[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 575 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 575

To provide Outer Continental Shelf Impact Assistance to State and local 
                  governments, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 16, 1995

Mr. Stevens (for himself, Mr. Murkowski, Mr. Johnston, and Mr. Breaux) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
               Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide Outer Continental Shelf Impact Assistance to State and local 
                  governments, 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. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act only, the term--
            (1) ``coastline'' has the same meaning that it has in the 
        Submerged Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.);
            (2) ``county'' means a unit of general government 
        constituting the local jurisdiction immediately below the level 
        of State government. This term includes, but is not limited to, 
        counties, parishes, villages and tribal governments which 
        function in lieu of and are not within a county, and in Alaska, 
        borough governments. If State law recognizes an entity of 
        general government that functions in lieu of and is not within 
        a county, the Secretary may recognize such other entities of 
        general government as counties;
            (3) ``coastline State'' means any State of the United 
        States bordering on the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the 
        Arctic Ocean, the Bering Sea or the Gulf of Mexico;
            (4) ``distance'' means minimum great circle distance, 
        measured in statute miles;
            (5) ``leased tract'' means a tract, leased under section 8 
        of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337) for 
        the purpose of drilling for, developing and producing oil or 
        natural gas resources, which is a unit consisting of either a 
        block, a portion of a block, a combination of blocks and/or 
        portions of blocks, as specified in the lease, and as depicted 
        on an Outer Continental Shelf Official Protraction Diagram;
            (6) ``new revenues'' means monies received by the United 
        States as royalties (including payments for royalty taken in 
        kind and sold pursuant to section 27 of the Outer Continental 
        Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1353)), net profit share payments, 
        and related late-payment interest from natural gas and oil 
        leases issued pursuant to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 
        Act, but only from leased tracts from which such revenues are 
        first received by the United States after the date of enactment 
        of this Act;
            (7) ``Outer Continental Shelf'' means all submerged lands 
        lying seaward and outside of the area of ``lands beneath 
        navigable waters'' as defined in section 2(a) of the Submerged 
        Lands Act 43 U.S.C. 1301(a)), and of which the subsoil 
and seabed appertain to the United States and are subject to its 
jurisdiction and control; and
            (8) ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the Interior or 
        the Secretary's designee.

SEC. 2. IMPACT ASSISTANCE FORMULA AND PAYMENTS.

    (a) There is established a fund in the Treasury of the United 
States, which shall be known as the ``Outer Continental Shelf Impact 
Assistance Fund'' (hereinafter referred to in this Act as ``the 
Fund''). Allocable new revenues determined under subsection (c) shall 
be deposited in the Fund.
    (b) The Secretary of the Treasury shall invest excess monies in the 
Fund, at the written request of the Secretary, in public debt 
securities with maturities suitable to the needs of the Fund, as 
determined by the Secretary, and bearing interest at rates determined 
by the Secretary of the Treasury, taking into consideration current 
market yields on outstanding marketable obligations of the United 
States of comparable maturity.
    (c) Notwithstanding section 9 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 
Act (43 U.S.C. 1338), amounts in the Fund, together with interest 
earned from investment thereof, shall be paid at the direction of the 
Secretary as follows:
            (1) The Secretary shall determine the new revenues from any 
        leased tract or portion of a leased tract lying seaward of the 
        zone defined and governed by section 8(g) of the Outer 
        Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337(g)), or lying 
        within such zone but to which section 8(g) does not apply, the 
        geographic center of which lies within a distance of 200 miles 
        from any part of the coastline of any coastal State 
        (hereinafter referred to as an ``eligible coastal State'').
            (2) The Secretary shall determine the allocable share of 
        new revenues determined under paragraph (1) by multiplying such 
        revenues by 27 percent.
            (3) The Secretary shall determine the portion of the 
        allocable share of new revenues attributable to each eligible 
        coastal State (hereinafter referred to as the ``eligible 
        coastal State's attributable share'') based on a fraction which 
        is inversely proportional to the distance between the nearest 
        point on the coastline of the eligible coastal State and the 
        geographic center of the leased tract or portion of the leased 
        tract (to the nearest whole mile). Further, the ratio of an 
        eligible State's attributable share to any other eligible 
        State's attributable share shall be equal to the inverse of the 
        ratio of the distances between the geographic center of the 
        leased tract or portion of the leased tract and the coastlines 
        of the respective eligible coastal States. The sum of the 
        eligible coastal States' attributable shares shall be equal to 
        the allocable share of new revenues determined under paragraph 
        (2).
            (4) The Secretary shall pay from the Fund 50 percent of 
        each eligible coastal State's attributable share, together with 
        the portion of interest earned from investment of the funds 
        which corresponds to that amount, to that State.
            (5) Within 60 days of enactment of this Act, the Governor 
        of each eligible coastal State shall provide the Secretary with 
        a list of all counties, as defined herein, that are to be 
        considered for eligibility to receive impact assistance 
        payments. This list must include all counties with borders 
        along the State's coastline and may also include counties which 
        are at the closest point no more than 60 miles from the State's 
        coastline and which are certified by the Governor to have 
        significant impacts from Outer Continental Shelf-related 
        activities. For any such county that does not have a border 
        along the coastline, the Governor shall designate the coastline 
        of the nearest county that does have a border along the 
        coastline to serve as the former county's coastline for the 
        purposes of this section. The Governor of any eligible coastal 
        State may modify this list whenever significant changes in 
        Outer Continental Shelf activities require a change, but no 
        more frequently than once a year.
            (6) The Secretary shall determine, for each county within 
        the eligible coastal State identified by the Governor according 
        to paragraph (5) for which any part of the county's coastline 
        lies within a distance of 200 miles of the geographic center of 
        the leased tract or portion of the leased tract (hereinafter 
        referred to as an ``eligible county'') 50 percent of the 
        eligible coastal State's attributable share which is 
        attributable to such county (hereinafter referred to as the 
        ``eligible county's attributable share'') based on a fraction 
        which is inversely proportional to the distance between the 
        nearest point on the coastline of the eligible county and the 
        geographic center of the leased tract or portion of the leased 
        tract (to the nearest whole mile). Further, the ratio of any 
        eligible county's attributable share to any other eligible 
        county's attributable share shall be equal to the inverse of 
        the ratio of the distances between the geographic center of the 
        leased tract or portion of the leased tract and the coastlines 
        of the respective eligible counties. The sum of the eligible 
        counties' attributable shares for all eligible counties within 
        each State shall be equal to 50 percent of the eligible coastal 
        State's attributable share determined under paragraph (3).
            (7) The Secretary shall pay from the Fund the eligible 
        county's attributable share, together with the portion of 
        interest earned from investment of the Fund which corresponds 
        to that amount, to that county.
            (8) Payments to eligible coastal States and eligible 
        counties under this section shall be made not later than 
        December 31 of each year from new revenues received and 
        interest earned thereon during the immediately preceding fiscal 
        year, but not earlier than one year following the date of 
        enactment of this Act.
            (9) The remainder of new revenues and interest earned in 
        the Fund not paid to an eligible State or an eligible county 
        under this section shall be disposed of according to the law 
otherwise applicable to receipts from leases on the Outer Continental 
Shelf.

SEC. 3. USES OF FUNDS.

    Funds received pursuant to this Act shall be used by the eligible 
coastal States and eligible counties for projects and activities 
related to all impacts of Outer Continental Shelf-related activities 
including but not limited to--
            (1) air quality, water quality, fish and wildlife, 
        wetlands, or other coastal resources;
            (2) other activities of such State or county, authorized by 
        the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1451 et 
        seq.), the provisions of subtitle B of title IV of the Oil 
        Pollution Act of 1990 (104 Stat. 523), or the Federal Water 
        Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.); and
            (3) administrative costs of complying with the provisions 
        of this subtitle.

SEC. 4. OBLIGATIONS OF ELIGIBLE COUNTIES AND STATES.

    (a) Project Submission.--Prior to the receipt of funds pursuant to 
this Act for any fiscal year, an eligible county must submit to the 
Governor of the State in which it is located a plan setting forth the 
projects and activities for which the eligible county proposes to 
expend such funds. Such plan shall state the amounts proposed to be 
expended for each project or activity during the upcoming fiscal year.
    (b) Project Approval.--Prior to the payment of funds pursuant to 
this Act to any eligible county for any fiscal year, the Governor must 
approve the plan submitted by the eligible county pursuant to 
subsection (a) and notify the Secretary of such approval. State 
approval of any such plan shall be consistent with all applicable State 
and federal law. In the event the Governor disapproves any such plan, 
the funds that would otherwise be paid to the eligible county shall be 
placed in escrow by the Secretary pending modification and approval of 
such plan, at which time such funds together with interest thereon 
shall be paid to the eligible county.
    (c) Certification.--No later than 60 days after the end of the 
fiscal year, any eligible county receiving funds under this Act must 
certify to the Governor--
            (1) the amount of such funds expended by the county during 
        the previous fiscal year;
            (2) the amounts expended on each project or activity; and
            (3) the status of each project or activity.

SEC. 5. ANNUAL REPORT, REFUNDS.

    (a) On June 15 of each fiscal year, the Governor of each State 
receiving monies from the Fund shall account for all monies so received 
for the previous fiscal year in a written report to Congress.
    (b) In those instances where through judicial decision, 
administrative review, arbitration or other means there are royalty 
refunds owed to entities generating new revenues under this Act, 
repayment of such refunds in the same proportion as monies were 
received under section 2 shall be the responsibility of the 
governmental entities receiving distributions under the Fund.
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