Restoring Community Input and Public Protections in Oil and Gas Leasing Act of 2020

IB Union Calendar No. 572 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 3225 [Report No. 116–689, 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 JUNE 12, 2019 Mr. LEVIN of California (for himself, Mr. GRIJALVA, and Mr. LOWENTHAL) 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 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned DECEMBER 24, 2020 Additional sponsors: Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. SOTO, Ms. NOR- TON, Mr. RYAN, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. PANETTA, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. VAN DREW, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. NAD- LER, Mr. KILDEE, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Ms. HAALAND, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. BLUMENAUER, and Ms. PORTER DECEMBER 24, 2020 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 24, 2020 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 June 12, 2019] VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:10 Dec 26, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H3225.RH H3225 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3225 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 18:10 Dec 26, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H3225.RH H3225 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3225 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 2020’’. 6 SEC. 2. LEASING PROCESS. 7 (a) ONSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASING.—Section 17(a) 8 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(a)) is amended 9 to read as follows: 10 ‘‘(a) LEASING AUTHORITY.— 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—All lands subject to disposi- 12 tion under this Act that are known or believed to con- 13 tain oil or gas deposits may be leased by the Sec- 14 retary. 15 ‘‘(2) RECEIPT OF FAIR MARKET VALUE.—Leas- 16 ing activities under this Act shall be conducted to as- 17 sure receipt of fair market value for the lands and re- 18 sources leased and the rights conveyed by the United 19 States.’’. 20 (b) COMPETITIVE BIDDING.—Section 17(b)(1)(A) of 21 the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(b)(1)(A)) is 22 amended to read as follows: 23 ‘‘(A) COMPETITIVE BIDDING.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:10 Dec 26, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3225.RH H3225 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3225 RH ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—All lands to be 1 leased under this section shall be leased as 2 provided in this paragraph to the highest 3 responsible qualified bidder by competitive 4 bidding by sealed bid. 5 ‘‘(ii) GEOGRAPHIC LIMITATION.—The 6 Secretary shall lease lands under this para- 7 graph in units of not more than 2,560 8 acres, except in Alaska, where units shall be 9 not more than 5,760 acres. Such units shall 10 be as nearly compact as possible. 11 ‘‘(iii) FREQUENCY.—Lease sales under 12 this section shall be held for each State in 13 which there are lands eligible for leasing no 14 more than 3 times each year and on a ro- 15 tating basis such that the lands under the 16 responsibility of any Bureau of Land Man- 17 agement field office are available for leasing 18 no more than one time each year. 19 ‘‘(iv) ROYALTY.—A lease under this 20 section shall be conditioned upon the pay- 21 ment of a royalty at a rate of not less than 22 18.5 percent in amount or value of the pro- 23 duction removed or sold from the lease, ex- 24 cept as otherwise provided in this Act. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:10 Dec 26, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3225.RH H3225 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3225 RH ‘‘(v) ISSUANCE OF LEASE.—The Sec- 1 retary may issue a lease under this section 2 to the responsible qualified bidder with the 3 highest bid that is equal to or greater than 4 the national minimum acceptable bid. The 5 Secretary shall decide whether to accept a 6 bid and issue a lease within 90 days fol- 7 lowing payment by the successful bidder of 8 the remainder of the bonus bid, if any, and 9 annual rental for the first lease year. 10 ‘‘(vi) REJECTION OF BID.—The Sec- 11 retary may reject a bid above the national 12 minimum acceptable bid if, after evaluation 13 of the value of the lands proposed for lease, 14 the Secretary determines that the bid 15 amount does not ensure that fair market 16 value is obtained for the lease.’’. 17 (c) NATIONAL MINIMUM ACCEPTABLE BID.—Subpara- 18 graph (B) of section 17(b)(1) of the Mineral Leasing Act 19 (30 U.S.C. 226(b)(1)), is amended to read as follows: 20 ‘‘(B) NATIONAL MINIMUM ACCEPTABLE 21 BID.— 22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The national min- 23 imum acceptable bid shall be $5 per acre. 24 All bids under this section for less than the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:10 Dec 26, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3225.RH H3225 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3225 RH national minimum acceptable bid shall be 1 rejected. 2 ‘‘(ii) RAISING THE NATIONAL MINIMUM 3 ACCEPTABLE BID.—The Secretary may es- 4 tablish a higher national minimum accept- 5 able bid— 6 ‘‘(I) beginning at the end of the 7 four year period that begins on the 8 date of enactment of the Restoring 9 Community Input and Public Protec- 10 tion in Oil and Gas Leasing Act of 11 2020, at least once every 4 years, to re- 12 flect the change in the Consumer Price 13 Index for All Urban Consumers pub- 14 lished by the Bureau of Labor Statis- 15 tics; and 16 ‘‘(II) at any time if the Secretary 17 finds that such a higher amount is nec- 18 essary to enhance financial returns to 19 the United States or to promote more 20 efficient management of oil and gas re- 21 sources on Federal lands. 22 ‘‘(iii) NOT A MAJOR FEDERAL AC- 23 TION.—The proposal or issuance of any reg- 24 ulation to establish a higher national min- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:10 Dec 26, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3225.RH H3225 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3225 RH imum acceptable bid under clause (ii) shall 1 not be considered a major Federal action 2 that is subject to the requirements of section 3 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 4 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 5 4332(2)(C)).’’. 6 (d) RENTALS.—Section 17(d) of the Mineral Leasing 7 Act (30 U.S.C. 226(d)) is amended to read as follows: 8 ‘‘(d) ANNUAL RENTALS.—All leases issued under this 9 section shall be conditioned upon the payment by the lessee 10 of a rental of— 11 ‘‘(1) not less than $3.00 per acre per year during 12 the 2-year period beginning on the date the lease be- 13 gins for new leases, and after the end of such two year 14 period not less than $5 per acre per year; or 15 ‘‘(2) such higher rental rate as the Secretary 16 may establish if the Secretary finds that such action 17 is necessary to enhance financial returns to the 18 United States and promote more efficient manage- 19 ment of oil and gas and alternative energy resources 20 on Federal lands.’’. 21 (e) ELIMINATION OF NONCOMPETITIVE LEASING.—The 22 Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) is amended— 23 (1) in section 17(b) (30 U.S.C. 226(b)), by strik- 24 ing paragraph (3); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:10 Dec 26, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3225.RH H3225 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3225 RH (2) by amending section 17(c) (30 U.S.C. 226(c)) 1 to read as follows: 2 ‘‘(c) Lands made available for leasing under subsection 3 (b)(1) but for which no bid is accepted may be made avail- 4 able by the Secretary for a new round of sealed bidding 5 under such subsection.’’; 6 (3) in section 17(e) (30 U.S.C. 226(e))— 7 (A) by striking ‘‘Competitive and non- 8 competitive leases’’ and inserting ‘‘Leases, in- 9 cluding leases for tar sand areas,’’; and 10 (B) by striking ‘‘Provided, however’’ and all 11 that follows through ‘‘ten years.’’; 12 (4) in section 31(d)(1) (30 U.S.C. 188(d)(1)) by 13 striking ‘‘or section 17(c)’’; 14 (5) in section 31(e) (30 U.S.C. 188(e))— 15 (A) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘, or the 16 inclusion’’ and all that follows and inserting a 17 semicolon; and 18 (B) in paragraph (3) by striking ‘‘(A)’’ and 19 by striking subparagraph (B); 20 (6) by striking section 31(f) (30 U.S.C. 188(f)); 21 and 22 (7) in section 31(g) (30 U.S.C. 188(g))— 23 (A) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘as a 24 competitive’’ and all that follows through the pe- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:10 Dec 26, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3225.RH H3225 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3225 RH riod and inserting ‘‘in the same manner as the 1 original lease issued pursuant to section 17.’’; 2 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and redesig- 3 nating paragraphs (3) and (4) as paragraphs 4 (2) and (3), respectively; and 5 (C) in paragraph (2), as redesignated, by 6 striking ‘‘, applicable to leases issued under sub- 7 section 17(c) of this Act (30 U.S.C. 226(c)) ex- 8 cept,’’ and inserting ‘‘, except’’. 9 (f) LEASE TERM.—Section 17(e) of the Mineral Leas- 10 ing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(e)) is amended by striking ‘‘10 11 years:’’ and inserting ‘‘5 years.’’. 12 (g) OTHER LEASING REQUIREMENTS.—Section 17(g) 13 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(g)), as amended 14 by section 8 of this Act, is further amended— 15 (1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ at the beginning 16 and inserting ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary’’; 17 and 18 (2) by adding at the end the following: 19 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall not issue 20 a lease or approve the assignment of any lease to any 21 person, or to any subsidiary or affiliate of such per- 22 son or any other person controlled by or under com- 23 mon control with such person, unless such person has 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:10 Dec 26, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3225.RH H3225 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3225 RH the demonstrated capability to explore and produce 1 oil and gas under the lease. 2 ‘‘(3) PROTECTION OF LEASED LANDS FOR OTHER 3 USES.—Each lease under this section shall include 4 such terms as are necessary to preserve the United 5 States flexibility to control or prohibit activities that 6 pose serious and unacceptable impacts to the value of 7 the leased lands for uses other than production of oil 8 and gas.’’. 9 SEC. 3. TRANSPARENCY AND LANDOWNER PROTECTIONS. 10 (a) DISCLOSURE OF IDENTITIES FILING DISCLOSURES 11 OF INTEREST AND BIDS.—Section 17(b) of the Mineral 12 Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(b)), as amended by this Act, 13 is further amended by adding at the end the following: 14 ‘‘(3) BIDDER IDENTITY.—The Secretary— 15 ‘‘(A) shall require that each expression of 16 interest to bid for a lease under this section and 17 each bid for a lease under this section shall in- 18 clude the name of the person for whom such ex- 19 pression of interest or bid is submitted; and 20 ‘‘(B) shall promptly publish each such 21 name.’’. 22 (b) NOTICE REQUIREMENTS.—Section 17(f) of the 23 Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(f)) is amended by 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:10 Dec 26, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3225.RH H3225 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3225 RH striking ‘‘At least’’ and all that follows through ‘‘agencies.’’ 1 and inserting the following: 2 ‘‘(1) REQUIRED NOTICE.—At least 45 days before 3 offering lands for lease under this section, and at least 4 30 days before approving applications for permits to 5 drill under the provisions of a lease, modifying the 6 terms of any lease issued under this section, or grant- 7 ing a waiver, exception, or modification of any stipu- 8 lation of a lease issued under this section, the Sec- 9 retary shall provide notice of the proposed action to— 10 ‘‘(A) the general public by posting such no- 11 tice in the appropriate local office and on the 12 electronic website of the leasing and land man- 13 agement agencies offering the lands for lease; 14 ‘‘(B) all surface land owners in the area of 15 the lands being offered for lease; and 16 ‘‘(C) the holders of special recreation per- 17 mits for commercial use, competitive events, and 18 other organized activities on the lands being of- 19 fered for lease. 20 ‘‘(2) REQUIRED INFORMATION.—’’. 21 (c) SURFACE OWNER PROTECTION.— 22 (1) POST-LEASE SURFACE USE AGREEMENT.— 23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 24 paragraph (2), the Secretary may not authorize 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:10 Dec 26, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3225.RH H3225 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3225 RH any operator to conduct exploration and drilling 1 operations on lands with respect to which title to 2 oil and gas resources is held by the United States 3 but title to the surface estate is not held by the 4 United States, until the operator has filed with 5 the Secretary a document, signed by the operator 6 and the surface owner or owners, showing that 7 the operator has secured a written surface use 8 agreement between the operator and the surface 9 owner or owners that meets the requirements of 10 subparagraph (B). 11 (B) CONTENTS.—The surface use agreement 12 shall provide for— 13 (i) the use of only such portion of the 14 surface estate as is reasonably necessary for 15 exploration and drilling operations based 16 on site-specific conditions; 17 (ii) the accommodation of the surface 18 estate owner to the maximum extent prac- 19 ticable, including the location, use, timing, 20 and type of exploration and drilling oper- 21 ations, consistent with the operator’s right 22 to develop the oil and gas estate; 23 (iii) the reclamation of the site to a 24 condition capable of supporting the uses 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:10 Dec 26, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3225.RH H3225 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 3225 RH which such lands were capable of sup- 1 porting prior to exploration and drilling 2 operations; and 3 (iv) compensation for damages as a re- 4 sult of exploration and drilling operations, 5 including— 6 (I) loss of income and increased 7 costs incurred; 8 (II) damage to or [Text truncated for display. 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