[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1631 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1631

 To permanently prohibit the conduct of offshore drilling on the outer 
  Continental Shelf off the State of Florida, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 26, 2001

   Mr. Scarborough (for himself, Mr. Davis of Florida, Mr. Shaw, Mr. 
    Stearns, Mr. Wexler, Mr. Deutsch, Mrs. Thurman, Mr. Keller, Mr. 
Hastings of Florida, Ms. Brown of Florida, Mr. Crenshaw, Mr. Bilirakis, 
and Mr. Foley) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To permanently prohibit the conduct of offshore drilling on the outer 
  Continental Shelf off the State of Florida, 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. PROHIBITION OF OIL AND GAS LEASING IN CERTAIN AREAS OF THE 
              OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF.

    Section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(p) Prohibition of Oil and Gas Leasing in Certain Areas of the 
Outer Continental Shelf.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this 
section or any other law, the Secretary of the Interior shall not issue 
a lease for the exploration, development, or production of oil, natural 
gas, or any other mineral in--
            ``(1) the eastern Gulf of Mexico planning area;
            ``(2) the Straits of Florida planning area; or
            ``(3) the South Atlantic planning area, extending from the 
        Straits of Florida planning area to the border between the 
        States of Florida and Georgia.''.

SEC. 2. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.

    (a) Conditions for Bidding on Option To Lease.--The Outer 
Continental Shelf Lands Act (42 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.) is amended by 
inserting after section 24 the following:

``SEC. 24A. CONDITIONS FOR SALE OF OPTION TO LEASE.

    ``(a) In General.--The sale of an option to enter into an oil and 
gas lease described in section 25 (including a lease to drill an 
exploratory well) shall be contingent on--
            ``(1) the preparation, in accordance with the National 
        Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) of an 
        environmental impact statement concerning the activities to be 
        conducted under the oil and gas lease; and
            ``(2) after preparation of the environmental impact 
        statement, the completion by the affected State of a 
        consistency certification in accordance with section 307(c) of 
        the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1456(c)).
    ``(b) Excluded Plans.--This section does not apply to a plan for 
the production and transportation of natural gas described in section 
25(k).''.
    (b) Applicability of NEPA to Development Plans.--Section 25(d) of 
the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (42 U.S.C. 1351(d)) is amended by 
striking ``unless the State'' and inserting ``unless the State, after 
completion of the environmental impact statement under section 24A,''.
    (c) Deadline for Approval or Disapproval of Plans.--Section 
25(h)(1) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (42 U.S.C. 
1351(h)(1)) is amended in the first sentence by striking ``sixty'' each 
place it appears and inserting ``90''.
    (d) Applicability to Leases in the Gulf of Mexico.--Section 25 of 
the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (42 U.S.C. 1351) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``, other than the Gulf of Mexico,'' each 
        place it appears; and
            (2) by striking subsection (l).
    (e) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Section 25(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 
        (42 U.S.C. 1351(a)) is amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) by striking ``accompanied by a 
                        statement'' and inserting ``accompanied by--
                    ``(A) a statement'';
                            (ii) by striking the period at the end and 
                        inserting ``; and''; and
                            (iii) by inserting the following:
                    ``(B) a copy of the environmental impact statement 
                for the oil and gas lease prepared under section 24A''; 
                and
                    (B) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the 
                following:
    ``(3) Submission of statements.--Except for any privileged or 
proprietary information (as the term is defined in regulations 
promulgated by the Secretary), the Secretary, not later than 10 days 
after receipt of the statements described in paragraph (2), shall--
            ``(A) submit the statements to the Governor of any affected 
        State, and, upon request, to the chief executive officer of any 
        affected local government; and
            ``(B) make the statements available to any appropriate 
        interstate regional entity and the public.''.
            (2) Section 25(e)(2) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 
        Act (42 U.S.C. 1351(e)(2)) is amended by striking ``approved,'' 
        and inserting ``approved (including plans for exploratory 
        wells),''.
            (3) Section 25(f) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 
        (42 U.S.C. 1351(f)) is amended by striking ``the draft 
        environmental impact statement'' and insert ``a copy of the 
        environmental impact statement for the lease prepared under 
        section 24A''.
            (4) Section 25(h)(1) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 
        Act (42 U.S.C. 1351(h)(1)) is amended by striking ``subsection 
        (e) of this section'' and inserting ``section 24A''.

SEC. 3. BUYBACK OF OFFSHORE LEASES.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior may purchase the 
rights to oil and gas development and production covered by the 
following outstanding leases in the Gulf of Mexico:
            (1) In the Destin Dome planing area, each of leases 
        numbered G06401, G06402, G06405 through G06411, G06432, G06433, 
        G06436, G06440, G06442 through G06444, G08320 through G08322, 
        G08333, G08334, G08346, G10418, G10419, G10422, G10426, and 
        G10427, at a total cost of $38,573,458.
            (2) In the Desoto Canyon planning area, each of leases 
        numbered G06464, G06469, G06470, G06474 through G06477, G10446 
        through G10456, G10459 through G10467, G10471 through G10473, 
        and G10477, at a total cost of $12,278,600.
            (3) In the Elbow region, each of leases numbered G10498 
        through G10514, at a total cost of $4,348,640.
            (4) In the Pensacola planning area, each of leases numbered 
        G08308 through G08310, G08317 through G08319, G10408 through 
        G10410, and G10413 through G10417, at a total cost of 
        $16,793,300.
            (5) In the Lloyd planning area, each of leases numbered 
        G10493 through G10497, at total cost of $1,213,704.
            (6) In the Apalachicola planning area, each of leases 
        numbered G10430 through G10435, at a total cost of $2,936,700.
            (7) In the Florida Middle Ground planning area, each of 
        leases numbered G08361 through G08368, G10484, and G10485, at a 
        total cost of $14,018,000.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out subsection (a) $90,162,402.
                                 <all>