OWNER Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2716 To distribute revenue from offshore wind projects in the New York Bight Area to certain coastal States, and promote conservation and workforce development. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 19, 2023 Ms. MALLIOTAKIS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris- diction of the committee concerned A BILL To distribute revenue from offshore wind projects in the New York Bight Area to certain coastal States, and promote conservation and workforce development. 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 4 Northeastern Energy Revenue Act’’ or the ‘‘OWNER 5 Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2716.IH H2716 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 2716 IH SEC. 2. PARITY IN OFFSHORE WIND REVENUE SHARING 1 WITHIN THE NEW YORK BIGHT AREA. 2 Section 8(p)(2) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 3 Act (43 U.S.C. 1337(p)(2)) is amended— 4 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘(A) The 5 Secretary’’ and inserting the following: 6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara- 7 graphs (B) and (C), the Secretary’’; 8 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘(B) The 9 Secretary’’ and inserting the following: 10 ‘‘(B) DISPOSITION OF REVENUES FROM 11 PROJECTS LOCATED WITHIN 3 NAUTICAL MILES 12 SEAWARD OF STATE SUBMERGED LAND.—The 13 Secretary’’; and 14 (3) by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(C) DISPOSITION OF REVENUES FROM 16 OFFSHORE WIND PROJECTS IN CERTAIN 17 AREAS.— 18 ‘‘(i) DEPOSITS.—For each fiscal year, 19 the Secretary of the Treasury shall de- 20 posit— 21 ‘‘(I) 50 percent of qualified rev- 22 enue in the general fund of the Treas- 23 ury and credited to miscellaneous re- 24 ceipts; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2716.IH H2716 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 2716 IH ‘‘(II) 50 percent of qualified rev- 1 enue in a special account in the 2 Treasury to be allocated to eligible 3 States and coastal political subdivi- 4 sions in accordance with clause (ii). 5 ‘‘(ii) ALLOCATIONS.— 6 ‘‘(I) ELIGIBLE STATES.— 7 ‘‘(aa) IN GENERAL.—Sub- 8 ject to item (bb), for each fiscal 9 year the amount made available 10 under clause (i)(II) shall be allo- 11 cated to each eligible State in 12 amounts (based on a formula es- 13 tablished by the Secretary by a 14 regulation issued not later than 15 180 days after the date of enact- 16 ment of this subparagraph) that 17 are inversely proportional to the 18 respective distances between the 19 point on the coastline of each eli- 20 gible State that is closest to the 21 geographic center of the applica- 22 ble leased tract and the geo- 23 graphic center of the leased tract. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2716.IH H2716 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 2716 IH ‘‘(bb) MINIMUM ALLOCA- 1 TION.—The amount allocated to 2 an eligible State each fiscal year 3 under item (aa) shall be at least 4 10 percent of the amounts made 5 available under clause (i)(II). 6 ‘‘(II) COASTAL POLITICAL SUB- 7 DIVISIONS.— 8 ‘‘(aa) IN GENERAL.—For 9 each fiscal year, the Secretary 10 shall pay 25 percent of the allo- 11 cable share of each eligible State, 12 as determined under subclause 13 (I), to any coastal political sub- 14 divisions of the eligible State. 15 ‘‘(bb) FORMULA.—The 16 amount paid by the Secretary to 17 a coastal political subdivision 18 under item (aa) shall be deter- 19 mined in accordance with section 20 31(b)(4)(B). 21 ‘‘(iii) TIMING.—The amounts required 22 to be deposited under clause (i)(II) for the 23 applicable fiscal year shall be made avail- 24 able in accordance with clause (i)(II) dur- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2716.IH H2716 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 2716 IH ing the fiscal year immediately following 1 the applicable fiscal year. 2 ‘‘(iv) AUTHORIZED USES.— 3 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Subject to 4 subclause (II), each eligible State and 5 coastal political subdivision shall, in 6 accordance with all applicable Federal 7 and State laws, use all amounts re- 8 ceived under clause (ii) for one or 9 more of the following purposes: 10 ‘‘(aa) Coastal protection, in- 11 cluding conservation, coastal res- 12 toration, hurricane protection, 13 and infrastructure directly af- 14 fected by coastal wetland losses. 15 ‘‘(bb) Workforce training, 16 including for employment in the 17 renewable energy sector and re- 18 lated sectors. 19 ‘‘(cc) Infrastructure develop- 20 ment to support renewable en- 21 ergy projects, including the 22 transmission of renewable energy. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2716.IH H2716 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 2716 IH ‘‘(dd) Supporting science, 1 technology, engineering, and 2 mathematics education. 3 ‘‘(ee) Reducing carbon diox- 4 ide emissions and improving air 5 quality. 6 ‘‘(ff) Mitigation of damage 7 to fish, wildlife, or natural re- 8 sources. 9 ‘‘(gg) Mitigation of the im- 10 pact of outer Continental Shelf 11 activities through the funding of 12 onshore infrastructure projects. 13 ‘‘(hh) Planning assistance 14 and the administrative costs of 15 complying with this subpara- 16 graph. 17 ‘‘(II) LIMITATION.—An eligible 18 State and coastal political subdivision 19 may not use more than 3 percent of 20 the amounts such eligible State or 21 coastal political subdivision receives 22 for a fiscal year under clause (ii) for 23 the purposes described in subclause 24 (I)(hh). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2716.IH H2716 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 2716 IH ‘‘(v) ADMINISTRATION.—Subject to 1 clause (vi)(III), amounts made available 2 under clause (i)(II) shall— 3 ‘‘(I) be made available, without 4 further appropriation, in accordance 5 with this subparagraph; 6 ‘‘(II) remain available until ex- 7 pended; and 8 ‘‘(III) be in addition to any 9 amount appropriated under any other 10 provision of law. 11 ‘‘(vi) REPORTING.— 12 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Not later 13 than 180 days after the end of each 14 applicable fiscal year, the Governor of 15 each eligible State that receives an 16 amount under clause (ii) for a fiscal 17 year shall submit to the Secretary a 18 report that describes the use of such 19 amounts by the eligible State during 20 the period covered by the report. 21 ‘‘(II) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—On 22 receipt of a report under subclause 23 (I), the Secretary shall make the re- 24 port available to the public on the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2716.IH H2716 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 2716 IH website of the Department of the In- 1 terior. 2 ‘‘(III) LIMITATION.—If the Gov- 3 ernor of an eligible State that receives 4 an amount under clause (ii) for a fis- 5 cal year fails to submit the report re- 6 quired under subclause (I) by the 7 deadline specified in that subclause, 8 any amount that would otherwise be 9 provided to the eligible State under 10 clause (ii) for the succeeding fiscal 11 year shall be deposited in the general 12 fund of the Treasury and credited to 13 miscellaneous receipts. 14 ‘‘(vii) DEFINITIONS.—In this subpara- 15 graph: 16 ‘‘(I) COASTAL POLITICAL SUB- 17 DIVISION.—The term ‘coastal political 18 subdivision’ means a political subdivi- 19 sion of an eligible State any part of 20 which political subdivision is— 21 ‘‘(aa) within the coastal zone 22 (as defined in section 304 of the 23 Coastal Zone Management Act of 24 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1453)) of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2716.IH H2716 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 2716 IH eligible State as of the date of 1 enactment of this subparagraph; 2 and 3 ‘‘(bb) not more than 100 4 nautical miles from the geo- 5 graphic center of any covered off- 6 shore wind project. 7 ‘‘(II) COVERED OFFSHORE WIND 8 PROJECT.—The term ‘covered off- 9 shore wind project’ means a wind- 10 powered electric generation project in 11 a wind energy area on the outer Con- 12 tinental Shelf within the New York 13 Bight Area that is not wholly or par- 14 tially located within an area subject to 15 subparagraph (B), including— 16 ‘‘(aa) Hudson North OCS–A 17 0544; 18 ‘‘(bb) Central Bight OCS–A 19 0537; and 20 ‘‘(cc) Hudson South OCS–A 21 0538, OCS–A 0539, OCS–A 22 0541, and OCS–A 0542. 23 ‘‘(III) ELIGIBLE STATE.—The 24 term ‘eligible State’ means a State a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2716.IH H2716 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 2716 IH point on the coastline of which is lo- 1 cated within 75 nautical miles of the 2 geographic center of a covered off- 3 shore wind project. 4 ‘‘(IV) NEW YORK BIGHT AREA.— 5 The term ‘New York Bight Area’ 6 means the area extending generally 7 northeast from Cape May in New Jer- 8 sey to Montauk Point on the eastern 9 tip of Long Island, as described by 10 the Bureau of Ocean Energy Manage- 11 ment in the final environmental as- 12 sessment titled ‘Commercial and Re- 13 search Wind Lease and Grant 14 Issuance and Site Assessment Activi- 15 ties on the Atlantic Outer Continental 16 Shelf of the New York Bight’ (Decem- 17 ber 16, 2021; BOEM 2021–073). 18 ‘‘(V) QUALIFIED REVENUE.—The 19 term ‘qualified revenue’ means all 20 rentals, royalties, bonus bids, and 21 other sums due and payable to the 22 United States from leases for covered 23 offshore wind projects.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2716.IH H2716 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 2716 IH SEC. 3. REVENUE SHARING FOR WIND LEASE SALES IN THE 1 NEW YORK BIGHT AREA IN FISCAL YEAR 2023. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—For any lease sales held in the 3 New York Bight Area before the date of enactment of this 4 Act, including OCS–A 0544, OCS–A 0537, OCS–A 0538, 5 OCS–A 0539, OCS–A 0541, and OCS–A 0542, the Sec- 6 retary of the Interior shall disburse the revenue generated 7 by the bonus bids from such lease sales to eligible States 8 pursuant to subparagraph (C) of section 8(p)(2) of the 9 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, as added by this Act. 10 (b) ELIGIBLE STATE; NEW YORK BIGHT AREA.—In 11 this section, the terms ‘‘eligible State’’ and ‘‘New York 12 Bight Area’’ have the meanings given such terms in sub- 13 paragraph (C) of section 8(p)(2) of the Outer Continental 14 Shelf Lands Act, as added by this Act. 15 SEC. 4. EXEMPTION OF CERTAIN PAYMENTS FROM SEQUES- 16 TRATION. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 255(g)(1)(A) of the Bal- 18 anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 19 (2 U.S.C. 905(g)(1)(A)) is amended by inserting after 20 ‘‘Payments to Social Security Trust Funds (28–0404–0– 21 1–651).’’ the following: 22 ‘‘Payments to States pursuant to subpara- 23 graph (C) of section 8(p)(2) of the Outer Conti- 24 nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 25 1337(p)(2)(C)).’’. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2716.IH H2716 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •HR 2716 IH (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by sec- 1 tion shall apply to any sequestration order issued under 2 the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act 3 of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900 et seq.) on or after the date of 4 enactment of this Act. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2716.IH H2716 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB