[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5588 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5588

To prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from offering for oil and gas 
leasing or any related activity any tract in the Lease Sale 193 Area of 
     the Alaska Outer Continental Shelf Region until the Secretary 
determines whether to list the polar bear as a threatened species or an 
 endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and for 
                            other purposes.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 11, 2008

  Mr. Markey (for himself, Mr. Inslee, Mr. Hinchey, and Mr. Larson of 
 Connecticut) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from offering for oil and gas 
leasing or any related activity any tract in the Lease Sale 193 Area of 
     the Alaska Outer Continental Shelf Region until the Secretary 
determines whether to list the polar bear as a threatened species or an 
 endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, 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. SCHEDULE FOR OIL AND GAS LEASING ACTIVITIES FOR TRACTS 
              WITHIN THE LEASE SALE 193 AREA.

    (a) Schedule.--The Secretary of the Interior may not offer for oil 
and gas leasing or any related activity (including approving any 
seismic activity, offering any new lease, or approving any exploration 
or development plan) any tract located in the Lease Sale 193 Area of 
the Alaska Outer Continental Shelf Region before the earlier of--
            (1) the effective date of--
                    (A) the listing of the polar bear as a threatened 
                species or an endangered species under the Endangered 
                Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); and
                    (B) the final decision regarding the determination 
                of critical habitat for such species under that Act; or
            (2) the date the Secretary publishes a determination that 
        such listing is not warranted.
    (b) Lease Sale 193 Area Defined.--In this section the term ``Lease 
Sale 193 Area'' means the area offered for lease in the Final Notice of 
Sale (FNOS), OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sale 193, Chukchi Sea published in 
the Federal Register by the Minerals Management Service on January 2, 
2008 (73 Fed. Reg. 209).
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