1.This Act may be cited as
the Oil Shale and Tar Sands Leasing
Act of 2008
.
2.Oil shale and tar
sands leasingSection 369 of
the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15927) is
amended—
(1)in subsection
(d)—
(A)in paragraph
(1)—
(i)by
striking Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this
Act, in
and inserting the following:
(A)Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the
Oil Shale and Tar Sands Leasing Act of
2008, in
;
and
(ii)by
adding at the end the following:
(B)Additional
comment periodThe Governors of each of the States of Colorado,
Utah, and Wyoming shall be afforded an additional 90 days beyond the public
comment period during which to comment on the final programmatic environmental
impact statement prior to issuance of a record of decision by the
Secretary.
;
and
(B)in paragraph
(2)—
(i)in
the heading by striking (2)
Final
regulation.—Not
and inserting the following:
(2)
(A)Not
;
(ii)by
striking 6 months
and inserting 1 year
;
(iii)by
striking final
and inserting proposed
; and
(iv)by
adding at the end the following:
(B)The proposed regulations under this paragraph shall be
open to public comment for not less than 120
days.
;
(2)by redesignating
subsections (e) through (s) as subsections (g) through (u),
respectively;
(3)by inserting
after subsection (d) the following:
(e)Analysis of
commercial leasing program
(1)Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of
the Oil Shale and Tar Sands Leasing Act of
2008, and concurrent with the development of the proposed
regulations as required by this section, the Secretary shall, in cooperation
with the Secretary of Energy and the Administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency, prepare and submit to Congress a report (including
recommendations) that analyzes the elements of a commercial leasing program for
oil shale and tar sands, taking into account any findings from the research and
development program conducted under subsection (c).
(2)The
report under paragraph (1) shall include—
(A)an analysis
of—
(i)technologies and
research and development programs for the production of oil and other materials
from oil shale and tar sands in existence on the date on which the report is
prepared;
(ii)whether leases
under the program should be issued on a competitive basis;
(iii)the term of the
leases;
(iv)the maximum size
of the leases;
(v)the minimum size
of the leases;
(vi)the use and
distribution of bonus bid payments;
(vii)the royalty
rate to be applied, including whether a sliding scale royalty rate should be
used;
(viii)the maximum
number of leases and maximum acreage to be leased under the leasing program to
a single lessee or an individual;
(ix)any
infrastructure required to support oil shale and tar sands development in
industry and communities;
(x)any conditions
that should be imposed in leases to minimize the impacts on—
(I)air quality and
conditions, including greenhouse gas emissions;
(II)water quality
and quantity;
(III)human
health;
(IV)local
communities; and
(V)wildlife
habitat;
(xi)policies that
are necessary to mitigate the adverse impacts of commercial oil shale and tar
sands exploration, development, and production activities on wildlife and other
environmental resources that may be affected by a commercial oil shale and tar
sands leasing and development program;
(xii)reclamation
bonding requirements that should be imposed to guarantee the reclamation of
areas disturbed by oil shale and tar sands exploration, development, and
production activities; and
(xiii)appropriate
diligent development and minimum production requirements;
(B)an identification
of events that should serve as a precursor to commercial leasing,
including—
(i)the development
of environmentally and commercially viable technologies; and
(ii)the completion
of land use planning and environmental reviews; and
(C)an analysis,
developed in conjunction with the appropriate State water resources agencies,
of the demand for, and availability of, water with respect to the development
of oil shale and tar sands, including the best available estimates of the
impacts of population growth and climate change on availability and timing of
freshwater throughout the Colorado River Basin.
(3)In preparing the report under this subsection, the
Secretary shall provide notice to, and solicit comment from—
(A)the
public;
(B)representatives
of local government;
(C)representatives
of industry; and
(D)other interested
parties.
(4)Participation
by certain StatesIn preparing the report under this subsection,
the Secretary shall—
(A)provide timely
notice to, and solicit comment from, the Governors of each of the States of
Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming;
(B)allow each of the
Governors of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming a period of not less than 90 days to
provide comments on the report; and
(C)incorporate into
the report submitted to Congress under paragraph (1) any response of the
Secretary to those comments.
(5)Incorporation
of findings by NASIn preparing the report required by paragraph
(1), the Secretary shall refer to and use information and recommendations made
by the National Academy of Sciences in the report described in subsection
(f).
(f)National Academy
of Sciences report and recommendations
(1)Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of the
Oil Shale and Tar Sands Leasing Act of
2008, the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the
Secretary of Energy and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection
Agency, shall enter into an arrangement with the National Academy of Sciences
under which the Academy shall conduct a study to assess the environmental and
commercial framework for oil shale and tar sands development in the United
States.
(2)The study shall address—
(A)the importance of
oil shale and tar sands production to meet the energy needs of the United
States;
(B)the status of oil
shale and tar sands research and development efforts;
(C)the likely
positive and negative implications of the various technologies for the
commercial production of oil from oil shale and tar sands resources, including
the cumulative effects of other energy infrastructure necessary for such
production, on—
(i)water resources
(including surface water and groundwater), including the quantity and quality
of water;
(ii)air quality,
including greenhouse gas emissions;
(iii)human
health;
(iv)local
communities;
(v)wildlife habitat;
and
(vi)regional energy
needs;
(D)the timeframe for
viable large-scale commercial oil shale and tar sands production and events
that should serve as a precursor to commercial leasing, such as development of
commercially viable and environmentally safe technologies;
(E)the feasibility
and advisability of initiating a pilot program for commercial leasing;
(F)energy sources
needed for extraction technologies and the resulting energy balance and
associated costs;
(G)potential
greenhouse gas emissions for each technology and sequestration
opportunities;
(H)potential social
and environmental impacts of commercial oil shale and tar sands production,
including groundwater and surface water usage;
(I)workforce
capacity requirements associated with large-scale commercial development;
and
(J)appropriate terms
and conditions for commercial oil shale leases on public land, including
royalty rates, diligent development requirements, environmental conditions, and
length of the lease term.
(3)The
study shall—
(A)analyze the
viability of, and timeframe for, environmentally safe commercial oil shale and
tar sands development; and
(B)make
recommendations as to changes, if any, to Federal law (including regulations)
needed to facilitate the commercial production of oil shale and tar sands
resources in a manner that minimizes adverse social and environmental impacts
and ensures a fair return to the public.
(4)The National Academy of Sciences shall—
(A)not later than 18
months after the date of enactment of the Oil
Shale and Tar Sands Leasing Act of 2008, submit the findings and
recommendations of the study to the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of
Energy, and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency;
and
(B)on completion of
the study, make the results of the study available to the public.
(5)Not later than 180 days after receiving the results of
the study, the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Secretary of
Energy and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall
report to Congress on—
(A)the findings and
recommendations of the study;
(B)the agreement or
disagreement of the Secretary with each of the findings and recommendations of
the study; and
(C)(i)a plan and timeframe
for implementing the recommendations of the study through regulations or
otherwise; or
(ii)if the Secretary declines to
implement a recommendation, the justification for declining to implement the
recommendation.
;
(4)in subsection (g)
(as redesignated by paragraph (2))—
(A)by striking
Not later
and inserting the following:
(1)Not
later
;
(B)in the first
sentence, by striking of the final regulation required by subsection
(d)
and inserting of final regulations issued under this section
(taking into account the findings and recommendations of the studies and
reports required by subsections (e) and (f) and the results of research and
development carried out under leases entered into for that
purpose)
;
(C)in the second
sentence, by striking If the Secretary finds sufficient support and
interest exists in a State,
and inserting the following:
(2)If the Secretary finds sufficient support and interest
exists in a State and determines that the technology for the development of tar
sands and oil shale resources is commercially and technically
viable,
;
(D)in the third
sentence, by striking Evidence of
and inserting the
following:
(3)Evidence of
;
and
(E)by adding at the
end the following:
(4)Recommendations
of States on proposed lease sales and development and production plans
(A)Any Governor of an affected State or the executive of any
affected local government in the State may submit recommendations to the
Secretary regarding the size, timing, or location of a proposed lease sale or
with respect to a proposed development and production plan.
(B)Forwarding
local recommendations to GovernorPrior to submitting
recommendations to the Secretary, the executive of any affected local
government in any affected State shall forward the recommendations of the
executive to the Governor of the State.
(C)The
recommendations shall be submitted not later than 60 days after the date of
notice of the proposed lease sale or the date of receipt of the development and
production plan.
(D)The
Secretary shall accept the recommendations of the Governor, and may accept the
recommendations of the executive of any affected local government, if the
Secretary determines, after having provided an opportunity for consultation,
that the recommendations provide for a reasonable balance between the national
interest and the well-being of the citizens of the affected State.
(E)The
Secretary shall communicate to the Governor, in writing, the reasons for the
determination of the Governor—
(i)to accept or
reject the recommendations of the Governor; or
(ii)to implement any
alternative means, identified in consultation with the Governor, to provide for
a reasonable balance between the national interest and the well-being of the
citizens of the affected State.
(5)An environmental impact statement or similar analysis
required under the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) shall be
required—
(A)prior to any
lease sale with respect to the land proposed to be leased under the commercial
leasing program established under this subsection; and
(B)on a
site-specific basis prior to the authorization of any development activity on
any leased land.
;
and
(5)in subsection
(i)(1)(B) (as redesignated by paragraph (2)), by striking subsection
(e)
and inserting subsection (g)
.