II 110th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 3239 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES July 10 (legislative day, July 9), 2008 Mr. Feingold (for himself, Mr. Dodd, and Mr. Menendez) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from issuing new Federal oil and gas leases to holders of existing leases who do not diligently develop the land subject to the existing leases or relinquish the leases, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Responsible Federal Oil and Gas Lease Act.

2.

Issuance of new leases

(a)

Definitions

In this section: (1)

Lessee

The term lessee includes any person or other entity that controls, is controlled by, or is in or under common control with, a lessee. (2)

Secretary

The term Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior. (b)

Leases

Effective beginning on the date of promulgation of regulations under subsection (c), the Secretary shall not issue 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 (30 U.S.C. 351 et seq.), or the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) to a person unless the person— (1)certifies for each existing lease under those Acts for the production of oil or gas with respect to which the person is a lessee, that the person has diligently developed the Federal land that is subject to the lease in order to produce oil or natural gas or is producing oil or natural gas from the land; or (2)has relinquished all Federal oil and gas leases under which oil and gas is not being diligently developed. (c)

Diligent development

(1)

In general

Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall promulgate regulations that define diligently developed for purposes of this section. (2)

Regulations

The regulations shall— (A)include benchmarks for oil and gas development that will ensure that leaseholders produce oil and gas from each lease within the original term of the lease; and (B)require each leaseholder to submit to the Secretary a diligent development plan demonstrating how the lessee will meet the benchmarks. (d)

Failure To comply with requirements

Any person that fails to comply with this section (including any regulation or order issued under this section) shall be liable for a civil penalty under the terms and conditions of section 109 of the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982 (30 U.S.C. 1719).