IB
Union Calendar No. 384
118THCONGRESS
2
DSESSION H. R. 6285
[Report No. 118–463]
To ratify and approve all authorizations, permits, verifications, extensions,
biological opinions, incidental take statements, and any other approvals
or orders issued pursuant to Federal law necessary for the establishment
and administration of the Coastal Plain oil and gas leasing program,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NOVEMBER8, 2023
Mr. S
TAUBER(for himself, Mrs. PELTOLA, Mr. HERN, and Mr. PFLUGER) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Nat-
ural Resources
A
PRIL15, 2024
Additional sponsors: Mrs. H
ARSHBARGER, Mr. BERGMAN, Mr. WILSONof
South Carolina, Mr. N
EWHOUSE, Mr. MOOLENAAR, Mrs. MILLERof Illi-
nois, Mrs. B
ICE, Mrs. RADEWAGEN, Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. AUSTINSCOTT
of Georgia, Mr. C
AREY, Ms. TENNEY, and Mr. BURLISON
A
PRIL15, 2024
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on November 8, 2023]
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A BILL
To ratify and approve all authorizations, permits,
verifications, extensions, biological opinions, incidental
take statements, and any other approvals or orders
issued pursuant to Federal law necessary for the estab-
lishment and administration of the Coastal Plain oil and
gas leasing program, and for other purposes.
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Alaska’s Right to 4
Produce Act of 2023’’. 5
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 6
Congress finds that— 7
(1) Congress provided clear authorization and 8
direction that the Secretary of the Interior ‘‘shall es-9
tablish and administer a competitive oil and gas pro-10
gram for the leasing, development, production, and 11
transportation of oil and gas in and from the Coastal 12
Plain’’ in section 20001 of Public Law 115–97 (16 13
U.S.C. 3143 note) (commonly known as the Tax Cuts 14
and Jobs Act); 15
(2) the timely administration of the Coastal 16
Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program is required and 17
in the national and public interest; 18
(3) the Department of the Interior’s cancelling of 19
the leases for the covered Coastal Plain lease tracts 20
represents a major decision of economic and political 21
significance that Congress did not delegate to the Sec-22
retary; 23
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(4) the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act 1
of 1976 (42 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.) requires that the Bu-2
reau of Land Management— 3
(A) allow for the exploration, development, 4
and production of petroleum products in the Na-5
tional Petroleum Reserve in Alaska; and 6
(B) balance, to the extent consistent with 7
that Act, the protection of ecological and cultural 8
values in the National Petroleum Reserve in 9
Alaska; and 10
(5) the proposed rule of the Bureau of Land 11
Management entitled ‘‘Management and Protection of 12
the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska’’ (88 Fed. 13
Reg. 62025 (September 8, 2023)) fails to reflect the 14
intent of Congress for the Naval Petroleum Reserves 15
Production Act of 1976 (42 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.). 16
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 17
In this Act: 18
(1) C
OASTAL PLAIN.—The term ‘‘Coastal Plain’’ 19
has the meaning given the term in section 20001(a) 20
of Public Law 115–97 (16 U.S.C. 3143 note). 21
(2) C
OASTAL PLAIN OIL AND GAS LEASING PRO -22
GRAM.—The term ‘‘Coastal Plain oil and gas leasing 23
program’’ means the program established under sec-24
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tion 20001(b)(2)(A) of Public Law 115–97 (16 U.S.C. 1
3143 note). 2
(3) C
OVERED COASTAL PLAIN LEASE TRACT .— 3
The term ‘‘covered Coastal Plain lease tract’’ means 4
any of tracts 16, 17, 24, 26, 27, and 30 as listed in 5
exhibit B of the document published by the Bureau of 6
Land Management entitled ‘‘Amendment to the De-7
tailed Statement of Sale’’ and dated December 18, 8
2020 (relating to oil and gas leasing within the 9
Coastal Plain Alaska). 10
(4) R
ECORD OF DECISION.—The term ‘‘Record of 11
Decision’’ means the record of decision described in 12
the notice of availability of the Bureau of Land Man-13
agement entitled ‘‘Notice of Availability of the Record 14
of Decision for the Final Environmental Impact 15
Statement for the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing 16
Program, Alaska’’ (85 Fed. Reg. 51754 (August 21, 17
2020)). 18
(5) S
ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 19
the Secretary of the Interior. 20
SEC. 4. CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL OF ORDERS. 21
(a) M
ORATORIUM ONOIL ANDGASLEASING.—Any 22
order or action by the President or the Secretary that has 23
the effect of placing a moratorium on or otherwise sus-24
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pending or pausing oil and gas leasing in the Coastal Plain 1
shall have no force or effect. 2
(b) A
PPROVAL ANDRATIFICATION OFEXISTINGDOCU-3
MENTATION ANDAUTHORIZATIONS.—Notwithstanding any 4
other provision of law, Congress— 5
(1) ratifies and approves all authorizations, per-6
mits, verifications, extensions, biological opinions, in-7
cidental take statements, and any other approvals or 8
orders issued pursuant to Federal law, as described in 9
the Record of Decision, necessary for the establishment 10
and administration of the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas 11
Leasing Program; and 12
(2) directs the Secretary, the Administrator of 13
the Environmental Protection Agency, and the heads 14
of other as applicable Federal departments and agen-15
cies to process, reinstate, or continue to maintain 16
such authorizations, permits, verifications, extensions, 17
biological opinions, incidental take statements, and 18
any other approvals or orders described in paragraph 19
(1). 20
(c) A
PPLICABILITY OFOTHERLAW.—Notwithstanding 21
any other provision of law, the authorizations, permits, 22
verifications, extensions, biological opinions, incidental 23
take statements, and any other approvals or orders de-24
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scribed in subsection (b)(1) shall be considered to satisfy 1
the requirements of— 2
(1) section 1002 of the Alaska National Interest 3
Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 3142); 4
(2) section 102(2)(c) of the National Environ-5
mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(c)); 6
(3) section 20001 of Public Law 115–97 (16 7
U.S.C. 3143 note); 8
(4) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 9
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); and 10
(5) subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5, United 11
States Code, and chapter 7 of title 5, United States 12
Code. 13
SEC. 5. COASTAL PLAIN OIL AND GAS LEASING PROGRAM. 14
(a) R
EISSUANCE OFCANCELEDLEASES.— 15
(1) A
CCEPTANCE OF BIDS.—Not later than 30 16
days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec-17
retary shall, without modification or delay— 18
(A) accept the highest valid bid for each 19
covered Coastal Plain lease tract for which a 20
valid bid was received on January 6, 2021, pur-21
suant to the requirement to hold the first lease 22
sale in the Coastal Plain oil and gas leasing pro-23
gram; and 24
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(B) provide the appropriate lease form to 1
each winning bidder under subparagraph (A) to 2
execute and return to the Secretary. 3
(2) L
EASE ISSUANCE.—On receipt of an executed 4
lease form under paragraph (1)(B) and payment in 5
accordance with that lease of the rental for the first 6
year, the balance of the bonus bid (unless deferred), 7
and any required bond or security from the high bid-8
der, the Secretary shall promptly issue to the high 9
bidder a fully executed lease, in accordance with— 10
(A) the applicable regulations, as in effect 11
on January 6, 2021; and 12
(B) the terms and conditions of the Record 13
of Decision. 14
(b) R
EQUIREMENT FORFUTURELEASES.— 15
(1) S
ECOND LEASE SALE.—Not later than De-16
cember 22, 2024, the Secretary shall conduct the sec-17
ond lease sale required by section 18
20001(c)(1)(B)(ii)(II) of Public Law 115–97 (16 19
U.S.C. 3143 note) in accordance with the Record of 20
Decision. 21
(2) E
XCEPTIONS FOR CANCELING A LEASE .—Not-22
withstanding any other provision of law, the Presi-23
dent and the Secretary may not cancel a lease issued 24
under the Coastal Plain oil and gas leasing program 25
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if the Secretary has previously opened bids for such 1
a lease or disclosed the high bidder for any tract that 2
was included in a lease sale under the Coastal Plain 3
oil and gas leasing program unless the lessee is in 4
violation of the terms of the lease and fails to cure the 5
violation after a reasonable period of time. 6
(c) A
PPLICABILITY OFPRIORRECORD OFDECISION.— 7
Notwithstanding any other provision of law and with re-8
spect to reissuing leases under subsection (a), the Record 9
of Decision shall be considered to satisfy the requirements 10
of— 11
(1) section 1002 of the Alaska National Interest 12
Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 3142); 13
(2) section 102(2)(c) of the National Environ-14
mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(c)); 15
(3) section 20001 of Public Law 115–97 (16 16
U.S.C. 3143 note); 17
(4) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Public 18
Law 93–205; 16 U.S.C. 1533); and 19
(5) subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5, United 20
States Code, and chapter 7 of title 5, United States 21
Code. 22
(d) W
ITHDRAWAL OF SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRON-23
MENTALIMPACTSTATEMENT.—The Director of the Bureau 24
of Land Management— 25
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(1) shall withdraw the notice of availability enti-1
tled ‘‘Notice of Availability of the Draft Coastal Plain 2
Oil and Gas Leasing Program Supplemental Envi-3
ronmental Impact Statement’’ (88 Fed. Reg. 62104 4
(September 8, 2023)); and 5
(2) may not take any action to finalize, imple-6
ment, or enforce the supplemental environmental im-7
pact statement described in paragraph (1). 8
(e) J
UDICIALREVIEW.— 9
(1) J
UDICIAL PRECLUSION .—Notwithstanding 10
any other provision of law and except as provided in 11
paragraph (2), no court shall have jurisdiction to re-12
view any action taken by the Secretary, the Adminis-13
trator of the Environmental Protection Agency, a 14
State administrative agency, an Indian Tribe, or any 15
other Federal agency acting pursuant to Federal law 16
that grants an authorization, permit, verification, bi-17
ological opinion, incidental take statement, or other 18
approval described in section 4(b) for the Coastal 19
Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program, whether issued 20
prior to, on, or after the date of enactment of this Act, 21
and including any lawsuit or any other action pend-22
ing in a court as of the date of enactment of this Act. 23
(2) F
ORUM EXCLUSIVITY.—The United States 24
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit 25
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shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction over 1
any claim regarding— 2
(A) the validity of this section; or 3
(B) the scope of authority conferred by this 4
section. 5
(3) R
IGHT TO PETITION.— 6
(A) I
N GENERAL.—Notwithstanding para-7
graph (1), a lease holder may obtain a review of 8
an alleged failure by an agency to act in accord-9
ance with section 20001 of Public Law 115–97 10
(16 U.S.C. 3143 note) or with any law per-11
taining to the grant of an authorization, permit, 12
verification, biological opinion, incidental take 13
statement, or other approval related to the lease 14
holder’s lease by filing a written petition with a 15
court of competent jurisdiction seeking an order 16
under subparagraph (B). 17
(B) D
EADLINES.—If a court of competent 18
jurisdiction finds that an agency has failed to 19
act in accordance with section 20001 of Public 20
Law 115–97 (16 U.S.C. 3143 note) or with any 21
law pertaining to the grant of an authorization, 22
permit, verification, biological opinion, inci-23
dental take statement, or other approval related 24
to the lease holder’s lease, the court shall set a 25
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schedule and deadline for the agency to act as 1
soon as practicable, which shall not exceed 90 2
days from the date on which the order of the 3
court is issued, unless the court determines a 4
longer time period is necessary to comply with 5
applicable law. 6
SEC. 6. NULLIFICATION OF CERTAIN FEDERAL AGENCY AC-7
TIONS. 8
(a) NPRA R
ULE.—The Secretary, acting through the 9
Director of the Bureau of Land Management— 10
(1) shall withdraw the proposed rule of the Bu-11
reau of Land Management entitled ‘‘Management and 12
Protection of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alas-13
ka’’ (88 Fed. Reg. 62025 (September 8, 2023)); and 14
(2) may not take any action to finalize, imple-15
ment, administer, or enforce the proposed rule de-16
scribed in paragraph (1) or any substantially similar 17
rule. 18
(b) E
XECUTIVEORDER13990.— 19
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Section 4 of Executive Order 20
13990 (86 Fed. Reg. 7037; relating to protecting pub-21
lic health and the environment and restoring science 22
to tackle the climate crisis) shall have no force or ef-23
fect. 24
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(2) FUNDING.—No Federal funds may be obli-1
gated or expended to carry out section 4 of the Execu-2
tive Order described in paragraph (1). 3
(c) S
ECRETARIALORDER3401.— 4
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Secretarial Order 3401 (relat-5
ing to the Comprehensive Analysis and Temporary 6
Halt on all Activities in the Arctic National Wildlife 7
Refuge Relating to the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas 8
Leasing Program), issued by the Secretary on June 1, 9
2021, shall have no force or effect. 10
(2) F
UNDING.—No Federal funds may be obli-11
gated or expended to carry out the Secretarial Order 12
described in paragraph (1). 13
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384
118
TH
CONGRESS
2
D
S
ESSION
H. R. 6285
[Report No. 118–463]
A BILL
To ratify and approve all authorizations, permits,
verifications, extensions, biological opinions, inci-
dental take statements, and any other approvals
or orders issued pursuant to Federal law nec-
essary for the establishment and administration
of the Coastal Plain oil and gas leasing program,
and for other purposes.
A
PRIL
15, 2024
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union,
and ordered to be printed
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