1.This Act may be cited as
the Energy Needed Offshore Under Gas
Hikes Act
.
2.Oil and natural
gas leasing in new producing areas
(a)In this section:
(1)The term eligible producing State
means—
(A)a new producing
State; and
(B)any other
producing State that has, within the offshore administrative boundaries beyond
the submerged land of a State, areas available for oil leasing, natural gas
leasing, or both.
(2)The term new producing area means an area that
is—
(A)within the
offshore administrative boundaries beyond the submerged land of a State;
and
(B)not available for
oil or natural gas leasing as of the date of enactment of this Act.
(3)The term new producing State means a State
with respect to which a petition has been approved by the Secretary under
subsection (b).
(4)The term qualified revenues means all
rentals, royalties, bonus bids, and other sums due and payable to the United
States from leases entered into on or after the date of enactment of this Act
for new producing areas.
(5)The
term Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior.
(b)Petition for
leasing new producing areas
(1)Notwithstanding any other provision of law, during any
period in which the price per gallon of regular gasoline is equal to or greater
than $5, the Governor of a State, with the concurrence of the State
legislature, may submit to the Secretary a petition requesting that the
Secretary make a new producing area of the State eligible for oil leasing, gas
leasing, or both, as determined by the State, in accordance with the Outer
Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) and the
Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et
seq.).
(2)The Governor of a State, with the concurrence of the
State legislature, may, in a petition submitted under paragraph (1), make a
request to allow natural gas leasing only.
(3)As soon as practicable after the date on which the
Secretary receives a petition under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall approve
or disapprove the petition.
(c)Disposition of
qualified outer Continental Shelf revenues from eligible producing
StatesNotwithstanding section 9 of the Outer Continental Shelf
Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1338), for each applicable fiscal year, the Secretary of
the Treasury shall deposit—
(1)45 percent of
qualified revenues in the general fund of the Treasury; and
(2)55 percent of
qualified revenues in a special account in the Treasury, from which the
Secretary shall disburse—
(A)37.5 percent to
eligible producing States for new producing areas, to be allocated in
accordance with subsection (d)(1);
(B)12.5 percent to
provide financial assistance to States in accordance with section 6 of the Land
and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l–8);
and
(C)5 percent to
States for historic offshore production distribution.
(d)Allocation to
eligible producing States
(1)The amount made available under subsection (c)(2)(A)
shall be allocated to eligible producing States in amounts (based on a formula
established by the Secretary by regulation) that are inversely proportional to
the respective distances between the point on the coastline of each eligible
producing State that is closest to the geographic center of the applicable
leased tract and the geographic center of the leased tract, as determined by
the Secretary.
(2)Amounts
allocated to an eligible producing State under paragraph (1) shall be used to
address the impacts of any oil and natural gas exploration and production
activities under this section.
(e)Nothing
in this section affects—
(1)the amount of
funds otherwise dedicated to the land and water conservation fund established
under section 2 of the Land and Water
Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C.
460l–5); or
(2)any authority
that permits energy production under any other provision of law.