Restoring Community Input and Public Protections in Oil and Gas Leasing Act of 2021

IB Union Calendar No. 452 117TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 1503 [Report No. 117–628, Part I] To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to make certain adjustments in leasing on Federal lands for oil and gas drilling, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 2, 2021 Mr. LEVIN of California (for himself, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. NADLER, Ms. NORTON, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. PORTER, and Ms. BROWNLEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi- sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned DECEMBER 14, 2022 Additional sponsors: Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. WELCH, Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. COHEN, and Mr. SOTO DECEMBER 14, 2022 Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with an amendment [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] DECEMBER 14, 2022 Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 2, 2021] VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1503.RH H1503 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1503 RH A BILL To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to make certain adjust- ments in leasing on Federal lands for oil and gas drilling, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1503.RH H1503 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1503 RH 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 ‘‘Restoring Community 4 Input and Public Protections in Oil and Gas Leasing Act 5 of 2021’’. 6 SEC. 2. LEASING PROCESS. 7 (a) ONSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASING.—Section 17 of 8 the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(a)) is amended by 9 striking the matter preceding ‘‘(a) All lands’’ and all that 10 follows through the end of subsection (a) and inserting the 11 following: 12 ‘‘SEC. 17. LEASING OF LAND CONTAINING OIL OR GAS DE- 13 POSITS. 14 ‘‘(a) LEASING AUTHORITY.— 15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—All lands subject to disposi- 16 tion under this Act that are known or believed to con- 17 tain oil or gas deposits may be leased by the Sec- 18 retary. 19 ‘‘(2) RECEIPT OF FAIR MARKET VALUE.—Leas- 20 ing activities under this Act shall be conducted to as- 21 sure receipt of fair market value for the lands and re- 22 sources leased and the rights conveyed by the United 23 States.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1503.RH H1503 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1503 RH (b) COMPETITIVE BIDDING.—Section 17(b)(1) of the 1 Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(b)(1)(A)) is amended 2 by striking all that precedes ‘‘(A) All lands’’ and all that 3 follows through the end of subparagraph (A) and inserting 4 the following: 5 ‘‘(b) BIDDING.— 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 7 ‘‘(A) COMPETITIVE BIDDING.— 8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—All lands to be 9 leased under this section shall be leased as 10 provided in this paragraph to the highest 11 responsible qualified bidder by competitive 12 bidding by sealed bid. 13 ‘‘(ii) GEOGRAPHIC LIMITATION.—The 14 Secretary shall lease lands under this para- 15 graph in units of not more than 2,560 16 acres, except in Alaska, where units shall be 17 not more than 5,760 acres. Such units shall 18 be as nearly compact as possible. 19 ‘‘(iii) FREQUENCY.—Lease sales under 20 this section shall be held for each State in 21 which there are lands eligible for leasing no 22 more than 3 times each year and on a ro- 23 tating basis such that the lands under the 24 responsibility of any Bureau of Land Man- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1503.RH H1503 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1503 RH agement field office are available for leasing 1 no more than one time each year. 2 ‘‘(iv) ROYALTY.—A lease under this 3 section shall be conditioned upon the pay- 4 ment of a royalty at a rate of not less than 5 18.75 percent in amount or value of the 6 production removed or sold from the lease, 7 except as otherwise provided in this Act. 8 ‘‘(v) ISSUANCE OF LEASE.—The Sec- 9 retary may issue a lease under this section 10 to the responsible qualified bidder with the 11 highest bid that is equal to or greater than 12 the national minimum acceptable bid. The 13 Secretary shall decide whether to accept a 14 bid and issue a lease within 90 days fol- 15 lowing payment by the successful bidder of 16 the remainder of the bonus bid, if any, and 17 annual rental for the first lease year. 18 ‘‘(vi) REJECTION OF BID.—The Sec- 19 retary may reject a bid above the national 20 minimum acceptable bid if, after evaluation 21 of the value of the lands proposed for lease, 22 the Secretary determines that the bid 23 amount does not ensure that fair market 24 value is obtained for the lease.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1503.RH H1503 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1503 RH (c) NATIONAL MINIMUM ACCEPTABLE BID.—Subpara- 1 graph (B) of section 17(b)(1) of the Mineral Leasing Act 2 (30 U.S.C. 226(b)(1)), is amended to read as follows: 3 ‘‘(B) NATIONAL MINIMUM ACCEPTABLE 4 BID.— 5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 6 in clause (ii), for purposes of subparagraph 7 (A), the national minimum acceptable bid 8 shall be $10 per acre. All bids under this 9 section for less than the national minimum 10 acceptable bid shall be rejected. 11 ‘‘(ii) RAISING THE NATIONAL MINIMUM 12 ACCEPTABLE BID.—The Secretary may es- 13 tablish a higher national minimum accept- 14 able bid— 15 ‘‘(I) beginning at the end of the 4- 16 year period that begins on the date of 17 enactment of the Restoring Community 18 Input and Public Protection in Oil 19 and Gas Leasing Act of 2021, and once 20 every 4 years thereafter, to reflect the 21 change in the Consumer Price Index 22 for All Urban Consumers published by 23 the Bureau of Labor Statistics; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1503.RH H1503 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1503 RH ‘‘(II) at any time, if the Secretary 1 finds that such a higher amount is nec- 2 essary to enhance financial returns to 3 the United States or to promote more 4 efficient management of oil and gas re- 5 sources on Federal lands. 6 ‘‘(iii) NOT A MAJOR FEDERAL AC- 7 TION.—The proposal or issuance of any reg- 8 ulation to establish a higher national min- 9 imum acceptable bid under clause (ii) shall 10 not be considered a major Federal action 11 that is subject to the requirements of section 12 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 13 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 14 4332(2)(C)).’’. 15 (d) RENTALS.—Section 17(d) of the Mineral Leasing 16 Act (30 U.S.C. 226(d)) is amended to read as follows: 17 ‘‘(d) ANNUAL RENTALS.—All leases issued under this 18 section shall be conditioned upon the payment by the lessee 19 of a rental of— 20 ‘‘(1) not less than $3.00 per acre per year during 21 the 5-year period beginning on the date the lease be- 22 gins for new leases, and after the end of such 5 year 23 period not less than $5 per acre per year; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1503.RH H1503 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1503 RH ‘‘(2) such higher rental rate as the Secretary 1 may establish if the Secretary finds that such action 2 is necessary to enhance financial returns to the 3 United States and promote more efficient manage- 4 ment of oil and gas and alternative energy resources 5 on Federal lands.’’. 6 (e) ELIMINATION OF NONCOMPETITIVE LEASING.—The 7 Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) is amended— 8 (1) in section 17(b) (30 U.S.C. 226(b)), by strik- 9 ing paragraph (3); 10 (2) by amending section 17(c) (30 U.S.C. 226(c)) 11 to read as follows: 12 ‘‘(c) LANDS FOR WHICH NO BID IS ACCEPTED.— 13 Lands made available for leasing under subsection (b)(1) 14 but for which no bid is accepted may be made available 15 by the Secretary for a new round of sealed bidding under 16 such subsection.’’; 17 (3) in section 17(e) (30 U.S.C. 226(e))— 18 (A) by striking ‘‘Competitive and non- 19 competitive leases’’ and inserting ‘‘Leases, in- 20 cluding leases for tar sand areas,’’; and 21 (B) by striking ‘‘Provided, however’’ and all 22 that follows through ‘‘ten years.’’; 23 (4) in section 31(d)(1) (30 U.S.C. 188(d)(1)) by 24 striking ‘‘or section 17(c)’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1503.RH H1503 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1503 RH (5) in section 31(e) (30 U.S.C. 188(e))— 1 (A) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘, or the 2 inclusion’’ and all that follows and inserting a 3 semicolon; and 4 (B) in paragraph (3) by striking ‘‘(A)’’ and 5 by striking subparagraph (B); 6 (6) by striking section 31(f) (30 U.S.C. 188(f)); 7 and 8 (7) in section 31(g) (30 U.S.C. 188(g))— 9 (A) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘as a 10 competitive’’ and all that follows through the pe- 11 riod and inserting ‘‘in the same manner as the 12 original lease issued pursuant to section 17.’’; 13 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and redesig- 14 nating paragraphs (3) and (4) as paragraphs 15 (2) and (3), respectively; and 16 (C) in paragraph (2), as redesignated, by 17 striking ‘‘, applicable to leases issued under sub- 18 section 17(c) of this Act (30 U.S.C. 226(c)) ex- 19 cept,’’ and inserting ‘‘, except’’. 20 (f) LEASE TERM.—Section 17(e) of the Mineral Leas- 21 ing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(e)) is amended by striking ‘‘10 22 years:’’ and inserting ‘‘5 years.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1503.RH H1503 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1503 RH (g) OTHER LEASING REQUIREMENTS.—Section 17(g) 1 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(g)), as amended 2 by section 8 of this Act, is further amended— 3 (1) by striking ‘‘(g) The Secretary of the Inte- 4 rior’’ and inserting the following: 5 ‘‘(g) OTHER LEASING REQUIREMENTS.— 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte- 7 rior’’; and 8 (2) by adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall not issue 10 a lease or approve the assignment of any lease to any 11 person, or to any subsidiary or affiliate of such per- 12 son or any other person controlled by or under com- 13 mon control with such person, unless such person has 14 the demonstrated capability to explore and produce 15 oil and gas under the lease. 16 ‘‘(3) PROTECTION OF LEASED LANDS FOR OTHER 17 USES.—Each lease under this section shall include 18 such terms as are necessary to preserve the United 19 States flexibility to control or prohibit activities that 20 pose serious and unacceptable impacts to the value of 21 the leased lands for uses other than production of oil 22 and gas.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1503.RH H1503 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1503 RH SEC. 3. TRANSPARENCY AND LANDOWNER PROTECTIONS. 1 (a) DISCLOSURE OF IDENTITIES FILING DISCLOSURES 2 OF INTEREST AND BIDS.—Section 17(b) of the Mineral 3 Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(b)), as amended by this Act, 4 is further amended by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(3) BIDDER IDENTITY.—The Secretary— 6 ‘‘(A) shall require that each expression of 7 interest to bid for a lease under this section and 8 each bid for a lease under this section shall in- 9 clude the name of the person for whom such ex- 10 pression of interest or bid is submitted; and 11 ‘‘(B) shall promptly publish each such 12 name.’’. 13 (b) NOTICE REQUIREMENTS.—Section 17(f) of the 14 Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(f)) is amended by 15 striking ‘‘(f) At least’’ and all that follows through ‘‘agen- 16 cies.’’ and inserting the following: 17 ‘‘(f) REQUIREMENTS PRIOR TO OFFERING LANDS FOR 18 LEASE.— 19 ‘‘(1) REQUIRED NOTICE.—At least 45 days before 20 offering lands for lease under this section, and at least 21 30 days before approving applications for permits to 22 drill under the provisions of a lease, modifying the 23 terms of any lease issued under this section, or grant- 24 ing a waiver, exception, or modification of any stipu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1503.RH H1503 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 1503 RH lation of a lease issued under this section, the Sec- 1 retary shall provide notice of the proposed action to— 2 ‘‘(A) the general public by posting such no- 3 tice in the appropriate local office and on the 4 electronic website of the leasing and land man- 5 agement agencies offering the lands for lease; 6 ‘‘(B) all surface land owners in the area of 7 the lands being offered for lease; and 8 ‘‘(C) the holders of special recreation per- 9 mits for commercial use, competitive events, and 10 other organized activities on the lands being of- 11 fered for lease. 12 ‘‘(2) REQUIRED INFORMATION.—’’. 13 (c) SURFACE OWNER PROTECTION.—Section 17 of the 14 Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226), is amended by add- 15 ing at the end the following: 16 ‘‘(r) POST-LEASE SURFACE USE AGREEMENT.— 17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 18 graph (2), the Secretary may not authorize any oper- 19 ator to conduct exploration and drilling operations on 20 lands with respect to which title to oil and gas re- 21 sources is held by the United States but title to the 22 surface estate is not held by the United States, until 23 the operator has filed with the Secretary a document, 24 signed by the operator and the surface owner or own- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1503.RH H1503 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 1503 RH ers, showing that the operator has secured a written 1 surface use agreement between the operator and the 2 surface owner or owners that meets the requirements 3 of subparagraph (B). 4 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The surface use agreement 5 shall provide for— 6 ‘‘(A) the use of only such portion of the sur- 7 face estate as is reasonably necessary for explo- 8 ration and drilling operations based on site-spe- 9 cific [Text truncated for display. 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