[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3432 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3432

    To direct the Minerals Management Service to grant the State of 
 Louisiana and its lessees a credit in the payment of Federal offshore 
 royalties to satisfy the authorization for compensation contained in 
  the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 for oil and gas drainage in the West 
                              Delta field.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 17, 1999

    Mr. John (for himself, Mr. Tauzin, Mr. Baker, Mr. McCrery, Mr. 
Jefferson, Mr. Cooksey, Mr. Vitter, Mr. Ortiz, Mr. Brady of Texas, Mr. 
    Green of Texas, Mr. Smith of Texas, Mr. Quinn, Mr. Peterson of 
 Pennsylvania, Mr. Reynolds, and Mr. English) introduced the following 
         bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To direct the Minerals Management Service to grant the State of 
 Louisiana and its lessees a credit in the payment of Federal offshore 
 royalties to satisfy the authorization for compensation contained in 
  the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 for oil and gas drainage in the West 
                              Delta field.

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

SECTION 1. ROYALTY RELIEF.

    (a) Royalty Relief.--The purpose of this Act is to grant relief 
efficiently and expeditiously to the State of Louisiana and the State 
lessees for moneys owed to the State and the State lessees under 
section 6004(c) of Public Law 101-380 (104 Stat. 558, 559) (herein 
referred to as the ``Oil Pollution Act of 1990''). Payment of Federal 
offshore royalties owed by the State lessees to the United States under 
the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act may be withheld by the State 
lessees if, on or before the date that the royalty payment concerned is 
due and payable to the United States, the State lessees make a payment 
to the State of Louisiana at a rate of 44 cents for every $1 of royalty 
withheld. Any royalty withheld in accordance with this Act shall be 
treated as paid for purposes of satisfying the royalty obligations of 
the State lessees. This subsection shall apply only to leased tracts 
(or portions of leased tracts) 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 such section 
8(g) does not apply.
    (b) Period of Royalty Relief.--The royalty relief granted under 
subsection (a) shall commence with respect to royalty payments due and 
payable to the United States after the date 60 days after the enactment 
of this Act and shall end when the total of the royalty relief granted 
under subsection (a) is equal to $18,115,147, the full amount of the 
total drainage claim for the West Delta field, as set out on page 47 of 
Senate Report 101-534 (November 15, 1990), plus simple interest at 8 
percent per year on the outstanding principal balance from March 21, 
1989, in accordance with section 6004(c) of Public Law 101-380.
    (c) Manner of Payments.--Payments by the State lessees to the State 
of Louisiana under this Act shall be made in a manner mutually agreed 
upon by the State of Louisiana and the State lessees. Any dispute 
between the State of Louisiana and the State lessees as to the manner 
of payments to the State under this Act shall be resolved by the 
Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the Minerals 
Management Service, in the exercise of his discretion.
    (d) Reports.--The State lessees shall provide a quarterly report to 
the Director of the Minerals Management Service listing the Federal 
leases for which royalty payments are withheld pursuant to this Act. 
For each such Federal lease the report shall detail the amount and 
dates of production from those leases, the value of royalties due on 
production from any such leases, and the outstanding balance, if any, 
of royalty relief still owed to the State lessees and the State of 
Louisiana under section 6004(c) of Public Law 101-380.
    (e) Definition of State Lessees.--As used in this Act, the term 
``State lessees'' means those companies or individuals, and their 
successors and assigns, that, on the date of enactment of the Oil 
Pollution Act of 1990, held lease rights in the State of Louisiana 
leases SL10087, SL10088, and SL10187, but did not hold lease rights in 
Federal lease OCS-G-5669.
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