I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 526
To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to make certain adjustments to the
royalty rates for leases for oil and gas extraction on Federal land,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY16, 2025
Mr. O
GLES(for himself, Mr. PFLUGER, Mr. WEBERof Texas, Mr.
B
RECHEEN, Ms. HAGEMAN, Ms. MALOY, and Mr. WILLIAMSof Texas)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Natural Resources
A BILL
To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to make certain adjust-
ments to the royalty rates for leases for oil and gas
extraction on Federal land, and for other purposes.
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 ‘‘Declaration of Energy 4
Independence Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO MINERAL LEASING ACT. 6
(a) O
NSHOREOIL ANDGASROYALTYRATES.— 7
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(1) LEASE OF OIL AND GAS LAND .—Section 17 1
of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) is 2
amended— 3
(A) by striking ‘‘16
2
⁄3percent’’ each place 4
it appears and inserting ‘‘12
1
⁄2percent’’; and 5
(B) in subsection (b)(1)(A), by striking 6
‘‘or, in the case of’’ and all that follows through 7
‘‘removed or sold from the lease. The’’ and in-8
serting ‘‘. The’’. 9
(2) C
ONDITIONS FOR REINSTATEMENT .—Sec-10
tion 31(e)(3) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 11
188(e)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘20’’ each place 12
it appears and inserting ‘‘16
2
⁄3’’. 13
(b) O
IL ANDGASMINIMUMBID.—Section 17(b) of 14
the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(b)) is amended— 15
(1) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ‘‘$10 per 16
acre during the 10-year period beginning on the date 17
of enactment of the Act titled ‘An Act to provide for 18
reconciliation pursuant to title II of S. Con. Res. 19
14’’’ and inserting ‘‘$2 per acre for a period of 2 20
years from the date of enactment of the Federal On-21
shore Oil and Gas Leasing Reform Act of 1987’’; 22
and 23
(2) in paragraph (2)(C), by striking ‘‘$10 per 24
acre’’ and inserting ‘‘$2 per acre’’. 25
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(c) FOSSILFUELRENTALRATES.— 1
(1) A
NNUAL RENTALS.—Section 17(d) of the 2
Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(d)) is amended 3
by striking ‘‘than $3 per acre per year’’ and all that 4
follows through ‘‘and $15 per acre per year there-5
after’’ and inserting ‘‘than $1.50 per acre per year 6
for the first through fifth years of the lease and not 7
less than $2 per acre per year for each year there-8
after’’. 9
(2) R
ENTALS IN REINSTATED LEASES .—Section 10
31(e)(2) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 11
188(e)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘$20’’ and insert-12
ing ‘‘$10’’. 13
(d) E
LIMINATION OFFEE FOREXPRESSION OFIN-14
TEREST.—Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 15
U.S.C. 226) is amended by striking subsection (q). 16
(e) N
ONCOMPETITIVELEASING.—Section 17 of the 17
Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) is amended— 18
(1) in subsection (b)— 19
(A) in paragraph (1)(A)— 20
(i) by striking ‘‘paragraph (2)’’ and 21
inserting ‘‘paragraphs (2) and (3) of this 22
subsection’’; and 23
(ii) by inserting ‘‘Lands for which no 24
bids are received or for which the highest 25
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bid is less than the national minimum ac-1
ceptable bid shall be offered promptly with-2
in 30 days for leasing under subsection (c) 3
of this section and shall remain available 4
for leasing for a period of 2 years after the 5
competitive lease sale.’’ after the period at 6
the end; and 7
(B) by adding at the end the following: 8
‘‘(3)(A) If the United States held a vested future in-9
terest in a mineral estate that, immediately prior to be-10
coming a vested present interest, was subject to a lease 11
under which oil or gas was being produced, or had a well 12
capable of producing, in paying quantities at an annual 13
average production volume per well per day of either not 14
more than 15 barrels per day of oil or condensate, or not 15
more than 60,000 cubic feet of gas, the holder of the lease 16
may elect to continue the lease as a noncompetitive lease 17
under subsection (c)(1). 18
‘‘(B) An election under this paragraph is effective— 19
‘‘(i) in the case of an interest which vested after 20
January 1, 1990, and on or before the date of enact-21
ment of this paragraph, if the election is made be-22
fore the date that is 1 year after the date of enact-23
ment of this paragraph; 24
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‘‘(ii) in the case of an interest which vests with-1
in 1 year after the date of enactment of this para-2
graph, if the election is made before the date that 3
is 2 years after the date of enactment of this para-4
graph; and 5
‘‘(iii) in any case other than those described in 6
clause (i) or (ii), if the election is made prior to the 7
interest becoming a vested present interest. 8
‘‘(C) Notwithstanding the consent requirement ref-9
erenced in section 3 of the Mineral Leasing Act for Ac-10
quired Lands (30 U.S.C. 352), the Secretary shall issue 11
a noncompetitive lease under subsection (c)(1) to a holder 12
who makes an election under subparagraph (A) and who 13
is qualified to hold a lease under this Act. Such lease shall 14
be subject to all terms and conditions under this Act that 15
are applicable to leases issued under subsection (c)(1). 16
‘‘(D) A lease issued pursuant to this paragraph shall 17
continue so long as oil or gas continues to be produced 18
in paying quantities. 19
‘‘(E) This paragraph shall apply only to those lands 20
under the administration of the Secretary of Agriculture 21
where the United States acquired an interest in such lands 22
pursuant to the Act of March 1, 1911 (36 Stat. 961).’’; 23
(2) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the 24
following: 25
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‘‘(c)(1) If the lands to be leased are not leased under 1
subsection (b)(1) of this section or are not subject to com-2
petitive leasing under subsection (b)(2) of this section, the 3
person first making application for the lease who is quali-4
fied to hold a lease under this Act shall be entitled to a 5
lease of such lands without competitive bidding, upon pay-6
ment of a non-refundable application fee of at least $75. 7
A lease under this subsection shall be conditioned upon 8
the payment of a royalty at a rate of 12.5 percent in 9
amount or value of the production removed or sold from 10
the lease. Leases shall be issued within 60 days of the 11
date on which the Secretary identifies the first responsible 12
qualified applicant. 13
‘‘(2)(A) Lands (i) which were posted for sale under 14
subsection (b)(1) of this section but for which no bids were 15
received or for which the highest bid was less than the 16
national minimum acceptable bid and (ii) for which, at the 17
end of the period referred to in subsection (b)(1) of this 18
section no lease has been issued and no lease application 19
is pending under paragraph (1) of this subsection, shall 20
again be available for leasing only in accordance with sub-21
section (b)(1) of this section. 22
‘‘(B) The land in any lease which is issued under 23
paragraph (1) of this subsection or under subsection 24
(b)(1) of this section which lease terminates, expires, is 25
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cancelled or is relinquished shall again be available for 1
leasing only in accordance with subsection (b)(1) of this 2
section.’’; and 3
(3) by striking subsection (e) and inserting the 4
following: 5
‘‘(e) Competitive and noncompetitive leases issued 6
under this section shall be for a primary term of 10 years: 7
Provided, however, That competitive leases issued in spe-8
cial tar sand areas shall also be for a primary term of 9
ten years. Each such lease shall continue so long after its 10
primary term as oil or gas is produced in paying quan-11
tities. Any lease issued under this section for land on 12
which, or for which under an approved cooperative or unit 13
plan of development or operation, actual drilling oper-14
ations were commenced prior to the end of its primary 15
term and are being diligently prosecuted at that time shall 16
be extended for two years and so long thereafter as oil 17
or gas is produced in paying quantities.’’. 18
(f) C
ONFORMINGAMENDMENTS.—Section 31 of the 19
Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 188) is amended— 20
(1) in subsection (d)(1), by inserting ‘‘or sec-21
tion 17(c) of this Act’’ after ‘‘pursuant to section 22
17(b)’’; 23
(2) in subsection (e)— 24
(A) in paragraph (2)— 25
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(i) by inserting ‘‘either’’ after ‘‘rentals 1
and’’; and 2
(ii) by inserting ‘‘or the inclusion in a 3
reinstated lease issued pursuant to the pro-4
visions of section 17(c) of this Act of a re-5
quirement that future rentals shall be at a 6
rate not less than $5 per acre per year, 7
all’’ after ‘‘per acre per year,’’; and 8
(B) in paragraph (3)— 9
(i) by striking ‘‘(3) payment’’ and in-10
serting the following: 11
‘‘(3)(A) payment’’; and 12
(ii) by adding at the end the fol-13
lowing: 14
‘‘(B) payment of back royalties and inclusion in 15
a reinstated lease issued pursuant to the provisions 16
of section 17(c) of this Act of a requirement for fu-17
ture royalties at a rate not less than 16
2
⁄3percent: 18
Provided, That royalty on such reinstated lease shall 19
be paid on all production removed or sold from such 20
lease subsequent to the cancellation or termination 21
of the original lease; and’’; 22
(3) by redesignating subsections (f) through (i) 23
as subsections (g) through (j), respectively; 24
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(4) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol-1
lowing: 2
‘‘(f) Where an unpatented oil placer mining claim val-3
idly located prior to February 24, 1920, which has been 4
or is currently producing or is capable of producing oil 5
or gas, has been or is hereafter deemed conclusively aban-6
doned for failure to file timely the required instruments 7
or copies of instruments required by section 314 of the 8
Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 9
U.S.C. 1744), and it is shown to the satisfaction of the 10
Secretary that such failure was inadvertent, justifiable, or 11
not due to lack of reasonable diligence on the part of the 12
owner, the Secretary may issue, for the lands covered by 13
the abandoned unpatented oil placer mining claim, a non-14
competitive oil and gas lease, consistent with the provi-15
sions of section 17(e) of this Act, to be effective from the 16
statutory date the claim was deemed conclusively aban-17
doned. Issuance of such a lease shall be conditioned 18
upon— 19
‘‘(1) a petition for issuance of a noncompetitive 20
oil and gas lease, together with the required rental 21
and royalty, including back rental and royalty accru-22
ing from the statutory date of abandonment of the 23
oil placer mining claim, being filed with the Sec-24
retary— 25
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‘‘(A) with respect to any claim deemed 1
conclusively abandoned on or before the date of 2
enactment of the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty 3
Management Act of 1982, on or before the one 4
hundred and twentieth day after such date of 5
enactment, or 6
‘‘(B) with respect to any claim deemed 7
conclusively abandoned after such date of enact-8
ment, on or before the one hundred and twen-9
tieth day after final notification by the Sec-10
retary or a court of competent jurisdiction of 11
the determination of the abandonment of the oil 12
placer mining claim; 13
‘‘(2) a valid lease not having been issued affect-14
ing any of the lands covered by the abandoned oil 15
placer mining claim prior to the filing of such peti-16
tion: Provided, however, That after the filing of a pe-17
tition for issuance of a lease under this subsection, 18
the Secretary shall not issue any new lease affecting 19
any of the lands covered by such abandoned oil plac-20
er mining claim for a reasonable period, as deter-21
mined in accordance with regulations issued by him; 22
‘‘(3) a requirement in the lease for payment of 23
rental, including back rentals accruing from the 24
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statutory date of abandonment of the oil placer min-1
ing claim, of not less than $5 per acre per year; 2
‘‘(4) a requirement in the lease for payment of 3
royalty on production removed or sold from the oil 4
placer mining claim, including all royalty on produc-5
tion made subsequent to the statutory date the claim 6
was deemed conclusively abandoned, of not less than 7
12
1
⁄2percent; and 8
‘‘(5) compliance with the notice and reimburse-9
ment of costs provisions of paragraph (4) of sub-10
section (e) but addressed to the petition covering the 11
conversion of an abandoned unpatented oil placer 12
mining claim to a noncompetitive oil and gas lease.’’; 13
(5) in subsection (g) (as so redesignated)— 14
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘in the 15
same manner as the original lease issued pursu-16
ant to section 17’’ and inserting ‘‘as a competi-17
tive or a noncompetitive oil and gas lease in the 18
same manner as the original lease issued pursu-19
ant to section 17(b) or 17(c) of this Act’’; 20
(B) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and 21
(3) as paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively; 22
(C) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 23
following: 24
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‘‘(2) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the 1
issuance of a lease in lieu of an abandoned patented oil 2
placer mining claim shall be treated as a noncompetitive 3
oil and gas lease issued pursuant to section 17(c) of this 4
Act.’’; and 5
(D) in paragraph (3) (as so redesignated), 6
by inserting ‘‘applicable to leases issued under 7
subsection 17(c) of this Act (30 U.S.C. 8
226(c))’’ after ‘‘this section,’’; 9
(6) in subsection (h) (as so redesignated), by 10
striking ‘‘subsection (d)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections 11
(d) and (f) of this section’’; and 12
(7) by striking subsection (i) (as so redesig-13
nated) and inserting the following: 14
‘‘(i)(1) In acting on a petition to issue a noncompeti-15
tive oil and gas lease, under subsection (f) of this section 16
or in response to a request filed after issuance of such 17
a lease, or both, the Secretary is authorized to reduce the 18
royalty on such lease if in his judgment it is equitable to 19
do so or the circumstances warrant such relief due to un-20
economic or other circumstances which could cause undue 21
hardship or premature termination of production. 22
‘‘(2) In acting on a petition for reinstatement pursu-23
ant to subsection (d) of this section or in response to a 24
request filed after reinstatement, or both, the Secretary 25
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is authorized to reduce the royalty in that reinstated lease 1
on the entire leasehold or any tract or portion thereof seg-2
regated for royalty purposes if, in his judgment, there are 3
uneconomic or other circumstances which could cause 4
undue hardship or premature termination of production; 5
or because of any written action of the United States, its 6
agents or employees, which preceded, and was a major 7
consideration in, the lessee’s expenditure of funds to de-8
velop the property under the lease after the rent had be-9
come due and had not been paid; or if in the judgment 10
of the Secretary it is equitable to do so for any reason.’’. 11
Æ
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