[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4168 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.4168

                       One Hundred Fourth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

         Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
   the third day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-six


                                 An Act


 
    To amend the Helium Act to authorize the Secretary to enter into 
agreements with private parties for the recovery and disposal of helium 
                on Federal lands, 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 ``Helium Privatization Act of 1996''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENT OF HELIUM ACT.

    Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in this Act an 
amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal 
of, a section or other provision, the reference shall be considered to 
be made to a section or other provision of the Helium Act (50 U.S.C. 
167-167n).

SEC. 3. AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.

    Sections 3, 4, and 5 are amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 3. AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.

    ``(a) Extraction and Disposal of Helium on Federal Lands.--
        ``(1) In general.--The Secretary may enter into agreements with 
    private parties for the recovery and disposal of helium on Federal 
    lands upon such terms and conditions as the Secretary deems fair, 
    reasonable, and necessary.
        ``(2) Leasehold rights.--The Secretary may grant leasehold 
    rights to any such helium.
        ``(3) Limitation.--The Secretary may not enter into any 
    agreement by which the Secretary sells such helium other than to a 
    private party with whom the Secretary has an agreement for recovery 
    and disposal of helium.
        ``(4) Regulations.--Agreements under paragraph (1) may be 
    subject to such regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary.
        ``(5) Existing rights.--An agreement under paragraph (1) shall 
    be subject to any rights of any affected Federal oil and gas lessee 
    that may be in existence prior to the date of the agreement.
        ``(6) Terms and conditions.--An agreement under paragraph (1) 
    (and any extension or renewal of an agreement) shall contain such 
    terms and conditions as the Secretary may consider appropriate.
        ``(7) Prior agreements.--This subsection shall not in any 
    manner affect or diminish the rights and obligations of the 
    Secretary and private parties under agreements to dispose of helium 
    produced from Federal lands in existence on the date of enactment 
    of the Helium Privatization Act of 1996 except to the extent that 
    such agreements are renewed or extended after that date.
    ``(b) Storage, Transportation, and Sale.--The Secretary may store, 
transport, and sell helium only in accordance with this Act.

``SEC. 4. STORAGE, TRANSPORTATION, AND WITHDRAWAL OF CRUDE HELIUM.

    ``(a) Storage, Transportation, and Withdrawal.--The Secretary may 
store, transport, and withdraw crude helium and maintain and operate 
crude helium storage facilities, in existence on the date of enactment 
of the Helium Privatization Act of 1996 at the Bureau of Mines 
Cliffside Field, and related helium transportation and withdrawal 
facilities.
    ``(b) Cessation of Production, Refining, and Marketing.--Not later 
than 18 months after the date of enactment of the Helium Privatization 
Act of 1996, the Secretary shall cease producing, refining, and 
marketing refined helium and shall cease carrying out all other 
activities relating to helium which the Secretary was authorized to 
carry out under this Act before the date of enactment of the Helium 
Privatization Act of 1996, except activities described in subsection 
(a).
    ``(c) Disposal of Facilities.--
        ``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (5), not later than 24 
    months after the cessation of activities referred to in subsection 
    (b) of this section, the Secretary shall designate as excess 
    property and dispose of all facilities, equipment, and other real 
    and personal property, and all interests therein, held by the 
    United States for the purpose of producing, refining and marketing 
    refined helium.
        ``(2) Applicable law.--The disposal of such property shall be 
    in accordance with the Federal Property and Administrative Services 
    Act of 1949.
        ``(3) Proceeds.--All proceeds accruing to the United States by 
    reason of the sale or other disposal of such property shall be 
    treated as moneys received under this chapter for purposes of 
    section 6(f).
        ``(4) Costs.--All costs associated with such sale and disposal 
    (including costs associated with termination of personnel) and with 
    the cessation of activities under subsection (b) shall be paid from 
    amounts available in the helium production fund established under 
    section 6(f).
        ``(5) Exception.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any 
    facilities, equipment, or other real or personal property, or any 
    interest therein, necessary for the storage, transportation, and 
    withdrawal of crude helium or any equipment, facilities, or other 
    real or personal property, required to maintain the purity, quality 
    control, and quality assurance of crude helium in the Bureau of 
    Mines Cliffside Field.
    ``(d) Existing Contracts.--
        ``(1) In general.--All contracts that were entered into by any 
    person with the Secretary for the purchase by the person from the 
    Secretary of refined helium and that are in effect on the date of 
    the enactment of the Helium Privatization Act of 1996 shall remain 
    in force and effect until the date on which the refining operations 
    cease, as described in subsection (b).
        ``(2) Costs.--Any costs associated with the termination of 
    contracts described in paragraph (1) shall be paid from the helium 
    production fund established under section 6(f).

``SEC. 5. FEES FOR STORAGE, TRANSPORTATION AND WITHDRAWAL.

    ``(a) In General.--Whenever the Secretary provides helium storage 
withdrawal or transportation services to any person, the Secretary 
shall impose a fee on the person to reimburse the Secretary for the 
full costs of providing such storage, transportation, and withdrawal.
    ``(b) Treatment.--All fees received by the Secretary under 
subsection (a) shall be treated as moneys received under this Act for 
purposes of section 6(f).''.

SEC. 4. SALE OF CRUDE HELIUM.

    (a) Subsection 6(a) is amended by striking ``from the Secretary'' 
and inserting ``from persons who have entered into enforceable 
contracts to purchase an equivalent amount of crude helium from the 
Secretary''.
    (b) Subsection 6(b) is amended--
        (1) by inserting ``crude'' before ``helium''; and
        (2) by adding the following at the end: ``Except as may be 
    required by reason of subsection (a), sales of crude helium under 
    this section shall be in amounts as the Secretary determines, in 
    consultation with the helium industry, necessary to carry out this 
    subsection with minimum market disruption.''.
    (c) Subsection 6(c) is amended--
        (1) by inserting ``crude'' after ``Sales of''; and
        (2) by striking ``together with interest as provided in this 
    subsection'' and all that follows through the end of the subsection 
    and inserting ``all funds required to be repaid to the United 
    States as of October 1, 1995 under this section (referred to in 
    this subsection as `repayable amounts'). The price at which crude 
    helium is sold by the Secretary shall not be less than the amount 
    determined by the Secretary by--
        ``(1) dividing the outstanding amount of such repayable amounts 
    by the volume (in million cubic feet) of crude helium owned by the 
    United Statesand stored in the Bureau of Mines Cliffside Field at 
the time of the sale concerned, and
        ``(2) adjusting the amount determined under paragraph (1) by 
    the Consumer Price Index for years beginning after December 31, 
    1995.''.
    (d) Subsection 6(d) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(d) Extraction of Helium From Deposits on Federal Lands.--All 
moneys received by the Secretary from the sale or disposition of helium 
on Federal lands shall be paid to the Treasury and credited against the 
amounts required to be repaid to the Treasury under subsection (c).''.
    (e) Subsection 6(e) is repealed.
    (f) Subsection 6(f) is amended--
        (1) by striking ``(f)'' and inserting ``(e)(1)''; and
        (2) by adding the following at the end:
    ``(2)(A) Within 7 days after the commencement of each fiscal year 
after the disposal of the facilities referred to in section 4(c), all 
amounts in such fund in excess of $2,000,000 (or such lesser sum as the 
Secretary deems necessary to carry out this Act during such fiscal 
year) shall be paid to the Treasury and credited as provided in 
paragraph (1).
    ``(B) On repayment of all amounts referred to in subsection (c), 
the fund established under this section shall be terminated and all 
moneys received under this Act shall be deposited in the general fund 
of the Treasury.''.

SEC. 5. ELIMINATION OF STOCKPILE.

    Section 8 is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 8. ELIMINATION OF STOCKPILE.

    ``(a) Stockpile Sales.--
        ``(1) Commencement.--Not later than January 1, 2005, the 
    Secretary shall commence offering for sale crude helium from helium 
    reserves owned by the United States in such amounts as would be 
    necessary to dispose of all such helium reserves in excess of 
    600,000,000 cubic feet on a straight-line basis between such date 
    and January 1, 2015.
        ``(2) Times of sale.--The sales shall be at such times during 
    each year and in such lots as the Secretary determines, in 
    consultation with the helium industry, to be necessary to carry out 
    this subsection with minimum market disruption.
        ``(3) Price.--The price for all sales under paragraph (1), as 
    determined by the Secretary in consultation with the helium 
    industry, shall be such price as will ensure repayment of the 
    amountsrequired to be repaid to the Treasury under section 6(c).
    ``(b) Discovery of Additional Reserves.--The discovery of 
additional helium reserves shall not affect the duty of the Secretary 
to make sales of helium under subsection (a).''.

SEC. 6. LAND CONVEYANCE IN POTTER COUNTY, TEXAS.

    Section 12 is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 12. LAND CONVEYANCE IN POTTER COUNTY, TEXAS.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior shall transfer all 
right, title, and interest of the United States in and to the parcel of 
land described in subsection (b) to the Texas Plains Girl Scout Council 
for consideration of $1, reserving to the United States such easements 
as may be necessary for pipeline rights-of-way.
    ``(b) Land Description.--The parcel of land referred to in 
subsection (a) is all those certain lots, tracts or parcels of land 
lying and being situated in the County of Potter and State of Texas, 
and being the East Three Hundred Thirty-One (E331) acres out of Section 
Seventy-eight (78) in Block Nine (9), B.S. & F. Survey, (some times 
known as the G.D. Landis pasture) Potter County, Texas, located by 
certificate No. 1/39 and evidenced by letters patents Nos. 411 and 412 
issued by the State of Texas under date of November 23, 1937, and of 
record in Vol. 66A of the Patent Records of the State of Texas. The 
metes and bounds description of such lands is as follows:
        ``(1) First tract.--One Hundred Seventy-one (171) acres of land 
    known as the North part of the East part of said survey Seventy-
    eight (78) aforesaid, described by metes and bounds as follows:
            ``Beginning at a stone 20 x 12 x 3 inches marked X, set by 
        W.D. Twichell in 1905, for the Northeast corner of this survey 
        and the Northwest corner of Section 59;
            ``Thence, South 0 degrees 12 minutes East with the West 
        line of said Section 59, 999.4 varas to the Northeast corner of 
        the South 160 acres of East half of Section 78;
            ``Thence, North 89 degrees 47 minutes West with the North 
        line of the South 150 acres of the East half, 956.8 varas to a 
        point in the East line of the West half Section 78;
            ``Thence, North 0 degrees 10 minutes West with the East 
        line of the West half 999.4 varas to a stone 18 x 14 x 3 inches 
        in the middle of the South line of Section 79;
            ``Thence, South 89 degrees 47 minutes East 965 varas to the 
        place of beginning.
        ``(2) Second tract.--One Hundred Sixty (160) acres of land 
    known as the South part of the East part of said survey No. 
    Seventy-eight (78) described by metes and bounds as follows:
            ``Beginning at the Southwest corner of Section 59, a stone 
        marked X and a pile of stones; Thence, North 89 degrees 47 
        minutes West with the North line of Section 77, 966.5 varas to 
        the Southeast corner of the West half of Section 78; Thence, 
        North 0 degrees 10 minutes West with the East line of the West 
        half of Section 78;
            ``Thence, South 89 degrees 47 minutes East 965.8 varas to a 
        point in the East line of Section 78;
            ``Thence, South 0 degrees 12 minutes East 934.6 varas to 
        the place of beginning.
        ``Containing an area of 331 acres, more or less.''.

SEC. 7. REPORT ON HELIUM.

    Section 15 is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 15. REPORT ON HELIUM.

    ``(a) NAS Study and Report.--Not later than three years before the 
date on which the Secretary commences offering for sale crude helium 
under section 8, the Secretary shall enter into appropriate 
arrangements with the National Academy of Sciences to study and report 
on whether such disposal of helium reserves will have a substantial 
adverse effect on United States scientific, technical, biomedical, or 
national security interests.
    ``(b) Transmission to Congress.--Not later than 18 months before 
the date on which the Secretary commences offering for sale crude 
helium under section 8, the Secretary shall transmit to the Congress--
        ``(1) the report of the National Academy under subsection (a);
        ``(2) the findings of the Secretary, after consideration of the 
    conclusions of the National Academy under subsection (a) and after 
    consultation with the United States helium industry and with heads 
    of affected Federal agencies, as to whether the disposal of the 
    helium reserve under section 8 will have a substantial adverse 
    effect on the United States helium industry, United States, helium 
    market or United States, scientific, technological, biomedical, or 
    national security interests; and
        ``(3) if the Secretary determines that selling the crude helium 
    reserves under the formula established in section 8 will have a 
    substantial adverse effect on the United States helium industry, 
    the United States helium market or United States scientific, 
    technological, biomedical, or national security interest, the 
    Secretary shall make recommendations, including recommendations for 
    proposed legislation, as may be necessary to avoid such adverse 
    effects.''.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.