FLARE Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2818 To require the Secretary of the Interior to issue regulations to ban the venting and flaring of gas in oil and gas production operations in the United States, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 7, 2019 Mr. MARKEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To require the Secretary of the Interior to issue regulations to ban the venting and flaring of gas in oil and gas production operations in the United States, 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 ‘‘Fuel Loss Abatement 4 and Royalty Enhancement Act’’ or the ‘‘FLARE Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2818.IS S2818 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2818 IS SEC. 2. REGULATIONS TO BAN VENTING AND FLARING OF 1 GAS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 3 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior 4 shall issue regulations under this Act— 5 (1) to ban the venting and flaring of gas in oil 6 and gas production operations on Federal land on- 7 shore and offshore in the United States, with the ex- 8 ception of— 9 (A) de minimis venting and flaring; and 10 (B) venting and flaring that the Secretary 11 determines is required for safety; and 12 (2) to promote the capture and beneficial use or 13 reinjection of gas in the operations referred to in 14 paragraph (1). 15 (b) ROYALTIES.—A regulation issued under this sec- 16 tion shall include provisions that treat gas that is flared 17 or vented in operations under a lease under this Act as 18 production for which royalty is required to be paid to the 19 United States. 20 SEC. 3. ASSESSMENT OF VENTING AND FLARING OF GAS IN 21 PRODUCTION OPERATIONS IN UNITED 22 STATES. 23 Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment 24 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 25 shall— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2818.IS S2818 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2818 IS (1) assess the venting and flaring of gas in oil 1 and gas production operations on Federal land on- 2 shore and offshore in the United States; and 3 (2) submit to Congress a report on the venting 4 and flaring of gas in oil and gas production oper- 5 ations on Federal land onshore and offshore in the 6 United States, including an estimate of the volume 7 of gas that is vented or flared in such operations 8 each year. 9 SEC. 4. REGULATIONS. 10 The Secretary of the Interior shall issue regulations 11 that define the terms ‘‘vent’’, ‘‘venting’’, ‘‘flare’’, and 12 ‘‘flaring’’ for purposes of this Act. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2818.IS S2818 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS