113 HR 1613 RH: Outer Continental Shelf Transboundary Hydrocarbon Agreements Authorization Act U.S. House of Representatives 2013-04-18 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
IB Union Calendar No. 70 113th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 1613 [Report No. 113–101, Part I] IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 18, 2013 Mr. Duncan of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. Hastings of Washington, and Mr. Salmon) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Foreign Affairs and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned June 6, 2013 Additional sponsors: Mr. Radel, Mr. Broun of Georgia, Mr. Poe of Texas, Mr. McCaul, Mr. Lamborn, Mr. Amodei, Mr. Graves of Georgia, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Meadows, Mr. Westmoreland, Mrs. Wagner, Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, Mr. Bentivolio, and Mr. Mullin June 6, 2013 Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with an amendment Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic June 6, 2013 The Committees on Foreign Affairs and Financial Services discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 18, 2013 A BILL To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to provide for the proper Federal management and oversight of transboundary hydrocarbon reservoirs, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the Outer Continental Shelf Transboundary Hydrocarbon Agreements Authorization Act.
<enum>I</enum><header>Amendment to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act</header> <section id="H81FDCBA6277A4331B75A09393DFFC3E0"><enum>101.</enum><header>Amendment to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act</header><text display-inline="no-display-inline">The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:</text> <quoted-block changed="added" committee-id="HII00" id="H8A8F8BFE81F64DEAB95D1F49F30E4056" reported-display-style="italic" style="OLC"> <section id="H43C70257B7454CFBA0C2A4DA057FCA1C"><enum>32.</enum><header>Transboundary hydrocarbon agreements</header> <subsection id="HCB0FC9796D49415AA877FE106A47A945"><enum>(a)</enum><header>Authorization</header><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">After the date of enactment of the Outer Continental Shelf Transboundary Hydrocarbon Agreements Authorization Act, the Secretary may implement the terms of any transboundary hydrocarbon agreement for the management of transboundary hydrocarbon reservoirs entered into by the President and approved by Congress. In implementing such an agreement, the Secretary shall protect the interests of the United States to promote domestic job creation and ensure the expeditious and orderly development and conservation of domestic mineral resources in accordance with all applicable United States laws governing the exploration, development, and production of hydrocarbon resources on the outer Continental Shelf.</text> </subsection><subsection id="H3C619DC3DE9740DA8049189FE55730E3"><enum>(b)</enum><header>Submission to congress</header> <paragraph id="HE532119BC9854331812C52867DC605F6"><enum>(1)</enum><header>In general</header><text>No later than 180 days after all parties to a transboundary hydrocarbon agreement have agreed to its terms, a transboundary hydrocarbon agreement that does not constitute a treaty in the judgment of the President shall be submitted by the Secretary to—</text> <subparagraph id="H4E55B4D655084A17BF7C805EF33B57AF"><enum>(A)</enum><text>the Speaker of the House of Representatives;</text> </subparagraph><subparagraph id="HC422081E829C4315B0E7D93E77A73F8C"><enum>(B)</enum><text>the Majority Leader of the Senate;</text> </subparagraph><subparagraph id="H23E237765B9843AF810A5102536DA171"><enum>(C)</enum><text>the Chair of the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives; and</text> </subparagraph><subparagraph id="H417E8311A6E4461084892CAB24FF1044"><enum>(D)</enum><text>the Chair of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate.</text> </subparagraph></paragraph><paragraph id="H8DF3753937E842A7B9CC789B8AF85A8F"><enum>(2)</enum><header>Contents of submission</header><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">The submission shall include—</text> <subparagraph id="H849B6B1F60C84E4E9CBF9A40A2BC52EF"><enum>(A)</enum><text>any amendments to this Act or other Federal law necessary to implement the agreement;</text> </subparagraph><subparagraph id="H735E379F0FDB46E2AB46736549132E21"><enum>(B)</enum><text>an analysis of the economic impacts such an agreement and any amendments necessitated by the agreement will have on domestic exploration, development, and production of hydrocarbon resources on the outer Continental Shelf; and</text> </subparagraph><subparagraph id="H1824E3C7B4544A139ADD301BDA9E29C3"><enum>(C)</enum><text>a detailed description of any regulations expected to be issued by the Secretary to implement the agreement.</text> </subparagraph></paragraph></subsection><subsection id="HBB06159C0C5B47B0B321E6A20827865F"><enum>(c)</enum><header>Implementation of specific transboundary agreement with Mexico</header><text>The Secretary may take actions as necessary to implement the terms of the Agreement between the United States of America and the United Mexican States Concerning Transboundary Hydrocarbon Reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico, signed at Los Cabos, February 20, 2012, including—</text> <paragraph id="H1A122E91852944FFBC6ECB599856E061"><enum>(1)</enum><text>approving unitization agreements and related arrangements for the exploration, development, or production of oil and natural gas from transboundary reservoirs or geological structures;</text> </paragraph><paragraph id="H7EDA07C01F084AECA2A263F973F05FB8"><enum>(2)</enum><text>making available, in the limited manner necessary under the agreement and subject to the protections of confidentiality provided by the agreement, information relating to the exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas from a transboundary reservoir or geological structure that may be considered confidential, privileged, or proprietary information under law;</text> </paragraph><paragraph id="H0EE02DBAFDA94016A3BBE78A4CE866B7"><enum>(3)</enum><text>taking actions consistent with an expert determination under the agreement; and</text> </paragraph><paragraph id="H57F8C22A535E46A190EEFB1DBFFC35BA"><enum>(4)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">ensuring only appropriate inspection staff at the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement or other Federal agency personnel designated by the Bureau, the operator, or the lessee have authority to stop work on any installation or other device or vessel permanently or temporarily attached to the seabed of the United States, which may be erected thereon for the purpose of resource exploration, development or production activities as approved by the Secretary.</text> </paragraph></subsection><subsection id="HB3202B2E76574E6EA4B93080F9888813"><enum>(d)</enum><header>Exemption from resources extraction reporting requirement</header><text>Actions taken by a public company in accordance with any transboundary hydrocarbon agreement shall not constitute the commercial development of oil, natural gas, or minerals for purposes of section 13(q) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (157 U.S.C. 78m(q)).</text> </subsection><subsection id="HE655A9A973E2459793CC85B1986477D2"><enum>(e)</enum><header>Savings provisions</header><text>Nothing in this section shall be construed—</text> <paragraph id="H387F2102FABE43319685099C79F9CAC2"><enum>(1)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">to authorize the Secretary to participate in any negotiations, conferences, or consultations with Cuba regarding exploration, development, or production of hydrocarbon resources in the Gulf of Mexico along the United States maritime border with Cuba or the area known by the Department of the Interior as the <quote>Eastern Gap</quote>; or</text> </paragraph><paragraph id="HE3C445F8F4E44B0E8621D75F2A9C2645"><enum>(2)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">as affecting the sovereign rights and the jurisdiction that the United States has under international law over the outer Continental Shelf which appertains to it.</text> </paragraph></subsection></section><after-quoted-block>.</after-quoted-block></quoted-block> </section><enum>II</enum><header>Approval of Transboundary Hydrocarbon Agreement</header> <section id="HECF031724CC9400B9D9E8592359BA598"><enum>201.</enum><header>Approval of agreement with Mexico</header><text display-inline="no-display-inline">The Agreement between the United States of America and the United Mexican States Concerning Transboundary Hydrocarbon Reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico, signed at Los Cabos, February 20, 2012, is hereby approved.</text> </section> June 6, 2013 Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with an amendment June 6, 2013 The Committees on Foreign Affairs and Financial Services discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed