[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 736 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 736

 To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to promote uses on the 
                        Outer Continental Shelf.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 6, 2005

  Mr. Vitter 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 promote uses on the 
                        Outer Continental Shelf.

    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 ``Alternative Energy Enhancement Act 
of 2005''.

SEC. 2. ALTERNATE ENERGY-RELATED USES ON THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF.

    (a) In General.--Section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 
(43 U.S.C. 1337) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(p)(1) The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of the 
Department in which the Coast Guard is operating and other relevant 
departments and agencies of the Federal Government, may grant a lease, 
easement, right-of-way, license, or permit on the outer Continental 
Shelf for activities not otherwise authorized under this Act, the 
Deepwater Port Act of 1974 (33 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.), the Ocean Thermal 
Energy Conversion Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9101 et seq.), or other 
applicable law, if those activities support or promote--
            ``(A) exploration, development, production, transportation, 
        or storage of oil, natural gas, or other minerals;
            ``(B) production, transportation, or transmission of energy 
        from sources other than oil and gas; or
            ``(C) use, for energy-related or marine-related purposes, 
        of facilities in use on or before the date of enactment of this 
        subsection for activities authorized under this Act.
    ``(2)(A)(i) Subject to paragraph (3), the Secretary shall establish 
reasonable forms of payment for any lease, easement, right-of-way, 
license, or permit under this subsection, including a royalty, fee, 
rental, bonus, or other payment, as the Secretary determines to be 
appropriate.
    ``(ii) The Secretary may establish a form of payment described in 
clause (i) by rule or by agreement with the holder of the lease, 
easement, right-of-way, license, or permit.
    ``(B) In establishing a form of, or schedule relating to, a payment 
under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall take into consideration the 
economic viability of a proposed activity.
    ``(C) The Secretary may, by rule, provide for relief from or 
reduction of a payment under subparagraph (A)--
            ``(i) if, without the relief or reduction, an activity 
        relating to a lease, easement, right-of-way, license, or permit 
        under this subsection would be uneconomical;
            ``(ii) to encourage a particular activity; or
            ``(iii) for another reason, as the Secretary determines to 
        be appropriate.
    ``(D) If the holder of a lease, easement, right-of-way, license, or 
permit under this subsection fails to make a payment by the date 
required under a rule or term of the lease, easement, right-of-way, 
license, or permit, the Secretary may require the holder to pay 
interest on the payment in accordance with the underpayment rate 
established under section 6621(a)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986, for the period--
            ``(i) beginning on the date on which the payment was due; 
        and
            ``(ii) ending on the date on which the payment is made.
    ``(E)(i) The Secretary may allow a credit in the amount of any 
excess payment made by the holder of a lease, easement, right-of-way, 
license, or permit under this subsection or provide a refund in the 
amount of the excess payment from the account to or in which the excess 
payment was paid or deposited.
    ``(ii) The Secretary shall pay, or allow the holder of a lease, 
easement, right-of-way, license, or permit under this subsection a 
credit in the amount of, any interest on an amount refunded or credited 
under clause (i) in accordance with the overpayment rate established 
under section 6621(a)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, for the 
period--
            ``(I) beginning on the date on which the Secretary received 
        the excess payment; and
            ``(II) ending on the date on which the refund or credit is 
        provided.
    ``(F)(i) The Secretary, in coordination with the Administrator of 
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, may establish 
reasonable forms of payment, as determined by the Secretary, for a 
license issued under the Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Act of 1980 
(42 U.S.C. 9101 et seq.), including a royalty, fee, rental, bonus, or 
other payment, as the Secretary determines to be appropriate, in 
addition to the administrative fee under section 102(h) of that Act (42 
U.S.C. 9112(h)).
    ``(ii) A form of payment under clause (i) may be established by 
rule or by agreement with the holder of the lease, easement, right-of-
way, license, or permit.
    ``(3)(A) Any funds received by the Secretary from a holder of a 
lease, easement, right-of-way, license, or permit under this subsection 
shall be distributed in accordance with this paragraph.
    ``(B)(i) If a lease, easement, right-of-way, license, or permit 
under this subsection covers a specific tract of, or regards a facility 
located on, the outer Continental Shelf and is not an easement or 
right-of-way for transmission or transportation of energy, minerals, or 
other natural resources, the Secretary shall pay 50 percent of any 
amount received from the holder of the lease, easement, right-of-way, 
license, or permit to the State off the shore of which the geographic 
center of the area covered by the lease, easement, right-of-way, 
license, permit, or facility is located, in accordance with Federal law 
determining the seaward lateral boundaries of the coastal States.
    ``(ii) Not later than the last day of the month after the month 
during which the Secretary receives a payment from the holder of a 
lease, easement, right-of-way, license, or permit described in clause 
(i), the Secretary shall make payments in accordance with clause (i).
    ``(C)(i) The Secretary shall deposit 20 percent of the funds 
described in subparagraph (A) to a special account maintained and 
administered by the Secretary to provide research and development 
grants for improving energy technologies.
    ``(ii) An amount deposited under clause (i) shall remain available 
until expended, without further appropriation.
    ``(D) The Secretary shall credit 5 percent of the funds described 
in subparagraph (A) to the annual operating appropriation of the 
Minerals Management Service.
    ``(E) The Secretary shall deposit any funds described in 
subparagraph (A) that are not deposited or credited under subparagraphs 
(B) through (D) in the general fund of the Treasury.
    ``(F) This paragraph does not apply to any amount received by the 
Secretary under section 9701 of title 31, United States Code, or any 
other law (including regulations) under which the Secretary may recover 
the costs of administering this subsection.
    ``(4) Before carrying out this subsection, the Secretary shall 
consult with the Secretary of Defense and other appropriate Federal 
agencies regarding the effect of this subsection on national security 
and navigational obstruction.
    ``(5)(A) The Secretary may issue a lease, easement, right-of-way, 
license, or permit under paragraph (1) on a competitive or 
noncompetitive basis.
    ``(B) In determining whether a lease, easement right-of-way, 
license, or permit shall be granted competitively or noncompetitively, 
the Secretary shall consider factors including--
            ``(i) prevention of waste and conservation of natural 
        resources;
            ``(ii) the economic viability of a project;
            ``(iii) protection of the environment;
            ``(iv) the national interest and national security;
            ``(v) human safety;
            ``(vi) protection of correlative rights; and
            ``(vii) the potential return of the lease, easement, right-
        of-way, license, or permit.
    ``(6) The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of the 
Department in which the Coast Guard is operating, other relevant 
Federal agencies, and affected States, as the Secretary determines 
appropriate, shall promulgate any regulation the Secretary determines 
to be necessary to administer this subsection to achieve the goals of--
            ``(A) ensuring public safety;
            ``(B) protecting the environment;
            ``(C) preventing waste;
            ``(D) conserving the natural resources of, and protecting 
        correlative rights in, the outer Continental Shelf;
            ``(E) protecting national security interests;
            ``(F) auditing and reconciling payments made and owed by 
        each holder of a lease, easement, right-of-way, license, or 
        permit under this subsection to ensure a correct accounting and 
        collection of the payments; and
            ``(G) requiring each holder of a lease, easement, right-of-
        way, license, or permit under this subsection to--
                    ``(i) establish such records as the Secretary 
                determines to be necessary;
                    ``(ii) retain all records relating to an activity 
                under a lease, easement, right-of-way, license, or 
                permit under this subsection for such period as the 
                Secretary may prescribe; and
                    ``(iii) produce the records on receipt of a request 
                from the Secretary.
    ``(7) Section 22 shall apply to any activity relating to a lease, 
easement, right-of-way, license, or permit under this subsection.
    ``(8) The Secretary shall require the holder of a lease, easement, 
right-of-way, license, or permit under this subsection to--
            ``(A) submit to the Secretary a surety bond or other form 
        of security, as determined by the Secretary; and
            ``(B) comply with any other requirement the Secretary 
        determines to be necessary to protect the interests of the 
        United States.
    ``(9) Nothing in this subsection displaces, supersedes, limits, or 
modifies the jurisdiction, responsibility, or authority of any Federal 
or State agency under any other Federal law.
    ``(10) This subsection does not apply to any area on the outer 
Continental Shelf designated as a National Marine Sanctuary.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf 
Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337) is amended in the section heading by 
striking ``leasing'' and all that follows and inserting ``leases, 
easements, and rights-of-way on the outer continental shelf.''.
    (c) Savings Provision.--Nothing in the amendment made by subsection 
(a) requires any resubmission of documents previously submitted or any 
reauthorization of actions previously authorized with respect to any 
project--
            (1) for which offshore test facilities have been 
        constructed before the date of enactment of this Act; or
            (2) for which a request for proposals has been issued by a 
        public authority.
                                 <all>