[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6529 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6529

 To greatly enhance the Nation's environmental, energy, economic, and 
national security by terminating long-standing Federal prohibitions on 
   the domestic production of abundant offshore supplies of oil and 
                  natural gas, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 17, 2008

   Mr. Calvert (for himself, Mr. Burton of Indiana, Mr. Carter, Mr. 
  Doolittle, Mr. Gallegly, Mr. Herger, Mr. Kanjorski, Mr. Latta, Mr. 
 Lewis of California, Mr. Daniel E. Lungren of California, Mr. McKeon, 
Mr. Nunes, Mr. Radanovich, Mr. Rohrabacher, and Mr. Dreier) introduced 
  the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 
                               Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To greatly enhance the Nation's environmental, energy, economic, and 
national security by terminating long-standing Federal prohibitions on 
   the domestic production of abundant offshore supplies of oil and 
                  natural gas, 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 ``Maximize Offshore Resource 
Exploration Act of 2008'' or the ``MORE Act of 2008''.

SEC. 2. TERMINATION OF PROHIBITIONS ON EXPENDITURES FOR, AND 
              WITHDRAWALS FROM, OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASING.

    (a) Prohibitions on Expenditures.--All provisions of Federal law 
that prohibit the expenditure of appropriated funds to conduct oil and 
natural gas leasing and preleasing activities for any area of the Outer 
Continental Shelf shall have no force or effect with respect to such 
activities.
    (b) Revocation Withdrawals.--All withdrawals of Federal submerged 
lands of the Outer Continental Shelf from leasing, including 
withdrawals by the President under the authority of section 12(a) of 
the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1341(a)), are hereby 
revoked and are no longer in effect with respect to the leasing of 
areas for exploration for, and development and production of, oil and 
natural gas.

SEC. 3. OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF OIL AND NATURAL GAS LEASING PROGRAM.

    The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) is 
amended by inserting after section 9 the following:

``SEC. 10. STATE APPROVAL REQUIREMENT WITH RESPECT TO OIL AND NATURAL 
              GAS LEASING.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary may not issue any lease 
authorizing exploration for, or development of, oil and natural gas in 
any area of the outer Continental Shelf that is located within 25 miles 
of the coastline of a State unless the State has enacted a law 
approving of the issuance of such leases by the Secretary.
    ``(b) State Approval Permanent.--Repeal of such a law by a State 
shall have no effect for purposes of subsection (a).''.

SEC. 4. SHARING OF REVENUES.

    (a) In General.--Section 8(g) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 
Act (43 U.S.C. 1337(g)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2) by striking ``Notwithstanding'' and 
        inserting ``Except as provided in paragraph (6), and 
        notwithstanding'';
            (2) by redesignating paragraphs (6) and (7) as paragraphs 
        (7) and (8); and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following:
            ``(6) Royalties under qualified oil and gas leases.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Except as provided in 
                subparagraph (B), of amounts received by the United 
                States as royalties under any qualified oil and gas 
                lease on submerged lands that are located within the 
                seaward boundaries of a State established under section 
                4(a)(2)(A)--
                            ``(i) 25 percent shall be deposited in the 
                        general fund of the Treasury; and
                            ``(ii) 75 percent shall be paid to the 
                        States that are producing States with respect 
                        to those submerged lands.
                    ``(B) Lease tracts within 25 miles of the 
                coastline.--Of amounts received by the United States as 
                royalties under any qualified oil and gas lease on 
                submerged lands that are located within 25 miles of the 
                coastline of a State and within the seaward boundaries 
                of a State established under section 4(a)(2)(A)--
                            ``(i) 10 percent shall be deposited in the 
                        general fund of the Treasury; and
                            ``(ii) 90 percent shall be paid to the 
                        States that are producing States with respect 
                        to those submerged lands.
                    ``(C) Leased tract that lies partially within the 
                seaward boundaries of a state.--In the case of a leased 
                tract that lies partially within the seaward boundaries 
                of a State, the amounts of royalties from such tract 
                that are subject to subparagraph (A) or (B), as 
                applicable, with respect to such State shall be a 
                percentage of the total amounts of royalties from such 
                tract that is equivalent to the total percentage of 
                surface acreage of the tract that lies within such 
                seaward boundaries.
                    ``(D) Definitions.--In this paragraph:
                            ``(i) Adjacent state.--The term `adjacent 
                        State' means, with respect to any program, 
                        plan, lease sale, leased tract or other 
                        activity, proposed, conducted, or approved 
                        pursuant to the provisions of this Act, any 
                        State the laws of which are declared, pursuant 
                        to section 4(a)(2), to be the law of the United 
                        States for the portion of the outer Continental 
                        Shelf on which such program, plan, lease sale, 
                        leased tract, or activity appertains or is, or 
                        is proposed to be, conducted.
                            ``(ii) Adjacent zone.--The term `adjacent 
                        zone' means, with respect to any program, plan, 
                        lease sale, leased tract, or other activity, 
                        proposed, conducted, or approved pursuant to 
                        the provisions of this Act, the portion of the 
                        outer Continental Shelf for which the laws of a 
                        particular adjacent State are declared, 
                        pursuant to section 4(a)(2), to be the law of 
                        the United States.
                            ``(iii) Producing state.--The term 
                        `producing State' means an Adjacent State 
                        having an adjacent zone containing leased 
                        tracts from which are derived royalties under a 
                        lease under this Act.
                            ``(iv) State.--The term `State' includes 
                        Puerto Rico and the other territories of the 
                        United States.
                            ``(v) Qualified oil and gas lease.--The 
                        term `qualified oil and gas lease' means a 
                        lease under this Act granted after the date of 
                        the enactment of the Maximize Offshore Resource 
                        Exploration Act of 2008 that authorizes 
                        development and production of oil and natural 
                        gas and associated condensate.
                    ``(E) Application.--This paragraph shall apply to 
                royalties received by the United States after September 
                30, 2008.''.
    (b) Establishment of State Seaward Boundaries.--Section 4(a)(2)(A) 
of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1333(a)(2)(A)) is 
amended in the first sentence by striking ``, and the President'' and 
all that follows through the end of the sentence and inserting the 
following: ``. Such extended lines are deemed to be as indicated on the 
maps for each Outer Continental Shelf region entitled `Alaska OCS 
Region State Adjacent Zone and OCS Planning Areas', `Pacific OCS Region 
State Adjacent Zones and OCS Planning Areas', `Gulf of Mexico OCS 
Region State Adjacent Zones and OCS Planning Areas', and `Atlantic OCS 
Region State Adjacent Zones and OCS Planning Areas', all of which are 
dated September 2005 and on file in the Office of the Director, 
Minerals Management Service. The preceding sentence shall not apply 
with respect to the treatment under section 105 of the Gulf of Mexico 
Energy Security Act of 2006 (title I of division C of Public Law 109-
432) of qualified outer Continental Shelf revenues deposited and 
disbursed under subsection (a)(2) of that section.''.
                                 <all>