[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1281 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1281

To provide for lease sales on the Outer Continental Shelf under certain 
                  conditions, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 10, 1993

Mr. Fields of Texas (for himself, Mr. Tauzin, and Mr. Ortiz) introduced 
  the following bill; which was referred jointly to the Committees on 
          Natural Resources and Merchant Marine and Fisheries

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide for lease sales on the Outer Continental Shelf under certain 
                  conditions, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``National Energy Security Act of 
1993''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) the United States consumed an average of 17 million 
        barrels of oil per day of petroleum products in 1992 and our 
        consumption is expected to increase to 22.6 million barrels per 
        day in the year 2010;
            (2) the United States produced an average of 7.4 million 
        barrels per day of petroleum products in 1992;
            (3) the domestic oil industry's utilization rate (rig) 
        count is now at an all time low;
            (4) the domestic oil and gas industry has lost more than 
        450,000 jobs over the last decade;
            (5) production from the Federal Outer Continental Shelf 
        accounted for more than 12 percent of our crude oil and for 
        more than 25 percent of our natural gas requirements in 1992;
            (6) the Minerals Management Service has estimated that the 
        Outer Continental Shelf contains as much as 25.6 billion 
        barrels of undiscovered, recoverable oil, or more than one-
        third of all such oil in the United States; and 204.8 trillion 
        cubic feet of undiscovered, recoverable natural gas, or more 
        than two-fifths of all such natural gas;
            (7) Outer Continental Shelf development has contributed 
        over $210,000,000,000, in revenues to the Federal Treasury in 
        rents, royalties, bonus payments, and taxes;
            (8) of the 60 largest oil spills that have occurred in the 
        waters of the United States, only one was the result of Outer 
        Continental Shelf oil and gas activity; the remaining 59 were 
        mainly caused by tanker spills;
            (9) the National Academy of Sciences found that oil from 
        tankers and other forms of transportation account for 45 
        percent of oil pollution in the sea, while oil from offshore 
        production accounts for 2 percent;
            (10) The Department of Interior has spent over $555,000,000 
        on environmental and socioeconomic studies covering every 
        aspect of offshore leasing, drilling, and production;
            (11) domestic oil and natural gas production is vital to 
        American quality of life because it creates jobs, enhances 
        national security and contributes to a healthier environment; 
        and
            (12) it is in the national interest that the ratio of 
        domestic production relative to total domestic consumption of 
        petroleum exceed 50 percent.

SEC. 3. NATIONAL ENERGY PRODUCTION AND SECURITY ACTION PLAN.

    (a) Lease Sale.--Subject to subsection (b), and notwithstanding any 
other law, the President may conduct a lease sale for offshore oil and 
natural gas resources under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 
within an eligible area as soon as it is practicable.
    (b) Condition.--The lease sale conducted under subsection (a) may 
occur only if the ratio between domestic oil production and domestic 
oil consumption falls below 50 percent for 4 consecutive months, as 
determined by the Energy Information Agency.
    (c) Definition.--In this Act, the term ``eligible area'' means an 
area of the Outer Continental Shelf which--
            (1) has undergone sufficient environmental review to comply 
        with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 
        4321 et seq.);
            (2) contains significant oil or natural gas resources, as 
        determined by the Minerals Management Service; and
            (3) is located within the North Atlantic Planning Area, the 
        Mid-Atlantic Planning Area, South Atlantic Planning Area, 
        Eastern Gulf of Mexico Planning Area, Southern California 
        Planning Area, Central California Planning Area, Northern 
        California Planning Area, Washington-Oregon Planning Area, or 
        the North Aleutian Basin Planning Area.

SEC. 4. PRESIDENTIAL REPORT.

    The President shall prepare and submit an annual report to Congress 
containing a national oil security projection which shall contain a 
forecast of domestic oil demand and production, and imports of crude 
oil for the subsequent year. The report shall also describe the 
possible actions to be taken by the President to ensure that domestic 
oil production exceeds imports of foreign oil.

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