| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 678 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to improve the assessment of expression |
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| 6 | 6 | | of interest fees, and for other purposes. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 8 | 8 | | JANUARY23, 2025 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Ms. H |
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| 10 | 10 | | AGEMANintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the |
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| 11 | 11 | | Committee on Natural Resources |
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| 12 | 12 | | A BILL |
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| 13 | 13 | | To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to improve the assess- |
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| 14 | 14 | | ment of expression of interest fees, and for other pur- |
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| 15 | 15 | | poses. |
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| 16 | 16 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 17 | 17 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 18 | 18 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 19 | 19 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Expression of Interest 4 |
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| 20 | 20 | | Sensibility Act’’. 5 |
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| 21 | 21 | | SEC. 2. FEE FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST. 6 |
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| 22 | 22 | | (a) D |
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| 23 | 23 | | EADLINE TOISSUELEASE.—Section 7 |
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| 24 | 24 | | 17(b)(1)(A) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 8 |
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| 25 | 25 | | 226(b)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘the remainder of 9 |
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| 26 | 26 | | the bonus bid, if any,’’ and inserting ‘‘, as applicable, the 10 |
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| 27 | 27 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Feb 19, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H678.IH H678 |
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| 28 | 28 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 29 | 29 | | •HR 678 IH |
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| 30 | 30 | | remainder of the bonus bid, the fee for the expression of 1 |
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| 31 | 31 | | interest under subsection (q)(2)(B),’’. 2 |
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| 32 | 32 | | (b) E |
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| 33 | 33 | | XPRESSIONS OFINTEREST.—Section 17(q) of 3 |
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| 34 | 34 | | the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(q)) is amended— 4 |
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| 35 | 35 | | (1) in the heading, by striking ‘‘F |
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| 36 | 36 | | EE FOR’’; 5 |
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| 37 | 37 | | (2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para-6 |
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| 38 | 38 | | graph (3); 7 |
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| 39 | 39 | | (3) by amending paragraph (1) to read as fol-8 |
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| 40 | 40 | | lows: 9 |
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| 41 | 41 | | ‘‘(1) S |
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| 42 | 42 | | UBMISSION OF EXPRESSION OF INTER -10 |
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| 43 | 43 | | EST.—A person may, in accordance with procedures 11 |
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| 44 | 44 | | established by the Secretary to carry out this sub-12 |
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| 45 | 45 | | section, submit an expression of interest in leasing 13 |
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| 46 | 46 | | land available for disposition under this section for 14 |
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| 47 | 47 | | exploration for, and development of, oil or gas. 15 |
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| 48 | 48 | | ‘‘(2) A |
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| 49 | 49 | | SSESSMENT OF FEES.— 16 |
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| 50 | 50 | | ‘‘(A) N |
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| 51 | 51 | | O BID.—If land covered by an ex-17 |
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| 52 | 52 | | pression of interest submitted under paragraph 18 |
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| 53 | 53 | | (1) is offered at a lease sale and no bid is re-19 |
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| 54 | 54 | | ceived for such land, the Secretary shall assess 20 |
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| 55 | 55 | | at the time of the sale a fee for the expression 21 |
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| 56 | 56 | | of interest against the person that submitted 22 |
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| 57 | 57 | | the first expression of interest for the land. 23 |
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| 58 | 58 | | ‘‘(B) S |
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| 59 | 59 | | UCCESSFUL BID.—If land covered 24 |
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| 60 | 60 | | by an expression of interest submitted under 25 |
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| 61 | 61 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Feb 19, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H678.IH H678 |
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| 62 | 62 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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| 63 | 63 | | •HR 678 IH |
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| 64 | 64 | | paragraph (1) receives a successful bid at a 1 |
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| 65 | 65 | | lease sale, the Secretary shall assess a fee for 2 |
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| 66 | 66 | | the expression of interest against the successful 3 |
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| 67 | 67 | | bidder.’’; 4 |
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| 68 | 68 | | (4) in paragraph (3), as so redesignated, by 5 |
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| 69 | 69 | | striking ‘‘paragraph (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph 6 |
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| 70 | 70 | | (2)’’; and 7 |
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| 71 | 71 | | (5) by adding at the end the following: 8 |
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| 72 | 72 | | ‘‘(4) T |
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| 73 | 73 | | ERM.—An expression of interest sub-9 |
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| 74 | 74 | | mitted under this section shall remain active for a 10 |
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| 75 | 75 | | term of not less than 5 years unless the land covered 11 |
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| 76 | 76 | | by the expression of interest is offered at a lease 12 |
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| 77 | 77 | | sale.’’. 13 |
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| 78 | 78 | | Æ |
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| 79 | 79 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Feb 19, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H678.IH H678 |
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| 80 | 80 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB |
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