825-PERMITS TO DRILL. 4
1826-(a) E
1827-FFECT OFPENDINGCIVILACTIONS.—Section 5
1828-17(p) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(p)) is 6
1829-amended by adding at the end the following: 7
1830-‘‘(4) E
1831-FFECT OF PENDING CIVIL ACTION ON  8
1832-PROCESSING APPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO  9
1833-DRILL.—Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 10
1834-(2), notwithstanding the existence of any pending 11
1835-civil actions affecting the application or related lease, 12
1836-the Secretary shall process an application for a per-13
1837-mit to drill or other authorizations or approvals 14
1838-under a valid existing lease, unless a United States 15
1839-Federal court vacated such lease. Nothing in this 16
1840-paragraph shall be construed as providing authority 17
1841-to a Federal court to vacate a lease.’’. 18
1842-(b) T
1843-ERM OFPERMIT TODRILL.—Section 17 of the 19
1844-Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) is further amended 20
1845-by adding at the end the following: 21
1846-‘‘(u) T
1847-ERM OFPERMIT TODRILL.—A permit to drill 22
1848-issued under this section after the date of the enactment 23
1849-of this subsection shall be valid for one four-year term from 24
1850-the date that the permit is approved, or until the lease re-25
1851-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00062 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
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1853-•HR 1335 RH
1854-garding which the permit is issued expires, whichever oc-1
1855-curs first.’’. 2
1856-SEC. 213. AMENDMENTS TO THE ENERGY POLICY ACT OF 3
1857-2005. 4
1858-Section 390 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 5
1859-U.S.C. 15942) is amended to read as follows: 6
1860-‘‘SEC. 390. NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT RE-7
1861-VIEW. 8
1862-‘‘(a) N
1863-ATIONALENVIRONMENTAL POLICYACTRE-9
1864-VIEW.—Action by the Secretary of the Interior, in man-10
1865-aging the public lands, or the Secretary of Agriculture, in 11
1866-managing National Forest System lands, with respect to 12
1867-any of the activities described in subsection (c), shall not 13
1868-be considered a major Federal action for the purposes of 14
1869-section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act 15
1870-of 1969, if the activity is conducted pursuant to the Mineral 16
1871-Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) for the purpose of explo-17
1872-ration or development of oil or gas. 18
1873-‘‘(b) A
1874-PPLICATION.—This section shall not apply to an 19
1875-action of the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of 20
1876-Agriculture on Indian lands or resources managed in trust 21
1877-for the benefit of Indian Tribes. 22
1878-‘‘(c) A
1879-CTIVITIESDESCRIBED.—The activities referred 23
1880-to in subsection (a) are as follows: 24
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1883-•HR 1335 RH
1884-‘‘(1) Reinstating a lease pursuant to section 31 1
1885-of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 188). 2
1886-‘‘(2) The following activities, provided that any 3
1887-new surface disturbance is contiguous with the foot-4
1888-print of the original authorization and does not ex-5
1889-ceed 20 acres or the acreage has previously been eval-6
1890-uated in a document previously prepared under sec-7
1891-tion 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy 8
1892-Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)) with respect to 9
1893-such activity: 10
1894-‘‘(A) Drilling an oil or gas well at a well 11
1895-pad site at which drilling has occurred pre-12
1896-viously. 13
1897-‘‘(B) Expansion of an existing oil or gas 14
1898-well pad site to accommodate an additional well. 15
1899-‘‘(C) Expansion or modification of an exist-16
1900-ing oil or gas well pad site, road, pipeline, facil-17
1901-ity, or utility submitted in a sundry notice. 18
1902-‘‘(3) Drilling of an oil or gas well at a new well 19
1903-pad site, provided that the new surface disturbance 20
1904-does not exceed 20 acres and the acreage evaluated in 21
1905-a document previously prepared under section 22
1906-102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act 23
1907-of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)) with respect to such 24
1908-activity, whichever is greater. 25
1909-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00064 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
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1911-•HR 1335 RH
1912-‘‘(4) Construction or realignment of a road, 1
1913-pipeline, or utility within an existing right-of-way or 2
1914-within a right-of-way corridor established in a land 3
1915-use plan. 4
1916-‘‘(5) The following activities when conducted 5
1917-from non-Federal surface into federally owned min-6
1918-erals, provided that the operator submits to the Sec-7
1919-retary concerned certification of a surface use agree-8
1920-ment with the non-Federal landowner: 9
1921-‘‘(A) Drilling an oil or gas well at a well 10
1922-pad site at which drilling has occurred pre-11
1923-viously. 12
1924-‘‘(B) Expansion of an existing oil or gas 13
1925-well pad site to accommodate an additional well. 14
1926-‘‘(C) Expansion or modification of an exist-15
1927-ing oil or gas well pad site, road, pipeline, facil-16
1928-ity, or utility submitted in a sundry notice. 17
1929-‘‘(6) Drilling of an oil or gas well from non-Fed-18
1930-eral surface and non-Federal subsurface into Federal 19
1931-mineral estate. 20
1932-‘‘(7) Construction of up to 1 mile of new road 21
1933-on Federal or non-Federal surface, not to exceed 2 22
1934-miles in total. 23
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1937-•HR 1335 RH
1938-‘‘(8) Construction of up to 3 miles of individual 1
1939-pipelines or utilities, regardless of surface owner-2
1940-ship.’’. 3
1941-SEC. 214. ACCESS TO FEDERAL ENERGY RESOURCES FROM 4
1942-NON-FEDERAL SURFACE ESTATE. 5
1943-(a) O
1944-IL ANDGASPERMITS.—Section 17 of the Mineral 6
1945-Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) is further amended by adding 7
1946-at the end the following: 8
1947-‘‘(v) N
1948-OFEDERALPERMITREQUIRED FOROIL AND 9
572+ALES.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and 11
573+except within areas subject to existing oil and gas leasing 12
574+moratoria beginning in fiscal year 2023, the Secretary of 13
575+the Interior shall annually conduct a minimum of 2 re-14
576+gion-wide oil and gas lease sales in the following planning 15
577+areas of the Gulf of Mexico region, as described in the 16
578+2017–2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing 17
579+Proposed Final Program (November 2016): 18
580+(1) The Central Gulf of Mexico Planning Area. 19
581+(2) The Western Gulf of Mexico Planning Area. 20
582+(c) A
583+LASKAREGIONANNUALLEASESALES.—Not-21
584+withstanding any other provision of law, beginning in fis-22
585+cal year 2023, the Secretary of the Interior shall annually 23
586+conduct a minimum of 2 region-wide oil and gas lease 24
587+sales in the Alaska region of the Outer Continental Shelf, 25
588+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
589+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 20
590+•HR 1335 IH
591+as described in the 2017–2022 Outer Continental Shelf 1
592+Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Final Program (November 2
593+2016). 3
594+(d) R
595+EQUIREMENTS.—In conducting lease sales 4
596+under subsections (b) and (c), the Secretary of the Interior 5
597+shall— 6
598+(1) issue such leases in accordance with the 7
599+Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1332 8
600+et seq.); and 9
601+(2) include in each such lease sale all unleased 10
602+areas that are not subject to a moratorium as of the 11
603+date of the lease sale. 12
604+SEC. 108. FIVE-YEAR PLAN FOR OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS 13
605+LEASING. 14
606+Section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 15
607+(43 U.S.C. 1344) is amended— 16
608+(1) in subsection (a)— 17
609+(A) by striking ‘‘subsections (c) and (d) of 18
610+this section, shall prepare and periodically re-19
611+vise,’’ and inserting ‘‘this section, shall issue 20
612+every five years’’; 21
613+(B) by adding at the end the following: 22
614+‘‘(5) Each five-year program shall include at 23
615+least two Gulf of Mexico region-wide lease sales per 24
616+year.’’; and 25
617+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
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619+•HR 1335 IH
620+(C) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘domes-1
621+tic energy security,’’ after ‘‘between’’; 2
622+(2) by redesignating subsections (f) through (i) 3
623+as subsections (h) through (k), respectively; and 4
624+(3) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol-5
625+lowing: 6
626+‘‘(f) F
627+IVE-YEARPROGRAM FOR 2023–2028.—The 7
628+Secretary shall issue the five-year oil and gas leasing pro-8
629+gram for 2023 through 2028 and issue the Record of De-9
630+cision on the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact 10
631+Statement by not later than July 1, 2023. 11
632+‘‘(g) S
633+UBSEQUENTLEASINGPROGRAMS.— 12
634+‘‘(1) I
635+N GENERAL.—Not later than 36 months 13
636+after conducting the first lease sale under an oil and 14
637+gas leasing program prepared pursuant to this sec-15
638+tion, the Secretary shall begin preparing the subse-16
639+quent oil and gas leasing program under this sec-17
640+tion. 18
641+‘‘(2) R
642+EQUIREMENT.—Each subsequent oil and 19
643+gas leasing program under this section shall be ap-20
644+proved by not later than 180 days before the expira-21
645+tion of the previous oil and gas leasing program.’’. 22
646+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
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648+•HR 1335 IH
649+SEC. 109. GEOTHERMAL LEASING. 1
650+(a) A
651+NNUALLEASING.—Section 4(b) of the Geo-2
652+thermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1003(b)) is amend-3
653+ed— 4
654+(1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘2 years’’ and 5
655+inserting ‘‘year’’; 6
656+(2) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and (4) as 7
657+paragraphs (5) and (6), respectively; and 8
658+(3) after paragraph (2), by inserting the fol-9
659+lowing: 10
660+‘‘(3) R
661+EPLACEMENT SALES .—If a lease sale 11
662+under paragraph (1) for a year is canceled or de-12
663+layed, the Secretary of the Interior shall conduct a 13
664+replacement sale during the same year. 14
665+‘‘(4) R
666+EQUIREMENT.—In conducting a lease 15
667+sale under paragraph (2) in a State described in 16
668+that paragraph, the Secretary of the Interior shall 17
669+offer all nominated parcels eligible for geothermal 18
670+development and utilization under the resource man-19
671+agement plan in effect for the State.’’. 20
672+(b) D
673+EADLINES FOR CONSIDERATION OF GEO-21
674+THERMALDRILLINGPERMITS.—Section 4 of the Geo-22
675+thermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1003) is amended 23
676+by adding at the end the following: 24
677+‘‘(h) D
678+EADLINES FOR CONSIDERATION OF GEO-25
679+THERMALDRILLINGPERMITS.— 26
680+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
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682+•HR 1335 IH
683+‘‘(1) NOTICE.—Not later than 30 days after the 1
684+date on which the Secretary receives an application 2
685+for any geothermal drilling permit, the Secretary 3
686+shall— 4
687+‘‘(A) provide written notice to the appli-5
688+cant that the application is complete; or 6
689+‘‘(B) notify the applicant that information 7
690+is missing and specify any information that is 8
691+required to be submitted for the application to 9
692+be complete. 10
693+‘‘(2) I
694+SSUANCE OF DECISION.—If the Secretary 11
695+determines that an application for a geothermal 12
696+drilling permit is complete under paragraph (1)(A), 13
697+the Secretary shall issue a final decision on the ap-14
698+plication not later than 30 days after the Secretary 15
699+notifies the applicant that the application is com-16
700+plete.’’. 17
701+SEC. 110. LEASING FOR CERTAIN QUALIFIED COAL APPLI-18
702+CATIONS. 19
703+(a) D
704+EFINITIONS.—In this section: 20
705+(1) C
706+OAL LEASE.—The term ‘‘coal lease’’ 21
707+means a lease entered into by the United States as 22
708+lessor, through the Bureau of Land Management, 23
709+and the applicant on Bureau of Land Management 24
710+Form 3400–012. 25
711+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
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713+•HR 1335 IH
714+(2) QUALIFIED APPLICATION .—The term 1
715+‘‘qualified application’’ means any application pend-2
716+ing under the lease by application program adminis-3
717+tered by the Bureau of Land Management pursuant 4
718+to the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) 5
719+and subpart 3425 of title 43, Code of Federal Regu-6
720+lations (as in effect on the date of the enactment of 7
721+this Act), for which the environmental review proc-8
722+ess under the National Environmental Policy Act of 9
723+1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) has commenced. 10
724+(b) M
725+ANDATORYLEASING ANDOTHERREQUIRED 11
726+A
727+PPROVALS.—As soon as practicable after the date of the 12
728+enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall promptly— 13
729+(1) with respect to each qualified application— 14
730+(A) if not previously published for public 15
731+comment, publish a draft environmental assess-16
732+ment, as required under the National Environ-17
733+mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 18
734+seq.) and any applicable implementing regula-19
735+tions; 20
736+(B) finalize the fair market value of the 21
737+coal tract for which a lease by application is 22
738+pending; 23
739+(C) take all intermediate actions necessary 24
740+to grant the qualified application; and 25
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742+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 25
743+•HR 1335 IH
744+(D) grant the qualified application; and 1
745+(2) with respect to previously awarded coal 2
746+leases, grant any additional approvals of the Depart-3
747+ment of the Interior or any bureau, agency, or divi-4
748+sion of the Department of the Interior required for 5
749+mining activities to commence. 6
750+SEC. 111. FUTURE COAL LEASING. 7
751+Notwithstanding any judicial decision to the contrary 8
752+or a departmental review of the Federal coal leasing pro-9
753+gram, Secretarial Order 3338, issued by the Secretary of 10
754+the Interior on January 15, 2016, shall have no force or 11
755+effect. 12
756+SEC. 112. STAFF PLANNING REPORT. 13
757+The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of 14
758+Agriculture shall each annually submit to the Committee 15
759+on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and 16
760+the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 17
761+Senate a report on the staffing capacity of each respective 18
762+agency with respect to issuing oil, gas, hardrock mining, 19
763+coal, and renewable energy leases, rights-of-way, claims, 20
764+easements, and permits. Each such report shall include— 21
765+(1) the number of staff assigned to process and 22
766+issue oil, gas, hardrock mining, coal, and renewable 23
767+energy leases, rights-of-way, claims, easements, and 24
768+permits; 25
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771+•HR 1335 IH
772+(2) a description of how many staff are needed 1
773+to meet statutory requirements for such oil, gas, 2
774+hardrock mining, coal, and renewable energy leases, 3
775+rights-of-way, claims, easements, and permits; and 4
776+(3) how, as applicable, the Department of the 5
777+Interior or the Department of Agriculture plans to 6
778+address staffing shortfalls and turnover to ensure 7
779+adequate staffing to process and issue such oil, gas, 8
780+hardrock mining, coal, and renewable energy leases, 9
781+rights-of-way, claims, easements, and permits. 10
782+TITLE II—PERMITTING 11
783+STREAMLINING 12
784+SEC. 201. DEFINITIONS. 13
785+In this title: 14
786+(1) E
787+NERGY FACILITY.—The term ‘‘energy fa-15
788+cility’’ means a facility the primary purpose of which 16
789+is the exploration for, or the development, produc-17
790+tion, conversion, gathering, storage, transfer, proc-18
791+essing, or transportation of, any energy resource. 19
792+(2) E
793+NERGY STORAGE DEVICE .—The term ‘‘en-20
794+ergy storage device’’— 21
795+(A) means any equipment that stores en-22
796+ergy, including electricity, compressed air, 23
797+pumped water, heat, and hydrogen, which may 24
798+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
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800+•HR 1335 IH
801+be converted into, or used to produce, elec-1
802+tricity; and 2
803+(B) includes a battery, regenerative fuel 3
804+cell, flywheel, capacitor, superconducting mag-4
805+net, and any other equipment the Secretary 5
806+concerned determines may be used to store en-6
807+ergy which may be converted into, or used to 7
808+produce, electricity. 8
809+(3) P
810+UBLIC LANDS.—The term ‘‘public lands’’ 9
811+means any land and interest in land owned by the 10
812+United States within the several States and adminis-11
813+tered by the Secretary of the Interior or the Sec-12
814+retary of Agriculture without regard to how the 13
815+United States acquired ownership, except— 14
816+(A) lands located on the Outer Continental 15
817+Shelf; and 16
818+(B) lands held in trust by the United 17
819+States for the benefit of Indians, Indian Tribes, 18
820+Aleuts, and Eskimos. 19
821+(4) R
822+IGHT-OF-WAY.—The term ‘‘right-of-way’’ 20
823+means— 21
824+(A) a right-of-way issued, granted, or re-22
825+newed under section 501 of the Federal Land 23
826+Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 24
827+1761); or 25
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830+•HR 1335 IH
831+(B) a right-of-way granted under section 1
832+28 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 185). 2
833+(5) S
834+ECRETARY CONCERNED .—The term ‘‘Sec-3
835+retary concerned’’ means— 4
836+(A) with respect to public lands, the Sec-5
837+retary of the Interior; and 6
838+(B) with respect to National Forest Sys-7
839+tem lands, the Secretary of Agriculture. 8
840+(6) L
841+AND USE PLAN .—The term ‘‘land use 9
842+plan’’ means— 10
843+(A) a land and resource management plan 11
844+prepared by the Forest Service for a unit of the 12
845+National Forest System pursuant to section 6 13
846+of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Re-14
847+sources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 15
848+1604); 16
849+(B) a Land Management Plan developed 17
850+by the Bureau of Land Management under the 18
851+Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 19
852+1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); or 20
853+(C) a comprehensive conservation plan de-21
854+veloped by the United States Fish and Wildlife 22
855+Service under section 4(e)(1)(A) of the National 23
856+Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 24
857+1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd(e)(1)(A)). 25
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860+•HR 1335 IH
861+SEC. 202. BUILDER ACT. 1
862+(a) P
863+ARAGRAPH(2) OFSECTION102.—Section 2
864+102(2) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 3
865+(42 U.S.C. 4332(2)) is amended— 4
866+(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘insure’’ 5
867+and inserting ‘‘ensure’’; 6
868+(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘insure’’ 7
869+and inserting ‘‘ensure’’; 8
870+(3) in subparagraph (C)— 9
871+(A) by inserting ‘‘consistent with the provi-10
872+sions of this Act and except as provided by 11
873+other provisions of law,’’ before ‘‘include in 12
874+every’’; 13
875+(B) by striking clauses (i) through (v) and 14
876+inserting the following: 15
877+‘‘(i) reasonably foreseeable environmental 16
878+effects with a reasonably close causal relation-17
879+ship to the proposed agency action; 18
880+‘‘(ii) any reasonably foreseeable adverse en-19
881+vironmental effects which cannot be avoided 20
882+should the proposal be implemented; 21
883+‘‘(iii) a reasonable number of alternatives 22
884+to the proposed agency action, including an 23
885+analysis of any negative environmental impacts 24
886+of not implementing the proposed agency action 25
887+in the case of a no action alternative, that are 26
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890+•HR 1335 IH
891+technically and economically feasible, are within 1
892+the jurisdiction of the agency, meet the purpose 2
893+and need of the proposal, and, where applicable, 3
894+meet the goals of the applicant; 4
895+‘‘(iv) the relationship between local short- 5
896+term uses of man’s environment and the main-6
897+tenance and enhancement of long-term produc-7
898+tivity; and 8
899+‘‘(v) any irreversible and irretrievable com-9
900+mitments of Federal resources which would be 10
901+involved in the proposed agency action should it 11
902+be implemented.’’; and 12
903+(C) by striking ‘‘the responsible Federal 13
904+official’’ and inserting ‘‘the head of the lead 14
905+agency’’; 15
906+(4) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘Any’’ 16
907+and inserting ‘‘any’’; 17
908+(5) by redesignating subparagraphs (D) 18
909+through (I) as subparagraphs (F) through (K), re-19
910+spectively; 20
911+(6) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the fol-21
912+lowing: 22
913+‘‘(D) ensure the professional integrity, including 23
914+scientific integrity, of the discussion and analysis in 24
915+an environmental document; 25
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918+•HR 1335 IH
919+‘‘(E) make use of reliable existing data and re-1
920+sources in carrying out this Act;’’; 2
921+(7) by amending subparagraph (G), as redesig-3
922+nated, to read as follows: 4
923+‘‘(G) consistent with the provisions of this Act, 5
924+study, develop, and describe technically and economi-6
925+cally feasible alternatives within the jurisdiction and 7
926+authority of the agency;’’; and 8
927+(8) in subparagraph (H), as amended, by in-9
928+serting ‘‘consistent with the provisions of this Act,’’ 10
929+before ‘‘recognize’’. 11
930+(b) N
931+EWSECTIONS.—Title I of the National Envi-12
932+ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) 13
933+is amended by adding at the end the following: 14
934+‘‘SEC. 106. PROCEDURE FOR DETERMINATION OF LEVEL OF 15
935+REVIEW. 16
936+‘‘(a) T
937+HRESHOLDDETERMINATIONS.—An agency is 17
938+not required to prepare an environmental document with 18
939+respect to a proposed agency action if— 19
940+‘‘(1) the proposed agency action is not a final 20
941+agency action within the meaning of such term in 21
942+chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code; 22
943+‘‘(2) the proposed agency action is covered by 23
944+a categorical exclusion established by a Federal 24
945+agency or by another provision of law; 25
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948+•HR 1335 IH
949+‘‘(3) the preparation of such document would 1
950+clearly and fundamentally conflict with the require-2
951+ments of another provision of law; 3
952+‘‘(4) the proposed agency action is, in whole or 4
953+in part, a nondiscretionary action with respect to 5
954+which such agency does not have authority to take 6
955+environmental factors into consideration in deter-7
956+mining whether to take the proposed action; 8
957+‘‘(5) the proposed agency action is a rulemaking 9
958+that is subject to section 553 of title 5, United 10
959+States Code; or 11
960+‘‘(6) the proposed agency action is an action for 12
961+which such agency’s compliance with another stat-13
962+ute’s requirements serve the same or similar func-14
963+tion as the requirements of this Act with respect to 15
964+such action. 16
965+‘‘(b) L
966+EVELS OFREVIEW.— 17
967+‘‘(1) E
968+NVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT .— 18
969+An agency shall issue an environmental impact 19
970+statement with respect to a proposed agency action 20
971+that has a significant effect on the quality of the 21
972+human environment. 22
973+‘‘(2) E
974+NVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT .—An agen-23
975+cy shall prepare an environmental assessment with 24
976+respect to a proposed agency action that is not likely 25
977+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00032 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
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979+•HR 1335 IH
980+to have a significant effect on the quality of the 1
981+human environment, or if the significance of such ef-2
982+fect is unknown. Such environmental assessment 3
983+shall be a concise public document prepared by a 4
984+Federal agency to set forth the basis of such agen-5
985+cy’s finding of no significant impact. 6
986+‘‘(3) S
987+OURCES OF INFORMATION .—In making a 7
988+determination under this subsection, an agency— 8
989+‘‘(A) may make use of any reliable data 9
990+source; and 10
991+‘‘(B) is not required to undertake new sci-11
992+entific or technical research. 12
993+‘‘SEC. 107. TIMELY AND UNIFIED FEDERAL REVIEWS. 13
994+‘‘(a) L
995+EADAGENCY.— 14
996+‘‘(1) D
997+ESIGNATION.— 15
998+‘‘(A) I
999+N GENERAL.—If there are two or 16
1000+more involved Federal agencies, such agencies 17
1001+shall determine, by letter or memorandum, 18
1002+which agency shall be the lead agency based on 19
1003+consideration of the following factors: 20
1004+‘‘(i) Magnitude of agency’s involve-21
1005+ment. 22
1006+‘‘(ii) Project approval or disapproval 23
1007+authority. 24
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1010+•HR 1335 IH
1011+‘‘(iii) Expertise concerning the ac-1
1012+tion’s environmental effects. 2
1013+‘‘(iv) Duration of agency’s involve-3
1014+ment. 4
1015+‘‘(v) Sequence of agency’s involve-5
1016+ment. 6
1017+‘‘(B) J
1018+OINT LEAD AGENCIES .—In making 7
1019+a determination under subparagraph (A), the 8
1020+involved Federal agencies may, in addition to a 9
1021+Federal agency, appoint such Federal, State, 10
1022+Tribal, or local agencies as joint lead agencies 11
1023+as the involved Federal agencies shall determine 12
1024+appropriate. Joint lead agencies shall jointly 13
1025+fulfill the role described in paragraph (2). 14
1026+‘‘(C) M
1027+INERAL PROJECTS .—This para-15
1028+graph shall not apply with respect to a mineral 16
1029+exploration or mine permit. 17
1030+‘‘(2) R
1031+OLE.—A lead agency shall, with respect 18
1032+to a proposed agency action— 19
1033+‘‘(A) supervise the preparation of an envi-20
1034+ronmental document if, with respect to such 21
1035+proposed agency action, there is more than one 22
1036+involved Federal agency; 23
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1039+•HR 1335 IH
1040+‘‘(B) request the participation of each co-1
1041+operating agency at the earliest practicable 2
1042+time; 3
1043+‘‘(C) in preparing an environmental docu-4
1044+ment, give consideration to any analysis or pro-5
1045+posal created by a cooperating agency with ju-6
1046+risdiction by law or a cooperating agency with 7
1047+special expertise; 8
1048+‘‘(D) develop a schedule, in consultation 9
1049+with each involved cooperating agency, the ap-10
1050+plicant, and such other entities as the lead 11
1051+agency determines appropriate, for completion 12
1052+of any environmental review, permit, or author-13
1053+ization required to carry out the proposed agen-14
1054+cy action; 15
1055+‘‘(E) if the lead agency determines that a 16
1056+review, permit, or authorization will not be com-17
1057+pleted in accordance with the schedule devel-18
1058+oped under subparagraph (D), notify the agen-19
1059+cy responsible for issuing such review, permit, 20
1060+or authorization of the discrepancy and request 21
1061+that such agency take such measures as such 22
1062+agency determines appropriate to comply with 23
1063+such schedule; and 24
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1066+•HR 1335 IH
1067+‘‘(F) meet with a cooperating agency that 1
1068+requests such a meeting. 2
1069+‘‘(3) C
1070+OOPERATING AGENCY .—The lead agency 3
1071+may, with respect to a proposed agency action, des-4
1072+ignate any involved Federal agency or a State, Trib-5
1073+al, or local agency as a cooperating agency. A co-6
1074+operating agency may, not later than a date speci-7
1075+fied by the lead agency, submit comments to the 8
1076+lead agency. Such comments shall be limited to mat-9
1077+ters relating to the proposed agency action with re-10
1078+spect to which such agency has special expertise or 11
1079+jurisdiction by law with respect to an environmental 12
1080+issue. 13
1081+‘‘(4) R
1082+EQUEST FOR DESIGNATION .—Any Fed-14
1083+eral, State, Tribal, or local agency or person that is 15
1084+substantially affected by the lack of a designation of 16
1085+a lead agency with respect to a proposed agency ac-17
1086+tion under paragraph (1) may submit a written re-18
1087+quest for such a designation to an involved Federal 19
1088+agency. An agency that receives a request under this 20
1089+paragraph shall transmit such request to each in-21
1090+volved Federal agency and to the Council. 22
1091+‘‘(5) C
1092+OUNCIL DESIGNATION.— 23
1093+‘‘(A) R
1094+EQUEST.—Not earlier than 45 days 24
1095+after the date on which a request is submitted 25
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1098+•HR 1335 IH
1099+under paragraph (4), if no designation has been 1
1100+made under paragraph (1), a Federal, State, 2
1101+Tribal, or local agency or person that is sub-3
1102+stantially affected by the lack of a designation 4
1103+of a lead agency may request that the Council 5
1104+designate a lead agency. Such request shall con-6
1105+sist of— 7
1106+‘‘(i) a precise description of the nature 8
1107+and extent of the proposed agency action; 9
1108+and 10
1109+‘‘(ii) a detailed statement with respect 11
1110+to each involved Federal agency and each 12
1111+factor listed in paragraph (1) regarding 13
1112+which agency should serve as lead agency. 14
1113+‘‘(B) T
1114+RANSMISSION.—The Council shall 15
1115+transmit a request received under subparagraph 16
1116+(A) to each involved Federal agency. 17
1117+‘‘(C) R
1118+ESPONSE.—An involved Federal 18
1119+agency may, not later than 20 days after the 19
1120+date of the submission of a request under sub-20
1121+paragraph (A), submit to the Council a re-21
1122+sponse to such request. 22
1123+‘‘(D) D
1124+ESIGNATION.—Not later than 40 23
1125+days after the date of the submission of a re-24
1126+quest under subparagraph (A), the Council 25
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1129+•HR 1335 IH
1130+shall designate the lead agency with respect to 1
1131+the relevant proposed agency action. 2
1132+‘‘(b) O
1133+NEDOCUMENT.— 3
1134+‘‘(1) D
1135+OCUMENT.—To the extent practicable, if 4
1136+there are 2 or more involved Federal agencies with 5
1137+respect to a proposed agency action and the lead 6
1138+agency has determined that an environmental docu-7
1139+ment is required, such requirement shall be deemed 8
1140+satisfied with respect to all involved Federal agencies 9
1141+if the lead agency issues such an environmental doc-10
1142+ument. 11
1143+‘‘(2) C
1144+ONSIDERATION TIMING .—In developing 12
1145+an environmental document for a proposed agency 13
1146+action, no involved Federal agency shall be required 14
1147+to consider any information that becomes available 15
1148+after the sooner of, as applicable— 16
1149+‘‘(A) receipt of a complete application with 17
1150+respect to such proposed agency action; or 18
1151+‘‘(B) publication of a notice of intent or 19
1152+decision to prepare an environmental impact 20
1153+statement for such proposed agency action. 21
1154+‘‘(3) S
1155+COPE OF REVIEW.—In developing an en-22
1156+vironmental document for a proposed agency action, 23
1157+the lead agency and any other involved Federal 24
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1160+•HR 1335 IH
1161+agencies shall only consider the effects of the pro-1
1162+posed agency action that— 2
1163+‘‘(A) occur on Federal land; or 3
1164+‘‘(B) are subject to Federal control and re-4
1165+sponsibility. 5
1166+‘‘(c) R
1167+EQUEST FORPUBLICCOMMENT.—Each notice 6
1168+of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement 7
1169+under section 102 shall include a request for public com-8
1170+ment on alternatives or impacts and on relevant informa-9
1171+tion, studies, or analyses with respect to the proposed 10
1172+agency action. 11
1173+‘‘(d) S
1174+TATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND NEED.—Each 12
1175+environmental impact statement shall include a statement 13
1176+of purpose and need that briefly summarizes the under-14
1177+lying purpose and need for the proposed agency action. 15
1178+‘‘(e) E
1179+STIMATEDTOTALCOST.—The cover sheet for 16
1180+each environmental impact statement shall include a state-17
1181+ment of the estimated total cost of preparing such environ-18
1182+mental impact statement, including the costs of agency 19
1183+full-time equivalent personnel hours, contractor costs, and 20
1184+other direct costs. 21
1185+‘‘(f) P
1186+AGELIMITS.— 22
1187+‘‘(1) E
1188+NVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENTS .— 23
1189+‘‘(A) I
1190+N GENERAL.—Except as provided in 24
1191+subparagraph (B), an environmental impact 25
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1194+•HR 1335 IH
1195+statement shall not exceed 150 pages, not in-1
1196+cluding any citations or appendices. 2
1197+‘‘(B) E
1198+XTRAORDINARY COMPLEXITY .—An 3
1199+environmental impact statement for a proposed 4
1200+agency action of extraordinary complexity shall 5
1201+not exceed 300 pages, not including any cita-6
1202+tions or appendices. 7
1203+‘‘(2) E
1204+NVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTS .—An en-8
1205+vironmental assessment shall not exceed 75 pages, 9
1206+not including any citations or appendices. 10
1207+‘‘(g) S
1208+PONSORPREPARATION.—A lead agency shall 11
1209+allow a project sponsor to prepare an environmental as-12
1210+sessment or an environmental impact statement upon re-13
1211+quest of the project sponsor. Such agency may provide 14
1212+such sponsor with appropriate guidance and assist in the 15
1213+preparation. The lead agency shall independently evaluate 16
1214+the environmental document and shall take responsibility 17
1215+for the contents upon adoption. 18
1216+‘‘(h) D
1217+EADLINES.— 19
1218+‘‘(1) I
1219+N GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-20
1220+graph (2), with respect to a proposed agency action, 21
1221+a lead agency shall complete, as applicable— 22
1222+‘‘(A) the environmental impact statement 23
1223+not later than the date that is 2 years after the 24
1224+sooner of, as applicable— 25
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1227+•HR 1335 IH
1228+‘‘(i) the date on which such agency 1
1229+determines that section 102(2)(C) requires 2
1230+the issuance of an environmental impact 3
1231+statement with respect to such action; 4
1232+‘‘(ii) the date on which such agency 5
1233+notifies the applicant that the application 6
1234+to establish a right-of-way for such action 7
1235+is complete; and 8
1236+‘‘(iii) the date on which such agency 9
1237+issues a notice of intent to prepare the en-10
1238+vironmental impact statement for such ac-11
1239+tion; and 12
1240+‘‘(B) the environmental assessment not 13
1241+later than the date that is 1 year after the 14
1242+sooner of, as applicable— 15
1243+‘‘(i) the date on which such agency 16
1244+determines that section 106(b)(2) requires 17
1245+the preparation of an environmental as-18
1246+sessment with respect to such action; 19
1247+‘‘(ii) the date on which such agency 20
1248+notifies the applicant that the application 21
1249+to establish a right-of-way for such action 22
1250+is complete; and 23
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1253+•HR 1335 IH
1254+‘‘(iii) the date on which such agency 1
1255+issues a notice of intent to prepare the en-2
1256+vironmental assessment for such action. 3
1257+‘‘(2) D
1258+ELAY.—A lead agency that determines it 4
1259+is not able to meet the deadline described in para-5
1260+graph (1) may extend such deadline with the ap-6
1261+proval of the applicant. If the applicant approves 7
1262+such an extension, the lead agency shall establish a 8
1263+new deadline that provides only so much additional 9
1264+time as is necessary to complete such environmental 10
1265+impact statement or environmental assessment. 11
1266+‘‘(3) E
1267+XPENDITURES FOR DELAY .—If a lead 12
1268+agency is unable to meet the deadline described in 13
1269+paragraph (1) or extended under paragraph (2), the 14
1270+lead agency must pay $100 per day, to the extent 15
1271+funding is provided in advance in an appropriations 16
1272+Act, out of the office of the head of the department 17
1273+of the lead agency to the applicant starting on the 18
1274+first day immediately following the deadline de-19
1275+scribed in paragraph (1) or extended under para-20
1276+graph (2) up until the date that an applicant ap-21
1277+proves a new deadline. This paragraph does not 22
1278+apply when the lead agency misses a deadline solely 23
1279+due to delays caused by litigation. 24
1280+‘‘(i) R
1281+EPORT.— 25
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1284+•HR 1335 IH
1285+‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The head of each lead 1
1286+agency shall annually submit to the Committee on 2
1287+Natural Resources of the House of Representatives 3
1288+and the Committee on Environment and Public 4
1289+Works of the Senate a report that— 5
1290+‘‘(A) identifies any environmental assess-6
1291+ment and environmental impact statement that 7
1292+such lead agency did not complete by the dead-8
1293+line described in subsection (h); and 9
1294+‘‘(B) provides an explanation for any fail-10
1295+ure to meet such deadline. 11
1296+‘‘(2) I
1297+NCLUSIONS.—Each report submitted 12
1298+under paragraph (1) shall identify, as applicable— 13
1299+‘‘(A) the office, bureau, division, unit, or 14
1300+other entity within the Federal agency respon-15
1301+sible for each such environmental assessment 16
1302+and environmental impact statement; 17
1303+‘‘(B) the date on which— 18
1304+‘‘(i) such lead agency notified the ap-19
1305+plicant that the application to establish a 20
1306+right-of-way for the major Federal action 21
1307+is complete; 22
1308+‘‘(ii) such lead agency began the 23
1309+scoping for the major Federal action; or 24
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1312+•HR 1335 IH
1313+‘‘(iii) such lead agency issued a notice 1
1314+of intent to prepare the environmental as-2
1315+sessment or environmental impact state-3
1316+ment for the major Federal action; and 4
1317+‘‘(C) when such environmental assessment 5
1318+and environmental impact statement is expected 6
1319+to be complete. 7
1320+‘‘SEC. 108. JUDICIAL REVIEW. 8
1321+‘‘(a) L
1322+IMITATIONS ON CLAIMS.—Notwithstanding 9
1323+any other provision of law, a claim arising under Federal 10
1324+law seeking judicial review of compliance with this Act, 11
1325+of a determination made under this Act, or of Federal ac-12
1326+tion resulting from a determination made under this Act, 13
1327+shall be barred unless— 14
1328+‘‘(1) in the case of a claim pertaining to a pro-15
1329+posed agency action for which— 16
1330+‘‘(A) an environmental document was pre-17
1331+pared and an opportunity for comment was pro-18
1332+vided; 19
1333+‘‘(B) the claim is filed by a party that par-20
1334+ticipated in the administrative proceedings re-21
1335+garding such environmental document; and 22
1336+‘‘(C) the claim— 23
1337+‘‘(i) is filed by a party that submitted 24
1338+a comment during the public comment pe-25
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1341+•HR 1335 IH
1342+riod for such administrative proceedings 1
1343+and such comment was sufficiently detailed 2
1344+to put the lead agency on notice of the 3
1345+issue upon which the party seeks judicial 4
1346+review; and 5
1347+‘‘(ii) is related to such comment; 6
1348+‘‘(2) except as provided in subsection (b), such 7
1349+claim is filed not later than 120 days after the date 8
1350+of publication of a notice in the Federal Register of 9
1351+agency intent to carry out the proposed agency ac-10
1352+tion; 11
1353+‘‘(3) such claim is filed after the issuance of a 12
1354+record of decision or other final agency action with 13
1355+respect to the relevant proposed agency action; 14
1356+‘‘(4) such claim does not challenge the estab-15
1357+lishment or use of a categorical exclusion under sec-16
1358+tion 102; and 17
1359+‘‘(5) such claim concerns— 18
1360+‘‘(A) an alternative included in the envi-19
1361+ronmental document; or 20
1362+‘‘(B) an environmental effect considered in 21
1363+the environmental document. 22
1364+‘‘(b) S
1365+UPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT 23
1366+S
1367+TATEMENT.— 24
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1370+•HR 1335 IH
1371+‘‘(1) SEPARATE FINAL AGENCY ACTION .—The 1
1372+issuance of a Federal action resulting from a final 2
1373+supplemental environmental impact statement shall 3
1374+be considered a final agency action for the purposes 4
1375+of chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, separate 5
1376+from the issuance of any previous environmental im-6
1377+pact statement with respect to the same proposed 7
1378+agency action. 8
1379+‘‘(2) D
1380+EADLINE FOR FILING A CLAIM .—A claim 9
1381+seeking judicial review of a Federal action resulting 10
1382+from a final supplemental environmental review 11
1383+issued under section 102(2)(C) shall be barred un-12
1384+less— 13
1385+‘‘(A) such claim is filed within 120 days of 14
1386+the date on which a notice of the Federal agen-15
1387+cy action resulting from a final supplemental 16
1388+environmental impact statement is issued; and 17
1389+‘‘(B) such claim is based on information 18
1390+contained in such supplemental environmental 19
1391+impact statement that was not contained in a 20
1392+previous environmental document pertaining to 21
1393+the same proposed agency action. 22
1394+‘‘(c) P
1395+ROHIBITION ON INJUNCTIVERELIEF.—Not-23
1396+withstanding any other provision of law, a violation of this 24
1397+Act shall not constitute the basis for injunctive relief. 25
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1400+•HR 1335 IH
1401+‘‘(d) RULE OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-1
1402+tion shall be construed to create a right of judicial review 2
1403+or place any limit on filing a claim with respect to the 3
1404+violation of the terms of a permit, license, or approval. 4
1405+‘‘(e) R
1406+EMAND.—Notwithstanding any other provision 5
1407+of law, no proposed agency action for which an environ-6
1408+mental document is required shall be vacated or otherwise 7
1409+limited, delayed, or enjoined unless a court concludes al-8
1410+lowing such proposed action will pose a risk of an immi-9
1411+nent and substantial environmental harm and there is no 10
1412+other equitable remedy available as a matter of law. 11
1413+‘‘SEC. 109. DEFINITIONS. 12
1414+‘‘In this title: 13
1415+‘‘(1) C
1416+ATEGORICAL EXCLUSION .—The term 14
1417+‘categorical exclusion’ means a category of actions 15
1418+that a Federal agency has determined normally does 16
1419+not significantly affect the quality of the human en-17
1420+vironment within the meaning of section 102(2)(C). 18
1421+‘‘(2) C
1422+OOPERATING AGENCY .—The term ‘co-19
1423+operating agency’ means any Federal, State, Tribal, 20
1424+or local agency that has been designated as a co-21
1425+operating agency under section 107(a)(3). 22
1426+‘‘(3) C
1427+OUNCIL.—The term ‘Council’ means the 23
1428+Council on Environmental Quality established in 24
1429+title II. 25
1430+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00047 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
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1432+•HR 1335 IH
1433+‘‘(4) ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT .—The 1
1434+term ‘environmental assessment’ means an environ-2
1435+mental assessment prepared under section 3
1436+106(b)(2). 4
1437+‘‘(5) E
1438+NVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENT .—The term 5
1439+‘environmental document’ means an environmental 6
1440+impact statement, an environmental assessment, or 7
1441+a finding of no significant impact. 8
1442+‘‘(6) E
1443+NVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT .— 9
1444+The term ‘environmental impact statement’ means a 10
1445+detailed written statement that is required by section 11
1446+102(2)(C). 12
1447+‘‘(7) F
1448+INDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT .— 13
1449+The term ‘finding of no significant impact’ means a 14
1450+determination by a Federal agency that a proposed 15
1451+agency action does not require the issuance of an en-16
1452+vironmental impact statement. 17
1453+‘‘(8) I
1454+NVOLVED FEDERAL AGENCY .—The term 18
1455+‘involved Federal agency’ means an agency that, 19
1456+with respect to a proposed agency action— 20
1457+‘‘(A) proposed such action; or 21
1458+‘‘(B) is involved in such action because 22
1459+such action is directly related, through func-23
1460+tional interdependence or geographic proximity, 24
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1463+•HR 1335 IH
1464+to an action such agency has taken or has pro-1
1465+posed to take. 2
1466+‘‘(9) L
1467+EAD AGENCY.— 3
1468+‘‘(A) I
1469+N GENERAL.—Except as provided in 4
1470+subparagraph (B), the term ‘lead agency’ 5
1471+means, with respect to a proposed agency ac-6
1472+tion— 7
1473+‘‘(i) the agency that proposed such ac-8
1474+tion; or 9
1475+‘‘(ii) if there are 2 or more involved 10
1476+Federal agencies with respect to such ac-11
1477+tion, the agency designated under section 12
1478+107(a)(1). 13
1479+‘‘(B) S
1480+PECIFICATION FOR MINERAL EX -14
1481+PLORATION OR MINE PERMITS .—With respect 15
1482+to a proposed mineral exploration or mine per-16
1483+mit, the term ‘lead agency’ has the meaning 17
1484+given such term in section 40206(a) of the In-18
1485+frastructure Investment and Jobs Act. 19
1486+‘‘(10) M
1487+AJOR FEDERAL ACTION .— 20
1488+‘‘(A) I
1489+N GENERAL.—The term ‘major Fed-21
1490+eral action’ means an action that the agency 22
1491+carrying out such action determines is subject 23
1492+to substantial Federal control and responsi-24
1493+bility. 25
1494+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00049 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
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1496+•HR 1335 IH
1497+‘‘(B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘major Fed-1
1498+eral action’ does not include— 2
1499+‘‘(i) a non-Federal action— 3
1500+‘‘(I) with no or minimal Federal 4
1501+funding; 5
1502+‘‘(II) with no or minimal Federal 6
1503+involvement where a Federal agency 7
1504+cannot control the outcome of the 8
1505+project; or 9
1506+‘‘(III) that does not include Fed-10
1507+eral land; 11
1508+‘‘(ii) funding assistance solely in the 12
1509+form of general revenue sharing funds 13
1510+which do not provide Federal agency com-14
1511+pliance or enforcement responsibility over 15
1512+the subsequent use of such funds; 16
1513+‘‘(iii) loans, loan guarantees, or other 17
1514+forms of financial assistance where a Fed-18
1515+eral agency does not exercise sufficient 19
1516+control and responsibility over the effect of 20
1517+the action; 21
1518+‘‘(iv) farm ownership and operating 22
1519+loan guarantees by the Farm Service 23
1520+Agency pursuant to sections 305 and 311 24
1521+through 319 of the Consolidated Farmers 25
1522+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00050 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
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1524+•HR 1335 IH
1525+Home Administration Act of 1961 (7 1
1526+U.S.C. 1925 and 1941 through 1949); 2
1527+‘‘(v) business loan guarantees pro-3
1528+vided by the Small Business Administra-4
1529+tion pursuant to section 7(a) or (b) and of 5
1530+the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 6
1531+636(a)), or title V of the Small Business 7
1532+Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 695 et 8
1533+seq.); 9
1534+‘‘(vi) bringing judicial or administra-10
1535+tive civil or criminal enforcement actions; 11
1536+or 12
1537+‘‘(vii) extraterritorial activities or deci-13
1538+sions, which means agency activities or de-14
1539+cisions with effects located entirely outside 15
1540+of the jurisdiction of the United States. 16
1541+‘‘(C) A
1542+DDITIONAL EXCLUSIONS .—An agen-17
1543+cy action may not be determined to be a major 18
1544+Federal action on the basis of— 19
1545+‘‘(i) an interstate effect of the action 20
1546+or related project; or 21
1547+‘‘(ii) the provision of Federal funds 22
1548+for the action or related project. 23
1549+‘‘(11) M
1550+INERAL EXPLORATION OR MINE PER -24
1551+MIT.—The term ‘mineral exploration or mine permit’ 25
1552+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00051 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
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1554+•HR 1335 IH
1555+has the meaning given such term in section 1
1556+40206(a) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs 2
1557+Act. 3
1558+‘‘(12) P
1559+ROPOSAL.—The term ‘proposal’ means 4
1560+a proposed action at a stage when an agency has a 5
1561+goal, is actively preparing to make a decision on one 6
1562+or more alternative means of accomplishing that 7
1563+goal, and can meaningfully evaluate its effects. 8
1564+‘‘(13) R
1565+EASONABLY FORESEEABLE .—The term 9
1566+‘reasonably foreseeable’ means likely to occur— 10
1567+‘‘(A) not later than 10 years after the lead 11
1568+agency begins preparing the environmental doc-12
1569+ument; and 13
1570+‘‘(B) in an area directly affected by the 14
1571+proposed agency action such that an individual 15
1572+of ordinary prudence would take such occur-16
1573+rence into account in reaching a decision. 17
1574+‘‘(14) S
1575+PECIAL EXPERTISE.—The term ‘special 18
1576+expertise’ means statutory responsibility, agency 19
1577+mission, or related program experience.’’. 20
1578+SEC. 203. CODIFICATION OF NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL 21
1579+POLICY ACT REGULATIONS. 22
1580+The revisions to the Code of Federal Regulations 23
1581+made pursuant to the final rule of the Council on Environ-24
1582+mental Quality titled ‘‘Update to the Regulations Imple-25
1583+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00052 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
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1585+•HR 1335 IH
1586+menting the Procedural Provisions of the National Envi-1
1587+ronmental Policy Act’’ and published on July 16, 2020 2
1588+(85 Fed. Reg. 43304), shall have the same force and effect 3
1589+of law as if enacted by an Act of Congress. 4
1590+SEC. 204. NON-MAJOR FEDERAL ACTIONS. 5
1591+(a) E
1592+XEMPTION.—An action by the Secretary con-6
1593+cerned with respect to a covered activity shall be not con-7
1594+sidered a major Federal action under section 102(2)(C) 8
1595+of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 9
1596+U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)). 10
1597+(b) C
1598+OVEREDACTIVITY.—In this section, the term 11
1599+‘‘covered activity’’ includes— 12
1600+(1) geotechnical investigations; 13
1601+(2) off-road travel in an existing right-of-way; 14
1602+(3) construction of meteorological towers where 15
1603+the total surface disturbance at the location is less 16
1604+than 5 acres; 17
1605+(4) adding a battery or other energy storage de-18
1606+vice to an existing or planned energy facility, if that 19
1607+storage resource is located within the physical foot-20
1608+print of the existing or planned energy facility; 21
1609+(5) drilling temperature gradient wells and 22
1610+other geothermal exploratory wells, including con-23
1611+struction or making improvements for such activi-24
1612+ties, where— 25
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1615+•HR 1335 IH
1616+(A) the last cemented casing string is less 1
1617+than 12 inches in diameter; and 2
1618+(B) the total unreclaimed surface disturb-3
1619+ance at any one time within the project area is 4
1620+less than 5 acres; 5
1621+(6) any repair, maintenance, upgrade, optimiza-6
1622+tion, or minor addition to existing transmission and 7
1623+distribution infrastructure, including— 8
1624+(A) operation, maintenance, or repair of 9
1625+power equipment and structures within existing 10
1626+substations, switching stations, transmission, 11
1627+and distribution lines; 12
1628+(B) the addition, modification, retirement, 13
1629+or replacement of breakers, transmission tow-14
1630+ers, transformers, bushings, or relays; 15
1631+(C) the voltage uprating, modification, 16
1632+reconductoring with conventional or advanced 17
1633+conductors, and clearance resolution of trans-18
1634+mission lines; 19
1635+(D) activities to minimize fire risk, includ-20
1636+ing vegetation management, routine fire mitiga-21
1637+tion, inspection, and maintenance activities, and 22
1638+removal of hazard trees and other hazard vege-23
1639+tation within or adjacent to an existing right-of- 24
1640+way; 25
1641+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00054 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
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1643+•HR 1335 IH
1644+(E) improvements to or construction of 1
1645+structure pads for such infrastructure; and 2
1646+(F) access and access route maintenance 3
1647+and repairs associated with any activity de-4
1648+scribed in subparagraph (A) through (E); 5
1649+(7) approval of and activities conducted in ac-6
1650+cordance with operating plans or agreements for 7
1651+transmission and distribution facilities or under a 8
1652+special use authorization for an electric transmission 9
1653+and distribution facility right-of-way; and 10
1654+(8) construction, maintenance, realignment, or 11
1655+repair of an existing permanent or temporary access 12
1656+road— 13
1657+(A) within an existing right-of-way or with-14
1658+in a transmission or utility corridor established 15
1659+by Congress or in a land use plan; 16
1660+(B) that serves an existing transmission 17
1661+line, distribution line, or energy facility; or 18
1662+(C) activities conducted in accordance with 19
1663+existing onshore oil and gas leases. 20
1664+SEC. 205. NO NET LOSS DETERMINATION FOR EXISTING 21
1665+RIGHTS-OF-WAY. 22
1666+(a) I
1667+NGENERAL.—Upon a determination by the Sec-23
1668+retary concerned that there will be no overall long-term 24
1669+net loss of vegetation, soil, or habitat, as defined by acre-25
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1672+•HR 1335 IH
1673+age and function, resulting from a proposed action, deci-1
1674+sion, or activity within an existing right-of-way, within a 2
1675+right-of-way corridor established in a land use plan, or in 3
1676+an otherwise designated right-of-way, that action, deci-4
1677+sion, or activity shall not be considered a major Federal 5
1678+action under section 102(2)(C) of the National Environ-6
1679+mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)). 7
1680+(b) I
1681+NCLUSION OFREMEDIATION.—In making a de-8
1682+termination under subsection (a), the Secretary concerned 9
1683+shall consider the effect of any remediation work to be 10
1684+conducted during the lifetime of the action, decision, or 11
1685+activity when determining whether there will be any over-12
1686+all long-term net loss of vegetation, soil, or habitat. 13
1687+SEC. 206. DETERMINATION OF NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL 14
1688+POLICY ACT ADEQUACY. 15
1689+The Secretary concerned shall use previously com-16
1690+pleted environmental assessments and environmental im-17
1691+pact statements to satisfy the requirements of section 102 18
1692+of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 19
1693+U.S.C. 4332) with respect to any major Federal action, 20
1694+if such Secretary determines that— 21
1695+(1) the new proposed action is substantially the 22
1696+same as a previously analyzed proposed action or al-23
1697+ternative analyzed in a previous environmental as-24
1698+sessment or environmental impact statement; and 25
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1701+•HR 1335 IH
1702+(2) the effects of the proposed action are sub-1
1703+stantially the same as the effects analyzed in such 2
1704+existing environmental assessments or environmental 3
1705+impact statements. 4
1706+SEC. 207. DETERMINATION REGARDING RIGHTS-OF-WAY. 5
1707+Not later than 60 days after the Secretary concerned 6
1708+receives an application to grant a right-of-way, the Sec-7
1709+retary concerned shall notify the applicant as to whether 8
1710+the application is complete or deficient. If the Secretary 9
1711+concerned determines the application is complete, the Sec-10
1712+retary concerned may not consider any other application 11
1713+to grant a right-of-way on the same or any overlapping 12
1714+parcels of land while such application is pending. 13
1715+SEC. 208. TERMS OF RIGHTS-OF-WAY. 14
1716+(a) F
1717+IFTY-YEARTERMS FORRIGHTS-OF-WAY.— 15
1718+(1) I
1719+N GENERAL.—Any right-of-way for pipe-16
1720+lines for the transportation or distribution of oil or 17
1721+gas granted, issued, amended, or renewed under 18
1722+Federal law may be limited to a term of not more 19
1723+than 50 years before such right-of-way is subject to 20
1724+renewal or amendment. 21
1725+(2) F
1726+EDERAL LAND POLICY AND MANAGEMENT 22
1727+ACT OF 1976.—Section 501 of the Federal Land Pol-23
1728+icy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1761) 24
1729+is amended by adding at the end the following: 25
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1732+•HR 1335 IH
1733+‘‘(e) Any right-of-way granted, issued, amended, or 1
1734+renewed under subsection (a)(4) may be limited to a term 2
1735+of not more than 50 years before such right-of-way is sub-3
1736+ject to renewal or amendment.’’. 4
1737+(b) M
1738+INERALLEASINGACT.—Section 28(n) of the 5
1739+Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 185(n)) is amended by 6
1740+striking ‘‘thirty’’ and inserting ‘‘50’’. 7
1741+SEC. 209. FUNDING TO PROCESS PERMITS AND DEVELOP 8
1742+INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY. 9
1743+(a) I
1744+NGENERAL.—In fiscal years 2023 through 10
1745+2025, the Secretary of Agriculture (acting through the 11
1746+Forest Service) and the Secretary of the Interior, after 12
1747+public notice, may accept and expend funds contributed 13
1748+by non-Federal entities for dedicated staff, information re-14
1749+source management, and information technology system 15
1750+development to expedite the evaluation of permits, biologi-16
1751+cal opinions, concurrence letters, environmental surveys 17
1752+and studies, processing of applications, consultations, and 18
1753+other activities for the leasing, development, or expansion 19
1754+of an energy facility under the jurisdiction of the respec-20
1755+tive Secretaries. 21
1756+(b) E
1757+FFECT ONPERMITTING.—In carrying out this 22
1758+section, the Secretary of the Interior shall ensure that the 23
1759+use of funds accepted under subsection (a) will not impact 24
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1762+•HR 1335 IH
1763+impartial decision making with respect to permits, either 1
1764+substantively or procedurally. 2
1765+(c) S
1766+TATEMENT FOR FAILURETOACCEPT OREX-3
1767+PENDFUNDS.—Not later than 60 days after the end of 4
1768+the applicable fiscal year, if the Secretary of Agriculture 5
1769+(acting through the Forest Service) or the Secretary of 6
1770+the Interior does not accept funds contributed under sub-7
1771+section (a) or accepts but does not expend such funds, that 8
1772+Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Natural Re-9
1773+sources of the House of Representatives and the Com-10
1774+mittee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate 11
1775+a statement explaining why such funds were not accepted, 12
1776+were not expended, or both, as the case may be. 13
1777+SEC. 210. OFFSHORE GEOLOGICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL SUR-14
1778+VEY LICENSING. 15
1779+The Secretary of the Interior shall authorize geologi-16
1780+cal and geophysical surveys related to oil and gas activities 17
1781+on the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf, except 18
1782+within areas subject to existing oil and gas leasing mora-19
1783+toria. Such authorizations shall be issued within 30 days 20
1784+of receipt of a completed application and shall, as applica-21
1785+ble to survey type, comply with the mitigation and moni-22
1786+toring measures in subsections (a), (b), (c), (d), (f), and 23
1787+(g) of section 217.184 of title 50, Code of Federal Regula-24
1788+tions (as in effect on January 1, 2022), and section 25
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1791+•HR 1335 IH
1792+217.185 of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations (as in 1
1793+effect on January 1, 2022). Geological and geophysical 2
1794+surveys authorized pursuant to this section are deemed to 3
1795+be in full compliance with the Marine Mammal Protection 4
1796+Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) and the Endangered 5
1797+Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and their 6
1798+implementing regulations. 7
1799+SEC. 211. DEFERRAL OF APPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO 8
1800+DRILL. 9
1801+Section 17(p)(3) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 10
1802+U.S.C. 226(p)(3)) is amended by adding at the end the 11
1803+following: 12
1804+‘‘(D) D
1805+EFERRAL BASED ON FORMATTING 13
1806+ISSUES.—A decision on an application for a 14
1807+permit to drill may not be deferred under para-15
1808+graph (2)(B) as a result of a formatting issue 16
1809+with the permit, unless such formatting issue 17
1810+results in missing information.’’. 18
1811+SEC. 212. PROCESSING AND TERMS OF APPLICATIONS FOR 19
1812+PERMITS TO DRILL. 20
1813+(a) E
1814+FFECT OFPENDINGCIVILACTIONS.—Section 21
1815+17(p) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(p)) is 22
1816+amended by adding at the end the following: 23
1817+‘‘(4) E
1818+FFECT OF PENDING CIVIL ACTION ON 24
1819+PROCESSING APPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO 25
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1823+DRILL.—Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 1
1824+(2), notwithstanding the existence of any pending 2
1825+civil actions affecting the application or related 3
1826+lease, the Secretary shall process an application for 4
1827+a permit to drill or other authorizations or approvals 5
1828+under a valid existing lease, unless a United States 6
1829+Federal court vacated such lease. Nothing in this 7
1830+paragraph shall be construed as providing authority 8
1831+to a Federal court to vacate a lease.’’. 9
1832+(b) T
1833+ERM OFPERMITTODRILL.—Section 17 of the 10
1834+Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) is further amended 11
1835+by adding at the end the following: 12
1836+‘‘(u) T
1837+ERM OFPERMITTODRILL.—A permit to drill 13
1838+issued under this section after the date of the enactment 14
1839+of this subsection shall be valid for one four-year term 15
1840+from the date that the permit is approved, or until the 16
1841+lease regarding which the permit is issued expires, which-17
1842+ever occurs first.’’. 18
1843+SEC. 213. AMENDMENTS TO THE ENERGY POLICY ACT OF 19
1844+2005. 20
1845+Section 390 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 21
1846+U.S.C. 15942) is amended to read as follows: 22
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1850+‘‘SEC. 390. NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT RE-1
1851+VIEW. 2
1852+‘‘(a) N
1853+ATIONALENVIRONMENTAL POLICYACTRE-3
1854+VIEW.—Action by the Secretary of the Interior, in man-4
1855+aging the public lands, or the Secretary of Agriculture, 5
1856+in managing National Forest System lands, with respect 6
1857+to any of the activities described in subsection (c), shall 7
1858+not be considered a major Federal action for the purposes 8
1859+of section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy 9
1860+Act of 1969, if the activity is conducted pursuant to the 10
1861+Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) for the pur-11
1862+pose of exploration or development of oil or gas. 12
1863+‘‘(b) A
1864+PPLICATION.—This section shall not apply to 13
1865+an action of the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary 14
1866+of Agriculture on Indian lands or resources managed in 15
1867+trust for the benefit of Indian Tribes. 16
1868+‘‘(c) A
1869+CTIVITIESDESCRIBED.—The activities re-17
1870+ferred to in subsection (a) are as follows: 18
1871+‘‘(1) Reinstating a lease pursuant to section 31 19
1872+of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 188). 20
1873+‘‘(2) The following activities, provided that any 21
1874+new surface disturbance is contiguous with the foot-22
1875+print of the original authorization and does not ex-23
1876+ceed 20 acres or the acreage has previously been 24
1877+evaluated in a document previously prepared under 25
1878+section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 26
1879+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00062 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
1880+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 63
1881+•HR 1335 IH
1882+Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)) with re-1
1883+spect to such activity: 2
1884+‘‘(A) Drilling an oil or gas well at a well 3
1885+pad site at which drilling has occurred pre-4
1886+viously. 5
1887+‘‘(B) Expansion of an existing oil or gas 6
1888+well pad site to accommodate an additional well. 7
1889+‘‘(C) Expansion or modification of an ex-8
1890+isting oil or gas well pad site, road, pipeline, fa-9
1891+cility, or utility submitted in a sundry notice. 10
1892+‘‘(3) Drilling of an oil or gas well at a new well 11
1893+pad site, provided that the new surface disturbance 12
1894+does not exceed 20 acres and the acreage evaluated 13
1895+in a document previously prepared under section 14
1896+102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act 15
1897+of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)) with respect to such 16
1898+activity, whichever is greater. 17
1899+‘‘(4) Construction or realignment of a road, 18
1900+pipeline, or utility within an existing right-of-way or 19
1901+within a right-of-way corridor established in a land 20
1902+use plan. 21
1903+‘‘(5) The following activities when conducted 22
1904+from non-Federal surface into federally owned min-23
1905+erals, provided that the operator submits to the Sec-24
1906+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00063 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
1907+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 64
1908+•HR 1335 IH
1909+retary concerned certification of a surface use agree-1
1910+ment with the non-Federal landowner: 2
1911+‘‘(A) Drilling an oil or gas well at a well 3
1912+pad site at which drilling has occurred pre-4
1913+viously. 5
1914+‘‘(B) Expansion of an existing oil or gas 6
1915+well pad site to accommodate an additional well. 7
1916+‘‘(C) Expansion or modification of an ex-8
1917+isting oil or gas well pad site, road, pipeline, fa-9
1918+cility, or utility submitted in a sundry notice. 10
1919+‘‘(6) Drilling of an oil or gas well from non- 11
1920+Federal surface and non-Federal subsurface into 12
1921+Federal mineral estate. 13
1922+‘‘(7) Construction of up to 1 mile of new road 14
1923+on Federal or non-Federal surface, not to exceed 2 15
1924+miles in total. 16
1925+‘‘(8) Construction of up to 3 miles of individual 17
1926+pipelines or utilities, regardless of surface owner-18
1927+ship.’’. 19
1928+SEC. 214. ACCESS TO FEDERAL ENERGY RESOURCES FROM 20
1929+NON-FEDERAL SURFACE ESTATE. 21
1930+(a) O
1931+IL ANDGASPERMITS.—Section 17 of the Min-22
1932+eral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) is further amended by 23
1933+adding at the end the following: 24
1934+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00064 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
1935+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 65
1936+•HR 1335 IH
1937+‘‘(v) NOFEDERALPERMITREQUIRED FOROIL AND 1
19491938 G
1950-ASACTIVITIES ONCERTAINLAND.— 10
1951-‘‘(1) I
1952-N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall not re-11
1953-quire an operator to obtain a Federal drilling permit 12
1954-for oil and gas exploration and production activities 13
1955-conducted on non-Federal surface estate, provided 14
1956-that— 15
1957-‘‘(A) the United States holds an ownership 16
1958-interest of less than 50 percent of the subsurface 17
1959-mineral estate to be accessed by the proposed ac-18
1960-tion; and 19
1961-‘‘(B) the operator submits to the Secretary 20
1962-a State permit to conduct oil and gas explo-21
1963-ration and production activities on the non-Fed-22
1964-eral surface estate. 23
1965-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00066 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
1966-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 67
1967-•HR 1335 RH
1968-‘‘(2) NO FEDERAL ACTION.—An oil and gas ex-1
1969-ploration and production activity carried out under 2
1970-paragraph (1)— 3
1971-‘‘(A) shall not be considered a major Fed-4
1972-eral action for the purposes of section 102(2)(C) 5
1973-of the National Environmental Policy Act of 6
1974-1969; 7
1975-‘‘(B) shall require no additional Federal ac-8
1976-tion; 9
1977-‘‘(C) may commence 30 days after submis-10
1978-sion of the State permit to the Secretary; and 11
1979-‘‘(D) shall not be subject to— 12
1980-‘‘(i) section 306108 of title 54, United 13
1981-States Code (commonly known as the Na-14
1982-tional Historic Preservation Act of 1966); 15
1983-and 16
1984-‘‘(ii) section 7 of the Endangered Spe-17
1985-cies Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536). 18
1986-‘‘(3) R
1987-OYALTIES AND PRODUCTION ACCOUNT -19
1988-ABILITY.—(A) Nothing in this subsection shall affect 20
1989-the amount of royalties due to the United States 21
1990-under this Act from the production of oil and gas, or 22
1991-alter the Secretary’s authority to conduct audits and 23
1992-collect civil penalties pursuant to the Federal Oil and 24
1993-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00067 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
1994-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 68
1995-•HR 1335 RH
1996-Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982 (30 U.S.C. 1
1997-1701 et seq.). 2
1998-‘‘(B) The Secretary may conduct onsite reviews 3
1999-and inspections to ensure proper accountability, 4
2000-measurement, and reporting of production of Federal 5
2001-oil and gas, and payment of royalties. 6
2002-‘‘(4) E
2003-XCEPTIONS.—This subsection shall not 7
2004-apply to actions on Indian lands or resources man-8
2005-aged in trust for the benefit of Indian Tribes. 9
2006-‘‘(5) I
2007-NDIAN LAND.—In this subsection, the term 10
2008-‘Indian land’ means— 11
2009-‘‘(A) any land located within the bound-12
2010-aries of an Indian reservation, pueblo, or 13
2011-rancheria; and 14
2012-‘‘(B) any land not located within the 15
2013-boundaries of an Indian reservation, pueblo, or 16
2014-rancheria, the title to which is held— 17
2015-‘‘(i) in trust by the United States for 18
2016-the benefit of an Indian tribe or an indi-19
2017-vidual Indian; 20
2018-‘‘(ii) by an Indian tribe or an indi-21
2019-vidual Indian, subject to restriction against 22
2020-alienation under laws of the United States; 23
2021-or 24
2022-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00068 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
2023-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 69
2024-•HR 1335 RH
2025-‘‘(iii) by a dependent Indian commu-1
2026-nity.’’. 2
2027-(b) G
2028-EOTHERMALPERMITS.—The Geothermal Steam 3
2029-Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) is amended by adding 4
2030-at the end the following: 5
2031-‘‘SEC. 30. NO FEDERAL PERMIT REQUIRED FOR GEO-6
2032-THERMAL ACTIVITIES ON CERTAIN LAND. 7
2033-‘‘(a) I
2034-NGENERAL.—The Secretary shall not require an 8
2035-operator to obtain a Federal drilling permit for geothermal 9
2036-exploration and production activities conducted on a non- 10
2037-Federal surface estate, provided that— 11
2038-‘‘(1) the United States holds an ownership inter-12
2039-est of less than 50 percent of the subsurface geo-13
2040-thermal estate to be accessed by the proposed action; 14
2041-and 15
2042-‘‘(2) the operator submits to the Secretary a 16
2043-State permit to conduct geothermal exploration and 17
2044-production activities on the non-Federal surface es-18
2045-tate. 19
2046-‘‘(b) N
2047-OFEDERALACTION.—A geothermal exploration 20
2048-and production activity carried out under paragraph (1)— 21
2049-‘‘(1) shall not be considered a major Federal ac-22
2050-tion for the purposes of section 102(2)(C) of the Na-23
2051-tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969; 24
2052-‘‘(2) shall require no additional Federal action; 25
2053-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00069 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
2054-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 70
2055-•HR 1335 RH
2056-‘‘(3) may commence 30 days after submission of 1
2057-the State permit to the Secretary; and 2
2058-‘‘(4) shall not be subject to— 3
2059-‘‘(A) section 306108 of title 54, United 4
2060-States Code (commonly known as the National 5
2061-Historic Preservation Act of 1966); and 6
2062-‘‘(B) section 7 of the Endangered Species 7
2063-Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536). 8
2064-‘‘(c) R
2065-OYALTIES AND PRODUCTION ACCOUNT-9
2066-ABILITY.—(1) Nothing in this section shall affect the 10
2067-amount of royalties due to the United States under this Act 11
2068-from the production of electricity using geothermal re-12
2069-sources (other than direct use of geothermal resources) or 13
2070-the production of any byproducts. 14
2071-‘‘(2) The Secretary may conduct onsite reviews and in-15
2072-spections to ensure proper accountability, measurement, 16
2073-and reporting of the production described in paragraph (1), 17
2074-and payment of royalties. 18
2075-‘‘(d) E
2076-XCEPTIONS.—This section shall not apply to ac-19
2077-tions on Indian lands or resources managed in trust for 20
2078-the benefit of Indian Tribes. 21
2079-‘‘(e) I
2080-NDIANLAND.—In this section, the term ‘Indian 22
2081-land’ means— 23
2082-‘‘(1) any land located within the boundaries of 24
2083-an Indian reservation, pueblo, or rancheria; and 25
2084-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00070 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
2085-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 71
2086-•HR 1335 RH
2087-‘‘(2) any land not located within the boundaries 1
2088-of an Indian reservation, pueblo, or rancheria, the 2
2089-title to which is held— 3
2090-‘‘(A) in trust by the United States for the 4
2091-benefit of an Indian tribe or an individual In-5
2092-dian; 6
2093-‘‘(B) by an Indian tribe or an individual 7
2094-Indian, subject to restriction against alienation 8
2095-under laws of the United States; or 9
2096-‘‘(C) by a dependent Indian community.’’. 10
2097-SEC. 215. SCOPE OF ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS FOR OIL 11
2098-AND GAS LEASES. 12
2099-An environmental review for an oil and gas lease or 13
2100-permit prepared pursuant to the requirements of the Na-14
2101-tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 15
2102-et seq.) and its implementing regulations— 16
2103-(1) shall apply only to areas that are within or 17
2104-immediately adjacent to the lease plot or plots and 18
2105-that are directly affected by the proposed action; and 19
2106-(2) shall not require consideration of down-20
2107-stream, indirect effects of oil and gas consumption. 21
2108-SEC. 216. EXPEDITING APPROVAL OF GATHERING LINES. 22
2109-Section 11318(b)(1) of the Infrastructure Investment 23
2110-and Jobs Act (42 U.S.C. 15943(b)(1)) is amended by strik-24
2111-ing ‘‘to be an action that is categorically excluded (as de-25
2112-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00071 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
2113-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 72
2114-•HR 1335 RH
2115-fined in section 1508.1 of title 40, Code of Federal Regula-1
2116-tions (as in effect on the date of enactment of this Act))’’ 2
2117-and inserting ‘‘to not be a major Federal action’’. 3
2118-SEC. 217. LEASE SALE LITIGATION. 4
2119-Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any oil 5
2120-and gas lease sale held under section 17 of the Mineral Leas-6
2121-ing Act (26 U.S.C. 226) or the Outer Continental Shelf 7
2122-Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) shall not be vacated 8
2123-and activities on leases awarded in the sale shall not be 9
2124-otherwise limited, delayed, or enjoined unless the court con-10
2125-cludes allowing development of the challenged lease will pose 11
2126-a risk of an imminent and substantial environmental harm 12
2127-and there is no other equitable remedy available as a matter 13
2128-of law. No court, in response to an action brought pursuant 14
2129-to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 15
2130-U.S.C. et seq.), may enjoin or issue any order preventing 16
2131-the award of leases to a bidder in a lease sale conducted 17
2132-pursuant to section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (26 18
2133-U.S.C. 226) or the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 19
2134-U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) if the Department of the Interior has 20
2135-previously opened bids for such leases or disclosed the high 21
2136-bidder for any tract that was included in such lease sale. 22
2137-SEC. 218. LIMITATION ON CLAIMS. 23
2138-(a) I
2139-NGENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-24
2140-sion of law, a claim arising under Federal law seeking judi-25
2141-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00072 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
2142-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 73
2143-•HR 1335 RH
2144-cial review of a permit, license, or approval issued by a 1
2145-Federal agency for a mineral project, energy facility, or en-2
2146-ergy storage device shall be barred unless— 3
2147-(1) the claim is filed within 120 days after pub-4
2148-lication of a notice in the Federal Register announc-5
2149-ing that the permit, license, or approval is final pur-6
2150-suant to the law under which the agency action is 7
2151-taken, unless a shorter time is specified in the Federal 8
2152-law pursuant to which judicial review is allowed; and 9
2153-(2) the claim is filed by a party that submitted 10
2154-a comment during the public comment period for such 11
2155-permit, license, or approval and such comment was 12
2156-sufficiently detailed to put the agency on notice of the 13
2157-issue upon which the party seeks judicial review. 14
2158-(b) S
2159-AVINGSCLAUSE.—Nothing in this section shall 15
2160-create a right to judicial review or place any limit on filing 16
2161-a claim that a person has violated the terms of a permit, 17
2162-license, or approval. 18
2163-(c) T
2164-RANSPORTATIONPROJECTS.—Subsection (a) shall 19
2165-not apply to or supersede a claim subject to section 20
2166-139(l)(1) of title 23, United States Code. 21
2167-(d) M
2168-INERALPROJECT.—In this section, the term 22
2169-‘‘mineral project’’ means a project— 23
2170-(1) located on— 24
2171-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00073 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
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2173-•HR 1335 RH
2174-(A) a mining claim, millsite claim, or tun-1
2175-nel site claim for any mineral; 2
2176-(B) lands open to mineral entry; or 3
2177-(C) a Federal mineral lease; and 4
2178-(2) for the purposes of exploring for or producing 5
2179-minerals. 6
2180-SEC. 219. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REPORT 7
2181-ON PERMITS TO DRILL. 8
2182-(a) R
2183-EPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date of 9
2184-enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 10
2185-States shall issue a report detailing— 11
2186-(1) the approval timelines for applications for 12
2187-permits to drill issued by the Bureau of Land Man-13
2188-agement from 2018 through 2022; 14
2189-(2) the number of applications for permits to 15
2190-drill that were not issued within 30 days of receipt 16
2191-of a completed application; and 17
2192-(3) the causes of delays resulting in applications 18
2193-for permits to drill pending beyond the 30 day dead-19
2194-line required under section 17(p)(2) of the Mineral 20
2195-Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(p)(2)). 21
2196-(b) R
2197-ECOMMENDATIONS.—The report issued under 22
2198-subsection (a) shall include recommendations with respect 23
2199-to— 24
2200-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00074 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
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2202-•HR 1335 RH
2203-(1) actions the Bureau of Land Management can 1
2204-take to streamline the approval process for applica-2
2205-tions for permits to drill to approve applications for 3
2206-permits to drill within 30 days of receipt of a com-4
2207-pleted application; 5
2208-(2) aspects of the Federal permitting process car-6
2209-ried out by the Bureau of Land Management to issue 7
2210-applications for permits to drill that can be turned 8
2211-over to States to expedite approval of applications for 9
2212-permits to drill; and 10
2213-(3) legislative actions that Congress must take to 11
2214-allow States to administer certain aspects of the Fed-12
2215-eral permitting process described in paragraph (2). 13
2216-SEC. 220. E-NEPA. 14
2217-(a) P
2218-ERMITTINGPORTALSTUDY.—The Council on 15
2219-Environmental Quality shall conduct a study and submit 16
2220-a report to Congress within 1 year of the enactment of this 17
2221-Act on the potential to create an online permitting portal 18
2222-for permits that require review under section 102(2)(C) of 19
2223-the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 20
2224-4332(2)(C)) that would— 21
2225-(1) allow applicants to— 22
2226-(A) submit required documents or materials 23
2227-for their application in one unified portal; 24
2228-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00075 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
2229-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 76
2230-•HR 1335 RH
2231-(B) upload additional documents as re-1
2232-quired by the applicable agency; and 2
2233-(C) track the progress of individual applica-3
2234-tions; 4
2235-(2) enhance interagency coordination in con-5
2236-sultation by— 6
2237-(A) allowing for comments in one unified 7
2238-portal; 8
2239-(B) centralizing data necessary for reviews; 9
2240-and 10
2241-(C) streamlining communications between 11
2242-other agencies and the applicant; and 12
2243-(3) boost transparency in agency decision-13
2244-making. 14
2245-(b) A
2246-UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 15
2247-authorized to be appropriated $500,000 for the Council of 16
2248-Environmental Quality to carry out the study directed by 17
2249-this section. 18
2250-TITLE III—PERMITTING FOR 19
2251-MINING NEEDS 20
2252-SEC. 301. DEFINITIONS. 21
2253-In this title: 22
2254-(1) B
2255-YPRODUCT.—The term ‘‘byproduct’’ has the 23
2256-meaning given such term in section 7002(a) of the 24
2257-Energy Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(a)). 25
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2261-(2) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 1
2262-has the meaning given such term in section 4 of the 2
2263-Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 3
2264-Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 4
2265-(3) M
2266-INERAL.—The term ‘‘mineral’’ means any 5
2267-mineral of a kind that is locatable (including, but not 6
2268-limited to, such minerals located on ‘‘lands acquired 7
2269-by the United States’’, as such term is defined in sec-8
2270-tion 2 of the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired 9
2271-Lands) under the Act of May 10, 1872 (Chapter 152; 10
2272-17 Stat. 91). 11
2273-(4) S
2274-ECRETARY.—Except as otherwise provided, 12
2275-the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of the Inte-13
2276-rior. 14
2277-(5) S
2278-TATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 15
2279-(A) a State; 16
2280-(B) the District of Columbia; 17
2281-(C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 18
2282-(D) Guam; 19
2283-(E) American Samoa; 20
2284-(F) the Commonwealth of the Northern 21
2285-Mariana Islands; and 22
2286-(G) the United States Virgin Islands. 23
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2290-SEC. 302. MINERALS SUPPLY CHAIN AND RELIABILITY. 1
2291-Section 40206 of the Infrastructure Investment and 2
2292-Jobs Act (30 U.S.C. 1607) is amended— 3
2293-(1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘
2294-CRIT-4
2295-ICAL MINERALS’’ and inserting ‘‘MINERALS’’; 5
2296-(2) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol-6
2297-lows: 7
2298-‘‘(a) D
2299-EFINITIONS.—In this section: 8
2300-‘‘(1) L
2301-EAD AGENCY.—The term ‘lead agency’ 9
2302-means the Federal agency with primary responsi-10
2303-bility for issuing a mineral exploration or mine per-11
2304-mit or lease for a mineral project. 12
2305-‘‘(2) M
2306-INERAL.—The term ‘mineral’ has the 13
2307-meaning given such term in section 301 of the TAPP 14
2308-American Resources Act. 15
2309-‘‘(3) M
2310-INERAL EXPLORATION OR MINE PERMIT .— 16
2311-The term ‘mineral exploration or mine permit’ 17
2312-means— 18
2313-‘‘(A) an authorization of the Bureau of 19
2314-Land Management or the Forest Service, as ap-20
2315-plicable, for exploration for minerals that re-21
2316-quires analysis under the National Environ-22
2317-mental Policy Act of 1969; 23
2318-‘‘(B) a plan of operations for a mineral 24
2319-project approved by the Bureau of Land Man-25
2320-agement or the Forest Service; or 26
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2324-‘‘(C) any other Federal permit or authoriza-1
2325-tion for a mineral project. 2
2326-‘‘(4) M
2327-INERAL PROJECT.—The term ‘mineral 3
2328-project’ means a project— 4
2329-‘‘(A) located on— 5
2330-‘‘(i) a mining claim, millsite claim, or 6
2331-tunnel site claim for any mineral; 7
2332-‘‘(ii) lands open to mineral entry; or 8
2333-‘‘(iii) a Federal mineral lease; and 9
2334-‘‘(B) for the purposes of exploring for or 10
2335-producing minerals.’’. 11
2336-(3) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘critical’’ each 12
2337-place such term appears; 13
2338-(4) in subsection (c)— 14
2339-(A) by striking ‘‘critical mineral production 15
2340-on Federal land’’ and inserting ‘‘mineral 16
2341-projects’’; 17
2342-(B) by inserting ‘‘, and in accordance with 18
2343-subsection (h)’’ after ‘‘to the maximum extent 19
2344-practicable’’; 20
2345-(C) by striking ‘‘shall complete the’’ and in-21
2346-serting ‘‘shall complete such’’; 22
2347-(D) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘critical 23
2348-mineral-related activities on Federal land’’ and 24
2349-inserting ‘‘mineral projects’’; 25
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2353-(E) in paragraph (8), by striking the ‘‘and’’ 1
2354-at the end; 2
2355-(F) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘proce-3
2356-dures.’’ and inserting ‘‘procedures; and’’; and 4
2357-(G) by adding at the end the following: 5
2358-‘‘(10) deferring to and relying on baseline data, 6
2359-analyses, and reviews performed by State agencies 7
2360-with jurisdiction over the environmental or reclama-8
2361-tion permits for the proposed mineral project.’’; 9
2362-(5) in subsection (d)— 10
2363-(A) by striking ‘‘critical’’ each place such 11
2364-term appears; and 12
2365-(B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘mineral- 13
2366-related activities on Federal land’’ and inserting 14
2367-‘‘mineral projects’’; 15
2368-(6) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘critical’’; 16
2369-(7) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘critical’’ each 17
2370-place such term appears; 18
2371-(8) in subsection (g), by striking ‘‘critical’’ each 19
2372-place such term appears; and 20
2373-(9) by adding at the end the following: 21
2374-‘‘(h) O
2375-THERREQUIREMENTS.— 22
2376-‘‘(1) M
2377-EMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT .—For pur-23
2378-poses of maximizing efficiency and effectiveness of the 24
2379-Federal permitting and review processes described 25
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2383-under subsection (c), the lead agency in the Federal 1
2384-permitting and review processes of a mineral project 2
2385-shall (in consultation with any other Federal agency 3
2386-involved in such Federal permitting and review proc-4
2387-esses, and upon request of the project applicant, an 5
2388-affected State government, local government, or an In-6
2389-dian Tribe, or other entity such lead agency deter-7
2390-mines appropriate) enter into a memorandum of 8
2391-agreement with a project applicant where requested 9
2392-by the applicant to carry out the activities described 10
2393-in subsection (c). 11
2394-‘‘(2) T
2395-IMELINES AND SCHEDULES FOR NEPA RE -12
2396-VIEWS.— 13
2397-‘‘(A) E
2398-XTENSION.—A project applicant may 14
2399-enter into 1 or more agreements with a lead 15
2400-agency to extend the deadlines described in sub-16
2401-paragraphs (A) and (B) of subsection (h)(1) of 17
2402-section 107 of title I of the National Environ-18
2403-mental Policy Act of 1969 by, with respect to 19
2404-each such agreement, not more than 6 months. 20
2405-‘‘(B) A
2406-DJUSTMENT OF TIMELINES .—At the 21
2407-request of a project applicant, the lead agency 22
2408-and any other entity which is a signatory to a 23
2409-memorandum of agreement under paragraph (1) 24
2410-may, by unanimous agreement, adjust— 25
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2414-‘‘(i) any deadlines described in sub-1
2415-paragraph (A); and 2
2416-‘‘(ii) any deadlines extended under 3
2417-subparagraph (B). 4
2418-‘‘(3) E
2419-FFECT ON PENDING APPLICATIONS .—Upon 5
2420-a written request by a project applicant, the require-6
2421-ments of this subsection shall apply to any applica-7
2422-tion for a mineral exploration or mine permit or 8
2423-mineral lease that was submitted before the date of the 9
2424-enactment of the TAPP American Resources Act.’’. 10
2425-SEC. 303. FEDERAL REGISTER PROCESS IMPROVEMENT. 11
2426-Section 7002(f) of the Energy Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 12
2427-1606(f)) is amended— 13
2428-(1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘critical’’ both 14
2429-places such term appears; and 15
2430-(2) by striking paragraph (4). 16
2431-SEC. 304. DESIGNATION OF MINING AS A COVERED SECTOR 17
2432-FOR FEDERAL PERMITTING IMPROVEMENT 18
2433-PURPOSES. 19
2434-Section 41001(6)(A) of the FAST Act (42 U.S.C. 20
2435-4370m(6)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘mineral produc-21
2436-tion,’’ before ‘‘or any other sector’’. 22
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2440-SEC. 305. TREATMENT OF ACTIONS UNDER PRESIDENTIAL 1
2441-DETERMINATION 2022–11 FOR FEDERAL PER-2
2442-MITTING IMPROVEMENT PURPOSES. 3
2443-(a) I
2444-NGENERAL.—Except as provided by subsection 4
2445-(c), an action described in subsection (b) shall be— 5
2446-(1) treated as a covered project, as defined in 6
2447-section 41001(6) of the FAST Act (42 U.S.C. 7
2448-4370m(6)), without regard to the requirements of that 8
2449-section; and 9
2450-(2) included in the Permitting Dashboard main-10
2451-tained pursuant to section 41003(b) of that Act (42 11
2452-13 U.S.C. 4370m–2(b)). 12
2453-(b) A
2454-CTIONSDESCRIBED.—An action described in this 13
2455-subsection is an action taken by the Secretary of Defense 14
2456-pursuant to Presidential Determination 2022–11 (87 Fed. 15
2457-Reg. 19775; relating to certain actions under section 303 16
2458-of the Defense Production Act of 1950) or the Presidential 17
2459-Memorandum of February 27, 2023, titled ‘‘Presidential 18
2460-Waiver of Statutory Requirements Pursuant to Section 303 19
2461-of the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended, on De-20
2462-partment of Defense Supply Chains Resilience’’ (88 Fed. 21
2463-Reg. 13015) to create, maintain, protect, expand, or restore 22
2464-sustainable and responsible domestic production capabili-23
2465-ties through— 24
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2469-(1) supporting feasibility studies for mature 1
2470-mining, beneficiation, and value-added processing 2
2471-projects; 3
2472-(2) byproduct and co-product production at ex-4
2473-isting mining, mine waste reclamation, and other in-5
2474-dustrial facilities; 6
2475-(3) modernization of mining, beneficiation, and 7
2476-value-added processing to increase productivity, envi-8
2477-ronmental sustainability, and workforce safety; or 9
2478-(4) any other activity authorized under section 10
2479-303(a)(1) of the Defense Production Act of 1950 15 11
2480-(50 U.S.C. 4533(a)(1)). 12
2481-(c) E
2482-XCEPTION.—An action described in subsection (b) 13
2483-may not be treated as a covered project or be included in 14
2484-the Permitting Dashboard under subsection (a) if the 15
2485-project sponsor (as defined in section 41001(18) of the 16
2486-FAST Act (42 U.S.C. 21 4370m(18))) requests that the ac-17
2487-tion not be treated as a covered project. 18
2488-SEC. 306. NOTICE FOR MINERAL EXPLORATION ACTIVITIES 19
2489-WITH LIMITED SURFACE DISTURBANCE. 20
2490-(a) I
2491-NGENERAL.—Not later than 15 days before com-21
2492-mencing an exploration activity with a surface disturbance 22
2493-of not more than 5 acres of public lands, the operator of 23
2494-such exploration activity shall submit to the Secretary con-24
2495-cerned a complete notice of such exploration activity. 25
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2499-(b) INCLUSIONS.—Notice submitted under subsection 1
2500-(a) shall include such information the Secretary concerned 2
2501-may require, including the information described in section 3
2502-3809.301 of title 43, Code of Federal Regulations (or any 4
2503-successor regulation). 5
2504-(c) R
2505-EVIEW.—Not later than 15 days after the Sec-6
2506-retary concerned receives notice submitted under subsection 7
2507-(a), the Secretary concerned shall— 8
2508-(1) review and determine completeness of the no-9
2509-tice; and 10
2510-(2) allow exploration activities to proceed if— 11
2511-(A) the surface disturbance of such explo-12
2512-ration activities on such public lands will not 13
2513-exceed 5 acres; 14
2514-(B) the Secretary concerned determines that 15
2515-the notice is complete; and 16
2516-(C) the operator provides financial assur-17
2517-ance that the Secretary concerned determines is 18
2518-adequate. 19
2519-(d) D
2520-EFINITIONS.—In this section: 20
2521-(1) E
2522-XPLORATION ACTIVITY.—The term ‘‘explo-21
2523-ration activity’’— 22
2524-(A) means creating surface disturbance 23
2525-greater than casual use that includes sampling, 24
2526-drilling, or developing surface or underground 25
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2530-workings to evaluate the type, extent, quantity, 1
2531-or quality of mineral values present; 2
2532-(B) includes constructing drill roads and 3
2533-drill pads, drilling, trenching, excavating test 4
2534-pits, and conducting geotechnical tests and geo-5
2535-physical surveys; and 6
2536-(C) does not include activities where mate-7
2537-rial is extracted for commercial use or sale. 8
2538-(2) S
2539-ECRETARY CONCERNED .—The term ‘‘Sec-9
2540-retary concerned’’ means— 10
2541-(A) with respect to lands administered by 11
2542-the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of the 12
2543-Interior; and 13
2544-(B) with respect to National Forest System 14
2545-lands, the Secretary of Agriculture. 15
2546-SEC. 307. USE OF MINING CLAIMS FOR ANCILLARY ACTIVI-16
2547-TIES. 17
2548-Section 10101 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation 18
2549-Act of 1993 (30 U.S.C. 28f) is amended by adding at the 19
2550-end the following: 20
2551-‘‘(e) S
2552-ECURITY OFTENURE.— 21
2553-‘‘(1) I
2554-N GENERAL.— 22
2555-‘‘(A) I
2556-N GENERAL.—A claimant shall have 23
2557-the right to use, occupy, and conduct operations 24
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2561-on public land, with or without the discovery of 1
2562-a valuable mineral deposit, if— 2
2563-‘‘(i) such claimant makes a timely 3
2564-payment of the location fee required by sec-4
2565-tion 10102 and the claim maintenance fee 5
2566-required by subsection (a); or 6
2567-‘‘(ii) in the case of a claimant who 7
2568-qualifies for a waiver under subsection (d), 8
2569-such claimant makes a timely payment of 9
2570-the location fee and complies with the re-10
2571-quired assessment work under the general 11
2572-mining laws. 12
2573-‘‘(B) O
2574-PERATIONS DEFINED.—For the pur-13
2575-poses of this paragraph, the term ‘operations’ 14
2576-means— 15
2577-‘‘(i) any activity or work carried out 16
2578-in connection with prospecting, exploration, 17
2579-processing, discovery and assessment, devel-18
2580-opment, or extraction with respect to a 19
2581-locatable mineral; 20
2582-‘‘(ii) the reclamation of any disturbed 21
2583-areas; and 22
2584-‘‘(iii) any other reasonably incident 23
2585-uses, whether on a mining claim or not, in-24
2586-cluding the construction and maintenance 25
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2590-of facilities, roads, transmission lines, pipe-1
2591-lines, and any other necessary infrastruc-2
2592-ture or means of access on public land for 3
2593-support facilities. 4
2594-‘‘(2) F
2595-ULFILLMENT OF FEDERAL LAND POLICY  5
2596-AND MANAGEMENT ACT .—A claimant that fulfills the 6
2597-requirements of this section and section 10102 shall 7
2598-be deemed to satisfy the requirements of any provision 8
2599-of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act that 9
2600-requires the payment of fair market value to the 10
2601-United States for use of public lands and resources re-11
2602-lating to use of such lands and resources authorized 12
2603-by the general mining laws. 13
2604-‘‘(3) S
2605-AVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this sub-14
2606-section may be construed to diminish the rights of 15
2607-entry, use, and occupancy, or any other right, of a 16
2608-claimant under the general mining laws.’’. 17
2609-SEC. 308. ENSURING CONSIDERATION OF URANIUM AS A 18
2610-CRITICAL MINERAL. 19
2611-(a) I
2612-NGENERAL.—Section 7002(a)(3)(B)(i) of the En-20
2613-ergy Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(a)(3)(B)(i)) is amended 21
2614-to read as follows: 22
2615-‘‘(i) oil, oil shale, coal, or natural 23
2616-gas;’’. 24
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2618-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 89
2619-•HR 1335 RH
2620-(b) UPDATE.—Not later than 60 days after the date 1
2621-of the enactment of this section, the Secretary, acting 2
2622-through the Director of the United States Geological Survey, 3
2623-shall publish in the Federal Register an update to the final 4
2624-list established in section 7002(c)(3) of the Energy Act of 5
2625-2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(c)(3)) in accordance with subsection 6
2626-(a) of this section. 7
2627-SEC. 309. BARRING FOREIGN BAD ACTORS FROM OPER-8
2628-ATING ON FEDERAL LANDS. 9
2629-A mining claimant shall be barred from the right to 10
2630-use, occupy, and conduct operations on Federal land if the 11
2631-Secretary of the Interior finds the claimant has a foreign 12
2632-parent company that has (including through a sub-13
2633-sidiary)— 14
2634-(1) a known record of human rights violations; 15
2635-or 16
2636-(2) knowingly operated an illegal mine in an-17
2637-other country. 18
2638-TITLE IV—FEDERAL LAND USE 19
2639-PLANNING 20
2640-SEC. 401. FEDERAL LAND USE PLANNING AND WITH-21
2641-DRAWALS. 22
2642-(a) R
2643-ESOURCEASSESSMENTSREQUIRED.—Federal 23
2644-lands and waters may not be withdrawn from entry under 24
2645-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00089 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
2646-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 90
2647-•HR 1335 RH
2648-the mining laws or operation of the mineral leasing and 1
2649-mineral materials laws unless— 2
2650-(1) a quantitative and qualitative geophysical 3
2651-and geological mineral resource assessment of the im-4
2652-pacted area has been completed during the 10-year 5
2653-period ending on the date of such withdrawal; 6
2654-(2) the Secretary, in consultation with the Sec-7
2655-retary of Commerce, the Secretary of Energy, and the 8
2656-Secretary of Defense, conducts an assessment of the 9
2657-economic, energy, strategic, and national security 10
2658-value of mineral deposits identified in such mineral 11
2659-resource assessment; 12
2660-(3) the Secretary conducts an assessment of the 13
2661-reduction in future Federal revenues to the Treasury, 14
2662-States, the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the 15
2663-Historic Preservation Fund, and the National Parks 16
2664-and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund resulting 17
2665-from the proposed mineral withdrawal; 18
2666-(4) the Secretary, in consultation with the Sec-19
2667-retary of Defense, conducts an assessment of military 20
2668-readiness and training activities in the proposed 21
2669-withdrawal area; and 22
2670-(5) the Secretary submits a report to the Com-23
2671-mittees on Natural Resources, Agriculture, Energy 24
2672-and Commerce, and Foreign Affairs of the House of 25
2673-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00090 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
2674-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 91
2675-•HR 1335 RH
2676-Representatives and the Committees on Energy and 1
2677-Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Foreign Affairs 2
2678-of the Senate, that includes the results of the assess-3
2679-ments completed pursuant to this subsection. 4
2680-(b) L
2681-ANDUSEPLANS.—Before a resource management 5
2682-plan under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 6
2683-of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) or a forest management 7
2684-plan under the National Forest Management Act is updated 8
2685-or completed, the Secretary or Secretary of Agriculture, as 9
2686-applicable, in consultation with the Director of the United 10
2687-States Geological Survey, shall— 11
2688-(1) review any quantitative and qualitative min-12
2689-eral resource assessment that was completed or up-13
2690-dated during the 10-year period ending on the date 14
2691-that the applicable land management agency pub-15
2692-lishes a notice to prepare, revise, or amend a land use 16
2693-plan by the Director of the United States Geological 17
2694-Survey for the geographic area affected by the appli-18
2695-cable management plan; 19
2696-(2) the Secretary, in consultation with the Sec-20
2697-retary of Commerce, the Secretary of Energy, and the 21
2698-Secretary of Defense, conducts an assessment of the 22
2699-economic, energy, strategic, and national security 23
2700-value of mineral deposits identified in such mineral 24
2701-resource assessment; and 25
2702-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00091 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
2703-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 92
2704-•HR 1335 RH
2705-(3) submit a report to the Committees on Nat-1
2706-ural Resources, Agriculture, Energy and Commerce, 2
2707-and Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 3
2708-and the Committees on Energy and Natural Re-4
2709-sources, Agriculture, and Foreign Affairs of the Sen-5
2710-ate, that includes the results of the assessment com-6
2711-pleted pursuant to this subsection. 7
2712-(c) N
2713-EWINFORMATION.—The Secretary shall provide 8
2714-recommendations to the President on appropriate measures 9
2715-to reduce unnecessary impacts that a withdrawal of Federal 10
2716-lands or waters from entry under the mining laws or oper-11
2717-ation of the mineral leasing and mineral materials laws 12
2718-may have on mineral exploration, development, and other 13
2719-mineral activities (including authorizing exploration and 14
2720-development of such mineral deposits) not later than 180 15
2721-days after the Secretary has notice that a resource assess-16
2722-ment completed by the Director of the United States Geo-17
2723-logical Survey, in coordination with the State geological 18
2724-surveys, determines that a previously undiscovered mineral 19
2725-deposit may be present in an area that has been withdrawn 20
2726-from entry under the mining laws or operation of the min-21
2727-eral leasing and mineral materials laws pursuant to— 22
2728-(1) section 204 of the Federal Land Policy and 23
2729-Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1714), or 24
2730-(2) chapter 3203 of title 54, United States Code. 25
2731-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00092 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
2732-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 93
2733-•HR 1335 RH
2734-SEC. 402. PROHIBITIONS ON DELAY OF MINERAL DEVELOP-1
2735-MENT OF CERTAIN FEDERAL LAND. 2
2736-(a) P
2737-ROHIBITIONS.—Notwithstanding any other pro-3
2738-vision of law, the President shall not carry out any action 4
2739-that would pause, restrict, or delay the process for or 5
2740-issuance of any of the following on Federal land, unless such 6
2741-lands are withdrawn from disposition under the mineral 7
2742-leasing laws, including by administrative withdrawal: 8
2743-(1) New oil and gas lease sales, oil and gas 9
2744-leases, drill permits, or associated approvals or au-10
2745-thorizations of any kind associated with oil and gas 11
2746-leases. 12
2747-(2) New coal leases (including leases by applica-13
2748-tion in process, renewals, modifications, or expan-14
2749-sions of existing leases), permits, approvals, or au-15
2750-thorizations. 16
2751-(3) New leases, claims, permits, approvals, or 17
2752-authorizations for development or exploration of min-18
2753-erals. 19
2754-(b) P
2755-ROHIBITION ONRESCISSION OFLEASES, PER-20
2756-MITS, ORCLAIMS.—The President, the Secretary, or Sec-21
2757-retary of Agriculture as applicable, may not rescind any 22
2758-existing lease, permit, or claim for the extraction and pro-23
2759-duction of any mineral under the mining laws or mineral 24
2760-leasing and mineral materials laws on National Forest Sys-25
2761-tem land or land under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of 26
2762-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00093 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
2763-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 94
2764-•HR 1335 RH
2765-Land Management, unless specifically authorized by Fed-1
2766-eral statute, or upon the lessee, permittee, or claimant’s fail-2
2767-ure to comply with any of the provisions of the applicable 3
2768-lease, permit, or claim. 4
2769-(c) M
2770-INERALDEFINED.—In subsection (a)(3), the term 5
2771-‘‘mineral’’ means any mineral of a kind that is locatable 6
2772-(including such minerals located on ‘‘lands acquired by the 7
2773-United States’’, as such term is defined in section 2 of the 8
2774-Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands) under the Act of 9
2775-May 10, 1872 (Chapter 152; 17 Stat. 91). 10
2776-SEC. 403. DEFINITIONS. 11
2777-In this title: 12
2778-(1) F
2779-EDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 13
2780-means— 14
2781-(A) National Forest System land; 15
2782-(B) public lands (as defined in section 103 16
2783-of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 17
2784-of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702)); 18
2785-(C) the outer Continental Shelf (as defined 19
2786-in section 2 of the Outer Continental Shelf 20
2787-Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331)); and 21
2788-(D) land managed by the Secretary of En-22
2789-ergy. 23
2790-(2) P
2791-RESIDENT.—The term ‘‘President’’ means— 24
2792-(A) the President; and 25
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2795-•HR 1335 RH
2796-(B) any designee of the President, includ-1
2797-ing— 2
2798-(i) the Secretary of Agriculture; 3
2799-(ii) the Secretary of Commerce; 4
2800-(iii) the Secretary of Energy; and 5
2801-(iv) the Secretary of the Interior. 6
2802-(3) P
2803-REVIOUSLY UNDISCOVERED DEPOSIT .—The 7
2804-term ‘‘previously undiscovered mineral deposit’’ 8
2805-means— 9
2806-(A) a mineral deposit that has been pre-10
2807-viously evaluated by the United States Geological 11
2808-Survey and found to be of low mineral potential, 12
2809-but upon subsequent evaluation is determined by 13
2810-the United States Geological Survey to have sig-14
2811-nificant mineral potential, or 15
2812-(B) a mineral deposit that has not pre-16
2813-viously been evaluated by the United States Geo-17
2814-logical Survey. 18
2815-(4) S
2816-ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 19
2817-the Secretary of the Interior. 20
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2819-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 96
2820-•HR 1335 RH
2821-TITLE V—ENSURING COMPETI-1
2822-TIVENESS ON FEDERAL 2
2823-LANDS 3
2824-SEC. 501. INCENTIVIZING DOMESTIC PRODUCTION. 4
2825-(a) O
2826-FFSHOREOIL ANDGASROYALTYRATE.—Sec-5
2827-tion 8(a)(1) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 6
2828-U.S.C. 1337(a)(1)) is amended— 7
2829-(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘not less 8
2830-than 16
1939+ASACTIVITIES ONCERTAINLAND.— 2
1940+‘‘(1) I
1941+N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall not re-3
1942+quire an operator to obtain a Federal drilling permit 4
1943+for oil and gas exploration and production activities 5
1944+conducted on non-Federal surface estate, provided 6
1945+that— 7
1946+‘‘(A) the United States holds an ownership 8
1947+interest of less than 50 percent of the sub-9
1948+surface mineral estate to be accessed by the 10
1949+proposed action; and 11
1950+‘‘(B) the operator submits to the Secretary 12
1951+a State permit to conduct oil and gas explo-13
1952+ration and production activities on the non-Fed-14
1953+eral surface estate. 15
1954+‘‘(2) N
1955+O FEDERAL ACTION.—An oil and gas ex-16
1956+ploration and production activity carried out under 17
1957+paragraph (1)— 18
1958+‘‘(A) shall not be considered a major Fed-19
1959+eral action for the purposes of section 20
1960+102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy 21
1961+Act of 1969; 22
1962+‘‘(B) shall require no additional Federal 23
1963+action; 24
1964+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00065 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
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1966+•HR 1335 IH
1967+‘‘(C) may commence 30 days after submis-1
1968+sion of the State permit to the Secretary; and 2
1969+‘‘(D) shall not be subject to— 3
1970+‘‘(i) section 306108 of title 54, United 4
1971+States Code (commonly known as the Na-5
1972+tional Historic Preservation Act of 1966); 6
1973+and 7
1974+‘‘(ii) section 7 of the Endangered Spe-8
1975+cies Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536). 9
1976+‘‘(3) R
1977+OYALTIES AND PRODUCTION ACCOUNT -10
1978+ABILITY.—(A) Nothing in this subsection shall affect 11
1979+the amount of royalties due to the United States 12
1980+under this Act from the production of oil and gas, 13
1981+or alter the Secretary’s authority to conduct audits 14
1982+and collect civil penalties pursuant to the Federal 15
1983+Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982 (30 16
1984+U.S.C. 1701 et seq.). 17
1985+‘‘(B) The Secretary may conduct onsite reviews 18
1986+and inspections to ensure proper accountability, 19
1987+measurement, and reporting of production of Fed-20
1988+eral oil and gas, and payment of royalties. 21
1989+‘‘(4) E
1990+XCEPTIONS.—This subsection shall not 22
1991+apply to actions on Indian lands or resources man-23
1992+aged in trust for the benefit of Indian Tribes. 24
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1995+•HR 1335 IH
1996+‘‘(5) INDIAN LAND.—In this subsection, the 1
1997+term ‘Indian land’ means— 2
1998+‘‘(A) any land located within the bound-3
1999+aries of an Indian reservation, pueblo, or 4
2000+rancheria; and 5
2001+‘‘(B) any land not located within the 6
2002+boundaries of an Indian reservation, pueblo, or 7
2003+rancheria, the title to which is held— 8
2004+‘‘(i) in trust by the United States for 9
2005+the benefit of an Indian tribe or an indi-10
2006+vidual Indian; 11
2007+‘‘(ii) by an Indian tribe or an indi-12
2008+vidual Indian, subject to restriction against 13
2009+alienation under laws of the United States; 14
2010+or 15
2011+‘‘(iii) by a dependent Indian commu-16
2012+nity.’’. 17
2013+(b) G
2014+EOTHERMAL PERMITS.—The Geothermal 18
2015+Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) is amended 19
2016+by adding at the end the following: 20
2017+‘‘SEC. 30. NO FEDERAL PERMIT REQUIRED FOR GEO-21
2018+THERMAL ACTIVITIES ON CERTAIN LAND. 22
2019+‘‘(a) I
2020+NGENERAL.—The Secretary shall not require 23
2021+an operator to obtain a Federal drilling permit for geo-24
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2024+•HR 1335 IH
2025+thermal exploration and production activities conducted on 1
2026+a non-Federal surface estate, provided that— 2
2027+‘‘(1) the United States holds an ownership in-3
2028+terest of less than 50 percent of the subsurface geo-4
2029+thermal estate to be accessed by the proposed action; 5
2030+and 6
2031+‘‘(2) the operator submits to the Secretary a 7
2032+State permit to conduct geothermal exploration and 8
2033+production activities on the non-Federal surface es-9
2034+tate. 10
2035+‘‘(b) N
2036+OFEDERALACTION.—A geothermal explo-11
2037+ration and production activity carried out under para-12
2038+graph (1)— 13
2039+‘‘(1) shall not be considered a major Federal 14
2040+action for the purposes of section 102(2)(C) of the 15
2041+National Environmental Policy Act of 1969; 16
2042+‘‘(2) shall require no additional Federal action; 17
2043+‘‘(3) may commence 30 days after submission 18
2044+of the State permit to the Secretary; and 19
2045+‘‘(4) shall not be subject to— 20
2046+‘‘(A) section 306108 of title 54, United 21
2047+States Code (commonly known as the National 22
2048+Historic Preservation Act of 1966); and 23
2049+‘‘(B) section 7 of the Endangered Species 24
2050+Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536). 25
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2052+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 69
2053+•HR 1335 IH
2054+‘‘(c) ROYALTIES AND PRODUCTION ACCOUNT-1
2055+ABILITY.—(1) Nothing in this section shall affect the 2
2056+amount of royalties due to the United States under this 3
2057+Act from the production of electricity using geothermal re-4
2058+sources (other than direct use of geothermal resources) or 5
2059+the production of any byproducts. 6
2060+‘‘(2) The Secretary may conduct onsite reviews and 7
2061+inspections to ensure proper accountability, measurement, 8
2062+and reporting of the production described in paragraph 9
2063+(1), and payment of royalties. 10
2064+‘‘(d) E
2065+XCEPTIONS.—This section shall not apply to 11
2066+actions on Indian lands or resources managed in trust for 12
2067+the benefit of Indian Tribes. 13
2068+‘‘(e) I
2069+NDIANLAND.—In this section, the term ‘Indian 14
2070+land’ means— 15
2071+‘‘(1) any land located within the boundaries of 16
2072+an Indian reservation, pueblo, or rancheria; and 17
2073+‘‘(2) any land not located within the boundaries 18
2074+of an Indian reservation, pueblo, or rancheria, the 19
2075+title to which is held— 20
2076+‘‘(A) in trust by the United States for the 21
2077+benefit of an Indian tribe or an individual In-22
2078+dian; 23
2079+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00069 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
2080+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 70
2081+•HR 1335 IH
2082+‘‘(B) by an Indian tribe or an individual 1
2083+Indian, subject to restriction against alienation 2
2084+under laws of the United States; or 3
2085+‘‘(C) by a dependent Indian community.’’. 4
2086+SEC. 215. SCOPE OF ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS FOR OIL 5
2087+AND GAS LEASES. 6
2088+An environmental review for an oil and gas lease or 7
2089+permit prepared pursuant to the requirements of the Na-8
2090+tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 9
2091+et seq.) and its implementing regulations— 10
2092+(1) shall apply only to areas that are within or 11
2093+immediately adjacent to the lease plot or plots and 12
2094+that are directly affected by the proposed action; 13
2095+and 14
2096+(2) shall not require consideration of down-15
2097+stream, indirect effects of oil and gas consumption. 16
2098+SEC. 216. EXPEDITING APPROVAL OF GATHERING LINES. 17
2099+Section 11318(b)(1) of the Infrastructure Investment 18
2100+and Jobs Act (42 U.S.C. 15943(b)(1)) is amended by 19
2101+striking ‘‘to be an action that is categorically excluded (as 20
2102+defined in section 1508.1 of title 40, Code of Federal Reg-21
2103+ulations (as in effect on the date of enactment of this 22
2104+Act))’’ and inserting ‘‘to not be a major Federal action’’. 23
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2106+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 71
2107+•HR 1335 IH
2108+SEC. 217. LEASE SALE LITIGATION. 1
2109+Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any oil 2
2110+and gas lease sale held under section 17 of the Mineral 3
2111+Leasing Act (26 U.S.C. 226) or the Outer Continental 4
2112+Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) shall not be 5
2113+vacated and activities on leases awarded in the sale shall 6
2114+not be otherwise limited, delayed, or enjoined unless the 7
2115+court concludes allowing development of the challenged 8
2116+lease will pose a risk of an imminent and substantial envi-9
2117+ronmental harm and there is no other equitable remedy 10
2118+available as a matter of law. No court, in response to an 11
2119+action brought pursuant to the National Environmental 12
2120+Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. et seq.), may enjoin or issue 13
2121+any order preventing the award of leases to a bidder in 14
2122+a lease sale conducted pursuant to section 17 of the Min-15
2123+eral Leasing Act (26 U.S.C. 226) or the Outer Continental 16
2124+Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) if the Depart-17
2125+ment of the Interior has previously opened bids for such 18
2126+leases or disclosed the high bidder for any tract that was 19
2127+included in such lease sale. 20
2128+SEC. 218. LIMITATION ON CLAIMS. 21
2129+(a) I
2130+NGENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-22
2131+sion of law, a claim arising under Federal law seeking ju-23
2132+dicial review of a permit, license, or approval issued by 24
2133+a Federal agency for a mineral project, energy facility, or 25
2134+energy storage device shall be barred unless— 26
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2138+(1) the claim is filed within 120 days after pub-1
2139+lication of a notice in the Federal Register announc-2
2140+ing that the permit, license, or approval is final pur-3
2141+suant to the law under which the agency action is 4
2142+taken, unless a shorter time is specified in the Fed-5
2143+eral law pursuant to which judicial review is allowed; 6
2144+and 7
2145+(2) the claim is filed by a party that submitted 8
2146+a comment during the public comment period for 9
2147+such permit, license, or approval and such comment 10
2148+was sufficiently detailed to put the agency on notice 11
2149+of the issue upon which the party seeks judicial re-12
2150+view. 13
2151+(b) S
2152+AVINGSCLAUSE.—Nothing in this section shall 14
2153+create a right to judicial review or place any limit on filing 15
2154+a claim that a person has violated the terms of a permit, 16
2155+license, or approval. 17
2156+(c) T
2157+RANSPORTATION PROJECTS.—Subsection (a) 18
2158+shall not apply to or supersede a claim subject to section 19
2159+139(l)(1) of title 23, United States Code. 20
2160+(d) M
2161+INERALPROJECT.—In this section, the term 21
2162+‘‘mineral project’’ means a project— 22
2163+(1) located on— 23
2164+(A) a mining claim, millsite claim, or tun-24
2165+nel site claim for any mineral; 25
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2169+(B) lands open to mineral entry; or 1
2170+(C) a Federal mineral lease; and 2
2171+(2) for the purposes of exploring for or pro-3
2172+ducing minerals. 4
2173+SEC. 219. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REPORT 5
2174+ON PERMITS TO DRILL. 6
2175+(a) R
2176+EPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 7
2177+of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 8
2178+United States shall issue a report detailing— 9
2179+(1) the approval timelines for applications for 10
2180+permits to drill issued by the Bureau of Land Man-11
2181+agement from 2018 through 2022; 12
2182+(2) the number of applications for permits to 13
2183+drill that were not issued within 30 days of receipt 14
2184+of a completed application; and 15
2185+(3) the causes of delays resulting in applica-16
2186+tions for permits to drill pending beyond the 30 day 17
2187+deadline required under section 17(p)(2) of the Min-18
2188+eral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(p)(2)). 19
2189+(b) R
2190+ECOMMENDATIONS .—The report issued under 20
2191+subsection (a) shall include recommendations with respect 21
2192+to— 22
2193+(1) actions the Bureau of Land Management 23
2194+can take to streamline the approval process for ap-24
2195+plications for permits to drill to approve applications 25
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2199+for permits to drill within 30 days of receipt of a 1
2200+completed application; 2
2201+(2) aspects of the Federal permitting process 3
2202+carried out by the Bureau of Land Management to 4
2203+issue applications for permits to drill that can be 5
2204+turned over to States to expedite approval of appli-6
2205+cations for permits to drill; and 7
2206+(3) legislative actions that Congress must take 8
2207+to allow States to administer certain aspects of the 9
2208+Federal permitting process described in paragraph 10
2209+(2). 11
2210+TITLE III—PERMITTING FOR 12
2211+MINING NEEDS 13
2212+SEC. 301. DEFINITIONS. 14
2213+In this title: 15
2214+(1) B
2215+YPRODUCT.—The term ‘‘byproduct’’ has 16
2216+the meaning given such term in section 7002(a) of 17
2217+the Energy Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(a)). 18
2218+(2) I
2219+NDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 19
2220+has the meaning given such term in section 4 of the 20
2221+Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 21
2222+Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 22
2223+(3) M
2224+INERAL.—The term ‘‘mineral’’ means any 23
2225+mineral of a kind that is locatable (including, but 24
2226+not limited to, such minerals located on ‘‘lands ac-25
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2230+quired by the United States’’, as such term is de-1
2231+fined in section 2 of the Mineral Leasing Act for Ac-2
2232+quired Lands) under the Act of May 10, 1872 3
2233+(Chapter 152; 17 Stat. 91). 4
2234+(4) S
2235+ECRETARY.—Except as otherwise provided, 5
2236+the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of the In-6
2237+terior. 7
2238+(5) S
2239+TATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 8
2240+(A) a State; 9
2241+(B) the District of Columbia; 10
2242+(C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 11
2243+(D) Guam; 12
2244+(E) American Samoa; 13
2245+(F) the Commonwealth of the Northern 14
2246+Mariana Islands; and 15
2247+(G) the United States Virgin Islands. 16
2248+SEC. 302. MINERALS SUPPLY CHAIN AND RELIABILITY. 17
2249+Section 40206 of the Infrastructure Investment and 18
2250+Jobs Act (30 U.S.C. 1607) is amended— 19
2251+(1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘
2252+CRIT-20
2253+ICAL MINERALS ’’ and inserting ‘‘MINERALS’’; 21
2254+(2) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol-22
2255+lows: 23
2256+‘‘(a) D
2257+EFINITIONS.—In this section: 24
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2261+‘‘(1) LEAD AGENCY.—The term ‘lead agency’ 1
2262+means the Federal agency with primary responsi-2
2263+bility for issuing a mineral exploration or mine per-3
2264+mit or lease for a mineral project. 4
2265+‘‘(2) M
2266+INERAL.—The term ‘mineral’ has the 5
2267+meaning given such term in section 301 of the 6
2268+TAPP American Resources Act. 7
2269+‘‘(3) M
2270+INERAL EXPLORATION OR MINE PER -8
2271+MIT.—The term ‘mineral exploration or mine permit’ 9
2272+means— 10
2273+‘‘(A) an authorization of the Bureau of 11
2274+Land Management or the Forest Service, as ap-12
2275+plicable, for exploration for minerals that re-13
2276+quires analysis under the National Environ-14
2277+mental Policy Act of 1969; 15
2278+‘‘(B) a plan of operations for a mineral 16
2279+project approved by the Bureau of Land Man-17
2280+agement or the Forest Service; or 18
2281+‘‘(C) any other Federal permit or author-19
2282+ization for a mineral project. 20
2283+‘‘(4) M
2284+INERAL PROJECT.—The term ‘mineral 21
2285+project’ means a project— 22
2286+‘‘(A) located on— 23
2287+‘‘(i) a mining claim, millsite claim, or 24
2288+tunnel site claim for any mineral; 25
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2292+‘‘(ii) lands open to mineral entry; or 1
2293+‘‘(iii) a Federal mineral lease; and 2
2294+‘‘(B) for the purposes of exploring for or 3
2295+producing minerals.’’; 4
2296+(3) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘critical’’ each 5
2297+place such term appears; 6
2298+(4) in subsection (c)— 7
2299+(A) by striking ‘‘critical mineral production 8
2300+on Federal land’’ and inserting ‘‘mineral 9
2301+projects’’; 10
2302+(B) by inserting ‘‘, and in accordance with 11
2303+subsection (h)’’ after ‘‘to the maximum extent 12
2304+practicable’’; 13
2305+(C) by striking ‘‘shall complete the’’ and 14
2306+inserting ‘‘shall complete such’’; 15
2307+(D) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘critical 16
2308+mineral-related activities on Federal land’’ and 17
2309+inserting ‘‘mineral projects’’; 18
2310+(E) in paragraph (8), by striking the 19
2311+‘‘and’’ at the end; 20
2312+(F) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘proce-21
2313+dures.’’ and inserting ‘‘procedures; and’’; and 22
2314+(G) by adding at the end the following: 23
2315+‘‘(10) deferring to and relying on baseline data, 24
2316+analyses, and reviews performed by State agencies 25
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2320+with jurisdiction over the environmental or reclama-1
2321+tion permits for the proposed mineral project.’’; 2
2322+(5) in subsection (d)— 3
2323+(A) by striking ‘‘critical’’ each place such 4
2324+term appears; and 5
2325+(B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘mineral- 6
2326+related activities on Federal land’’ and inserting 7
2327+‘‘mineral projects’’; 8
2328+(6) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘critical’’; 9
2329+(7) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘critical’’ each 10
2330+place such term appears; 11
2331+(8) in subsection (g), by striking ‘‘critical’’ each 12
2332+place such term appears; and 13
2333+(9) by adding at the end the following: 14
2334+‘‘(h) O
2335+THERREQUIREMENTS.— 15
2336+‘‘(1) M
2337+EMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT .—For pur-16
2338+poses of maximizing efficiency and effectiveness of 17
2339+the Federal permitting and review processes de-18
2340+scribed under subsection (c), the lead agency in the 19
2341+Federal permitting and review processes of a min-20
2342+eral project shall (in consultation with any other 21
2343+Federal agency involved in such Federal permitting 22
2344+and review processes, and upon request of the 23
2345+project applicant, an affected State government, 24
2346+local government, or an Indian Tribe, or other entity 25
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2350+such lead agency determines appropriate) enter into 1
2351+a memorandum of agreement with a project appli-2
2352+cant where requested by applicant to carry out the 3
2353+activities described in subsection (c). 4
2354+‘‘(2) T
2355+IMELINES AND SCHEDULES FOR NEPA 5
2356+REVIEWS.— 6
2357+‘‘(A) E
2358+XTENSION.—A project applicant 7
2359+may enter into 1 or more agreements with a 8
2360+lead agency to extend the deadlines described in 9
2361+subparagraphs (A) and (B) of subsection (h)(1) 10
2362+of section 107 of title I of the National Envi-11
2363+ronmental Policy Act of 1969 by, with respect 12
2364+to each such agreement, not more than 6 13
2365+months. 14
2366+‘‘(B) A
2367+DJUSTMENT OF TIMELINES .—At 15
2368+the request of a project applicant, the lead 16
2369+agency and any other entity which is a signa-17
2370+tory to a memorandum of agreement under 18
2371+paragraph (1) may, by unanimous agreement, 19
2372+adjust— 20
2373+‘‘(i) any deadlines described in sub-21
2374+paragraph (A); and 22
2375+‘‘(ii) any deadlines extended under 23
2376+subparagraph (B). 24
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2380+‘‘(3) EFFECT ON PENDING APPLICATIONS .— 1
2381+Upon a written request by a project applicant, the 2
2382+requirements of this subsection shall apply to any 3
2383+application for a mineral exploration or mine permit 4
2384+or mineral lease that was submitted before the date 5
2385+of the enactment of the TAPP American Resources 6
2386+Act.’’. 7
2387+SEC. 303. FEDERAL REGISTER PROCESS IMPROVEMENT. 8
2388+Section 7002(f) of the Energy Act of 2020 (30 9
2389+U.S.C. 1606(f)) is amended— 10
2390+(1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘critical’’ both 11
2391+places such term appears; and 12
2392+(2) by striking paragraph (4). 13
2393+SEC. 304. DESIGNATION OF MINING AS A COVERED SECTOR 14
2394+FOR FEDERAL PERMITTING IMPROVEMENT 15
2395+PURPOSES. 16
2396+Section 41001(6)(A) of the FAST Act (42 U.S.C. 17
2397+4370m(6)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘mineral produc-18
2398+tion,’’ before ‘‘or any other sector’’. 19
2399+SEC. 305. TREATMENT OF ACTIONS UNDER PRESIDENTIAL 20
2400+DETERMINATION 2022–11 FOR FEDERAL PER-21
2401+MITTING IMPROVEMENT PURPOSES. 22
2402+(a) I
2403+NGENERAL.—Except as provided by subsection 23
2404+(c), an action described in subsection (b) shall be— 24
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2408+(1) treated as a covered project, as defined in 1
2409+section 41001(6) of the FAST Act (42 U.S.C. 2
2410+4370m(6)), without regard to the requirements of 3
2411+that section; and 4
2412+(2) included in the Permitting Dashboard main-5
2413+tained pursuant to section 41003(b) of that Act (42 6
2414+13 U.S.C. 4370m–2(b)). 7
2415+(b) A
2416+CTIONSDESCRIBED.—An action described in 8
2417+this subsection is an action taken by the Secretary of De-9
2418+fense pursuant to Presidential Determination 2022–11 10
2419+(87 Fed. Reg. 19775; relating to certain actions under 11
2420+section 303 of the Defense Production Act of 1950) to 12
2421+create, maintain, protect, expand, or restore sustainable 13
2422+and responsible domestic production capabilities 14
2423+through— 15
2424+(1) supporting feasibility studies for mature 16
2425+mining, beneficiation, and value-added processing 17
2426+projects; 18
2427+(2) byproduct and co-product production at ex-19
2428+isting mining, mine waste reclamation, and other in-20
2429+dustrial facilities; 21
2430+(3) modernization of mining, beneficiation, and 22
2431+value-added processing to increase productivity, envi-23
2432+ronmental sustainability, and workforce safety; or 24
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2436+(4) any other activity authorized under section 1
2437+303(a)(1) of the Defense Production Act of 1950 15 2
2438+(50 U.S.C. 4533(a)(1)). 3
2439+(c) E
2440+XCEPTION.—An action described in subsection 4
2441+(b) may not be treated as a covered project or be included 5
2442+in the Permitting Dashboard under subsection (a) if the 6
2443+project sponsor (as defined in section 41001(18) of the 7
2444+FAST Act (42 U.S.C. 21 4370m(18))) requests that the 8
2445+action not be treated as a covered project. 9
2446+SEC. 306. NOTICE FOR MINERAL EXPLORATION ACTIVITIES 10
2447+WITH LIMITED SURFACE DISTURBANCE. 11
2448+(a) I
2449+NGENERAL.—Not later than 15 days before 12
2450+commencing an exploration activity with a surface disturb-13
2451+ance of not more than 5 acres of public lands, the operator 14
2452+of such exploration activity shall submit to the Secretary 15
2453+concerned a complete notice of such exploration activity. 16
2454+(b) I
2455+NCLUSIONS.—Notice submitted under subsection 17
2456+(a) shall include such information the Secretary concerned 18
2457+may require, including the information described in sec-19
2458+tion 3809.301 of title 43, Code of Federal Regulations (or 20
2459+any successor regulation). 21
2460+(c) R
2461+EVIEW.—Not later than 15 days after the Sec-22
2462+retary concerned receives notice submitted under sub-23
2463+section (a), the Secretary concerned shall— 24
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2467+(1) review and determine completeness of the 1
2468+notice; and 2
2469+(2) allow exploration activities to proceed if— 3
2470+(A) the surface disturbance of such explo-4
2471+ration activities on such public lands will not 5
2472+exceed 5 acres; 6
2473+(B) the Secretary concerned determines 7
2474+that the notice is complete; and 8
2475+(C) the operator provides financial assur-9
2476+ance that the Secretary concerned determines is 10
2477+adequate. 11
2478+(d) D
2479+EFINITIONS.—In this section: 12
2480+(1) E
2481+XPLORATION ACTIVITY.—The term ‘‘explo-13
2482+ration activity’’— 14
2483+(A) means creating surface disturbance 15
2484+greater than casual use that includes sampling, 16
2485+drilling, or developing surface or underground 17
2486+workings to evaluate the type, extent, quantity, 18
2487+or quality of mineral values present; 19
2488+(B) includes constructing drill roads and 20
2489+drill pads, drilling, trenching, excavating test 21
2490+pits, and conducting geotechnical tests and geo-22
2491+physical surveys; and 23
2492+(C) does not include activities where mate-24
2493+rial is extracted for commercial use or sale. 25
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2497+(2) SECRETARY CONCERNED .—The term ‘‘Sec-1
2498+retary concerned’’ means— 2
2499+(A) with respect to lands administered by 3
2500+the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of 4
2501+the Interior; and 5
2502+(B) with respect to National Forest Sys-6
2503+tem lands, the Secretary of Agriculture. 7
2504+SEC. 307. USE OF MINING CLAIMS FOR ANCILLARY ACTIVI-8
2505+TIES. 9
2506+Section 10101 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation 10
2507+Act of 1993 (30 U.S.C. 28f) is amended by adding at the 11
2508+end the following: 12
2509+‘‘(e) S
2510+ECURITY OFTENURE.— 13
2511+‘‘(1) I
2512+N GENERAL.— 14
2513+‘‘(A) I
2514+N GENERAL.—A claimant shall have 15
2515+the right to use, occupy, and conduct operations 16
2516+on public land, with or without the discovery of 17
2517+a valuable mineral deposit, if— 18
2518+‘‘(i) such claimant makes a timely 19
2519+payment of the location fee required by 20
2520+section 10102 and the claim maintenance 21
2521+fee required by subsection (a); or 22
2522+‘‘(ii) in the case of a claimant who 23
2523+qualifies for a waiver under subsection (d), 24
2524+such claimant makes a timely payment of 25
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2528+the location fee and complies with the re-1
2529+quired assessment work under the general 2
2530+mining laws. 3
2531+‘‘(B) O
2532+PERATIONS DEFINED .—For the 4
2533+purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘oper-5
2534+ations’ means— 6
2535+‘‘(i) any activity or work carried out 7
2536+in connection with prospecting, exploration, 8
2537+processing, discovery and assessment, de-9
2538+velopment, or extraction with respect to a 10
2539+locatable mineral; 11
2540+‘‘(ii) the reclamation of any disturbed 12
2541+areas; and 13
2542+‘‘(iii) any other reasonably incident 14
2543+uses, whether on a mining claim or not, in-15
2544+cluding the construction and maintenance 16
2545+of facilities, roads, transmission lines, pipe-17
2546+lines, and any other necessary infrastruc-18
2547+ture or means of access on public land for 19
2548+support facilities. 20
2549+‘‘(2) F
2550+ULFILLMENT OF FEDERAL LAND POLICY 21
2551+AND MANAGEMENT ACT .—A claimant that fulfills 22
2552+the requirements of this section and section 10102 23
2553+shall be deemed to satisfy the requirements of any 24
2554+provision of the Federal Land Policy and Manage-25
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2558+ment Act that requires the payment of fair market 1
2559+value to the United States for use of public lands 2
2560+and resources relating to use of such lands and re-3
2561+sources authorized by the general mining laws. 4
2562+‘‘(3) S
2563+AVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this sub-5
2564+section may be construed to diminish the rights of 6
2565+entry, use, and occupancy, or any other right, of a 7
2566+claimant under the general mining laws.’’. 8
2567+SEC. 308. ENSURING CONSIDERATION OF URANIUM AS A 9
2568+CRITICAL MINERAL. 10
2569+(a) I
2570+NGENERAL.—Section 7002(a)(3)(B)(i) of the 11
2571+Energy Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(a)(3)(B)(i)) is 12
2572+amended to read as follows: 13
2573+‘‘(i) oil, oil shale, coal, or natural 14
2574+gas;’’. 15
2575+(b) U
2576+PDATE.—Not later than 60 days after the date 16
2577+of the enactment of this section, the Secretary, acting 17
2578+through the Director of the United States Geological Sur-18
2579+vey, shall publish in the Federal Register an update to 19
2580+the final list established in section 7002(c)(3) of the En-20
2581+ergy Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(c)(3)) in accordance 21
2582+with subsection (a) of this section. 22
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2586+TITLE IV—FEDERAL LAND USE 1
2587+PLANNING 2
2588+SEC. 401. FEDERAL LAND USE PLANNING AND WITH-3
2589+DRAWALS. 4
2590+(a) R
2591+ESOURCEASSESSMENTSREQUIRED.—Federal 5
2592+lands and waters may not be withdrawn from entry under 6
2593+the mining laws or operation of the mineral leasing and 7
2594+mineral materials laws unless— 8
2595+(1) a quantitative and qualitative geophysical 9
2596+and geological mineral resource assessment of the 10
2597+impacted area has been completed during the 10- 11
2598+year period ending on the date of such withdrawal; 12
2599+(2) the Secretary, in consultation with the Sec-13
2600+retary of Commerce, the Secretary of Energy, and 14
2601+the Secretary of Defense, conducts an assessment of 15
2602+the economic, energy, strategic, and national secu-16
2603+rity value of mineral deposits identified in such min-17
2604+eral resource assessment; 18
2605+(3) the Secretary conducts an assessment of the 19
2606+reduction in future Federal revenues to the Treas-20
2607+ury, States, the Land and Water Conservation 21
2608+Fund, and the Historic Preservation Fund resulting 22
2609+from the proposed mineral withdrawal; 23
2610+(4) the Secretary, in consultation with the Sec-24
2611+retary of Defense, conducts an assessment of mili-25
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2615+tary readiness and training activities in the proposed 1
2616+withdrawal area; and 2
2617+(5) the Secretary submits a report to the Com-3
2618+mittees on Natural Resources, Agriculture, Energy 4
2619+and Commerce, and Foreign Affairs of the House of 5
2620+Representatives and the Committees on Energy and 6
2621+Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Foreign Affairs 7
2622+of the Senate, that includes the results of the assess-8
2623+ments completed pursuant to this subsection. 9
2624+(b) L
2625+ANDUSEPLANS.—Before a resource manage-10
2626+ment plan under the Federal Land Policy and Manage-11
2627+ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) or a forest 12
2628+management plan under the National Forest Management 13
2629+Act is updated or completed, the Secretary or Secretary 14
2630+of Agriculture, as applicable, in consultation with the Di-15
2631+rector of the United States Geological Survey, shall— 16
2632+(1) review any quantitative and qualitative min-17
2633+eral resource assessment that was completed or up-18
2634+dated during the 10-year period ending on the date 19
2635+that the applicable land management agency pub-20
2636+lishes a notice to prepare, revise, or amend a land 21
2637+use plan by the Director of the United States Geo-22
2638+logical Survey for the geographic area affected by 23
2639+the applicable management plan; 24
2640+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00088 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
2641+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 89
2642+•HR 1335 IH
2643+(2) the Secretary, in consultation with the Sec-1
2644+retary of Commerce, the Secretary of Energy, and 2
2645+the Secretary of Defense, conducts an assessment of 3
2646+the economic, energy, strategic, and national secu-4
2647+rity value of mineral deposits identified in such min-5
2648+eral resource assessment; and 6
2649+(3) submit a report to the Committees on Nat-7
2650+ural Resources, Agriculture, Energy and Commerce, 8
2651+and Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 9
2652+and the Committees on Energy and Natural Re-10
2653+sources, Agriculture, and Foreign Affairs of the Sen-11
2654+ate, that includes the results of the assessment com-12
2655+pleted pursuant to this subsection. 13
2656+(c) N
2657+EWINFORMATION.—The Secretary shall provide 14
2658+recommendations to the President on appropriate meas-15
2659+ures to reduce unnecessary impacts that a withdrawal of 16
2660+Federal lands or waters from entry under the mining laws 17
2661+or operation of the mineral leasing and mineral materials 18
2662+laws may have on mineral exploration, development, and 19
2663+other mineral activities (including authorizing exploration 20
2664+and development of such mineral deposits) not later than 21
2665+180 days after the Secretary has notice that a resource 22
2666+assessment completed by the Director of the United States 23
2667+Geological Survey, in coordination with the State geologi-24
2668+cal surveys, determines that a previously undiscovered 25
2669+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00089 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
2670+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 90
2671+•HR 1335 IH
2672+mineral deposit may be present in an area that has been 1
2673+withdrawn from entry under the mining laws or operation 2
2674+of the mineral leasing and mineral materials laws pursu-3
2675+ant to— 4
2676+(1) section 204 of the Federal Land Policy and 5
2677+Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1714), or 6
2678+(2) chapter 3203 of title 54, United States 7
2679+Code. 8
2680+SEC. 402. PROHIBITIONS ON DELAY OF MINERAL DEVELOP-9
2681+MENT OF CERTAIN FEDERAL LAND. 10
2682+(a) P
2683+ROHIBITIONS.—Notwithstanding any other pro-11
2684+vision of law, the President shall not carry out any action 12
2685+that would pause, restrict, or delay the process for or 13
2686+issuance of any of the following on Federal land, unless 14
2687+such lands are withdrawn from disposition under the min-15
2688+eral leasing laws, including by administrative withdrawal: 16
2689+(1) New oil and gas lease sales, oil and gas 17
2690+leases, drill permits, or associated approvals or au-18
2691+thorizations of any kind associated with oil and gas 19
2692+leases. 20
2693+(2) New coal leases (including leases by applica-21
2694+tion in process, renewals, modifications, or expan-22
2695+sions of existing leases), permits, approvals, or au-23
2696+thorizations. 24
2697+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00090 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
2698+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 91
2699+•HR 1335 IH
2700+(3) New leases, claims, permits, approvals, or 1
2701+authorizations for development or exploration of 2
2702+minerals. 3
2703+(b) P
2704+ROHIBITION ONRESCISSION OFLEASES, PER-4
2705+MITS, ORCLAIMS.—The President, the Secretary, or Sec-5
2706+retary of Agriculture as applicable, may not rescind any 6
2707+existing lease, permit, or claim for the extraction and pro-7
2708+duction of any mineral under the mining laws or mineral 8
2709+leasing and mineral materials laws on National Forest 9
2710+System land or land under the jurisdiction of the Bureau 10
2711+of Land Management, unless specifically authorized by 11
2712+Federal statute, or upon the lessee, permittee, or claim-12
2713+ant’s failure to comply with any of the provisions of the 13
2714+applicable lease, permit, or claim. 14
2715+(c) M
2716+INERALDEFINED.—In subsection (a)(3), the 15
2717+term ‘‘mineral’’ means any mineral of a kind that is 16
2718+locatable (including such minerals located on ‘‘lands ac-17
2719+quired by the United States’’, as such term is defined in 18
2720+section 2 of the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands) 19
2721+under the Act of May 10, 1872 (Chapter 152; 17 Stat. 20
2722+91). 21
2723+SEC. 403. DEFINITIONS. 22
2724+In this title: 23
2725+(1) F
2726+EDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 24
2727+means— 25
2728+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00091 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
2729+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 92
2730+•HR 1335 IH
2731+(A) National Forest System land; 1
2732+(B) public lands (as defined in section 103 2
2733+of the Federal Land Policy and Management 3
2734+Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702)); 4
2735+(C) the outer Continental Shelf (as defined 5
2736+in section 2 of the Outer Continental Shelf 6
2737+Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331)); and 7
2738+(D) land managed by the Secretary of En-8
2739+ergy. 9
2740+(2) P
2741+RESIDENT.—The term ‘‘President’’ 10
2742+means— 11
2743+(A) the President; and 12
2744+(B) any designee of the President, includ-13
2745+ing— 14
2746+(i) the Secretary of Agriculture; 15
2747+(ii) the Secretary of Commerce; 16
2748+(iii) the Secretary of Energy; and 17
2749+(iv) the Secretary of the Interior. 18
2750+(3) P
2751+REVIOUSLY UNDISCOVERED DEPOSIT .— 19
2752+The term ‘‘previously undiscovered mineral deposit’’ 20
2753+means— 21
2754+(A) a mineral deposit that has been pre-22
2755+viously evaluated by the United States Geologi-23
2756+cal Survey and found to be of low mineral po-24
2757+tential, but upon subsequent evaluation is de-25
2758+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00092 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
2759+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 93
2760+•HR 1335 IH
2761+termined by the United States Geological Sur-1
2762+vey to have significant mineral potential, or 2
2763+(B) a mineral deposit that has not pre-3
2764+viously been evaluated by the United States Ge-4
2765+ological Survey. 5
2766+(4) S
2767+ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 6
2768+the Secretary of the Interior. 7
2769+TITLE V—ENSURING COMPETI-8
2770+TIVENESS ON FEDERAL 9
2771+LANDS 10
2772+SEC. 501. INCENTIVIZING DOMESTIC PRODUCTION. 11
2773+(a) O
2774+FFSHOREOIL ANDGASROYALTYRATE.—Sec-12
2775+tion 8(a)(1) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 13
2776+U.S.C. 1337(a)(1)) is amended— 14
2777+(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘not less 15
2778+than 16
28312779 2
2832-∕3percent, but not more than 18
2780+⁄3percent, but not more than 18
28332781 3
2834-∕4percent, 9
2835-during the 10-year period beginning on the date of 10
2836-enactment of the Act titled ‘An Act to provide for rec-11
2837-onciliation pursuant to title II of S. Con. Res. 14’, 12
2838-and not less than 16
2782+⁄4percent, 16
2783+during the 10-year period beginning on the date of 17
2784+enactment of the Act titled ‘An Act to provide for 18
2785+reconciliation pursuant to title II of S. Con. Res. 19
2786+14’, and not less than 16
28392787 2
2840-∕3percent thereafter,’’ each place 13
2841-it appears and inserting ‘‘not less than 12.5 percent’’; 14
2842-(2) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘not less 15
2843-than 16
2788+⁄3percent thereafter,’’ 20
2789+each place it appears and inserting ‘‘not less than 21
2790+12.5 percent’’; 22
2791+(2) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘not less 23
2792+than 16
28442793 2
2845-∕3percent, but not more than 18
2794+⁄3percent, but not more than 18
28462795 3
2847-∕4percent, 16
2848-during the 10-year period beginning on the date of 17
2849-enactment of the Act titled ‘An Act to provide for rec-18
2850-onciliation pursuant to title II of S. Con. Res. 14’, 19
2851-and not less than 16
2796+⁄4percent, 24
2797+during the 10-year period beginning on the date of 25
2798+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00093 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
2799+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 94
2800+•HR 1335 IH
2801+enactment of the Act titled ‘An Act to provide for 1
2802+reconciliation pursuant to title II of S. Con. Res. 2
2803+14’, and not less than 16
28522804 2
2853-∕3percent thereafter,’’ each place 20
2854-it appears and inserting ‘‘not less than 12.5 percent’’; 21
2855-(3) in subparagraph (F), by striking ‘‘not less 22
2856-than 16
2805+⁄3percent thereafter,’’ 3
2806+each place it appears and inserting ‘‘not less than 4
2807+12.5 percent’’; 5
2808+(3) in subparagraph (F), by striking ‘‘not less 6
2809+than 16
28572810 2
2858-∕3percent, but not more than 18
2811+⁄3percent, but not more than 18
28592812 3
2860-∕4percent, 23
2861-during the 10-year period beginning on the date of 24
2862-enactment of the Act titled ‘An Act to provide for rec-25
2863-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00096 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
2864-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 97
2865-•HR 1335 RH
2866-onciliation pursuant to title II of S. Con. Res. 14’, 1
2867-and not less than 16
2813+⁄4percent, 7
2814+during the 10-year period beginning on the date of 8
2815+enactment of the Act titled ‘An Act to provide for 9
2816+reconciliation pursuant to title II of S. Con. Res. 10
2817+14’, and not less than 16
28682818 2
2869-∕3percent thereafter,’’ and in-2
2870-serting ‘‘not less than 12.5 percent’’; and 3
2871-(4) in subparagraph (H), by striking ‘‘not less 4
2872-than 16
2819+⁄3percent thereafter,’’ and 11
2820+inserting ‘‘not less than 12.5 percent’’; and 12
2821+(4) in subparagraph (H), by striking ‘‘not less 13
2822+than 16
28732823 2
2874-∕3percent, but not more than 18
2824+⁄3percent, but not more than 18
28752825 3
2876-∕4percent, 5
2877-during the 10-year period beginning on the date of 6
2878-enactment of the Act titled ‘An Act to provide for rec-7
2879-onciliation pursuant to title II of S. Con. Res. 14’, 8
2880-and not less than 16
2826+⁄4percent, 14
2827+during the 10-year period beginning on the date of 15
2828+enactment of the Act titled ‘An Act to provide for 16
2829+reconciliation pursuant to title II of S. Con. Res. 17
2830+14’, and not less than 16
28812831 2
2882-∕3percent thereafter,’’ and in-9
2883-serting ‘‘not less than 12.5 percent’’. 10
2884-(b) M
2885-INERALLEASINGACT.— 11
2886-(1) O
2887-NSHORE OIL AND GAS ROYALTY RATES .— 12
2888-(A) L
2889-EASE OF OIL AND GAS LAND.—Section 13
2890-17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) 14
2891-is amended— 15
2892-(i) in subsection (b)(1)(A)— 16
2893-(I) by striking ‘‘not less than 17
2832+⁄3percent thereafter,’’ and 18
2833+inserting ‘‘not less than 12.5 percent’’. 19
2834+(b) M
2835+INERALLEASINGACT.— 20
2836+(1) O
2837+NSHORE OIL AND GAS ROYALTY RATES .— 21
2838+(A) L
2839+EASE OF OIL AND GAS LAND .—Sec-22
2840+tion 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 23
2841+226) is amended— 24
2842+(i) in subsection (b)(1)(A)— 25
2843+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00094 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
2844+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 95
2845+•HR 1335 IH
2846+(I) by striking ‘‘not less than 1
28942847 16
28952848 2
2896-∕3’’ and inserting ‘‘not less than 18
2897-12.5’’; and 19
2898-(II) by striking ‘‘or, in the case of 20
2899-a lease issued during the 10-year pe-21
2900-riod beginning on the date of enact-22
2901-ment of the Act titled ‘An Act to pro-23
2902-vide for reconciliation pursuant to title 24
2903-II of S. Con. Res. 14’, 16
2849+⁄3’’ and inserting ‘‘not less than 2
2850+12.5’’; and 3
2851+(II) by striking ‘‘or, in the case 4
2852+of a lease issued during the 10-year 5
2853+period beginning on the date of enact-6
2854+ment of the Act titled ‘An Act to pro-7
2855+vide for reconciliation pursuant to 8
2856+title II of S. Con. Res. 14’, 16
29042857 2
2905-∕3percent in 25
2906-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00097 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
2907-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 98
2908-•HR 1335 RH
2909-amount or value of the production re-1
2910-moved or sold from the lease’’; and 2
2911-(ii) by striking ‘‘16
2858+⁄3per-9
2859+cent in amount or value of the pro-10
2860+duction removed or sold from the 11
2861+lease’’; and 12
2862+(ii) by striking ‘‘16
29122863 2
2913-∕3percent’’ each 3
2914-place it appears and inserting ‘‘12.5 per-4
2915-cent’’. 5
2916-(B) C
2917-ONDITIONS FOR REINSTATEMENT .— 6
2918-Section 31(e)(3) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 7
2919-U.S.C. 188(e)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘20’’ 8
2920-inserting ‘‘16
2864+⁄3percent’’ each 13
2865+place it appears and inserting ‘‘12.5 per-14
2866+cent’’. 15
2867+(B) C
2868+ONDITIONS FOR REINSTATEMENT .— 16
2869+Section 31(e)(3) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 17
2870+U.S.C. 188(e)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘20’’ 18
2871+inserting ‘‘16
29212872 2
2922-∕3’’. 9
2923-(2) O
2924-IL AND GAS MINIMUM BID .—Section 17(b) 10
2925-of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(b)) is 11
2926-amended— 12
2927-(A) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ‘‘$10 13
2928-per acre during the 10-year period beginning on 14
2929-the date of enactment of the Act titled ‘An Act 15
2930-to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II 16
2931-of S. Con. Res. 14’.’’ and inserting ‘‘$2 per acre 17
2932-for a period of 2 years from the date of the en-18
2933-actment of the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas 19
2934-Leasing Reform Act of 1987.’’; and 20
2935-(B) in paragraph (2)(C), by striking ‘‘$10 21
2936-per acre’’ and inserting ‘‘$2 per acre’’. 22
2937-(3) F
2938-OSSIL FUEL RENTAL RATES.—Section 17(d) 23
2939-of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(d)) is 24
2940-amended to read as follows: 25
2941-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00098 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
2942-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 99
2943-•HR 1335 RH
2944-‘‘(d) All leases issued under this section, as amended 1
2945-by the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Reform Act 2
2946-of 1987, shall be conditioned upon payment by the lessee 3
2947-of a rental of not less than $1.50 per acre per year for the 4
2948-first through fifth years of the lease and not less than $2 5
2949-per acre per year for each year thereafter. A minimum roy-6
2950-alty in lieu of rental of not less than the rental which other-7
2951-wise would be required for that lease year shall be payable 8
2952-at the expiration of each lease year beginning on or after 9
2953-a discovery of oil or gas in paying quantities on the lands 10
2954-leased.’’. 11
2955-(4) E
2956-XPRESSION OF INTEREST FEE .—Section 17 12
2957-of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) is further 13
2958-amended by repealing subsection (q). 14
2959-(5) E
2960-LIMINATION OF NONCOMPETITIVE LEAS -15
2961-ING.—Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 16
2962-U.S.C. 226) is further amended— 17
2963-(A) in subsection (b)— 18
2964-(i) in paragraph (1)(A)— 19
2965-(I) in the first sentence, by strik-20
2966-ing ‘‘paragraph (2)’’ and inserting 21
2967-‘‘paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; and 22
2968-(II) by adding at the end ‘‘Lands 23
2969-for which no bids are received or for 24
2970-which the highest bid is less than the 25
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2972-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 100
2973-•HR 1335 RH
2974-national minimum acceptable bid shall 1
2975-be offered promptly within 30 days for 2
2976-leasing under subsection (c) of this sec-3
2977-tion and shall remain available for 4
2978-leasing for a period of 2 years after the 5
2979-competitive lease sale.’’; and 6
2980-(ii) by adding at the end the following: 7
2981-‘‘(3)(A) If the United States held a vested future 8
2982-interest in a mineral estate that, immediately prior 9
2983-to becoming a vested present interest, was subject to 10
2984-a lease under which oil or gas was being produced, 11
2985-or had a well capable of producing, in paying quan-12
2986-tities at an annual average production volume per 13
2987-well per day of either not more than 15 barrels per 14
2988-day of oil or condensate, or not more than 60,000 15
2989-cubic feet of gas, the holder of the lease may elect to 16
2990-continue the lease as a noncompetitive lease under 17
2991-subsection (c)(1). 18
2992-‘‘(B) An election under this paragraph is effec-19
2993-tive— 20
2994-‘‘(i) in the case of an interest which vested 21
2995-after January 1, 1990, and on or before October 22
2996-24, 1992, if the election is made before the date 23
2997-that is 1 year after October 24, 1992; 24
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2999-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 101
3000-•HR 1335 RH
3001-‘‘(ii) in the case of an interest which vests 1
3002-within 1 year after October 24, 1992, if the elec-2
3003-tion is made before the date that is 2 years after 3
3004-October 24, 1992; and 4
3005-‘‘(iii) in any case other than those described 5
3006-in clause (i) or (ii), if the election is made prior 6
3007-to the interest becoming a vested present inter-7
3008-est.’’; 8
3009-(B) by striking subsection (c) and inserting 9
3010-the following: 10
3011-‘‘(c) L
3012-ANDSSUBJECT TO LEASINGUNDERSUB-11
3013-SECTION(B); FIRSTQUALIFIEDAPPLICANT.— 12
3014-‘‘(1) If the lands to be leased are not leased 13
3015-under subsection (b)(1) of this section or are not sub-14
3016-ject to competitive leasing under subsection (b)(2) of 15
3017-this section, the person first making application for 16
3018-the lease who is qualified to hold a lease under this 17
3019-chapter shall be entitled to a lease of such lands with-18
3020-out competitive bidding, upon payment of a non-re-19
3021-fundable application fee of at least $75. A lease under 20
3022-this subsection shall be conditioned upon the payment 21
3023-of a royalty at a rate of 12.5 percent in amount or 22
3024-value of the production removed or sold from the 23
3025-lease. Leases shall be issued within 60 days of the 24
3026-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00101 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
3027-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 102
3028-•HR 1335 RH
3029-date on which the Secretary identifies the first re-1
3030-sponsible qualified applicant. 2
3031-‘‘(2)(A) Lands (i) which were posted for sale 3
3032-under subsection (b)(1) of this section but for which 4
3033-no bids were received or for which the highest bid was 5
3034-less than the national minimum acceptable bid and 6
3035-(ii) for which, at the end of the period referred to in 7
3036-subsection (b)(1) of this section no lease has been 8
3037-issued and no lease application is pending under 9
3038-paragraph (1) of this subsection, shall again be avail-10
3039-able for leasing only in accordance with subsection 11
3040-(b)(1) of this section. 12
3041-‘‘(B) The land in any lease which is issued 13
3042-under paragraph (1) of this subsection or under sub-14
3043-section (b)(1) of this section which lease terminates, 15
3044-expires, is cancelled or is relinquished shall again be 16
3045-available for leasing only in accordance with sub-17
3046-section (b)(1) of this section.’’; and 18
3047-(C) by striking subsection (e) and inserting 19
3048-the following: 20
3049-‘‘(e) P
3050-RIMARYTERM.—Competitive and noncompeti-21
3051-tive leases issued under this section shall be for a primary 22
3052-term of 10 years: Provided, however, That competitive leases 23
3053-issued in special tar sand areas shall also be for a primary 24
3054-term of 10 years. Each such lease shall continue so long 25
3055-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00102 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
3056-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 103
3057-•HR 1335 RH
3058-after its primary term as oil or gas is produced in paying 1
3059-quantities. Any lease issued under this section for land on 2
3060-which, or for which under an approved cooperative or unit 3
3061-plan of development or operation, actual drilling operations 4
3062-were commenced prior to the end of its primary term and 5
3063-are being diligently prosecuted at that time shall be ex-6
3064-tended for two years and so long thereafter as oil or gas 7
3065-is produced in paying quantities.’’. 8
3066-(6) C
3067-ONFORMING AMENDMENTS .—Section 31 of 9
3068-the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 188) is amend-10
3069-ed— 11
3070-(A) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘sec-12
3071-tion 17(b)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (b) or (c) 13
3072-of section 17 of this Act’’; 14
3073-(B) in subsection (e)— 15
3074-(i) in paragraph (2)— 16
3075-(I) insert ‘‘either’’ after ‘‘rentals 17
3076-and’’; and 18
3077-(II) insert ‘‘or the inclusion in a 19
3078-reinstated lease issued pursuant to the 20
3079-provisions of section 17(c) of this Act 21
3080-of a requirement that future rentals 22
3081-shall be at a rate not less than $5 per 23
3082-acre per year, all’’ before ‘‘as deter-24
3083-mined by the Secretary’’; and 25
3084-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00103 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
3085-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 104
3086-•HR 1335 RH
3087-(ii) by amending paragraph (3) to 1
3088-read as follows: 2
3089-‘‘(3)(A) payment of back royalties and the inclu-3
3090-sion in a reinstated lease issued pursuant to the pro-4
3091-visions of section 17(b) of this Act of a requirement 5
3092-for future royalties at a rate of not less than 16
2873+⁄3’’. 19
2874+(2) O
2875+IL AND GAS MINIMUM BID .—Section 17(b) 20
2876+of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(b)) is 21
2877+amended— 22
2878+(A) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ‘‘$10 23
2879+per acre during the 10-year period beginning on 24
2880+the date of enactment of the Act titled ‘An Act 25
2881+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00095 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
2882+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 96
2883+•HR 1335 IH
2884+to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II 1
2885+of S. Con. Res. 14’.’’ and inserting ‘‘$2 per 2
2886+acre for a period of 2 years from the date of 3
2887+the enactment of the Federal Onshore Oil and 4
2888+Gas Leasing Reform Act of 1987.’’; and 5
2889+(B) in paragraph (2)(C), by striking ‘‘$10 6
2890+per acre’’ and inserting ‘‘$2 per acre’’. 7
2891+(3) F
2892+OSSIL FUEL RENTAL RATES .—Section 8
2893+17(d) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 9
2894+226(d)) is amended to read as follows: 10
2895+‘‘(d) All leases issued under this section, as amended 11
2896+by the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Reform Act 12
2897+of 1987, shall be conditioned upon payment by the lessee 13
2898+of a rental of not less than $1.50 per acre per year for 14
2899+the first through fifth years of the lease and not less than 15
2900+$2 per acre per year for each year thereafter. A minimum 16
2901+royalty in lieu of rental of not less than the rental which 17
2902+otherwise would be required for that lease year shall be 18
2903+payable at the expiration of each lease year beginning on 19
2904+or after a discovery of oil or gas in paying quantities on 20
2905+the lands leased.’’. 21
2906+(4) E
2907+XPRESSION OF INTEREST FEE .—Section 22
2908+17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) is 23
2909+further amended by repealing subsection (q). 24
2910+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00096 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
2911+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 97
2912+•HR 1335 IH
2913+(5) ELIMINATION OF NONCOMPETITIVE LEAS -1
2914+ING.—Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 2
2915+U.S.C. 226) is further amended— 3
2916+(A) in subsection (b)— 4
2917+(i) in paragraph (1)(A)— 5
2918+(I) in the first sentence, by strik-6
2919+ing ‘‘paragraph (2)’’ and inserting 7
2920+‘‘paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; and 8
2921+(II) by adding at the end ‘‘Lands 9
2922+for which no bids are received or for 10
2923+which the highest bid is less than the 11
2924+national minimum acceptable bid shall 12
2925+be offered promptly within 30 days 13
2926+for leasing under subsection (c) of this 14
2927+section and shall remain available for 15
2928+leasing for a period of 2 years after 16
2929+the competitive lease sale.’’; and 17
2930+(ii) by adding at the end the fol-18
2931+lowing: 19
2932+‘‘(3)(A) If the United States held a vested fu-20
2933+ture interest in a mineral estate that, immediately 21
2934+prior to becoming a vested present interest, was sub-22
2935+ject to a lease under which oil or gas was being pro-23
2936+duced, or had a well capable of producing, in paying 24
2937+quantities at an annual average production volume 25
2938+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00097 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
2939+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 98
2940+•HR 1335 IH
2941+per well per day of either not more than 15 barrels 1
2942+per day of oil or condensate, or not more than 2
2943+60,000 cubic feet of gas, the holder of the lease may 3
2944+elect to continue the lease as a noncompetitive lease 4
2945+under subsection (c)(1). 5
2946+‘‘(B) An election under this paragraph is effec-6
2947+tive— 7
2948+‘‘(i) in the case of an interest which vested 8
2949+after January 1, 1990, and on or before Octo-9
2950+ber 24, 1992, if the election is made before the 10
2951+date that is 1 year after October 24, 1992; 11
2952+‘‘(ii) in the case of an interest which vests 12
2953+within 1 year after October 24, 1992, if the 13
2954+election is made before the date that is 2 years 14
2955+after October 24, 1992; and 15
2956+‘‘(iii) in any case other than those de-16
2957+scribed in clause (i) or (ii), if the election is 17
2958+made prior to the interest becoming a vested 18
2959+present interest.’’; 19
2960+(B) by striking subsection (c) and insert-20
2961+ing the following: 21
2962+‘‘(c) L
2963+ANDSSUBJECT TOLEASINGUNDERSUB-22
2964+SECTION(b); FIRSTQUALIFIEDAPPLICANT.— 23
2965+‘‘(1) If the lands to be leased are not leased 24
2966+under subsection (b)(1) of this section or are not 25
2967+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00098 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
2968+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 99
2969+•HR 1335 IH
2970+subject to competitive leasing under subsection 1
2971+(b)(2) of this section, the person first making appli-2
2972+cation for the lease who is qualified to hold a lease 3
2973+under this chapter shall be entitled to a lease of 4
2974+such lands without competitive bidding, upon pay-5
2975+ment of a non-refundable application fee of at least 6
2976+$75. A lease under this subsection shall be condi-7
2977+tioned upon the payment of a royalty at a rate of 8
2978+12.5 percent in amount or value of the production 9
2979+removed or sold from the lease. Leases shall be 10
2980+issued within 60 days of the date on which the Sec-11
2981+retary identifies the first responsible qualified appli-12
2982+cant. 13
2983+‘‘(2)(A) Lands (i) which were posted for sale 14
2984+under subsection (b)(1) of this section but for which 15
2985+no bids were received or for which the highest bid 16
2986+was less than the national minimum acceptable bid 17
2987+and (ii) for which, at the end of the period referred 18
2988+to in subsection (b)(1) of this section no lease has 19
2989+been issued and no lease application is pending 20
2990+under paragraph (1) of this subsection, shall again 21
2991+be available for leasing only in accordance with sub-22
2992+section (b)(1) of this section. 23
2993+‘‘(B) The land in any lease which is issued 24
2994+under paragraph (1) of this subsection or under sub-25
2995+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00099 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
2996+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 100
2997+•HR 1335 IH
2998+section (b)(1) of this section which lease terminates, 1
2999+expires, is cancelled or is relinquished shall again be 2
3000+available for leasing only in accordance with sub-3
3001+section (b)(1) of this section.’’; and 4
3002+(C) by striking subsection (e) and inserting 5
3003+the following: 6
3004+‘‘(e) P
3005+RIMARYTERM.—Competitive and noncompeti-7
3006+tive leases issued under this section shall be for a primary 8
3007+term of 10 years: Provided, however, That competitive 9
3008+leases issued in special tar sand areas shall also be for 10
3009+a primary term of ten years. Each such lease shall con-11
3010+tinue so long after its primary term as oil or gas is pro-12
3011+duced in paying quantities. Any lease issued under this 13
3012+section for land on which, or for which under an approved 14
3013+cooperative or unit plan of development or operation, ac-15
3014+tual drilling operations were commenced prior to the end 16
3015+of its primary term and are being diligently prosecuted 17
3016+at that time shall be extended for two years and so long 18
3017+thereafter as oil or gas is produced in paying quantities.’’. 19
3018+(6) C
3019+ONFORMING AMENDMENTS .—Section 31 of 20
3020+the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 188) is amend-21
3021+ed— 22
3022+(A) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘sec-23
3023+tion 17(b)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (b) or (c) 24
3024+of section 17 of this Act’’; 25
3025+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00100 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
3026+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 101
3027+•HR 1335 IH
3028+(B) in subsection (e)— 1
3029+(i) in paragraph (2)— 2
3030+(I) insert ‘‘either’’ after ‘‘rentals 3
3031+and’’; and 4
3032+(II) insert ‘‘or the inclusion in a 5
3033+reinstated lease issued pursuant to the 6
3034+provisions of section 17(c) of this Act 7
3035+of a requirement that future rentals 8
3036+shall be at a rate not less than $5 per 9
3037+acre per year, all’’ before ‘‘as deter-10
3038+mined by the Secretary’’; and 11
3039+(ii) by amending paragraph (3) to 12
3040+read as follows: 13
3041+‘‘(3)(A) payment of back royalties and the in-14
3042+clusion in a reinstated lease issued pursuant to the 15
3043+provisions of section 17(b) of this Act of a require-16
3044+ment for future royalties at a rate of not less than 17
3045+16
30933046 2
3094-∕3 6
3095-percent computed on a sliding scale based upon the 7
3096-average production per well per day, at a rate which 8
3097-shall be not less than 4 percentage points greater than 9
3098-the competitive royalty schedule then in force and 10
3099-used for royalty determination for competitive leases 11
3100-issued pursuant to such section as determined by the 12
3101-Secretary: Provided, That royalty on such reinstated 13
3102-lease shall be paid on all production removed or sold 14
3103-from such lease subsequent to the termination of the 15
3104-original lease; 16
3105-‘‘(B) payment of back royalties and inclusion in 17
3106-a reinstated lease issued pursuant to the provisions of 18
3107-section 17(c) of this Act of a requirement for future 19
3108-royalties at a rate not less than 16
3047+⁄3percent computed on a sliding scale based 18
3048+upon the average production per well per day, at a 19
3049+rate which shall be not less than 4 percentage points 20
3050+greater than the competitive royality schedule then 21
3051+in force and used for royalty determination for com-22
3052+petitive leases issued pursuant to such section as de-23
3053+termined by the Secretary: Provided, That royalty on 24
3054+such reinstated lease shall be paid on all production 25
3055+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00101 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
3056+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 102
3057+•HR 1335 IH
3058+removed or sold from such lease subsequent to the 1
3059+termination of the original lease; 2
3060+‘‘(B) payment of back royalties and inclusion in 3
3061+a reinstated lease issued pursuant to the provisions 4
3062+of section 17(c) of this Act of a requirement for fu-5
3063+ture royalties at a rate not less than 16
31093064 2
3110-∕3percent: Pro-20
3111-vided, That royalty on such reinstated lease shall be 21
3112-paid on all production removed or sold from such 22
3113-lease subsequent to the cancellation or termination of 23
3114-the original lease; and’’. 24
3115-(C) in subsection (f)— 25
3116-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00104 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
3117-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 105
3118-•HR 1335 RH
3119-(i) in paragraph (1), strike ‘‘in the 1
3120-same manner as the original lease issued 2
3121-pursuant to section 17’’ and insert ‘‘as a 3
3122-competitive or a noncompetitive oil and gas 4
3123-lease in the same manner as the original 5
3124-lease issued pursuant to subsection (b) or 6
3125-(c) of section 17 of this Act’’; 7
3126-(ii) by redesignating paragraphs (2) 8
3127-and (3) as paragraph (3) and (4), respec-9
3128-tively; and 10
3129-(iii) by inserting after paragraph (1) 11
3130-the following: 12
3131-‘‘(2) Except as otherwise provided in this section, 13
3132-the issuance of a lease in lieu of an abandoned pat-14
3133-ented oil placer mining claim shall be treated as a 15
3134-noncompetitive oil and gas lease issued pursuant to 16
3135-section 17(c) of this Act.’’; 17
3136-(D) in subsection (g), by striking ‘‘sub-18
3137-section (d)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (d) and 19
3138-(f)’’; 20
3139-(E) by amending subsection (h) to read as 21
3140-follows: 22
3141-‘‘(h) R
3142-OYALTYREDUCTIONS.— 23
3143-‘‘(1) In acting on a petition to issue a non-24
3144-competitive oil and gas lease, under subsection (f) of 25
3145-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00105 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
3146-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 106
3147-•HR 1335 RH
3148-this section or in response to a request filed after 1
3149-issuance of such a lease, or both, the Secretary is au-2
3150-thorized to reduce the royalty on such lease if in his 3
3151-judgment it is equitable to do so or the circumstances 4
3152-warrant such relief due to uneconomic or other cir-5
3153-cumstances which could cause undue hardship or pre-6
3154-mature termination of production. 7
3155-‘‘(2) In acting on a petition for reinstatement 8
3156-pursuant to subsection (d) of this section or in re-9
3157-sponse to a request filed after reinstatement, or both, 10
3158-the Secretary is authorized to reduce the royalty in 11
3159-that reinstated lease on the entire leasehold or any 12
3160-tract or portion thereof segregated for royalty pur-13
3161-poses if, in his judgment, there are uneconomic or 14
3162-other circumstances which could cause undue hard-15
3163-ship or premature termination of production; or be-16
3164-cause of any written action of the United States, its 17
3165-agents or employees, which preceded, and was a 18
3166-major consideration in, the lessee’s expenditure of 19
3167-funds to develop the property under the lease after the 20
3168-rent had become due and had not been paid; or if in 21
3169-the judgment of the Secretary it is equitable to do so 22
3170-for any reason.’’. 23
3171-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00106 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
3172-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 107
3173-•HR 1335 RH
3174-(F) by redesignating subsections (f) through 1
3175-(i) as subsections (g) through (j), respectively; 2
3176-and 3
3177-(G) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol-4
3178-lowing: 5
3179-‘‘(f) I
3180-SSUANCE OFNONCOMPETITIVEOIL ANDGAS 6
3065+⁄3percent: 6
3066+Provided, That royalty on such reinstated lease shall 7
3067+be paid on all production removed or sold from such 8
3068+lease subsequent to the cancellation or termination 9
3069+of the original lease; and’’; 10
3070+(C) in subsection (f)— 11
3071+(i) in paragraph (1), strike ‘‘in the 12
3072+same manner as the original lease issued 13
3073+pursuant to section 17’’ and insert ‘‘as a 14
3074+competitive or a noncompetitive oil and gas 15
3075+lease in the same manner as the original 16
3076+lease issued pursuant to subsection (b) or 17
3077+(c) of section 17 of this Act’’; 18
3078+(ii) by redesignating paragraphs (2) 19
3079+and (3) as paragraphs (3) and (4), respec-20
3080+tively; and 21
3081+(iii) by inserting after paragraph (1) 22
3082+the following: 23
3083+‘‘(2) Except as otherwise provided in this sec-24
3084+tion, the issuance of a lease in lieu of an abandoned 25
3085+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00102 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
3086+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 103
3087+•HR 1335 IH
3088+patented oil placer mining claim shall be treated as 1
3089+a noncompetitive oil and gas lease issued pursuant 2
3090+to section 17(c) of this Act.’’; 3
3091+(D) in subsection (g), by striking ‘‘sub-4
3092+section (d)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (d) and 5
3093+(f)’’; 6
3094+(E) by amending subsection (h) to read as 7
3095+follows: 8
3096+‘‘(h) R
3097+OYALTYREDUCTIONS.— 9
3098+‘‘(1) In acting on a petition to issue a non-10
3099+competitive oil and gas lease, under subsection (f) of 11
3100+this section or in response to a request filed after 12
3101+issuance of such a lease, or both, the Secretary is 13
3102+authorized to reduce the royalty on such lease if in 14
3103+his judgment it is equitable to do so or the cir-15
3104+cumstances warrant such relief due to uneconomic 16
3105+or other circumstances which could cause undue 17
3106+hardship or premature termination of production. 18
3107+‘‘(2) In acting on a petition for reinstatement 19
3108+pursuant to subsection (d) of this section or in re-20
3109+sponse to a request filed after reinstatement, or 21
3110+both, the Secretary is authorized to reduce the roy-22
3111+alty in that reinstated lease on the entire leasehold 23
3112+or any tract or portion thereof segregated for royalty 24
3113+purposes if, in his judgment, there are uneconomic 25
3114+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00103 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
3115+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 104
3116+•HR 1335 IH
3117+or other circumstances which could cause undue 1
3118+hardship or premature termination of production; or 2
3119+because of any written action of the United States, 3
3120+its agents or employees, which preceded, and was a 4
3121+major consideration in, the lessee’s expenditure of 5
3122+funds to develop the property under the lease after 6
3123+the rent had become due and had not been paid; or 7
3124+if in the judgment of the Secretary it is equitable to 8
3125+do so for any reason.’’; 9
3126+(F) by redesignating subsections (f) 10
3127+through (i) as subsections (g) through (j), re-11
3128+spectively; and 12
3129+(G) by inserting after subsection (e) the 13
3130+following: 14
3131+‘‘(f) I
3132+SSUANCE OFNONCOMPETITIVEOIL ANDGAS 15
31813133 L
3182-EASE; CONDITIONS.—Where an unpatented oil placer 7
3183-mining claim validly located prior to February 24, 1920, 8
3184-which has been or is currently producing or is capable of 9
3185-producing oil or gas, has been or is hereafter deemed conclu-10
3186-sively abandoned for failure to file timely the required in-11
3187-struments or copies of instruments required by section 1744 12
3188-of title 43, and it is shown to the satisfaction of the Sec-13
3189-retary that such failure was inadvertent, justifiable, or not 14
3190-due to lack of reasonable diligence on the part of the owner, 15
3191-the Secretary may issue, for the lands covered by the aban-16
3192-doned unpatented oil placer mining claim, a noncompeti-17
3193-tive oil and gas lease, consistent with the provisions of sec-18
3194-tion 17(e) of this Act, to be effective from the statutory date 19
3195-the claim was deemed conclusively abandoned. Issuance of 20
3196-such a lease shall be conditioned upon: 21
3197-‘‘(1) a petition for issuance of a noncompetitive 22
3198-oil and gas lease, together with the required rental 23
3199-and royalty, including back rental and royalty accru-24
3200-ing from the statutory date of abandonment of the oil 25
3201-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00107 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
3202-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 108
3203-•HR 1335 RH
3204-placer mining claim, being filed with the Secretary- 1
3205-(A) with respect to any claim deemed conclusively 2
3206-abandoned on or before January 12, 1983, on or be-3
3207-fore the one hundred and twentieth day after January 4
3208-12, 1983, or (B) with respect to any claim deemed 5
3209-conclusively abandoned after January 12, 1983, on or 6
3210-before the one hundred and twentieth day after final 7
3211-notification by the Secretary or a court of competent 8
3212-jurisdiction of the determination of the abandonment 9
3213-of the oil placer mining claim; 10
3214-‘‘(2) a valid lease not having been issued affect-11
3215-ing any of the lands covered by the abandoned oil 12
3216-placer mining claim prior to the filing of such peti-13
3217-tion: Provided, however, That after the filing of a pe-14
3218-tition for issuance of a lease under this subsection, the 15
3219-Secretary shall not issue any new lease affecting any 16
3220-of the lands covered by such abandoned oil placer 17
3221-mining claim for a reasonable period, as determined 18
3222-in accordance with regulations issued by him; 19
3223-‘‘(3) a requirement in the lease for payment of 20
3224-rental, including back rentals accruing from the stat-21
3225-utory date of abandonment of the oil placer mining 22
3226-claim, of not less than $5 per acre per year; 23
3227-‘‘(4) a requirement in the lease for payment of 24
3228-royalty on production removed or sold from the oil 25
3229-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00108 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
3230-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 109
3231-•HR 1335 RH
3232-placer mining claim, including all royalty on produc-1
3233-tion made subsequent to the statutory date the claim 2
3234-was deemed conclusively abandoned, of not less than 3
3134+EASE; CONDITIONS.—Where an unpatented oil placer 16
3135+mining claim validly located prior to February 24, 1920, 17
3136+which has been or is currently producing or is capable of 18
3137+producing oil or gas, has been or is hereafter deemed con-19
3138+clusively abandoned for failure to file timely the required 20
3139+instruments or copies of instruments required by section 21
3140+1744 of title 43, and it is shown to the satisfaction of 22
3141+the Secretary that such failure was inadvertent, justifi-23
3142+able, or not due to lack of reasonable diligence on the part 24
3143+of the owner, the Secretary may issue, for the lands cov-25
3144+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00104 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
3145+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 105
3146+•HR 1335 IH
3147+ered by the abandoned unpatented oil placer mining claim, 1
3148+a noncompetitive oil and gas lease, consistent with the pro-2
3149+visions of section 17(e) of this Act, to be effective from 3
3150+the statutory date the claim was deemed conclusively 4
3151+abandoned. Issuance of such a lease shall be conditioned 5
3152+upon— 6
3153+‘‘(1) a petition for issuance of a noncompetitive 7
3154+oil and gas lease, together with the required rental 8
3155+and royalty, including back rental and royalty accru-9
3156+ing from the statutory date of abandonment of the 10
3157+oil placer mining claim, being filed with the 11
3158+Secretary- (A) with respect to any claim deemed 12
3159+conclusively abandoned on or before January 12, 13
3160+1983, on or before the one hundred and twentieth 14
3161+day after January 12, 1983, or (B) with respect to 15
3162+any claim deemed conclusively abandoned after Jan-16
3163+uary 12, 1983, on or before the one hundred and 17
3164+twentieth day after final notification by the Sec-18
3165+retary or a court of competent jurisdiction of the de-19
3166+termination of the abandonment of the oil placer 20
3167+mining claim; 21
3168+‘‘(2) a valid lease not having been issued affect-22
3169+ing any of the lands covered by the abandoned oil 23
3170+placer mining claim prior to the filing of such peti-24
3171+tion: Provided, however, That after the filing of a pe-25
3172+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00105 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
3173+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 106
3174+•HR 1335 IH
3175+tition for issuance of a lease under this subsection, 1
3176+the Secretary shall not issue any new lease affecting 2
3177+any of the lands covered by such abandoned oil plac-3
3178+er mining claim for a reasonable period, as deter-4
3179+mined in accordance with regulations issued by him; 5
3180+‘‘(3) a requirement in the lease for payment of 6
3181+rental, including back rentals accruing from the 7
3182+statutory date of abandonment of the oil placer min-8
3183+ing claim, of not less than $5 per acre per year; 9
3184+‘‘(4) a requirement in the lease for payment of 10
3185+royalty on production removed or sold from the oil 11
3186+placer mining claim, including all royalty on produc-12
3187+tion made subsequent to the statutory date the claim 13
3188+was deemed conclusively abandoned, of not less than 14
32353189 12
32363190 1
3237-∕2percent; and 4
3238-‘‘(5) compliance with the notice and reimburse-5
3239-ment of costs provisions of paragraph (4) of sub-6
3240-section (e) but addressed to the petition covering the 7
3241-conversion of an abandoned unpatented oil placer 8
3242-mining claim to a noncompetitive oil and gas lease.’’. 9
3243-TITLE VI—ENERGY REVENUE 10
3244-SHARING 11
3245-SEC. 601. GULF OF MEXICO OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF 12
3246-REVENUE. 13
3247-(a) D
3248-ISTRIBUTION OFOUTERCONTINENTALSHELF 14
3191+⁄2percent; and 15
3192+‘‘(5) compliance with the notice and reimburse-16
3193+ment of costs provisions of paragraph (4) of sub-17
3194+section (e) but addressed to the petition covering the 18
3195+conversion of an abandoned unpatented oil placer 19
3196+mining claim to a noncompetitive oil and gas lease.’’. 20
3197+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00106 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
3198+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 107
3199+•HR 1335 IH
3200+TITLE VI—ENERGY REVENUE 1
3201+SHARING 2
3202+SEC. 601. GULF OF MEXICO OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF 3
3203+REVENUE. 4
3204+(a) D
3205+ISTRIBUTION OFOUTERCONTINENTALSHELF 5
32493206 R
3250-EVENUE TOGULFPRODUCINGSTATES.—Section 105 of 15
3251-the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 (43 U.S.C. 16
3252-1331 note) is amended— 17
3253-(1) in subsection (a)— 18
3254-(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘50’’ and 19
3255-inserting ‘‘37.5’’; and 20
3256-(B) in paragraph (2)— 21
3257-(i) by striking ‘‘50’’ and inserting 22
3258-‘‘62.5’’; 23
3259-(ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 24
3260-‘‘75’’ and inserting ‘‘80’’; and 25
3261-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00109 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
3262-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 110
3263-•HR 1335 RH
3264-(iii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 1
3265-‘‘25’’ and inserting ‘‘20’’; and 2
3266-(2) by striking subsection (f) and inserting the 3
3267-following: 4
3268-‘‘(f) T
3269-REATMENT OFAMOUNTS.—Amounts disbursed to 5
3270-a Gulf producing State under this section shall be treated 6
3271-as revenue sharing and not as a Federal award or grant 7
3272-for the purposes of part 200 of title 2, Code of Federal Regu-8
3273-lations.’’. 9
3274-(b) E
3275-XEMPTION OFCERTAINPAYMENTSFROMSE-10
3276-QUESTRATION.— 11
3277-(1) I
3278-N GENERAL.—Section 255(g)(1)(A) of the 12
3279-Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act 13
3280-of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 905(g)(1)(A)) is amended by insert-14
3281-ing after ‘‘Payments to Social Security Trust Funds 15
3282-(28–0404–0–1–651).’’ the following: 16
3283-‘‘Payments to States pursuant to section 17
3284-105(a)(2)(A) of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security 18
3285-Act of 2006 (Public Law 109–432; 43 U.S.C. 1331 19
3286-note) (014–5535–0–2–302).’’. 20
3287-(2) A
3288-PPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by 21
3289-this subsection shall apply to any sequestration order 22
3290-issued under the Balanced Budget and Emergency 23
3291-Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900 et seq.) on 24
3292-or after the date of enactment of this Act. 25
3293-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00110 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
3294-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 111
3295-•HR 1335 RH
3296-SEC. 602. PARITY IN OFFSHORE WIND REVENUE SHARING. 1
3297-(a) P
3298-AYMENTS ANDREVENUES.—Section 8(p)(2) of the 2
3299-Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337(p)(2)) 3
3300-is amended— 4
3301-(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘(A) The 5
3302-Secretary’’ and inserting the following: 6
3303-‘‘(A) I
3304-N GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-7
3305-graphs (B) and (C), the Secretary’’; 8
3306-(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘(B) The 9
3307-Secretary’’ and inserting the following: 10
3308-‘‘(B) D
3309-ISPOSITION OF REVENUES FOR  11
3310-PROJECTS LOCATED WITHIN 3 NAUTICAL MILES  12
3311-SEAWARD OF STATE SUBMERGED LAND .—The 13
3312-Secretary’’; and 14
3313-(3) by adding at the end the following: 15
3314-‘‘(C) D
3315-ISPOSITION OF REVENUES FOR OFF -16
3316-SHORE WIND PROJECTS IN CERTAIN AREAS .— 17
3317-‘‘(i) D
3318-EFINITIONS.—In this subpara-18
3319-graph: 19
3320-‘‘(I) C
3321-OVERED OFFSHORE WIND  20
3322-PROJECT.—The term ‘covered offshore 21
3323-wind project’ means a wind powered 22
3324-electric generation project in a wind 23
3325-energy area on the outer Continental 24
3326-Shelf that is not wholly or partially lo-25
3327-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00111 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
3328-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 112
3329-•HR 1335 RH
3330-cated within an area subject to sub-1
3331-paragraph (B). 2
3332-‘‘(II) E
3333-LIGIBLE STATE.—The term 3
3334-‘eligible State’ means a State a point 4
3335-on the coastline of which is located 5
3336-within 75 miles of the geographic cen-6
3337-ter of a covered offshore wind project. 7
3338-‘‘(III) Q
3339-UALIFIED OUTER CONTI -8
3340-NENTAL SHELF REVENUES .—The term 9
3341-‘qualified outer Continental Shelf reve-10
3342-nues’ means all royalties, fees, rentals, 11
3343-bonuses, or other payments from cov-12
3344-ered offshore wind projects carried out 13
3345-pursuant to this subsection on or after 14
3346-the date of enactment of this subpara-15
3347-graph. 16
3348-‘‘(ii) R
3349-EQUIREMENT.— 17
3350-‘‘(I) I
3351-N GENERAL.—The Secretary 18
3352-of the Treasury shall deposit— 19
3353-‘‘(aa) 12.5 percent of quali-20
3354-fied outer Continental Shelf reve-21
3355-nues in the general fund of the 22
3356-Treasury; 23
3357-‘‘(bb) 37.5 percent of quali-24
3358-fied outer Continental Shelf reve-25
3359-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00112 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
3360-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 113
3361-•HR 1335 RH
3362-nues in the North American Wet-1
3363-lands Conservation Fund; and 2
3364-‘‘(cc) 50 percent of qualified 3
3365-outer Continental Shelf revenues 4
3366-in a special account in the Treas-5
3367-ury from which the Secretary 6
3368-shall disburse to each eligible 7
3369-State an amount determined pur-8
3370-suant to subclause (II). 9
3371-‘‘(II) A
3372-LLOCATION.— 10
3373-‘‘(aa) I
3374-N GENERAL.—Subject 11
3375-to item (bb), for each fiscal year 12
3376-beginning after the date of enact-13
3377-ment of this subparagraph, the 14
3378-amount made available under 15
3379-subclause (I)(cc) shall be allocated 16
3380-to each eligible State in amounts 17
3381-(based on a formula established by 18
3382-the Secretary by regulation) that 19
3383-are inversely proportional to the 20
3384-respective distances between the 21
3385-point on the coastline of each eli-22
3386-gible State that is closest to the 23
3387-geographic center of the applicable 24
3388-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00113 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
3389-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 114
3390-•HR 1335 RH
3391-leased tract and the geographic 1
3392-center of the leased tract. 2
3393-‘‘(bb) M
3394-INIMUM ALLOCA -3
3395-TION.—The amount allocated to 4
3396-an eligible State each fiscal year 5
3397-under item (aa) shall be at least 6
3398-10 percent of the amounts made 7
3399-available under subclause (I)(cc). 8
3400-‘‘(cc) P
3401-AYMENTS TO COASTAL 9
3402-POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS.— 10
3403-‘‘(AA) I
3404-N GENERAL.— 11
3405-The Secretary shall pay 20 12
3406-percent of the allocable share 13
3407-of each eligible State, as de-14
3408-termined pursuant to item 15
3409-(aa), to the coastal political 16
3410-subdivisions of the eligible 17
3411-State. 18
3412-‘‘(BB) A
3413-LLOCATION.— 19
3414-The amount paid by the Sec-20
3415-retary to coastal political 21
3416-subdivisions under subitem 22
3417-(AA) shall be allocated to 23
3418-each coastal political subdivi-24
3419-sion in accordance with sub-25
3420-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00114 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
3421-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 115
3422-•HR 1335 RH
3423-paragraphs (B) and (C) of 1
3424-section 31(b)(4) of this Act. 2
3425-‘‘(iii) T
3426-IMING.—The amounts required 3
3427-to be deposited under subclause (I) of clause 4
3428-(ii) for the applicable fiscal year shall be 5
3429-made available in accordance with such 6
3430-subclause during the fiscal year imme-7
3431-diately following the applicable fiscal year. 8
3432-‘‘(iv) A
3433-UTHORIZED USES.— 9
3434-‘‘(I) I
3435-N GENERAL.—Subject to 10
3436-subclause (II), each eligible State shall 11
3437-use all amounts received under clause 12
3438-(ii)(II) in accordance with all applica-13
3439-ble Federal and State laws, only for 1 14
3440-or more of the following purposes: 15
3441-‘‘(aa) Projects and activities 16
3442-for the purposes of coastal protec-17
3443-tion and resiliency, including con-18
3444-servation, coastal restoration, es-19
3445-tuary management, beach nour-20
3446-ishment, hurricane and flood pro-21
3447-tection, and infrastructure di-22
3448-rectly affected by coastal wetland 23
3449-losses. 24
3450-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00115 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
3451-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 116
3452-•HR 1335 RH
3453-‘‘(bb) Mitigation of damage 1
3454-to fish, wildlife, or natural re-2
3455-sources, including through fish-3
3456-eries science and research. 4
3457-‘‘(cc) Implementation of a 5
3458-federally approved marine, coast-6
3459-al, or comprehensive conservation 7
3460-management plan. 8
3461-‘‘(dd) Mitigation of the im-9
3462-pact of outer Continental Shelf 10
3463-activities through the funding of 11
3464-onshore infrastructure projects. 12
3465-‘‘(ee) Planning assistance 13
3466-and the administrative costs of 14
3467-complying with this section. 15
3468-‘‘(ff) Infrastructure improve-16
3469-ments at ports, including modi-17
3470-fications to Federal navigation 18
3471-channels, to support installation 19
3472-of offshore wind energy projects. 20
3473-‘‘(II) L
3474-IMITATION.—Of the 21
3475-amounts received by an eligible State 22
3476-under clause (ii)(II), not more than 3 23
3477-percent shall be used for the purposes 24
3478-described in subclause (I)(ee). 25
3479-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00116 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
3480-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 117
3481-•HR 1335 RH
3482-‘‘(v) ADMINISTRATION.—Subject to 1
3483-clause (vi)(III), amounts made available 2
3484-under items (aa) and (cc) of clause (ii)(I) 3
3485-shall— 4
3486-‘‘(I) be made available, without 5
3487-further appropriation, in accordance 6
3488-with this subparagraph; 7
3489-‘‘(II) remain available until ex-8
3490-pended; and 9
3491-‘‘(III) be in addition to any 10
3492-amount appropriated under any other 11
3493-Act. 12
3494-‘‘(vi) R
3495-EPORTING REQUIREMENT .— 13
3496-‘‘(I) I
3497-N GENERAL.—Not later than 14
3498-180 days after the end of each fiscal 15
3499-year, the Governor of each eligible 16
3500-State that receives amounts under 17
3501-clause (ii)(II) for the applicable fiscal 18
3502-year shall submit to the Secretary a re-19
3503-port that describes the use of the 20
3504-amounts by the eligible State during 21
3505-the period covered by the report. 22
3506-‘‘(II) P
3507-UBLIC AVAILABILITY.—On 23
3508-receipt of a report submitted under 24
3509-subclause (I), the Secretary shall make 25
3510-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00117 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
3511-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 118
3512-•HR 1335 RH
3513-the report available to the public on 1
3514-the website of the Department of the 2
3515-Interior. 3
3516-‘‘(III) L
3517-IMITATION.—If the Gov-4
3518-ernor of an eligible State that receives 5
3519-amounts under clause (ii)(II) fails to 6
3520-submit the report required under sub-7
3521-clause (I) by the deadline specified in 8
3522-that subclause, any amounts that 9
3523-would otherwise be provided to the eli-10
3524-gible State under clause (ii)(II) for the 11
3525-succeeding fiscal year shall be depos-12
3526-ited in the Treasury. 13
3527-‘‘(vii) T
3528-REATMENT OF AMOUNTS .— 14
3529-Amounts disbursed to an eligible State 15
3530-under this subsection shall be treated as rev-16
3531-enue sharing and not as a Federal award or 17
3532-grant for the purposes of part 200 of title 18
3533-2, Code of Federal Regulations.’’. 19
3534-(b) W
3535-INDLEASESALES FORAREAS OF THEOUTER 20
3536-C
3537-ONTINENTALSHELFOFFSHORE OFTERRITORIES OF THE 21
3538-U
3539-NITEDSTATES.—Section 33 of the Outer Continental 22
3540-Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1356c) is amended by adding 23
3541-at the end the following: 24
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3543-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 119
3544-•HR 1335 RH
3545-‘‘(b) WINDLEASESALEPROCEDURE.—Any wind 1
3546-lease granted pursuant to this section shall be considered 2
3547-a wind lease granted under section 8(p), including for pur-3
3548-poses of the disposition of revenues pursuant to subpara-4
3549-graphs (B) and (C) of section 8(p)(2).’’. 5
3550-(c) E
3551-XEMPTION OFCERTAINPAYMENTSFROMSE-6
3552-QUESTRATION.— 7
3553-(1) I
3554-N GENERAL.—Section 255(g)(1)(A) of the 8
3555-Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act 9
3556-of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 905(g)(1)(A)) is amended by insert-10
3557-ing after ‘‘Payments to Social Security Trust Funds 11
3558-(28–0404–0–1–651).’’ the following: 12
3559-‘‘Payments to States pursuant to subparagraph 13
3560-(C)(ii)(I)(cc) of section 8(p)(2) of the Outer Conti-14
3561-nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337(p)(2)).’’. 15
3562-(2) A
3563-PPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by 16
3564-this subsection shall apply to any sequestration order 17
3565-issued under the Balanced Budget and Emergency 18
3566-Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900 et seq.) on 19
3567-or after the date of enactment of this Act. 20
3568-SEC. 603. ELIMINATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE FEE UNDER 21
3569-THE MINERAL LEASING ACT. 22
3570-(a) I
3571-NGENERAL.—Section 35 of the Mineral Leasing 23
3572-Act (30 U.S.C. 191) is amended— 24
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3574-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 120
3575-•HR 1335 RH
3576-(1) in subsection (a), in the first sentence, by 1
3577-striking ‘‘and, subject to the provisions of subsection 2
3578-(b),’’; 3
3579-(2) by striking subsection (b); 4
3580-(3) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 5
3581-subsections (b) and (c), respectively; 6
3582-(4) in paragraph (3)(B)(ii) of subsection (b) (as 7
3583-so redesignated), by striking ‘‘subsection (d)’’ and in-8
3584-serting ‘‘subsection (c)’’; and 9
3585-(5) in paragraph (3)(A)(ii) of subsection (c) (as 10
3586-so redesignated), by striking ‘‘subsection (c)(2)(B)’’ 11
3587-and inserting ‘‘subsection (b)(2)(B)’’. 12
3588-(b) C
3589-ONFORMINGAMENDMENTS.— 13
3590-(1) Section 6(a) of the Mineral Leasing Act for 14
3591-Acquired Lands (30 U.S.C. 355(a)) is amended— 15
3592-(A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘Sub-16
3593-ject to the provisions of section 35(b) of the Min-17
3594-eral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 191(b)), all’’ and in-18
3595-serting ‘‘All’’; and 19
3596-(B) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘of 20
3597-the Act of February 25, 1920 (41 Stat. 450; 30 21
3598-U.S.C. 191),’’ and inserting ‘‘of the Mineral 22
3599-Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 191)’’. 23
3600-(2) Section 20(a) of the Geothermal Steam Act 24
3601-of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1019(a)) is amended, in the sec-25
3602-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00120 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
3603-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 121
3604-•HR 1335 RH
3605-ond sentence of the matter preceding paragraph (1), 1
3606-by striking ‘‘the provisions of subsection (b) of section 2
3607-35 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 191(b)) and 3
3608-section 5(a)(2) of this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘section 4
3609-5(a)(2)’’. 5
3610-(3) Section 205(f) of the Federal Oil and Gas 6
3611-Royalty Management Act of 1982 (30 U.S.C. 1735(f)) 7
3612-is amended— 8
3613-(A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘this 9
3614-Section’’ and inserting ‘‘this section’’; and 10
3615-(B) by striking the fourth, fifth, and sixth 11
3616-sentences. 12
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3618-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB Union Calendar No.
3619-18
3620-118
3621-TH
3622-CONGRESS
3623-1
3624-ST
3625-S
3626-ESSION
3627-
3628-H. R. 1335
3629-[Report No. 118–28, Part I]
3630-A BILL
3631-To restart onshore and offshore oil, gas, and coal
3632-leasing, streamline permitting for energy infra-
3633-structure, ensure transparency in energy develop-
3634-ment on Federal lands, and for other purposes.
3635-M
3636-ARCH
3637-23, 2023
3638-Reported with an amendment
3639-M
3640-ARCH
3641-23, 2023
3642-Committees on Agriculture and the Budget discharged;
3643-committed to the Committee of the Whole House on
3644-the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
3645-VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Mar 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00122 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H1335.RH H1335
3646-pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
3207+EVENUE TOGULFPRODUCINGSTATES.—Section 105 of 6
3208+the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 (43 7
3209+U.S.C. 1331 note) is amended— 8
3210+(1) in subsection (a)— 9
3211+(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘50’’ and 10
3212+inserting ‘‘37.5’’; and 11
3213+(B) in paragraph (2)— 12
3214+(i) by striking ‘‘50’’ and inserting 13
3215+‘‘62.5’’; 14
3216+(ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 15
3217+‘‘75’’ and inserting ‘‘80’’; and 16
3218+(iii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 17
3219+‘‘25’’ and inserting ‘‘20’’; and 18
3220+(2) by striking subsection (f). 19
3221+(b) E
3222+XEMPTION OFCERTAINPAYMENTSFROMSE-20
3223+QUESTRATION.— 21
3224+(1) I
3225+N GENERAL.—Section 255(g)(1)(A) of the 22
3226+Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control 23
3227+Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 905(g)(1)(A)) is amended by 24
3228+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00107 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
3229+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 108
3230+•HR 1335 IH
3231+inserting after ‘‘Payments to Social Security Trust 1
3232+Funds (28–0404–0–1–651).’’ the following: 2
3233+‘‘Payments to States pursuant to section 3
3234+105(a)(2)(A) of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security 4
3235+Act of 2006 (Public Law 109–432; 43 U.S.C. 1331 5
3236+note) (014–5535–0–2–302).’’. 6
3237+(2) A
3238+PPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by 7
3239+this subsection shall apply to any sequestration 8
3240+order issued under the Balanced Budget and Emer-9
3241+gency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900 et 10
3242+seq.) on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 11
3243+SEC. 602. PARITY IN OFFSHORE WIND REVENUE SHARING. 12
3244+(a) P
3245+AYMENTS ANDREVENUES.—Section 8(p)(2) of 13
3246+the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 14
3247+1337(p)(2)) is amended— 15
3248+(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘(A) The 16
3249+Secretary’’ and inserting the following: 17
3250+‘‘(A) I
3251+N GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-18
3252+graphs (B) and (C), the Secretary’’; 19
3253+(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘(B) The 20
3254+Secretary’’ and inserting the following: 21
3255+‘‘(B) D
3256+ISPOSITION OF REVENUES FOR 22
3257+PROJECTS LOCATED WITHIN 3 NAUTICAL MILES 23
3258+SEAWARD OF STATE SUBMERGED LAND .—The 24
3259+Secretary’’; and 25
3260+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00108 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
3261+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 109
3262+•HR 1335 IH
3263+(3) by adding at the end the following: 1
3264+‘‘(C) D
3265+ISPOSITION OF REVENUES FOR OFF -2
3266+SHORE WIND PROJECTS IN CERTAIN AREAS .— 3
3267+‘‘(i) D
3268+EFINITIONS.—In this subpara-4
3269+graph: 5
3270+‘‘(I) C
3271+OVERED OFFSHORE WIND 6
3272+PROJECT.—The term ‘covered off-7
3273+shore wind project’ means a wind 8
3274+powered electric generation project in 9
3275+a wind energy area on the outer Con-10
3276+tinental Shelf that is not wholly or 11
3277+partially located within an area sub-12
3278+ject to subparagraph (B). 13
3279+‘‘(II) E
3280+LIGIBLE STATE.—The 14
3281+term ‘eligible State’ means a State a 15
3282+point on the coastline of which is lo-16
3283+cated within 75 miles of the geo-17
3284+graphic center of a covered offshore 18
3285+wind project. 19
3286+‘‘(III) Q
3287+UALIFIED OUTER CONTI -20
3288+NENTAL SHELF REVENUES .—The 21
3289+term ‘qualified outer Continental 22
3290+Shelf revenues’ means all royalties, 23
3291+fees, rentals, bonuses, or other pay-24
3292+ments from covered offshore wind 25
3293+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00109 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
3294+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 110
3295+•HR 1335 IH
3296+projects carried out pursuant to this 1
3297+subsection on or after the date of en-2
3298+actment of this subparagraph. 3
3299+‘‘(ii) R
3300+EQUIREMENT.— 4
3301+‘‘(I) I
3302+N GENERAL.—The Sec-5
3303+retary of the Treasury shall deposit— 6
3304+‘‘(aa) 12.5 percent of quali-7
3305+fied outer Continental Shelf reve-8
3306+nues in the general fund of the 9
3307+Treasury; 10
3308+‘‘(bb) 37.5 percent of quali-11
3309+fied outer Continental Shelf reve-12
3310+nues in the North American Wet-13
3311+lands Conservation Fund; and 14
3312+‘‘(cc) 50 percent of qualified 15
3313+outer Continental Shelf revenues 16
3314+in a special account in the Treas-17
3315+ury from which the Secretary 18
3316+shall disburse to each eligible 19
3317+State an amount determined pur-20
3318+suant to subclause (II). 21
3319+‘‘(II) A
3320+LLOCATION.— 22
3321+‘‘(aa) I
3322+N GENERAL.—Sub-23
3323+ject to item (bb), for each fiscal 24
3324+year beginning after the date of 25
3325+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00110 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
3326+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 111
3327+•HR 1335 IH
3328+enactment of this subparagraph, 1
3329+the amount made available under 2
3330+subclause (I)(cc) shall be allo-3
3331+cated to each eligible State in 4
3332+amounts (based on a formula es-5
3333+tablished by the Secretary by 6
3334+regulation) that are inversely 7
3335+proportional to the respective dis-8
3336+tances between the point on the 9
3337+coastline of each eligible State 10
3338+that is closest to the geographic 11
3339+center of the applicable leased 12
3340+tract and the geographic center 13
3341+of the leased tract. 14
3342+‘‘(bb) M
3343+INIMUM ALLOCA -15
3344+TION.—The amount allocated to 16
3345+an eligible State each fiscal year 17
3346+under item (aa) shall be at least 18
3347+10 percent of the amounts made 19
3348+available under subclause (I)(cc). 20
3349+‘‘(cc) P
3350+AYMENTS TO COAST -21
3351+AL POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS.— 22
3352+‘‘(AA) I
3353+N GENERAL.— 23
3354+The Secretary shall pay 20 24
3355+percent of the allocable 25
3356+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00111 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
3357+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 112
3358+•HR 1335 IH
3359+share of each eligible State, 1
3360+as determined pursuant to 2
3361+item (aa), to the coastal po-3
3362+litical subdivisions of the eli-4
3363+gible State. 5
3364+‘‘(BB) A
3365+LLOCATION.— 6
3366+The amount paid by the 7
3367+Secretary to coastal political 8
3368+subdivisions under subitem 9
3369+(AA) shall be allocated to 10
3370+each coastal political sub-11
3371+division in accordance with 12
3372+subparagraphs (B) and (C) 13
3373+of section 31(b)(4) of this 14
3374+Act. 15
3375+‘‘(iii) T
3376+IMING.—The amounts required 16
3377+to be deposited under subclause (I) of 17
3378+clause (ii) for the applicable fiscal year 18
3379+shall be made available in accordance with 19
3380+such subclause during the fiscal year im-20
3381+mediately following the applicable fiscal 21
3382+year. 22
3383+‘‘(iv) A
3384+UTHORIZED USES.— 23
3385+‘‘(I) I
3386+N GENERAL.—Subject to 24
3387+subclause (II), each eligible State 25
3388+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00112 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
3389+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 113
3390+•HR 1335 IH
3391+shall use all amounts received under 1
3392+clause (ii)(II) in accordance with all 2
3393+applicable Federal and State laws, 3
3394+only for 1 or more of the following 4
3395+purposes: 5
3396+‘‘(aa) Projects and activities 6
3397+for the purposes of coastal pro-7
3398+tection and resiliency, including 8
3399+conservation, coastal restoration, 9
3400+estuary management, beach 10
3401+nourishment, hurricane and flood 11
3402+protection, and infrastructure di-12
3403+rectly affected by coastal wetland 13
3404+losses. 14
3405+‘‘(bb) Mitigation of damage 15
3406+to fish, wildlife, or natural re-16
3407+sources, including through fish-17
3408+eries science and research. 18
3409+‘‘(cc) Implementation of a 19
3410+federally approved marine, coast-20
3411+al, or comprehensive conservation 21
3412+management plan. 22
3413+‘‘(dd) Mitigation of the im-23
3414+pact of outer Continental Shelf 24
3415+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00113 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
3416+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 114
3417+•HR 1335 IH
3418+activities through the funding of 1
3419+onshore infrastructure projects. 2
3420+‘‘(ee) Planning assistance 3
3421+and the administrative costs of 4
3422+complying with this section. 5
3423+‘‘(II) L
3424+IMITATION.—Of the 6
3425+amounts received by an eligible State 7
3426+under clause (ii)(II), not more than 3 8
3427+percent shall be used for the purposes 9
3428+described in subclause (I)(ee). 10
3429+‘‘(v) A
3430+DMINISTRATION.—Subject to 11
3431+clause (vi)(III), amounts made available 12
3432+under items (aa) and (cc) of clause (ii)(I) 13
3433+shall— 14
3434+‘‘(I) be made available, without 15
3435+further appropriation, in accordance 16
3436+with this subparagraph; 17
3437+‘‘(II) remain available until ex-18
3438+pended; and 19
3439+‘‘(III) be in addition to any 20
3440+amount appropriated under any other 21
3441+Act. 22
3442+‘‘(vi) R
3443+EPORTING REQUIREMENT .— 23
3444+‘‘(I) I
3445+N GENERAL.—Not later 24
3446+than 180 days after the end of each 25
3447+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00114 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
3448+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 115
3449+•HR 1335 IH
3450+fiscal year, the Governor of each eligi-1
3451+ble State that receives amounts under 2
3452+clause (ii)(II) for the applicable fiscal 3
3453+year shall submit to the Secretary a 4
3454+report that describes the use of the 5
3455+amounts by the eligible State during 6
3456+the period covered by the report. 7
3457+‘‘(II) P
3458+UBLIC AVAILABILITY.—On 8
3459+receipt of a report submitted under 9
3460+subclause (I), the Secretary shall 10
3461+make the report available to the pub-11
3462+lic on the website of the Department 12
3463+of the Interior. 13
3464+‘‘(III) L
3465+IMITATION.—If the Gov-14
3466+ernor of an eligible State that receives 15
3467+amounts under clause (ii)(II) fails to 16
3468+submit the report required under sub-17
3469+clause (I) by the deadline specified in 18
3470+that subclause, any amounts that 19
3471+would otherwise be provided to the eli-20
3472+gible State under clause (ii)(II) for 21
3473+the succeeding fiscal year shall be de-22
3474+posited in the Treasury.’’. 23
3475+(b) E
3476+XEMPTION OFCERTAINPAYMENTSFROMSE-24
3477+QUESTRATION.— 25
3478+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00115 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
3479+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 116
3480+•HR 1335 IH
3481+(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 255(g)(1)(A) of the 1
3482+Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control 2
3483+Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 905(g)(1)(A)) is amended by 3
3484+inserting after ‘‘Payments to Social Security Trust 4
3485+Funds (28–0404–0–1–651).’’ the following: 5
3486+‘‘Payments to States pursuant to subparagraph 6
3487+(C)(ii)(I)(cc) of section 8(p)(2) of the Outer Conti-7
3488+nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337(p)(2)).’’. 8
3489+(2) A
3490+PPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by 9
3491+this subsection shall apply to any sequestration 10
3492+order issued under the Balanced Budget and Emer-11
3493+gency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900 et 12
3494+seq.) on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 13
3495+SEC. 603. ELIMINATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE FEE UNDER 14
3496+THE MINERAL LEASING ACT. 15
3497+(a) I
3498+NGENERAL.—Section 35 of the Mineral Leasing 16
3499+Act (30 U.S.C. 191) is amended— 17
3500+(1) in subsection (a), in the first sentence, by 18
3501+striking ‘‘and, subject to the provisions of subsection 19
3502+(b),’’; 20
3503+(2) by striking subsection (b); 21
3504+(3) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 22
3505+subsections (b) and (c), respectively; 23
3506+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00116 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
3507+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 117
3508+•HR 1335 IH
3509+(4) in paragraph (3)(B)(ii) of subsection (b) (as 1
3510+so redesignated), by striking ‘‘subsection (d)’’ and 2
3511+inserting ‘‘subsection (c)’’; and 3
3512+(5) in paragraph (3)(A)(ii) of subsection (c) (as 4
3513+so redesignated), by striking ‘‘subsection (c)(2)(B)’’ 5
3514+and inserting ‘‘subsection (b)(2)(B)’’. 6
3515+(b) C
3516+ONFORMINGAMENDMENTS.— 7
3517+(1) Section 6(a) of the Mineral Leasing Act for 8
3518+Acquired Lands (30 U.S.C. 355(a)) is amended— 9
3519+(A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘Sub-10
3520+ject to the provisions of section 35(b) of the 11
3521+Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 191(b)), all’’ 12
3522+and inserting ‘‘All’’; and 13
3523+(B) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘of 14
3524+the Act of February 25, 1920 (41 Stat. 450; 30 15
3525+U.S.C. 191),’’ and inserting ‘‘of the Mineral 16
3526+Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 191)’’. 17
3527+(2) Section 20(a) of the Geothermal Steam Act 18
3528+of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1019(a)) is amended, in the sec-19
3529+ond sentence of the matter preceding paragraph (1), 20
3530+by striking ‘‘the provisions of subsection (b) of sec-21
3531+tion 35 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 22
3532+191(b)) and section 5(a)(2) of this Act’’ and insert-23
3533+ing ‘‘section 5(a)(2)’’. 24
3534+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00117 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
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3536+•HR 1335 IH
3537+(3) Section 205(f) of the Federal Oil and Gas 1
3538+Royalty Management Act of 1982 (30 U.S.C. 2
3539+1735(f)) is amended— 3
3540+(A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘this 4
3541+Section’’ and inserting ‘‘this section’’; and 5
3542+(B) by striking the fourth, fifth, and sixth 6
3543+sentences. 7
3544+Æ
3545+VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00118 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1335.IH H1335
3546+kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS