[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 213 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 213

To provide for the continuation of oil and gas operations in the Wayne 
   National Forest in the State of Ohio pursuant to certain existing 
                                leases.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 6, 1999

   Mr. Ney introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide for the continuation of oil and gas operations in the Wayne 
   National Forest in the State of Ohio pursuant to certain existing 
                                leases.

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

SECTION 1. OIL AND GAS WELLS IN WAYNE NATIONAL FOREST, OHIO.

    (a) Authority.--The Secretary of the Interior may enter into 
noncompetitive oil and gas production and reclamation contracts in 
accordance with this section with operators of wells in the Wayne 
National Forest in the State of Ohio who meet the criteria of section 
17(b)(3)(A) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(b)(3)(A)) 
pursuant to private land mineral leases that were in effect on and 
after the date of the enactment of such section, subject to the same 
laws and regulations that applied to those private land mineral leases.
    (b) Additional Drilling.--No contract under this section may 
authorize deeper completions or additional drilling.
    (c) Bonding.--
            (1) Waiver of federal bonding.--Each contract under this 
        section shall require the contractor to provide a Federal oil 
        and gas bond to ensure complete and timely reclamation of the 
        former lease tract in accordance with the regulations of the 
        Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service, unless the 
        Secretary of the Interior accepts in lieu thereof assurances 
        from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Oil 
        and Gas, that--
                    (A) the contractor has duly satisfied the bonding 
                requirements of the State of Ohio, and, following 
                inspection of operator performance, the Ohio Department 
                of Natural Resources is not opposed to such waiver of 
                Federal bonding requirements;
                    (B) the United States is entitled to apply for and 
                receive funding under the provision of section 1509.071 
                of the Ohio Revised Code so as to properly plug and 
                restore oil and gas sites and lease tracts; and
                    (C) during the 2 years prior to the date on which 
                the contract is entered into no less than 20 percent of 
                Ohio State severance tax revenues has been allocated to 
                the State of Ohio Orphan Well Fund.
            (2) Continued compliance with 20 percent requirement.--In 
        entering into any contract under this section, the Secretary of 
        the Interior shall reserve the right to require the contractor 
        to comply with all Federal oil and gas bonding requirements 
        applicable to Federal oil and gas leases under the regulations 
        of the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service 
        whenever the Secretary finds that less than 20 percent of Ohio 
        State severance tax revenues has been allocated to the State of 
        Ohio Orphan Well Fund.
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