Us Congress 2023-2024 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB8214 Compare Versions

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11 I
22 118THCONGRESS
33 2
44 DSESSION H. R. 8214
55 To ratify and approve all authorizations, permits, verifications, extensions,
66 biological opinions, incidental take statements, and any other approvals
77 or orders issued pursuant to Federal law necessary for the establishment
88 and administration of the Coastal Plain oil and gas leasing program,
99 and for other purposes.
1010 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1111 MAY1, 2024
1212 Mrs. P
1313 ELTOLAintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the
1414 Committee on Natural Resources
1515 A BILL
1616 To ratify and approve all authorizations, permits,
1717 verifications, extensions, biological opinions, incidental
1818 take statements, and any other approvals or orders
1919 issued pursuant to Federal law necessary for the estab-
2020 lishment and administration of the Coastal Plain oil and
2121 gas leasing program, and for other purposes.
2222 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
2323 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
2424 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
2525 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Alaskan Energy Pro-4
2626 duction and Fisheries Protection Act’’. 5
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3030 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 1
3131 Congress finds that— 2
3232 (1) Congress provided clear authorization and 3
3333 direction that the Secretary of the Interior ‘‘shall es-4
3434 tablish and administer a competitive oil and gas pro-5
3535 gram for the leasing, development, production, and 6
3636 transportation of oil and gas in and from the Coast-7
3737 al Plain’’ in section 20001 of Public Law 115–97 8
3838 (16 U.S.C. 3143 note) (commonly known as the Tax 9
3939 Cuts and Jobs Act); 10
4040 (2) the timely administration of the Coastal 11
4141 Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program is required and 12
4242 in the national and public interest; 13
4343 (3) the Department of the Interior’s cancelling 14
4444 of the leases for the covered Coastal Plain lease 15
4545 tracts represents a major decision of economic and 16
4646 political significance that Congress did not delegate 17
4747 to the Secretary; 18
4848 (4) the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production 19
4949 Act of 1976 (42 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.) requires that 20
5050 the Bureau of Land Management— 21
5151 (A) allow for the exploration, development, 22
5252 and production of petroleum products in the 23
5353 National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska; and 24
5454 (B) balance, to the extent consistent with 25
5555 that Act, the protection of ecological and cul-26
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5959 tural values in the National Petroleum Reserve 1
6060 in Alaska; and 2
6161 (5) the proposed rule of the Bureau of Land 3
6262 Management entitled ‘‘Management and Protection 4
6363 of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska’’ (88 5
6464 Fed. Reg. 62025 (September 8, 2023)) fails to re-6
6565 flect the intent of Congress for the Naval Petroleum 7
6666 Reserves Production Act of 1976 (42 U.S.C. 6501 8
6767 et seq.). 9
6868 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 10
6969 In this Act: 11
7070 (1) C
7171 OASTAL PLAIN.—The term ‘‘Coastal 12
7272 Plain’’ has the meaning given the term in section 13
7373 20001(a) of Public Law 115–97 (16 U.S.C. 3143 14
7474 note). 15
7575 (2) C
7676 OASTAL PLAIN OIL AND GAS LEASING PRO -16
7777 GRAM.—The term ‘‘Coastal Plain oil and gas leasing 17
7878 program’’ means the program established under sec-18
7979 tion 20001(b)(2)(A) of Public Law 115–97 (16 19
8080 U.S.C. 3143 note). 20
8181 (3) C
8282 OVERED COASTAL PLAIN LEASE TRACT .— 21
8383 The term ‘‘covered Coastal Plain lease tract’’ means 22
8484 any of tracts 16, 17, 24, 26, 27, and 30 as listed 23
8585 in exhibit B of the document published by the Bu-24
8686 reau of Land Management entitled ‘‘Amendment to 25
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9090 the Detailed Statement of Sale’’ and dated Decem-1
9191 ber 18, 2020 (relating to oil and gas leasing within 2
9292 the Coastal Plain Alaska). 3
9393 (4) R
9494 ECORD OF DECISION.—The term ‘‘Record 4
9595 of Decision’’ means the record of decision described 5
9696 in the notice of availability of the Bureau of Land 6
9797 Management entitled ‘‘Notice of Availability of the 7
9898 Record of Decision for the Final Environmental Im-8
9999 pact Statement for the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas 9
100100 Leasing Program, Alaska’’ (85 Fed. Reg. 51754 10
101101 (August 21, 2020)). 11
102102 (5) S
103103 ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 12
104104 the Secretary of the Interior. 13
105105 SEC. 4. CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL OF ORDERS. 14
106106 (a) M
107107 ORATORIUM ON OIL ANDGASLEASING.—Any 15
108108 order or action by the President or the Secretary that has 16
109109 the effect of placing a moratorium on or otherwise sus-17
110110 pending or pausing oil and gas leasing in the Coastal Plain 18
111111 shall have no force or effect. 19
112112 (b) A
113113 PPROVAL AND RATIFICATION OF EXISTING 20
114114 D
115115 OCUMENTATION AND AUTHORIZATIONS.—Notwith-21
116116 standing any other provision of law, Congress— 22
117117 (1) ratifies and approves all authorizations, per-23
118118 mits, verifications, extensions, biological opinions, in-24
119119 cidental take statements, and any other approvals or 25
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123123 orders issued pursuant to Federal law, as described 1
124124 in the Record of Decision, necessary for the estab-2
125125 lishment and administration of the Coastal Plain Oil 3
126126 and Gas Leasing Program; and 4
127127 (2) directs the Secretary, the Administrator of 5
128128 the Environmental Protection Agency, and the heads 6
129129 of other as applicable Federal departments and 7
130130 agencies to process, reinstate, or continue to main-8
131131 tain such authorizations, permits, verifications, ex-9
132132 tensions, biological opinions, incidental take state-10
133133 ments, and any other approvals or orders described 11
134134 in paragraph (1). 12
135135 (c) A
136136 PPLICABILITY OF OTHERLAW.—Notwith-13
137137 standing any other provision of law, the authorizations, 14
138138 permits, verifications, extensions, biological opinions, inci-15
139139 dental take statements, and any other approvals or orders 16
140140 described in subsection (b)(1) shall be considered to sat-17
141141 isfy the requirements of— 18
142142 (1) section 1002 of the Alaska National Inter-19
143143 est Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 3142); 20
144144 (2) section 102(2)(c) of the National Environ-21
145145 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(c)); 22
146146 (3) section 20001 of Public Law 115–97 (16 23
147147 U.S.C. 3143 note); 24
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151151 (4) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 1
152152 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); and 2
153153 (5) subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5, United 3
154154 States Code, and chapter 7 of title 5, United States 4
155155 Code. 5
156156 SEC. 5. COASTAL PLAIN OIL AND GAS LEASING PROGRAM. 6
157157 (a) R
158158 EISSUANCE OFCANCELEDLEASES.— 7
159159 (1) A
160160 CCEPTANCE OF BIDS.—Not later than 30 8
161161 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 9
162162 Secretary shall, without modification or delay— 10
163163 (A) accept the highest valid bid for each 11
164164 covered Coastal Plain lease tract for which a 12
165165 valid bid was received on January 6, 2021, pur-13
166166 suant to the requirement to hold the first lease 14
167167 sale in the Coastal Plain oil and gas leasing 15
168168 program; and 16
169169 (B) provide the appropriate lease form to 17
170170 each winning bidder under subparagraph (A) to 18
171171 execute and return to the Secretary. 19
172172 (2) L
173173 EASE ISSUANCE.—On receipt of an exe-20
174174 cuted lease form under paragraph (1)(B) and pay-21
175175 ment in accordance with that lease of the rental for 22
176176 the first year, the balance of the bonus bid (unless 23
177177 deferred), and any required bond or security from 24
178178 the high bidder, the Secretary shall promptly issue 25
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182182 to the high bidder a fully executed lease, in accord-1
183183 ance with— 2
184184 (A) the applicable regulations, as in effect 3
185185 on January 6, 2021; and 4
186186 (B) the terms and conditions of the Record 5
187187 of Decision. 6
188188 (b) R
189189 EQUIREMENT FOR FUTURELEASES.— 7
190190 (1) S
191191 ECOND LEASE SALE.—Not later than De-8
192192 cember 22, 2024, the Secretary shall conduct the 9
193193 second lease sale required by section 10
194194 20001(c)(1)(B)(ii)(II) of Public Law 115–97 (16 11
195195 U.S.C. 3143 note) in accordance with the Record of 12
196196 Decision. 13
197197 (2) E
198198 XCEPTIONS FOR CANCELING A LEASE .— 14
199199 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 15
200200 President and the Secretary may not cancel a lease 16
201201 issued under the Coastal Plain oil and gas leasing 17
202202 program if the Secretary has previously opened bids 18
203203 for such a lease or disclosed the high bidder for any 19
204204 tract that was included in a lease sale under the 20
205205 Coastal Plain oil and gas leasing program unless the 21
206206 lessee is in violation of the terms of the lease and 22
207207 fails to cure the violation after a reasonable period 23
208208 of time. 24
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212212 (c) APPLICABILITY OF PRIORRECORD OFDECI-1
213213 SION.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law and 2
214214 with respect to reissuing leases under subsection (a), the 3
215215 Record of Decision shall be considered to satisfy the re-4
216216 quirements of— 5
217217 (1) section 1002 of the Alaska National Inter-6
218218 est Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 3142); 7
219219 (2) section 102(2)(c) of the National Environ-8
220220 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(c)); 9
221221 (3) section 20001 of Public Law 115–97 (16 10
222222 U.S.C. 3143 note); 11
223223 (4) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Public 12
224224 Law 93–205; 16 U.S.C. 1533); and 13
225225 (5) subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5, United 14
226226 States Code, and chapter 7 of title 5, United States 15
227227 Code. 16
228228 (d) W
229229 ITHDRAWAL OF SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRON-17
230230 MENTALIMPACTSTATEMENT.—The Director of the Bu-18
231231 reau of Land Management— 19
232232 (1) shall withdraw the notice of availability en-20
233233 titled ‘‘Notice of Availability of the Draft Coastal 21
234234 Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program Supplemental 22
235235 Environmental Impact Statement’’ (88 Fed. Reg. 23
236236 62104 (September 8, 2023)); and 24
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240240 (2) may not take any action to finalize, imple-1
241241 ment, or enforce the supplemental environmental im-2
242242 pact statement described in paragraph (1). 3
243243 (e) J
244244 UDICIALREVIEW.— 4
245245 (1) J
246246 UDICIAL PRECLUSION .—Notwithstanding 5
247247 any other provision of law and except as provided in 6
248248 paragraph (2), no court shall have jurisdiction to re-7
249249 view any action taken by the Secretary, the Adminis-8
250250 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency, a 9
251251 State administrative agency, an Indian Tribe, or any 10
252252 other Federal agency acting pursuant to Federal law 11
253253 that grants an authorization, permit, verification, bi-12
254254 ological opinion, incidental take statement, or other 13
255255 approval described in section 4(b) for the Coastal 14
256256 Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program, whether issued 15
257257 prior to, on, or after the date of enactment of this 16
258258 Act, and including any lawsuit or any other action 17
259259 pending in a court as of the date of enactment of 18
260260 this Act. 19
261261 (2) F
262262 ORUM EXCLUSIVITY.—The United States 20
263263 Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Cir-21
264264 cuit shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction 22
265265 over any claim regarding— 23
266266 (A) the validity of this section; or 24
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270270 (B) the scope of authority conferred by 1
271271 this section. 2
272272 (3) R
273273 IGHT TO PETITION.— 3
274274 (A) I
275275 N GENERAL.—Notwithstanding para-4
276276 graph (1), a lease holder may obtain a review 5
277277 of an alleged failure by an agency to act in ac-6
278278 cordance with section 20001 of Public Law 7
279279 115–97 (16 U.S.C. 3143 note) or with any law 8
280280 pertaining to the grant of an authorization, per-9
281281 mit, verification, biological opinion, incidental 10
282282 take statement, or other approval related to the 11
283283 lease holder’s lease by filing a written petition 12
284284 with a court of competent jurisdiction seeking 13
285285 an order under subparagraph (B). 14
286286 (B) D
287287 EADLINES.—If a court of competent 15
288288 jurisdiction finds that an agency has failed to 16
289289 act in accordance with section 20001 of Public 17
290290 Law 115–97 (16 U.S.C. 3143 note) or with any 18
291291 law pertaining to the grant of an authorization, 19
292292 permit, verification, biological opinion, inci-20
293293 dental take statement, or other approval related 21
294294 to the lease holder’s lease, the court shall set a 22
295295 schedule and deadline for the agency to act as 23
296296 soon as practicable, which shall not exceed 90 24
297297 days from the date on which the order of the 25
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301301 court is issued, unless the court determines a 1
302302 longer time period is necessary to comply with 2
303303 applicable law. 3
304304 SEC. 6. NULLIFICATION OF CERTAIN FEDERAL AGENCY AC-4
305305 TIONS. 5
306306 (a) NPRA R
307307 ULE.—The Secretary, acting through the 6
308308 Director of the Bureau of Land Management— 7
309309 (1) shall withdraw the proposed rule of the Bu-8
310310 reau of Land Management entitled ‘‘Management 9
311311 and Protection of the National Petroleum Reserve in 10
312312 Alaska’’ (88 Fed. Reg. 62025 (September 8, 2023)); 11
313313 and 12
314314 (2) may not take any action to finalize, imple-13
315315 ment, administer, or enforce the proposed rule de-14
316316 scribed in paragraph (1) or any substantially similar 15
317317 rule. 16
318318 (b) E
319319 XECUTIVEORDER13990.— 17
320320 (1) I
321321 N GENERAL.—Subsections (a) and (c) of 18
322322 section 4 of Executive Order 13990 (86 Fed. Reg. 19
323323 7037; relating to protecting public health and the 20
324324 environment and restoring science to tackle the cli-21
325325 mate crisis) shall have no force or effect. 22
326326 (2) F
327327 UNDING.—No Federal funds may be obli-23
328328 gated or expended to carry out subsection (a) or (c) 24
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332332 of section 4 of the Executive Order described in 1
333333 paragraph (1). 2
334334 (c) S
335335 ECRETARIALORDER3401.— 3
336336 (1) I
337337 N GENERAL.—Secretarial Order 3401 (re-4
338338 lating to the Comprehensive Analysis and Tem-5
339339 porary Halt on all Activities in the Arctic National 6
340340 Wildlife Refuge Relating to the Coastal Plain Oil 7
341341 and Gas Leasing Program), issued by the Secretary 8
342342 on June 1, 2021, shall have no force or effect. 9
343343 (2) F
344344 UNDING.—No Federal funds may be obli-10
345345 gated or expended to carry out the Secretarial Order 11
346346 described in paragraph (1). 12
347347 Æ
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