[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3918 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3918

   To terminate the effect of all provisions of existing Federal law 
 prohibiting the spending of appropriated funds to conduct natural gas 
 leasing and preleasing activities, to revoke Presidential withdrawals 
 from disposition of areas of the Outer Continental Shelf with respect 
                to natural gas, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 27, 2005

 Mr. Peterson of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. Cole of Oklahoma, Mr. 
Doolittle, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. Regula, Mr. King of Iowa, Mrs. Emerson, 
 Mr. Bishop of Utah, Mr. Duncan, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Osborne, Mr. Edwards, 
Mrs. Cubin, Mr. Istook, Mr. Pearce, Mr. Flake, Mr. Young of Alaska, Mr. 
Mica, and Mr. Gene Green of Texas) introduced the following bill; which 
               was referred to the Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To terminate the effect of all provisions of existing Federal law 
 prohibiting the spending of appropriated funds to conduct natural gas 
 leasing and preleasing activities, to revoke Presidential withdrawals 
 from disposition of areas of the Outer Continental Shelf with respect 
                to natural gas, 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. SHORT TITLE.

     This Act may be cited as the ``Outer Continental Shelf Energy 
Relief Act''.

SEC. 2. TERMINATION OF LAWS PROHIBITING EXPENDITURES FOR NATURAL GAS 
              LEASING AND PRELEASING ACTIVITIES REGARDING AREAS OF THE 
              OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF.

     All provisions of existing Federal law prohibiting the spending of 
appropriated funds to conduct natural gas leasing and preleasing 
activities for any area of the Outer Continental Shelf shall have no 
force or effect.

SEC. 3. REVOCATION OF EXISTING PRESIDENTIAL WITHDRAWALS WITH RESPECT TO 
              NATURAL GAS.

     All existing withdrawals by the President under the authority of 
section 12 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1341) 
are hereby revoked and are no longer in effect with respect to the 
leasing of areas for exploration for, and development and production 
of, natural gas.

SEC. 4. OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF LEASING PROGRAM.

    Section 18(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 
1344(a)) is amended by inserting after the second sentence the 
following: ``The Secretary shall, in each 5-year program, include lease 
sales that when viewed as a whole propose to offer for gas leasing at 
least 75 percent of the available unleased acreage within each OCS 
Planning Area, as such OCS Planning Areas are established as of the 
date of enactment of this Act.''.

SEC. 5. SHARING OF REVENUES.

    Effective October 1, 2006, bonus bid and royalty revenues received 
from existing and future Federal gas leases on lands that are located 
within the State seaward boundaries established under section 4 of the 
Submerged Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1312) shall be handled as follows:
            (1) The Secretary shall share 50 percent of all such bids 
        and royalties derived from any leased tract that lies wholly 
        within the expanded seaward boundary of any coastal State or, 
        in the case where a leased tract lies partially within the 
        seaward boundary, a percentage of bonus bids and royalties 
        derived from such tract equal to the percentage of surface 
        acreage of the tract that lies within such seaward boundary 
        with the coastal state.
            (2) The remaining 50 percent of such bonus bids and 
        royalties shall be transmitted simultaneously to the 
        miscellaneous receipts account of the Treasury of the United 
        States.

SEC. 6. NATURAL GAS-ONLY LEASING.

    Section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337) 
is amended by adding at the end the following subsection:
    ``(p) Natural Gas-Only Leasing.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary may issue leases under 
        this section that authorize development and production only of 
        natural gas and associated condensate in accordance with 
        regulations promulgated under paragraph (2).
            ``(2) Regulations.--Before issuing any lease under 
        paragraph (1), the Secretary must promulgate regulations that--
                    ``(A) define what constitutes natural gas, 
                condensate, and oil;
                    ``(B) establish the lessee's rights and obligations 
                regarding condensate produced in association with 
                natural gas;
                    ``(C) prescribe procedures and requirements that 
                the lessee of a lease issued under this subsection must 
                follow if the lessee discovers oil deposits in the 
                course of exploration or development; and
                    ``(D) establish such other requirements for natural 
                gas-only leases as the Secretary considers appropriate.
            ``(3) Application of other laws.--All provisions of this 
        Act or any other Federal law or regulations that apply to oil 
        and natural gas leases for the outer Continental Shelf shall 
        apply to natural gas-only leases authorized under this 
        subsection.
            ``(4) Existing leases.--At the request of the lessee of an 
        oil and gas lease in effect under this section on the date of 
        enactment of this subsection, and under the requirements 
        prescribed in regulations promulgated under paragraph (2), the 
        Secretary may restrict development under such a lease to 
        natural gas and associated condensate only.
            ``(5) Oil and gas leasing programs.--
                    ``(A) Program for 2002-2007.--The Secretary may 
                issue a natural gas-only lease in accordance with this 
                subsection before June 30, 2007, without amending the 
                outer Continental shelf leasing program that applies 
                for the period beginning on the date of the enactment 
                of this subsection and ending June 30, 2007, if the 
                Secretary provides public notice and an opportunity to 
                comment on the proposed notice of sale.
                    ``(B) Program for 2007-2012.--The Secretary may 
                include provisions regarding issuance of natural gas-
                only leases in the outer Continental shelf leasing 
                program that applies for the 5-year period beginning in 
                2007, notwithstanding any draft proposal for such 
                program issued before the date of the enactment of this 
                subsection.''.
                                 <all>