[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6515 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6515

To amend the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976 to require 
the Secretary of the Interior to conduct an expeditious environmentally 
   responsible program of competitive leasing of oil and gas in the 
     National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 16, 2008

Mr. Rahall (for himself, Mr. Welch of Vermont, Ms. Sutton, Ms. Castor, 
Mr. Carson, Mrs. Boyda of Kansas, Mr. Walz of Minnesota, Ms. Giffords, 
Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Hodes, Mr. Hall of New York, Mr. Space, Mr. Sires, 
   Mr. Wilson of Ohio, Mr. Yarmuth, Mr. Courtney, Mr. McNerney, Mr. 
Faleomavaega, and Mr. Foster) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the 
 Committees on Foreign Affairs and Transportation and Infrastructure, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 
                        the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976 to require 
the Secretary of the Interior to conduct an expeditious environmentally 
   responsible program of competitive leasing of oil and gas in the 
     National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, 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 ``Drill Responsibly in Leased Lands 
Act of 2008''.

SEC. 2. NATIONAL PETROLEUM RESERVE IN ALASKA: LEASE SALES.

    Section 107(a) of the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 
1976 is amended to read as follows:
    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall conduct an expeditious 
environmentally responsible program of competitive leasing of oil and 
gas in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska in accordance with this 
Act. Such program shall include no fewer than one lease sale in the 
Reserve each year during the period 2009 through 2013.''.

SEC. 3. NATIONAL PETROLEUM RESERVE IN ALASKA: PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION.

    The Secretary of Transportation shall facilitate, in an 
environmentally responsible manner and in coordination with the 
Secretary of the Interior, the construction of pipelines necessary to 
transport oil and gas from or through the National Petroleum Reserve in 
Alaska to existing transportation or processing infrastructure on the 
North Slope of Alaska.

SEC. 4. ALASKA NATURAL GAS PIPELINE PROJECT FACILITATION.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Over 35 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves 
        have been discovered on Federal and State lands currently open 
        to oil and gas leasing on the North Slope of Alaska.
            (2) These gas supplies could make a significant 
        contribution to meeting the energy needs of the United States, 
        but the lack of a natural gas transportation system has 
        prevented these gas reserves from reaching markets in the lower 
        48 States.
    (b) Facilitation by President.--The President shall, pursuant to 
the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline Act (division C of Public Law 108-324; 
15 U.S.C. 720 et seq.) and other applicable law, coordinate with 
producers of oil and natural gas on the North Slope of Alaska, Federal 
agencies, the State of Alaska, Canadian authorities, and other 
interested persons in order to facilitate construction of a natural gas 
pipeline from Alaska to United States markets as expeditiously as 
possible.

SEC. 5. PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENTS AND OTHER PIPELINE REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Project Labor Agreements.--The President, as a term and 
condition of any permit required under Federal law for the pipelines 
referred to in section 3 and section 4, and in recognizing the 
Government's interest in labor stability and in the ability of 
construction labor and management to meet the particular needs and 
conditions of such pipelines to be developed under such permits and the 
special concerns of the holders of such permits, shall require that the 
operators of such pipelines and their agents and contractors negotiate 
to obtain a project labor agreement for the employment of laborers and 
mechanics on production, maintenance, and construction for such 
pipelines.
    (b) Pipeline Maintenance.--The Secretary of Transportation shall 
require every pipeline operator authorized to transport oil and gas 
produced under Federal oil and gas leases in Alaska through the Trans-
Alaska Pipeline, any pipeline constructed pursuant to section 3 or 4 of 
this Act, or any other federally approved pipeline transporting oil and 
gas from the North Slope of Alaska, to certify to the Secretary of 
Transportation annually that such pipeline is being fully maintained 
and operated in an efficient manner. The Secretary of Transportation 
shall assess appropriate civil penalties for violations of this 
requirement in the same manner as civil penalties are assessed for 
violations under section 60122(a)(1) of title 49, United States Code.

SEC. 6. BAN ON EXPORT OF ALASKAN OIL.

    (a) Repeal of Provision Authorizing Exports.--Section 28(s) of the 
Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 185(s)) is repealed.
    (b) Reimposition of Prohibition on Crude Oil Exports.--Upon the 
effective date of this Act, subsection (d) of section 7 of the Export 
Administration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. App. 2406(d)), shall be 
effective, and any other provision of that Act (including sections 11 
and 12) shall be effective to the extent necessary to carry out such 
section 7(d), notwithstanding section 20 of that Act or any other 
provision of law that would otherwise allow exports of oil to which 
such section 7(d) applies.

SEC. 7. ISSUANCE OF NEW LEASES.

    (a) In General.--After the date of the issuance of regulations 
under subsection (b), the Secretary of the Interior shall not issue to 
a person 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.), the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 
U.S.C. 1331 et seq.), or any other law authorizing the issuance of oil 
and gas leases on Federal lands or submerged lands, unless--
            (1) the person 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 is diligently developing 
        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 land; or
            (2) the person has relinquished all ownership interest in 
        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 establish 
what constitutes ``diligently developing'' for purposes of this Act.
    (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''--
            (1) includes any person or other entity that controls, is 
        controlled by, or is in or under common control with, a lessee; 
        and
            (2) does not include any person who does not hold more than 
        a minority ownership interest in a lease under an Act referred 
        to in subsection (a) authorizing the exploration for or 
        production of oil or natural gas.

SEC. 8. FAIR RETURN ON PRODUCTION OF FEDERAL OIL AND GAS RESOURCES.

    (a) Royalty Payments.--The Secretary of the Interior shall take all 
steps necessary to ensure that lessees under leases for exploration, 
development, and production of oil and natural gas on Federal lands, 
including leases under the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.), 
the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands (30 U.S.C. 351 et seq.), the 
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (30 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.), and all 
other mineral leasing laws, are making prompt, transparent, and 
accurate royalty payments under such leases.
    (b) Recommendations for Legislative Action.--In order to facilitate 
implementation of subsection (a), the Secretary of the Interior shall, 
within 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act and in 
consultation with the affected States, prepare and transmit to Congress 
recommendations for legislative action to improve the accurate 
collection of Federal oil and gas royalties.
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