[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1810 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1810

To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to allow certain coastal 
     States to share in qualified outer Continental Shelf revenues.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 3, 2005

  Mr. Warner introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to allow certain coastal 
     States to share in qualified outer Continental Shelf revenues.

    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 Revenue 
Sharing Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF REVENUE SHARING.

    Section 31 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 
1356a) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) by striking paragraph (7);
                    (B) by redesignating paragraphs (8), (9), and (10) 
                as paragraphs (7), (8), and (9), respectively;
                    (C) in paragraph (8) (as redesignated by 
                subparagraph (B)), by striking subparagraph (B) and 
                inserting the following:
                    ``(B) Inclusion.--The term `producing State' 
                includes any State that begins production on a leased 
                tract on or after the date of enactment of the Outer 
                Continental Shelf Revenue Sharing Act of 2005, 
                regardless of whether the leased tract was on any date 
                subject to a leasing moratorium.''; and
                    (D) in paragraph (9) (as redesignated by 
                subparagraph (B)), by striking subparagraph (C); and
            (2) in subsection (b)(4), by striking subparagraph (E).

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF SEAWARD LATERAL BOUNDARIES FOR COASTAL STATES.

    Section 4(a)(2)(A) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 
U.S.C. 1333(a)(2)(A)) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(i)'' after ``(A)'';
            (2) in the first sentence--
                    (A) by striking ``President shall'' and inserting 
                ``Secretary shall by regulation''; and
                    (B) by inserting before the period at the end the 
                following: ``not later than 180 days after the date of 
                enactment of the Outer Continental Shelf Revenue 
                Sharing Act of 2005''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(ii)(I) For purposes of this Act (including determining 
boundaries to authorize leasing and preleasing activities and any 
attributing revenues under this Act and calculating payments to 
producing States and coastal political subdivisions under section 31), 
the Secretary shall delineate the lateral boundaries between coastal 
States in areas of the Outer Continental shelf under exclusive Federal 
jurisdiction, to the extent of the exclusive economic zone of the 
United States, in accordance with article 15 of the United Nations 
Convention on the Law of the Sea of December 10, 1982.
    ``(II) This clause shall not affect any right or title to Federal 
submerged land on the outer Continental Shelf.''.

SEC. 4. OPTION TO PETITION FOR LEASING WITHIN CERTAIN AREAS ON THE 
              OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF.

    Section 12 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 
1341) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(g) Leasing Within the Seaward Lateral Boundaries of Coastal 
States.--
            ``(1) Definition of affected area.--In this subsection, the 
        term `affected area' means any area located--
                    ``(A) in the areas of northern, central, and 
                southern California and the areas of Oregon and 
                Washington;
                    ``(B) in the north, middle, or south planning area 
                of the Atlantic Ocean;
                    ``(C) in the eastern Gulf of Mexico planning area 
                and lying--
                            ``(i) south of 26 degrees north latitude; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) east of 86 degrees west longitude; 
                        or
                    ``(D) in the Straits of Florida.
            ``(2) Restrictions on leasing.--The Secretary shall not 
        offer for offshore leasing, preleasing, or any related 
        activity--
                    ``(A) any area located on the outer Continental 
                Shelf that, as of the date of enactment of this 
                subsection, is designated as a marine sanctuary under 
                the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 
                1972 (33 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.); or
                    ``(B) except as provided in paragraphs (3) and (4), 
                during the period beginning on the date of enactment of 
                this subsection and ending on June 30, 2012, any 
                affected area.
            ``(3) Resource assessments.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Beginning on the date on which 
                the Secretary delineates seaward lateral boundaries 
                under section 4(a)(2)(A)(ii), a Governor of a State in 
                which an affected area is located, with the consent of 
                the legislature of the State, may submit to the 
                Secretary a petition requesting a resource assessment 
                of any area within the seaward lateral boundary of the 
                State.
                    ``(B) Eligible resources.--A petition for a 
                resource assessment under subparagraph (A) may be for--
                            ``(i) oil and gas leasing;
                            ``(ii) gas-only leasing; or
                            ``(iii) any other energy source leasing, 
                        including renewable energy leasing.
                    ``(C) Action by secretary.--Not later than 90 days 
                after receipt of a petition under subparagraph (A), the 
                Secretary shall approve the petition, unless the 
                Secretary determines that a resource assessment of the 
                area would create an unreasonable risk of harm to the 
                marine, human, or coastal environment of the State.
                    ``(D) Failure to act.--If the Secretary fails to 
                approve or deny a petition in accordance with 
                subparagraph (C)--
                            ``(i) the petition shall be considered to 
                        be approved; and
                            ``(ii) a resource assessment of any 
                        appropriate area shall be carried out as soon 
                        as practicable.
                    ``(E) Submission to state.--As soon as practicable 
                after the date on which a petition is approved under 
                subparagraph (C) or (D), the Secretary shall--
                            ``(i) complete the resource assessment for 
                        the area; and
                            ``(ii) submit the completed resource 
                        assessment to the State.
            ``(4) Petition for leasing.--
                    ``(A) In general.--On receipt of a resource 
                assessment under paragraph (3)(E)(ii), the Governor of 
                a State in which an affected area is located, with the 
                consent of the legislature of the State, may submit to 
                the Secretary a petition requesting that the Secretary 
                make available any land that is within the seaward 
                lateral boundaries of the State (as established under 
                section 4(a)(2)(A)(ii)) and that is greater than 20 
                miles from the coastline of the State for the conduct 
                of offshore leasing, pre-leasing, or related activities 
                with respect to--
                            ``(i) oil and gas leasing;
                            ``(ii) gas-only leasing; or
                            ``(iii) any other energy source leasing, 
                        including renewable energy leasing.
                    ``(B) Action by secretary.--Not later than 90 days 
                after receipt of a petition under subparagraph (A), the 
                Secretary shall approve the petition, unless the 
                Secretary determines that leasing the area would create 
                an unreasonable risk of harm to the marine, human, or 
                coastal environment of the State.
                    ``(C) Failure to act.--If the Secretary fails to 
                approve or deny a petition in accordance with 
                subparagraph (B)--
                            ``(i) the petition shall be considered to 
                        be approved; and
                            ``(ii) any appropriate area shall be made 
                        available for oil and gas leasing, gas-only 
                        leasing, or any other energy source leasing, 
                        including renewable energy leasing.
            ``(5) Revenue sharing.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Beginning on the date on which 
                production begins in an area under this subsection, the 
                State shall, without further appropriation, share in 
                any qualified outer Continental Shelf revenues of the 
                production under section 31.
                    ``(B) Applicable law.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Except as provided in 
                        clause (ii), a State shall not be required to 
                        comply with subsections (c) and (d) of section 
                        31 to share in qualified outer Continental 
                        Shelf revenues under subparagraph (A).
                            ``(ii) Exception.--Of any qualified outer 
                        Continental Shelf revenues received by a State 
                        (including a political subdivision of a State) 
                        under subparagraph (A), at least 25 percent 
                        shall be used for 1 or more of the purposes 
                        described in section 31(d)(1).
            ``(6) Effect.--Nothing in this subsection affects any right 
        relating to an area described in paragraph (1) or (2) under a 
        lease that was in existence on the day before the date of 
        enactment of this subsection.''.

SEC. 5. REGULATIONS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior shall issue such 
regulations as are necessary to carry out this Act and the amendments 
made by this Act, including regulations establishing procedures for 
entering into gas-only leases.
    (b) Gas-Only Leases.--In issuing regulations establishing 
procedures for entering into gas-only leases, the Secretary shall--
            (1) ensure that gas-only leases under the Outer Continental 
        Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) are not available in a 
        State that (as of the day before the date of enactment of this 
        Act) did not contain an affected area (as defined in section 
        12(g)(1) of that Act (as added by section 4)); and
            (2) define ``natural gas'' as--
                    (A) unmixed natural gas; or
                    (B) any mixture of natural or artificial gas 
                (including compressed or liquefied petroleum gas) and 
                condensate recovered from natural gas.
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