Strategic Petroleum Reserve Reform Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7019 To authorize the Secretary of Energy to carry out a program to lease underutilized Strategic Petroleum Reserve facilities, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 26, 2020 Mr. SCALISE (for himself and Mr. CUELLAR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To authorize the Secretary of Energy to carry out a program to lease underutilized Strategic Petroleum Reserve facili- ties, 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 ‘‘Strategic Petroleum 4 Reserve Reform Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. USE OF UNDERUTILIZED STRATEGIC PETROLEUM 6 RESERVE FACILITIES. 7 Section 168 of the Energy Policy and Conservation 8 Act (42 U.S.C. 6247a) is amended to read as follows: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:57 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7019.IH H7019 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7019 IH ‘‘SEC. 168. USE OF UNDERUTILIZED FACILITIES. 1 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 2 sion of this title, the Secretary may establish and carry 3 out a program to make available, by lease or otherwise, 4 underutilized Strategic Petroleum Reserve storage facili- 5 ties and related facilities to the private sector, or a foreign 6 government or its representative, for any term and under 7 such other conditions as the Secretary considers necessary 8 or appropriate. Petroleum products stored under this sec- 9 tion are not part of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. 10 ‘‘(b) PROTECTION OF FACILITIES.—Any lease en- 11 tered into under the program established under subsection 12 (a) shall contain provisions providing for fees to fully com- 13 pensate the United States for all related costs of storage 14 and removals of petroleum products (including the propor- 15 tionate cost of replacement facilities necessitated as a re- 16 sult of any withdrawals) incurred by the United States 17 as a result of such lease. 18 ‘‘(c) ACCESS BY THE UNITED STATES.—The Sec- 19 retary shall ensure that leasing of facilities under the pro- 20 gram established under subsection (a) does not impair the 21 ability of the United States to withdraw, distribute, or sell 22 petroleum products from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve 23 in response to an energy emergency or to the obligations 24 of the United States under the Agreement on an Inter- 25 national Energy Program. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:57 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7019.IH H7019 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7019 IH ‘‘(d) NATIONAL SECURITY.—The Secretary shall en- 1 sure that leasing of facilities under the program estab- 2 lished under subsection (a) to a foreign government or its 3 representative will not impair national security. 4 ‘‘(e) DEPOSITS OF AMOUNTS RECEIVED.— 5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 6 graph (2), amounts received through the leasing of 7 facilities under the program established under sub- 8 section (a) shall be deposited in the general fund of 9 the Treasury during the fiscal year in which such 10 amounts are received. 11 ‘‘(2) COSTS.—The Secretary may use for costs 12 described in subsection (b) (other than costs de- 13 scribed in subsection (f)), without further appropria- 14 tion, amounts received through the leasing of facili- 15 ties under the program established under subsection 16 (a). 17 ‘‘(f) PREPARATION OF FACILITIES.—The Secretary 18 shall only use amounts available in the Energy Security 19 and Infrastructure Modernization Fund established by 20 section 404 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 for costs 21 described in subsection (b) of this section that relate to 22 addition of facilities or changes to facilities or facility op- 23 erations necessary to lease such facilities, including costs 24 related to acquisition of land, acquisition of ancillary fa- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:57 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7019.IH H7019 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7019 IH cilities and equipment, and site development, and other 1 necessary costs related to capital improvement.’’. 2 SEC. 3. PILOT PROGRAM TO LEASE STRATEGIC PETRO- 3 LEUM RESERVE FACILITIES. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part B of title I of the Energy 5 Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6231 et seq.) is 6 amended by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘SEC. 170. PILOT PROGRAM TO LEASE STORAGE AND RE- 8 LATED FACILITIES. 9 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—In carrying out section 168 10 and not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 11 of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Reform Act, the Sec- 12 retary shall establish and carry out a pilot program to 13 make available for lease— 14 ‘‘(1) capacity for storage of up to 200,000,000 15 barrels of petroleum products at Strategic Petroleum 16 Reserve storage facilities; and 17 ‘‘(2) related facilities. 18 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS.—In carrying out the pilot program 19 established under subsection (a), the Secretary shall— 20 ‘‘(1) identify appropriate Strategic Petroleum 21 Reserve storage facilities and related facilities to 22 lease, in order to make maximum use of such facili- 23 ties; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:57 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7019.IH H7019 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7019 IH ‘‘(2) identify and implement any changes to fa- 1 cilities or facility operations necessary to so lease 2 such facilities, including any such changes necessary 3 to ensure the long-term structural viability and use 4 of the facilities for purposes of this part and part C; 5 ‘‘(3) make such facilities available for lease; and 6 ‘‘(4) identify environmental effects, including 7 benefits, of leasing storage facilities and related fa- 8 cilities. 9 ‘‘(c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 10 of enactment of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Reform 11 Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on 12 the status of the pilot program established under sub- 13 section (a).’’. 14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con- 15 tents for the Energy Policy and Conservation Act is 16 amended by adding after the item relating to section 169 17 the following: 18 ‘‘Sec. 170. Pilot program to lease storage and related facilities.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:57 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7019.IH H7019 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS