SPUR Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1456 To provide for certain energy development, permitting reforms, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 4, 2023 Mr. BARRASSO (for himself, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. RISCH, Mr. LEE, Mr. DAINES, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. HOEVEN, Mr. CASSIDY, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, and Mr. HAWLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- ferred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To provide for certain energy development, permitting reforms, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Spur Permitting of Underdeveloped Resources Act’’ or 5 the ‘‘SPUR Act’’. 6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 7 this Act is as follows: 8 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. TITLE I—OIL AND GAS LEASING AND PERMITTING VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S1456.IS S1456 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1456 IS Subtitle A—Onshore and Offshore Oil and Gas Leasing Sec. 1101. Onshore oil and gas leasing. Sec. 1102. Offshore oil and gas leasing. Sec. 1103. Prohibition on delays. Subtitle B—Permitting of Federal Oil and Gas Minerals Sec. 1201. Term of application for permit to drill. Sec. 1202. Cooperative federalism in oil and gas permitting on available Fed- eral land. Sec. 1203. Split estate permitting compliance. Sec. 1204. Fee-fee-fed permitting compliance. Sec. 1205. State and Tribal authority for hydraulic fracturing regulation. Subtitle C—Liquefied Natural Gas Exports Sec. 1301. Action on applications to export liquefied natural gas. Sec. 1302. Small scale LNG access. TITLE II—MINERAL LEASING AND PERMITTING Sec. 2001. Land use plan criteria under the Federal Land Policy and Manage- ment Act of 1976. Sec. 2002. Congressional approval of withdrawals under the Federal Land Pol- icy and Management Act of 1976. Sec. 2003. Prohibition of certain moratoria. Sec. 2004. Prohibition of the establishment of new categories of Federal land designations by the heads of Federal land management agen- cies. Sec. 2005. Coal leases on Federal land. Sec. 2006. Modification to definitions of critical material and critical mineral and critical mineral designation criteria. Sec. 2007. Permitting process improvements. TITLE III—FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION Sec. 3001. Tariff reforms, rate treatments, and rulemaking to ensure the reli- ability and security of electric service and interstate natural gas service. Sec. 3002. Federal authorizations under the Natural Gas Act. Sec. 3003. Federal authorizations under section 216 of the Federal Power Act. Sec. 3004. Promoting interagency coordination for review of natural gas projects. Sec. 3005. Coordination process to protect electric reliability. Sec. 3006. Addressing inaction by Commission on certain electric rate filings. Sec. 3007. Tolling order reform for the Natural Gas Act. Sec. 3008. Tolling order reform for the Federal Power Act. Sec. 3009. De novo review of civil penalties under the Natural Gas Act. Sec. 3010. Extension of time to commence construction of certain hydropower projects. Sec. 3011. Judicial review. Sec. 3012. Approval for border-crossing facilities. TITLE IV—OTHER NATURAL RESOURCES Sec. 4001. Root and stem projects. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S1456.IS S1456 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1456 IS Sec. 4002. Consultation under certain land and resource management plans and land use plans. Sec. 4003. Renewal term of grazing permits or leases. Sec. 4004. Renewal of grazing permits and leases and certain actions during extreme natural events and disasters. Sec. 4005. Withdrawal of BLM proposed rule. TITLE I—OIL AND GAS LEASING 1 AND PERMITTING 2 Subtitle A—Onshore and Offshore 3 Oil and Gas Leasing 4 SEC. 1101. ONSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASING. 5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 6 (1) ONSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASE SALE.—The 7 term ‘‘onshore oil and gas lease sale’’ means an oil 8 and gas lease sale conducted under section 17 of the 9 Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226). 10 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 11 the Secretary of the Interior. 12 (b) ONSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASE SALES.— 13 (1) CONGRESSIONAL DECLARATION OF POL- 14 ICY.—Consistent with the policy described in section 15 102(a)(12) of the Federal Land Policy and Manage- 16 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701(a)(12)) that the 17 Bureau of Land Management manage public land 18 ‘‘in a manner which recognizes the Nation’s need for 19 domestic sources of minerals’’ from public land, 20 Congress declares that it is the policy of the United 21 States that it is in the national interest for the De- 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1456.IS S1456 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1456 IS partment of the Interior to move forward expedi- 1 tiously to immediately resume quarterly onshore oil 2 and gas lease sales. 3 (2) REQUIREMENT TO IMMEDIATELY RESUME 4 ONSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASE SALES.—The Sec- 5 retary shall immediately resume quarterly onshore 6 oil and gas lease sales in accordance with section 7 17(b)(1)(A) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 8 226(b)(1)(A)). 9 (3) STATUTORY LEASE TERMS.—During the 5- 10 year period beginning on the date of enactment of 11 this Act, in order to promote increased production 12 on Federal land, the Secretary may, on a determina- 13 tion that it is in the national interest, reduce the ap- 14 plicable royalty rate on individual leases issued 15 under an onshore oil and gas lease sale to not less 16 than 12.5 percent. 17 (4) APPROVED RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN 18 REQUIREMENT.—In conducting a quarterly onshore 19 oil and gas lease sale in a State described in section 20 17(b)(1)(A) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 21 226(b)(1)(A)), the Secretary— 22 (A) shall offer not less than 25 percent of 23 available parcels nominated for oil and gas de- 24 velopment under the applicable resource man- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1456.IS S1456 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1456 IS agement plan in effect for relevant Bureau of 1 Land Management resource management areas 2 within the applicable State; and 3 (B) shall not restrict the parcels offered to 4 1 Bureau of Land Management field office 5 within the applicable State unless all nominated 6 parcels are located within the same Bureau of 7 Land Management field office. 8 (5) REPLACEMENT SALES.—If, for any reason, 9 an onshore oil and gas lease sale for a calendar year 10 is canceled, delayed, or deferred or is paused due to 11 section 208 of Executive Order 14008 (42 U.S.C. 12 4321 note; relating to tackling the climate crisis at 13 home and abroad), the Secretary shall conduct a re- 14 placement sale by not later than 180 days after the 15 date of the cancellation, delay, deferral, or pause, as 16 applicable. 17 (c) MINERAL LEASING ACT REFORMS.— 18 (1) EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST FOR OIL AND 19 GAS LEASING.— 20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 17 of the Min- 21 eral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) is amended 22 by striking the section designation and all that 23 follows through the end of subsection (a) and 24 inserting the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1456.IS S1456 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1456 IS ‘‘SEC. 17. LEASING OF OIL AND GAS PARCELS. 1 ‘‘(a) LEASING AUTHORIZED.— 2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any parcel of land subject 3 to disposition under this Act that is known or be- 4 lieved to contain oil or gas deposits shall be made 5 available for leasing, subject to paragraphs (2) and 6 (3), by the Secretary of the Interior, or for National 7 Forest System land, the Secretary of Agriculture, as 8 applicable (referred to in this subsection as the ‘Sec- 9 retary concerned’), not later than 18 months after 10 the date of receipt by the Secretary concerned of an 11 expression of interest in leasing the applicable parcel 12 of land available for disposition under this section, 13 in accordance with procedures established under 14 subsection (q) and for which the applicable fee was 15 paid under that subsection, if the Secretary con- 16 cerned determines that the parcel of land is open to 17 oil or gas leasing under the approved resource man- 18 agement plan applicable to the planning area in 19 which the parcel of land is located that is in effect 20 on the date on which the expression of interest was 21 submitted to the Secretary concerned (referred to in 22 this subsection as the ‘approved resource manage- 23 ment plan’). 24 ‘‘(2) RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLANS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1456.IS S1456 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1456 IS ‘‘(A) LEASE TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—A 1 lease issued by the Secretary concerned under 2 this section with respect to an applicable parcel 3 of land made available for leasing under para- 4 graph (1)— 5 ‘‘(i) shall be subject to the terms and 6 conditions of the approved resource man- 7 agement plan; and 8 ‘‘(ii) may not require any stipulations 9 or mitigation requirements not included in 10 the approved resource management plan. 11 ‘‘(B) EFFECT OF AMENDMENT.—The fact 12 that the approved resource management plan is 13 being amended shall not prevent or delay the 14 Secretary concerned from making the applicable 15 parcel of land available for leasing if the other 16 requirements of this section have been met, as 17 determined by the Secretary concerned. 18 ‘‘(C) EFFECT OF LEASING DECISION.—A 19 lease sale conducted under the terms of an ap- 20 proved resource management plan shall not be 21 considered to be an action that limits the choice 22 of reasonable alternatives for an environmental 23 review conducted pursuant to the National En- 24 vironmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1456.IS S1456 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1456 IS 4321 et seq.) for the purpose of amending that 1 resource management plan.’’. 2 (B) REFUND OF EXPRESSION OF INTER- 3 EST FEE.—Section 17(q) of the Mineral Leas- 4 ing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(q)) is amended— 5 (i) by striking ‘‘Secretary’’ each place 6 it appears and inserting ‘‘Secretary of the 7 Interior’’; 8 (ii) in paragraph (1), by striking 9 ‘‘nonrefundable’’; and 10 (iii) by adding at the end the fol- 11 lowing: 12 ‘‘(3) REFUND FOR NONWINNING BID.—If a per- 13 son other than the person who submitted the expres- 14 sion of interest is the highest responsible qualified 15 bidder for a parcel of land covered by the applicable 16 expression of interest in a lease sale conducted 17 under this section— 18 ‘‘(A) as a condition of the issuance of the 19 lease, the person who is the highest responsible 20 qualified bidder shall pay to the Secretary of 21 the Interior an amount equal to the applicable 22 fee paid by the person who submitted the ex- 23 pression of interest; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1456.IS S1456 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1456 IS ‘‘(B) not later than 10 days after the date 1 of the lease sale, the Secretary of the Interior 2 shall refund to the person who submitted the 3 expression of interest an amount equal to the 4 amount of the initial fee paid.’’. 5 (2) PROTESTED LEASE SALES.—Section 6 17(b)(1)(A) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 7 226(b)(1)(A)) is amended by inserting after the sev- 8 enth sentence the following: ‘‘The Secretary of the 9 Interior shall resolve any protest to a lease sale 10 within 60 days following such payment. Notwith- 11 standing any other provision of law, if the Secretary 12 of the Interior denies a protest to a lease sale, any 13 lease subject to the protest shall not be subject to 14 further environmental review by the Secretary of the 15 Interior pursuant to the National Environmental 16 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).’’. 17 (3) EFFECT OF LITIGATION.—Section 17 of the 18 Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) is amended by 19 adding at the end the following: 20 ‘‘(r) EFFECT OF LITIGATION.— 21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A civil action relating to an 22 environmental review under the Federal Land Policy 23 and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et 24 seq.), division A of subtitle III of title 54, United 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1456.IS S1456 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1456 IS States Code (formerly known as the ‘National His- 1 toric Preservation Act’), or the National Environ- 2 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) 3 with respect to a lease sale conducted under this sec- 4 tion shall not— 5 ‘‘(A) affect the validity of a lease issued 6 under the lease sale that is the subject of the 7 civil action; or 8 ‘‘(B) except as provided in paragraph 9 (3)(B), cause a delay in the timelines estab- 10 lished under subsection (p)(2) for the consider- 11 ation of an application for permit to drill with 12 respect to a lease issued under the lease sale 13 that is the subject of the civil action. 14 ‘‘(2) REMAND; PROCESSING OF APPLICATIONS 15 FOR PERMIT TO DRILL.—If, in a civil action de- 16 scribed in paragraph (1), the environmental review 17 for a lease sale is found by the applicable court to 18 violate the National Environmental Policy Act of 19 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.)— 20 ‘‘(A) notwithstanding chapter 5 or 7 of 21 title 5, United States Code (commonly referred 22 to as the ‘Administrative Procedure Act’), the 23 applicable court shall not set aside the lease 24 sale and vacate the leases issued pursuant to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1456.IS S1456 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1456 IS the sale but instead remand the matter to the 1 Secretary of the Interior to resolve the viola- 2 tion; and 3 ‘‘(B) the Secretary of the Interior shall 4 continue to process all applicable applications 5 for permit to drill pursuant to subsection 6 (p)(2). 7 ‘‘(3) NOTICE.— 8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 9 days after the date on which a civil action de- 10 scribed in paragraph (1) is filed, the Secretary 11 of the Interior shall notify the holder of any 12 lease issued under the lease sale that is [Text truncated for display. 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