Offshore Wind for Territories Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1689 To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to apply to territories of the United States, to establish offshore wind lease sale requirements, to provide dedicated funding for coral reef conservation, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 9, 2021 Miss GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N (for herself, Mr. SABLAN, Mrs. RADEWAGEN, Ms. PLASKETT, Mr. SOTO, and Miss RICE of New York) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to apply to territories of the United States, to establish offshore wind lease sale requirements, to provide dedicated fund- ing for coral reef conservation, 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 ‘‘Offshore Wind for Ter- 4 ritories Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:05 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1689.IH H1689 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1689 IH SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF 1 LANDS ACT WITH RESPECT TO TERRITORIES 2 OF THE UNITED STATES. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2 of the Outer Conti- 4 nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331) is amended— 5 (1) in paragraph (a)— 6 (A) by inserting after ‘‘control’’ the fol- 7 lowing: ‘‘or lying within the exclusive economic 8 zone of the United States and the outer Conti- 9 nental Shelf adjacent to any territory or posses- 10 sion of the United States’’; and 11 (B) by adding at the end before the semi- 12 colon the following: ‘‘, except that such term 13 shall not include any area conveyed by Congress 14 to a territorial government for administration’’; 15 (2) in paragraph (p), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 16 the semicolon at the end; 17 (3) in paragraph (q), by striking the period at 18 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 19 (4) by adding at the end the following: 20 ‘‘(r) The term ‘State’ means the several States, the 21 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, 22 the United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth 23 of the Northern Mariana Islands.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:05 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1689.IH H1689 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1689 IH (b) EXCLUSIONS.—Section 18 of the Outer Conti- 1 nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344) is amended by 2 adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(i) This section shall not apply to the scheduling of 4 lease sales in the outer Continental Shelf adjacent to the 5 territories and possessions of the United States.’’. 6 SEC. 3. DISPOSITION OF REVENUES WITH RESPECT TO 7 TERRITORIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 8 Section 9 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 9 (43 U.S.C. 1338) is amended— 10 (1) by striking ‘‘All rentals’’ and inserting the 11 following: 12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided in 13 law, all rentals’’; and 14 (2) by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(b) DISPOSITION OF REVENUES TO TERRITORIES 16 OF THE UNITED STATES.—Of the bonuses, rentals, royal- 17 ties, and other sums paid to the Secretary under this Act 18 from a lease for an area of land on the outer Continental 19 Shelf adjacent to a territory and lying within the exclusive 20 economic zone of the United States pertaining to such ter- 21 ritory, and not otherwise obligated or appropriated— 22 ‘‘(1) 50 percent shall be deposited in the Treas- 23 ury and credited to miscellaneous receipts; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:05 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1689.IH H1689 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1689 IH ‘‘(2) 12.5 percent shall be deposited in the 1 Coral Reef Conservation Fund established under 2 section 211 of the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 3 2000; and 4 ‘‘(3) 37.5 percent shall be disbursed to terri- 5 tories of the United States in an amount for each 6 territory (based on a formula established by the Sec- 7 retary by regulation) that is inversely proportional to 8 the respective distance between the point on the 9 coastline of the territory that is closest to the geo- 10 graphic center of the applicable leased tract and the 11 geographic center of the leased tract.’’. 12 SEC. 4. WIND LEASE SALES FOR AREAS OF OUTER CONTI- 13 NENTAL SHELF. 14 (a) CONDITIONAL WIND LEASE SALES IN TERRI- 15 TORIES OF THE UNITED STATES.—The Outer Continental 16 Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) is amended by 17 adding at the end the following: 18 ‘‘SEC. 33. WIND LEASE SALES FOR AREAS OF OUTER CONTI- 19 NENTAL SHELF. 20 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary may conduct 21 wind lease sales on the outer Continental Shelf. 22 ‘‘(b) WIND LEASE SALE PROCEDURE.—Any wind 23 lease sale conducted under this section shall be considered 24 a lease under section 8(p). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:05 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1689.IH H1689 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1689 IH ‘‘(c) WIND LEASE SALES OFF COASTS OF TERRI- 1 TORIES OF THE UNITED STATES.— 2 ‘‘(1) STUDY ON FEASIBILITY OF CONDUCTING 3 WIND LEASE SALES.— 4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 5 conduct a study on the feasibility, including the 6 technological and long-term economic feasibility, 7 of conducting wind lease sales on an area of the 8 outer Continental Shelf within the territorial ju- 9 risdiction of American Samoa, Guam, the Com- 10 monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 11 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the 12 United States Virgin Islands. 13 ‘‘(B) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the 14 study required in paragraph (A), the Secretary 15 shall consult— 16 ‘‘(i) the National Laboratories, as 17 that term is defined in section 2(3) of the 18 Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 19 15801(3)); 20 ‘‘(ii) the Governor of each of Amer- 21 ican Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of 22 the Northern Mariana Islands, the Com- 23 monwealth of Puerto Rico, and the United 24 States Virgin Islands; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:22 May 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1689.IH H1689 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1689 IH ‘‘(iii) the National Oceanic and At- 1 mospheric Administration, including the 2 Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and 3 the National Marine Fisheries Service. 4 ‘‘(C) PUBLICATION.—The study required 5 in subparagraph (A) shall be published in the 6 Federal Register for public comment for not 7 fewer than 60 days. 8 ‘‘(D) SUBMISSION OF RESULTS.—Not later 9 than 18 months after the date of the enactment 10 of this section, the Secretary shall submit the 11 results of the study conducted under subpara- 12 graph (A) to: 13 ‘‘(i) the Committee on Energy and 14 Natural Resources of the Senate; 15 ‘‘(ii) the Committee on Natural Re- 16 sources of the House of Representatives; 17 and 18 ‘‘(iii) each of the delegates or resident 19 commissioner to the House of Representa- 20 tives from American Samoa, Guam, the 21 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 22 Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto 23 Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands, 24 respectively. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:05 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1689.IH H1689 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1689 IH ‘‘(E) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The study 1 required under subparagraph (A) and results 2 submitted under subparagraph (C) shall be 3 made readily available on a public website. 4 ‘‘(2) CALL FOR INFORMATION AND NOMINA- 5 TIONS.—The Secretary shall issue a call for informa- 6 tion and nominations for proposed wind lease sales 7 for areas determined to be feasible under the study 8 conducted under paragraph (1). 9 ‘‘(3) CONDITIONAL WIND LEASE SALES.— 10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For each territory, 11 the Secretary shall conduct not less than 1 wind 12 lease sale on an area of the outer Continental 13 Shelf within the territorial jurisdiction of such 14 territory that meets each of the following cri- 15 teria: 16 ‘‘(i) The study required under para- 17 graph (1)(A) concluded that a wind lease 18 sale on the area is feasible. 19 ‘‘(ii) The Secretary has determined 20 that the call for information has generated 21 sufficient interest for the area. 22 ‘‘(iii) The Secretary has consulted 23 with the Secretary of Defense regarding 24 such a sale. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:05 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1689.IH H1689 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1689 IH ‘‘(iv) The Secretary has consulted 1 with the Governor of the territory regard- 2 ing the suitability of the area for wind en- 3 ergy development. 4 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—If no area of the outer 5 Continental Shelf within the territorial jurisdic- 6 tion of a territory meets each of the criteria in 7 clauses (i) through (iii) of subparagraph (A), 8 the requirement under subparagraph (A) shall 9 not apply to such territory.’’. 10 SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF CORAL REEF CONSERVATION 11 FUND. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Coral Reef Conservation Act 13 of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 6401 et seq.) is amended by adding 14 at the end the following: 15 ‘‘SEC. 211. CORAL REEF CONSERVATION FUND. 16 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 17 Treasury the Coral Reef Conservation Fund, hereafter re- 18 ferred to as the Fund. 19 ‘‘(b) DEPOSITS.—For each fiscal year, there shall be 20 deposited in the Fund the portion of such revenues due 21 and payable to the United States under subsection (b)(2) 22 of section 9 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 23 U.S.C. 1338). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:05 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1689.IH H1689 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1689 IH ‘‘(c) USES.—Amounts deposited in the Fund under 1 this section and appropriated to the Secretary of Com- 2 merce under subsection (f) shall be used by the Secretary 3 of Commerce to carry out the Coral Reef Conservation Act 4 of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 6401 et seq.), with priority given to 5 carrying out sections 204 and 206 of such Act (16 U.S.C. 6 6403 and 6405). 7 ‘‘(d) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts deposited in the Fund 8 shall remain in the Fund until appropriated by Congress. 9 ‘‘(e) REPORTING.—The President shall include with 10 the proposed budget for the United States Government 11 submitted to Congress for a fiscal year a comprehensive 12 statement of deposits into the Fund during the previous 13 fiscal year and estimated requirements during the fol- 14 lowing fiscal year for appropriations from the Fund. 15 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 16 are authorized to be appropriated from the Fund to the 17 Secretary of Commerce, an amount equal to the amount 18 deposited in the Fund in the previous fiscal year. 19 ‘‘(g) NO LIMITATION.—Appropriations from the 20 Fund pursuant to this section may be made without fiscal 21 year limitation.’’. 22 (b) RENAMING OF EXISTING FUND.—Section 205 of 23 the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 6404) 24 is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:05 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1689.IH H1689 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1689 IH (1) in the heading, by striking ‘‘CORAL REEF 1 CONSERVATION FUND’’ and inserting ‘‘CORAL 2 REEF PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP’’; 3 (2) in subsection (a)— 4 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 5 ‘‘FUND’’ and inserting ‘‘PUBLIC-PRIVATE 6 PARTNERSHIP’’; and 7 (B) by striking ‘‘, hereafter referred to as 8 the Fund,’’; and 9 (3) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘Fund’’ and 10 inserting ‘‘separate interest bearing account’’. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:05 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1689.IH H1689 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS