1.This Act may be cited as
the Drill Now Act of
2008
.
2.In this Act:
(1)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)The
term Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior.
3.Leasing on outer
Continental Shelf
(a)Opening new
offshore areas to oil and gas development
(1)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121 Stat. 2118) are repealed.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)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:
104.Designation of
National Defense AreasThe
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)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)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)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)
(A)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 amountsNo 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)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)
(1)
(A)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)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)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)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 reviewActions 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 leasingSection 433 of the Department of the
Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2008 (Public
Law 110–161; 121 Stat. 2152) is repealed.
November 18, 2008
Read the second time and placed on the
calendar