[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 898 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 898

  To amend the Helium Act to cease operation of the Government helium 
refinery, authorize facility and crude helium disposal, and cancel the 
                 helium debt; and for related purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                 June 8 (legislative day, June 5), 1995

  Mr. Murkowski (by request) introduced the following bill; which was 
    read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 
                               Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Helium Act to cease operation of the Government helium 
refinery, authorize facility and crude helium disposal, and cancel the 
                 helium debt; and for related 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 Disposal Act of 1995''.

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, as amended 
(50 U.S.C. 167 to 167n).

SEC. 3. AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.

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

``SEC. 3. AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.

    ``(a) Extraction, Disposal, and Sale of Helium on Federal Lands.--
(1) The Secretary may enter into agreements with private parties for 
the recovery, disposal, and sale of helium on Federal lands upon such 
terms and conditions as he deems fair, reasonable, and necessary. All 
money received by the Secretary from the sale, extraction, or other 
disposition of helium on Federal lands, including money received under 
contractual arrangements executed before the effective date of this 
Act, shall be deposited to the general fund of the Treasury.
    ``(2) Any agreement under this subsection shall be subject to the 
existing rights of any affected Federal oil and gas lessee. Each such 
agreement (and any extension or renewal thereof) shall contain such 
terms and conditions as deemed appropriate by the Secretary.
    ``(3) 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 
Disposal Act of 1995 except to the extent that such agreements are 
renewed or extended after that date.
    ``(4) Regulations.--Agreements under this subsection may be subject 
to such regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary.
    ``(b) Helium on Public Domain.--Any known helium-gas-bearing land 
on the public domain not covered at the time by leases or permits under 
the Mineral Lands Leasing Act of February 25, 1920, as amended, may be 
reserved for the purposes of this Act, and any reservation of the 
ownership of helium may include the right to extract, or have 
extracted, such helium, under such rules and regulations as may be 
prescribed by the Secretary, from all gas produced from lands so 
permitted, leased, or otherwise granted for development, except that in 
the extraction of helium from gas produced from such lands, it shall be 
extracted so as to cause no delay, except that required by the 
extraction process, in the delivery of gas produced from the well to 
the purchaser or purchasers thereof at the point of delivery specified 
in contracts for the purchase of such gas.
    ``(c) Storage, Transportation, and Sale.--The Secretary is 
authorized to store, transport, and sell or otherwise dispose of helium 
only in accordance with this Act.
    ``(d) Monitoring and Reporting.--The Secretary is authorized to 
monitor helium production and helium reserves and to prepare 
periodically reports regarding the amounts of helium produced and the 
quality of crude helium in storage.

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

    ``(a) Storage, Transportation, and Withdrawal.--The Secretary is 
authorized to store, transport, and withdraw crude helium and to 
maintain and operate existing crude helium storage at the United States 
Bureau of Mines Cliffside Field, together with related helium 
transportation and withdrawal facilities only in accordance with this 
Act.
    ``(b) Fees for Storage, Transportation, and Withdrawal.--Whenever 
the Secretary provides crude helium storage, withdrawal, or 
transportation services to any person, the Secretary is authorized to 
impose fees on such person to reimburse the Secretary for the full 
costs or market value, whichever is greater, of providing such storage, 
transportation, and withdrawal services.
    ``(c) Helium Reserve Management Fund.--There is hereby established 
in the Treasury of the United States a revolving fund known as the 
Helium Reserve Management Fund. The Secretary of the Interior is 
directed to deposit in this fund all fees collected under subsection 
(b). This fund shall be available to the Secretary, without further 
appropriation and without fiscal year limitation, to cover the costs of 
this Act.

``SEC. 5. CESSATION OF CERTAIN ACTIVITIES.
    ``(a) Cessation of Production, Refining, and Marketing.--Within 
three years after the date of enactment of the Helium Disposal Act of 
1995, the Secretary shall cease producing, refining, and marketing 
refined helium.
    ``(b) Disposal of Facilities.--(1) Within two years after the 
cessation of activities referred to in subsection (a) of this section, 
the Secretary shall designate as excess property the facilities, 
equipment, and other real and personal property, together with all 
interests therein, held by the United States for the purpose of 
producing, refining, and marketing refined helium. The disposal of such 
property shall be in accordance with the Federal Property and 
Administrative Services Act of 1949.
    ``(2) Proceeds from the asset sale described in paragraph (1) shall 
be paid to the general fund of the Treasury. If the President so 
designates, the net proceeds shall be included in the budget baseline 
required by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 
1985 (the Act) and shall be counted for the purposes of section 252 of 
the Act as an offset to direct spending notwithstanding section 257(e) 
of the Act.
    ``(3) Exception.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any facilities, 
equipment, or other real or personal property, or any interest therein, 
necessary for the storage and transportation of crude helium or any 
equipment needed to maintain the purity, quality control, and quality 
assurance of helium in the Bureau of Mines Cliffside Field.
    ``(c) Existing Contracts.--All contracts which were entered into by 
any person with the Secretary for the purchase by such person from the 
Secretary of refined helium and which are in effect on the date of the 
enactment of the Helium Disposal Act of 1995 shall remain in force and 
effect no longer than the date on which cessation of activities 
referred to in subsection (a) of this section occurs. Any costs 
associated with the termination of such contracts shall be paid from 
the Helium Production Fund. Any associated costs that may arise after 
the abolishment of the Helium Production Fund shall be paid from the 
Helium Reserve Management Fund established by section 4(c).''.

SEC. 4. DISPOSAL OF CRUDE HELIUM.

    Section 6 is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 6. DISPOSAL OF CRUDE HELIUM.

    ``(a) Authority for Sale of Crude Helium.--The Secretary is 
directed to make sales of crude helium to reduce the helium reserves 
owned by the United States, consistent with section 8 of this Act.
    ``(b) Terms of Sale of Crude Helium.--Sales of crude helium under 
this section shall be in such quantities, under such terms and 
conditions, and at such prices to cover, at a minimum, all costs in 
carrying out the provisions of this Act, and shall on an annual basis 
at least be a volume equivalent to the amount of refined helium 
purchased by the Federal Government unless the Secretary determines and 
notifies the Congress in writing that such sales will unduly disrupt 
the usual markets of producers, processors, and consumers of helium and 
will not protect the United States against avoidable loss.
    ``(c) Abolish Helium Production Fund.--The Helium Production Fund, 
established by this section as it read prior to the amendment effected 
by this Act, shall continue to exist until the completion of the 
disposal of facilities, equipment, and other real and personal property 
under section 5(b)(1) of this Act, at which time the fund shall be 
abolished. All money in the Helium Production Fund at that time shall 
be transferred to the general fund of the United States Treasury.
    ``(d) Crude Helium Sales Proceeds.--Proceeds from the sale of crude 
helium described in subsection (b) and in section 8(a) shall be 
credited to the Helium Production Fund until such fund is abolished 
pursuant to subsection (c). Upon abolishment of the fund, the proceeds 
from the sale of crude helium shall be deposited in the general fund of 
the United States Treasury, except that the Secretary may retain 
proceeds, not to exceed $5,000,000 annually, to cover the costs of 
crude helium disposal as provided by this Act. Amounts retained by the 
Secretary shall be deposited in the Helium Reserve Management and 
remain available without further appropriation or fiscal year 
limitation.
    ``(e) Asset Sale Waiver.--If the President so designates, proceeds 
from the asset sale described in paragraph (b) shall be included in the 
budget baseline required by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit 
Control Act of 1985 (the Act) and shall be counted for the purposes of 
section 252 as an offset to direct spending notwithstanding section 
257(e) of the Act.
    ``(f) Report to Congress.--Upon the abolishment of the Helium 
Production Fund pursuant to subsection (c), the Secretary shall submit 
to the House Committee on Resources and the Senate Committee on Energy 
and Natural Resources a report specifying the current and projected 
costs for the disposal of crude helium reserves and the current and 
projected receipts from such disposal.''.

SEC. 5. CANCELLATION OF HELIUM DEBT.

    The Secretary of the Treasury shall cancel the interest accrued and 
unpaid as well as the outstanding principal of all notes issued by the 
Secretary pursuant to section 12 of the Helium Act and also cancel the 
outstanding interest accrued and unpaid as well as the principal of the 
net capital and retained earnings debt of the Helium Production Fund 
established pursuant to section 6 of the Helium Act Amendments of 1960 
(Public Law 86-777).

SEC. 6. REPEAL OF COOPERATIVE AUTHORITY.

    Section 7 is repealed.

SEC. 7. ELIMINATION OF STOCKPILE.

    Section 8 is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 8. ELIMINATION OF STOCKPILE.

    ``(a) Stockpile Sales.--Not later than January 1, 1996, the 
Secretary shall commence making sales of crude helium from helium 
reserves owned by the United States and stored in the Bureau of Mines 
Cliffside Field, in such amounts as may be necessary to dispose of all 
such helium reserves in excess of an amount determined to be in the 
national interest by the Secretary by January 1, 2020. The sales shall 
be at such times and in such lots as the Secretary determines in 
consultation with the helium industry and may be made by contract or 
other investment instrument. The price for all such sales, as 
determined by the Secretary in consultation with the helium industry, 
shall be comparable to prices for helium sold by private industry. An 
annual review of price comparability shall be made by the Secretary. 
Price adjustments by the Secretary shall be made accordingly to protect 
the interests of the United States.
    ``(b) Discovery of Additional Reserves.--The discovery of 
additional helium reserves shall not affect the duty of the Secretary 
to make sales of helium as provided in subsection (a) of this section, 
as the case may be.''.

SEC. 8. REPEAL OF ADMINISTRATION AND OTHER AUTHORITIES.

    Sections 10 through 17 are repealed.
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