[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2568 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2568

To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to prohibit preleasing, 
    leasing, and related activities in the Chukchi and Beaufort Sea 
           Planning Areas unless certain conditions are met.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 29, 2008

   Mr. Kerry 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 prohibit preleasing, 
    leasing, and related activities in the Chukchi and Beaufort Sea 
           Planning Areas unless certain conditions are met.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. PROHIBITION ON LEASING IN CHUKCHI AND BEAUFORT SEA PLANNING 
              AREAS.

    Section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(q) Prohibition on Leasing in Chukchi and Beaufort Sea Planning 
Areas.--The Secretary shall not offer for leasing, preleasing, or any 
related activity (including approving any seismic activity, offering 
any new lease, or approving an exploration or development plan) within 
any area of the Chukchi or Beaufort Sea Planning Area until--
            ``(1) the Secretary enters into an agreement with the 
        National Research Council--
                    ``(A) to identify missing information on the 
                composition, distribution, status, and ecology of the 
                living marine resources in the Chukchi and Beaufort Sea 
                marine and coastal ecosystems that--
                            ``(i) focuses on the changes likely to be 
                        caused by climate change; and
                            ``(ii) supports the establishment of 
                        baseline information and the determination of 
                        the potential impacts of all oil- and gas-
                        related activities on plant and animal species, 
                        marine and coastal environments, and 
                        subsistence activities;
                    ``(B) to review the adequacy of ongoing and 
                completed environmental, public health, and cultural 
                studies (including ongoing and completed studies 
                conducted by the Alaska environmental studies program 
                of the Minerals Management Service) in providing 
                information described in subparagraph (A); and
                    ``(C) to submit to Congress a report that--
                            ``(i) identifies missing information;
                            ``(ii) evaluates the adequacy of ongoing 
                        and completed studies; and
                            ``(iii) makes recommendations on any 
                        additional studies or research that are 
                        required;
            ``(2)(A) the polar bear is listed as an endangered species 
        or a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 
        1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and critical habitat is 
        designated for the species; or
            ``(B) the Secretary publishes a determination that such a 
        listing is not warranted;
            ``(3) the Secretary determines that deployable mechanical 
        oil spill response technologies exist that are documented to be 
        effective in recovery of at least 85 percent of the oil spilled 
        into marine and coastal environments under the environmental 
        conditions that exist in the Chukchi and Beaufort Sea Planning 
        Areas; and
            ``(4) the Secretary determines that--
                    ``(A) oil and gas exploration and development 
                activities can be conducted in the Chukchi and Beaufort 
                Sea Planning Areas without posing a risk of substantial 
                adverse impact to wildlife or wildlife habitat and 
                subsistence; and
                    ``(B) any mitigation measures necessary to avoid 
                such risks are identified and the efficacy of the 
                measures established.''.
                                 <all>