[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1654 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1654

                    To protect the coast of Florida.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 28, 1999

 Mr. Mack (for himself and Mr. Graham) introduced the following bill; 
   which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
                    To protect the coast of Florida.

    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 ``Florida Coast Protection Act of 
1999''.

SEC. 2. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT REQUIREMENTS.

    Section 307(c)(3) of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 
U.S.C. 1456(c)(3)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(C) Necessary data and information.--For purposes 
                of subparagraph (B), a State shall not be considered to 
                receive all necessary data and information with respect 
                to a plan for exploration, development, or production 
                before the date on which the State receives a copy of 
                an environmental impact statement under section 
                102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 
                1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)) that applies to that 
                exploration, development, or production.''.

SEC. 3. UNIFORM DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS.

    Section 25 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 
1351(a) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (a)(1), by striking ``other than the Gulf 
        of Mexico,'' each place it appears; and
            (2) by striking subsection (l).

SEC. 4. OIL AND GAS DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION.

    Section 25(e) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1972 (43 
U.S.C. 1351(e)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``(e)(1) At least'' and inserting the 
        following:
    ``(e) Major Federal Action.--
            ``(1) Outside the gulf of mexico.--
                    ``(A) In general.--At least'';
            (2) by striking ``(2) The Secretary'' and inserting the 
        following:
                    ``(B) Preliminary and final plans.--The 
                Secretary''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) In the gulf of mexico.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The approval of a development 
                and production plan in a covered area (as defined in 
                section 8(p)(1)) shall be considered to be a major 
                Federal action for the purposes of the National 
                Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 
                seq.).
                    ``(B) Time for review following receipt of 
                environmental impact statement.--In the case of a 
                development and production plan in a covered area, the 
                Secretary shall ensure that each affected State for 
                which a development and production plan affects any 
                land use or water use in the coastal zone of the State 
                with a coastal zone management program approved under 
                section 306 of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 
                (16 U.S.C. 1455), receives the final environmental 
                impact statement not less than 180 days before 
                determining concurrence or objection to the coastal 
                zone consistency certification that is required to 
                accompany the environmental impact statement under 
                section 307(c)(3)(B) of the Coastal Zone Management Act 
                of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1456(c)(3)(B)).''.

SEC. 5. LEASING ACTIVITY OFF THE COAST OF FLORIDA.

    Section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337) 
is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ``The Secretary'' and 
        inserting ``Except as provided in subsection (p), the 
        Secretary''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(p) Leasing Activity Off the Coast of Florida.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Covered area.--The term `covered area' 
                means--
                            ``(i) the Eastern Gulf of Mexico Planning 
                        Area (as established by the Secretary) which is 
                        adjacent to the State of Florida as defined by 
                        43 U.S.C. 1333(a)(2)(A);
                            ``(ii) the Straits of Florida Planning Area 
                        (as established by the Secretary); and
                            ``(iii) the South Atlantic Planning Area 
                        (as established by the Secretary) which is 
                        adjacent to the State of Florida as defined by 
                        43 U.S.C. 1333(a)(2)(A);
                within 100 miles off the coast of Florida.
                    ``(B) Preleasing activity.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The term `preleasing 
                        activity' means an activity relating to a lease 
                        that is conducted before a lease sale is held.
                            ``(ii) Inclusions.--The term `preleasing 
                        activity' includes--
                                    ``(I) the scheduling of a lease 
                                sale;
                                    ``(II) the issuance of a request 
                                for industry interest;
                                    ``(III) the issuance of a call for 
                                information or a nomination;
                                    ``(IV) the identification of an 
                                area for prospective leasing;
                                    ``(V) the publication of a draft or 
                                final environmental impact statement or 
                                a notice of sale; and
                                    ``(VI) the performance of any form 
                                of rotary drilling in a prospective 
                                lease area.
                            ``(iii) Exclusions.--The term `preleasing 
                        activity' does not include an environmental, 
                        geologic, geophysical, economic, engineering, 
                        or other scientific analysis, study, or 
                        evaluation.
            ``(2) Prohibition of preleasing activities and lease 
        sales.--The Secretary shall not conduct any preleasing activity 
        or hold a lease sale under this Act in a covered area.''.
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