[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3646 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3646

  To authorize and expedite lease sales within the outer Continental 
                     Shelf, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

           September 27 (legislative day, September 17), 2008

Mr. DeMint introduced the following bill; which was read the first time

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To authorize and expedite lease sales within the outer Continental 
                     Shelf, 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 ``Drill Now Act of 2008''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Opened area.--The term ``opened area'' means any area 
        of the outer Continental shelf that--
                    (A) before the date of enactment of this Act, was 
                closed to oil or gas leasing; and
                    (B) as of the date of enactment of this Act, is 
                made available for leasing pursuant to section 3(a) and 
                the amendments made by that section.
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.

SEC. 3. LEASING ON OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF.

    (a) Opening New Offshore Areas to Oil and Gas Development.--
            (1) In general.--Sections 104 and 105 of the Department of 
        the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations 
        Act, 2008 (Public Law 110-161; 121 Stat. 2118) are repealed.
            (2) Eastern gulf of mexico.--Section 104 of the Gulf of 
        Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 (43 U.S.C. 1331 note; Public 
        Law 109-432) is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 104. DESIGNATION OF NATIONAL DEFENSE AREAS.

    ``The United States reserves the right to designate by and through 
the Secretary of Defense, with the approval of the President, national 
defense areas on the outer Continental Shelf pursuant to section 12(d) 
of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1341(d)).''.
    (b) Expedited Leasing.--The Secretary may conduct leasing, 
preleasing, and related activities for any opened area before June 30, 
2012, notwithstanding the omission of the opened area from the Outer 
Continental Shelf leasing program developed pursuant to section 18 of 
the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344) for the period 
ending June 30, 2012.
    (c) No Surface Occupancy.--Any lease issued by the Secretary 
pursuant to section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 
U.S.C. 1337) for any submerged land of the outer Continental Shelf in 
any opened area lying within 25 miles of the coastline of any State 
shall include a provision prohibiting permanent surface occupancy under 
that lease within that 25-mile area.
    (d) Disposition of Revenues From Outer Continental Shelf Areas 
Opened Under This Section.--
            (1) In general.--Notwithstanding section 9 of the Outer 
        Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1338) and subject to the 
        other provisions of this section, the Secretary of the Treasury 
        shall deposit rentals, royalties, bonus bids, and other sums 
        due and payable from any leased tract within an opened area, 
        and from all other leased tracts in any other area for which 
        leases are entered into after the date of enactment of this 
        Act, as follows:
                    (A) 50 percent in the general fund of the Treasury.
                    (B) 50 in a special account in the Treasury, for 
                allocation by the Secretary among the States in 
                accordance with paragraph (2).
            (2) Allocation.--
                    (A) In general.--For fiscal year 2009 and each 
                fiscal year thereafter, the amount made available under 
                paragraph (1)(B) shall be allocated among States in 
                amounts (based on a formula established by the 
                Secretary by regulation) that are inversely 
                proportional to the respective distances between--
                            (i) the point on the coastline of each 
                        State that is closest to the geographical 
                        center of the applicable leased tract; and
                            (ii) the geographical center of the leased 
                        tract.
                    (B) Prohibition on receipt of amounts.--No State 
                shall receive any amount under this paragraph from a 
                leased tract if the geographical center of that leased 
                tract is more than 200 nautical miles from the 
                coastline of that State.
            (3) Administration.--Amounts made available under paragraph 
        (1)(B) shall--
                    (A) be made available, without further 
                appropriation, in accordance with this section;
                    (B) remain available until expended; and
                    (C) be in addition to any amounts appropriated 
                under--
                            (i) the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 
                        (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.);
                            (ii) the Land and Water Conservation Fund 
                        Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l-4 et seq.); or
                            (iii) any other provision of law.
    (e) Judicial Review.--
            (1) Filing of complaint.--
                    (A) Deadline.--Subject to subparagraph (B), any 
                complaint seeking judicial review of any provision of 
                this section or any action of the Secretary under this 
                section or relating to areas opened under the 
                amendments made by subsection (a) shall be filed in any 
                appropriate United States district court--
                            (i) except as provided in clause (ii), not 
                        later than the end of the 90-day period 
                        beginning on the date of the action being 
                        challenged; or
                            (ii) in the case of a complaint based 
                        solely on grounds arising after that period, 
                        not later than 90 days after the date on which 
                        the complainant knew or reasonably should have 
                        known of the grounds for the complaint.
                    (B) Venue.--Any complaint seeking judicial review 
                of an action of the Secretary under this section or 
                relating to areas opened under subsection (a) may be 
                filed only in the United States Court of Appeals for 
                the District of Columbia.
                    (C) Limitation on scope of certain review.--
                            (i) In general.--Judicial review of a 
                        decision of the Secretary to conduct a lease 
                        sale for areas opened under the amendments made 
                        by subsection (a), including the environmental 
                        analysis relating to such a decision, shall 
                        be--
                                    (I) limited to whether the 
                                Secretary has complied with the terms 
                                of this section and the Outer 
                                Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 
                                1331 et seq.); and
                                    (II) based upon the administrative 
                                record of that decision.
                            (ii) Presumption.--In any judicial review 
                        described in clause (i), the identification by 
                        the Secretary of a preferred course of action 
                        to enable leasing to proceed, and the analysis 
                        of the Secretary of any environmental effects 
                        of that course of action, shall be presumed to 
                        be correct unless shown otherwise by clear and 
                        convincing evidence to the contrary.
            (2) Limitation on other review.--Actions of the Secretary 
        with respect to which review could have been obtained under 
        this section shall not be subject to judicial review in any 
        civil or criminal proceeding for enforcement.
    (f) Repeal of Restriction on Oil Shale Leasing.--Section 433 of the 
Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies 
Appropriations Act, 2008 (Public Law 110-161; 121 Stat. 2152) is 
repealed.
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