[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6251 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6251

To prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from issuing new Federal oil 
  and gas leases to holders of existing leases who do not diligently 
 develop the lands subject to such existing leases or relinquish such 
                    leases, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 12, 2008

  Mr. Rahall (for himself, Mr. Markey, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. Emanuel, Mrs. 
     Capps, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Yarmuth, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Larson of 
Connecticut, Mr. George Miller of California, and Mr. Hall of New York) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from issuing new Federal oil 
  and gas leases to holders of existing leases who do not diligently 
 develop the lands subject to such existing leases or relinquish such 
                    leases, 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 ``Responsible Federal Oil and Gas 
Lease Act''.

SEC. 2. ISSUANCE OF NEW LEASES.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior shall not issue any 
new lease that authorizes the exploration for or production of oil or 
natural gas, under section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (33 U.S.C. 
226), the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands Act (30 U.S.C. 351 et 
seq.), or the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et 
seq.), to a person unless the person--
            (1) certifies for each existing lease under such Acts for 
        the production of oil or gas with respect to which the person 
        is a lessee, that the person has diligently developed the 
        Federal lands that are subject to the lease in order to produce 
        oil or natural gas or is producing oil or natural gas from such 
        lands; or
            (2) has relinquished all Federal oil and gas leases under 
        which oil and gas is not being diligently developed.
    (b) Diligent Development.--The Secretary shall issue regulations 
within 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act that define 
``diligently developed'' for purposes of subsection (a). Such 
regulations shall--
            (1) include benchmarks for oil and gas development that 
        will ensure that leaseholders produce oil and gas from each 
        lease within the 5-year original term of the lease; and
            (2) require each leaseholder to submit to the Secretary a 
        diligent development plan showing how the lessee will meet the 
        benchmarks.
    (c) Failure To Comply With Requirements.--Any person who fails to 
comply with the requirements of this section or any regulation or order 
issued to implement this section shall be liable for a civil penalty 
under section 109 of the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 
1982 (30 U.S.C. 1719).
    (d) Lessee Defined.--In this section the term ``lessee'' includes 
any person or other entity that controls, is controlled by, or is in or 
under common control with, a lessee.

SEC. 3. LEASE TERMS.

    (a) Leases for Offshore Lands.--Section 8(b)(2) of the Outer 
Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337(b)(2)) is amended to read 
as follows:
            ``(2)(A) be for an initial period of 5 years, and may be 
        renewed for additional 1-year periods, subject to subparagraphs 
        (B) and (C);
            ``(B) not be renewed for an additional period, unless the 
        Secretary determines that as of the date of the expiration of 
        the preceding period--
                    ``(i) production of oil or gas is occurring under 
                the lease; or
                    ``(ii) the lessee is making good-faith progress 
                towards such production and additional time is required 
                to initiate such production; and
            ``(C) be subject to a rental for each such additional 
        period that is not less than double the rental rate that 
        applied for the last year of the initial period;''.
    (b) Leases for Onshore Lands.--
            (1) Leases under mineral leasing act.--Section 17(e) of the 
        Mineral Leasing Act (33 U.S.C. 226(e)) is amended to read as 
        follows:
    ``(e) Leases issued under this section shall--
            ``(1) be for an initial period of 5 years, and may be 
        renewed for additional 1-year periods, subject to paragraphs 
        (2) and (3);
            ``(2) not be renewed for an additional period, unless the 
        Secretary determines that as of the date of the expiration of 
        the preceding period--
                    ``(A) production of oil or gas is occurring under 
                the lease; or
                    ``(B) the lessee is making good-faith progress 
                towards such production and additional time is required 
                to initiate such production; and
            ``(3) be subject to a rental for each such additional 
        period that is not less than double the rental rate that 
        applied for the last year of the initial period.''.
            (2) Leases under mineral leasing act for acquired lands.--
        The Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands Act (30 U.S.C. 351 
        et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 12. LEASE TERMS.

    ``Leases issued under this section shall--
            ``(1) be for an initial period of 5 years, and may be 
        renewed for additional 1-year periods, subject to paragraphs 
        (2) and (3);
            ``(2) not be renewed for an additional period, unless the 
        Secretary determines that as of the date of the expiration of 
        the preceding period--
                    ``(A) production of oil or gas is occurring under 
                the lease; or
                    ``(B) the lessee is making good-faith progress 
                towards such production and additional time is required 
                to initiate such production; and
            ``(3) be subject to a rental for each such additional 
        period that is not less than double the rental rate that 
        applied for the last year of the initial period.''.
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