Conservation Funding Protection Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4947 To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to require annual lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico region of the outer Continental Shelf, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 2, 2020 Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. CORNYN, and Mr. WICKER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to require annual lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico region of the outer Continental Shelf, 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 ‘‘Conservation Funding 4 Protection Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. ANNUAL LEASE SALES IN GULF OF MEXICO REGION. 6 Section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 7 (43 U.S.C. 1344) is amended by adding at the end the 8 following: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:20 Dec 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4947.IS S4947 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4947 IS ‘‘(i) ANNUAL LEASE SALES IN GULF OF MEXICO RE- 1 GION.— 2 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 3 ‘‘(A) CENTRAL GULF OF MEXICO PLAN- 4 NING AREA.—The term ‘Central Gulf of Mexico 5 Planning Area’ has the meaning given the term 6 ‘Central Planning Area’ in section 102 of the 7 Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 8 (43 U.S.C. 1331 note; Public Law 109–432). 9 ‘‘(B) WESTERN GULF OF MEXICO PLAN- 10 NING AREA.—The term ‘Western Gulf of Mex- 11 ico Planning Area’ means the Western Gulf of 12 Mexico Planning Area of the outer Continental 13 Shelf, as designated in the document entitled 14 ‘Draft Proposed Program Outer Continental 15 Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program 2007– 16 2012’ and dated February 2006. 17 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL LEASE SALES.—Notwithstanding 18 any other provision of law, beginning in fiscal year 19 2022, the Secretary shall hold a minimum of 2 re- 20 gion-wide lease sales annually in the Gulf of Mexico 21 pursuant to this Act, each of which shall include 22 areas in— 23 ‘‘(A) the Central Gulf of Mexico Planning 24 Area; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:20 Dec 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4947.IS S4947 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4947 IS ‘‘(B) the Western Gulf of Mexico Planning 1 Area. 2 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.— 3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the 4 lease sales under paragraph (2), the Secretary 5 shall issue leases to the highest responsible 6 qualified bidder or bidders. 7 ‘‘(B) AREAS INCLUDED IN LEASE SALES.— 8 In carrying out the lease sales under paragraph 9 (2), the Secretary shall include in each lease 10 sale all unleased areas that are not subject to 11 restrictions as of the date of the lease sale. 12 ‘‘(4) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.— 13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to each 14 lease sale required under paragraph (2), the 15 Secretary shall conduct any environmental re- 16 views required by the National Environmental 17 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 18 ‘‘(B) DEADLINE.— 19 ‘‘(i) INDIVIDUAL REVIEW.—If the Sec- 20 retary conducts environmental reviews with 21 respect to a lease sale under subparagraph 22 (A) for each individual lease included in 23 the lease sale, the Secretary shall complete 24 all environmental reviews for the lease sale, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:20 Dec 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4947.IS S4947 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4947 IS including by issuing a finding of no signifi- 1 cant impact or a record of decision, if ap- 2 plicable, in less than 365 calendar days. 3 ‘‘(ii) PROGRAMMATIC REVIEW.—If the 4 Secretary conducts a programmatic envi- 5 ronmental review with respect to a lease 6 sale under subparagraph (A) for all leases 7 under the lease sale, the Secretary shall 8 complete the programmatic environmental 9 review, including by issuing a finding of no 10 significant impact or a record of decision, 11 if applicable, in less than 180 calendar 12 days. 13 ‘‘(j) PERMITTING.— 14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Pursuant to sovereign con- 15 tracting rights and obligations, the Secretary shall 16 review and grant or deny in accordance with para- 17 graph (2) any application for a permit or other ap- 18 proval for offshore oil and natural gas exploration, 19 development, and production activities under a lease 20 issued pursuant to this Act by not later than the 21 earlier of— 22 ‘‘(A) 75 calendar days after the date on 23 which the application is received by the Bureau 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:20 Dec 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4947.IS S4947 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4947 IS of Ocean Energy Management or the Bureau of 1 Safety and Environmental Enforcement; or 2 ‘‘(B) any other applicable deadline re- 3 quired by law. 4 ‘‘(2) APPROVAL OR DENIAL.— 5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Absent clear grounds 6 for denial of an application for a permit or 7 other approval described in paragraph (1), the 8 Secretary shall grant the permit or approval. 9 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—If the Secretary de- 10 nies an application for a permit or other ap- 11 proval under subparagraph (A), the Secretary 12 shall provide to the applicant written notice ex- 13 plaining the grounds for the denial.’’. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:20 Dec 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4947.IS S4947 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS