Us Congress 2023-2024 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB1457 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	118THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 1457
5	5	To require the Secretary of the Interior to take certain actions with respect
6	6	to certain qualified coal applications, and for other purposes.
7	7	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
8	8	MARCH8, 2023
9	9	Ms. H
10	10	AGEMANintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the
11	11	Committee on Natural Resources
12	12	A BILL
13	13	To require the Secretary of the Interior to take certain
14	14	actions with respect to certain qualified coal applications,
15	15	and for other purposes.
16	16	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
17	17	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
18	18	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
19	19	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Combating Obstruction 4
20	20	Against Leasing Act’’ or the ‘‘COAL Act’’. 5
21	21	SEC. 2. LEASING FOR CERTAIN QUALIFIED COAL APPLICA-6
22	22	TIONS. 7
23	23	(a) D
24	24	EFINITIONS.—In this section: 8
25	25	(1) C
26	26	OAL LEASE.—The term ‘‘coal lease’’ 9
27	27	means a lease entered into by the United States as 10
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31	31	lessor, through the Bureau of Land Management, 1
32	32	and the applicant on Bureau of Land Management 2
33	33	Form 3400–012. 3
34	34	(2) Q
35	35	UALIFIED APPLICATION .—The term 4
36	36	‘‘qualified application’’ means any application pend-5
37	37	ing under the lease by application program adminis-6
38	38	tered by the Bureau of Land Management pursuant 7
39	39	to the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) 8
40	40	and subpart 3425 of title 43, Code of Federal Regu-9
41	41	lations (as in effect on the date of the enactment of 10
42	42	this Act), for which the environmental review proc-11
43	43	ess under the National Environmental Policy Act of 12
44	44	1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) has commenced. 13
45	45	(b) M
46	46	ANDATORYLEASING ANDOTHERREQUIRED 14
47	47	A
48	48	PPROVALS.—As soon as practicable after the date of the 15
49	49	enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall promptly— 16
50	50	(1) with respect to each qualified application— 17
51	51	(A) if not previously published for public 18
52	52	comment, publish a draft environmental assess-19
53	53	ment, as required under the National Environ-20
54	54	mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 21
55	55	seq.) and any applicable implementing regula-22
56	56	tions; 23
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60	60	(B) finalize the fair market value of the 1
61	61	coal tract for which a lease by application is 2
62	62	pending; 3
63	63	(C) take all intermediate actions necessary 4
64	64	to grant the qualified application; and 5
65	65	(D) grant the qualified application; and 6
66	66	(2) with respect to previously awarded coal 7
67	67	leases, grant any additional approvals of the Depart-8
68	68	ment of the Interior or any bureau, agency, or divi-9
69	69	sion of the Department of the Interior required for 10
70	70	mining activities to commence. 11
71	71	SEC. 3. FUTURE COAL LEASING. 12
72	72	Notwithstanding any judicial decision to the contrary 13
73	73	or a departmental review of the Federal coal leasing pro-14
74	74	gram, Secretarial Order 3338, issued by the Secretary of 15
75	75	the Interior on January 15, 2016, shall have no force or 16
76	76	effect. 17
77	77	Æ
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