1.This Act may be cited as the
Protecting Rural Landscapes Act of
2010
.
2.
(a)Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
(q)
(1)In
this subsection:
(A)The term covered land means land with respect
to which—
(i)title to oil and
gas resources is held by the United States; but
(ii)title to the
surface estate is not held by the United States.
(B)The
term lease means a lease issued by the Secretary under this Act
that provides for the development of oil and gas resources (including coalbed
methane) on covered land.
(C)The
term lessee means the holder of a lease for the development of oil
and gas resources on covered land.
(D)The term oil and gas operations means all
activities affecting the interest of a surface owner in covered land that are
associated with exploration, drilling, or production of oil and gas, through
final reclamation of the affected surface.
(E)The
term operator means a person with the legal right to conduct oil
and gas operations on covered land.
(F)The
term Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior.
(G)The term surface owner means a person who
holds legal or equitable title, as demonstrated in the records of the
applicable county clerk or other local government official, to the surface of
the covered land on which the operator has the right to conduct oil and gas
operations.
(2)Compensation and
reclamation
(A)An operator shall compensate the surface owner for
damages resulting from the oil and gas operations of the operator on land
affected by the operations from—
(i)loss of
agricultural production and income;
(ii)lost land
value;
(iii)lost use of and
lost access to the land of the surface owner; and
(iv)the lost value of
improvements.
(B)An
operator shall reclaim the surface affected by the oil and gas operations of
the operator.
(3)
(A)Prior to initial entry for activities that do not disturb
the surface, the operator shall provide at least five days notice by certified
mail or hand delivery to the surface owner.
(B)Prior
to commencing oil and gas operations, the operator shall provide not less than
30 days notice by certified mail or hand delivery to the surface owner with
sufficient disclosure of the planned operations to enable the surface owner to
evaluate the effect of the operations.
(C)The notices required by this section shall be given to
the surface owner at the address shown by the records of the county clerk at
the time the notice is given.
(D)Notices required by this section shall be deemed to have
been received five days after mailing by certified mail or immediately upon
hand delivery.
(4)
(A)At the time of providing notice of operations under
paragraph (3)(B), the operator shall provide to the surface owner a proposed
surface use agreement that—
(i)to
the extent known, specifies sufficient disclosure of the planned oil and gas
operations to enable the surface owner to evaluate the effect of the operations
on the property, including—
(I)placement,
specifications, maintenance and design of facilities, equipment and
roads;
(II)terms of ingress
and egress;
(III)water protection
(quality and quantity);
(IV)proposed
reclamation; and
(V)actions to
minimize surface damages to the land including runoff and erosion; and
(ii)includes an offer
of compensation for damages to the surface affected by oil and gas
operations.
(B)
(i)Not later than 30 days after the date of receipt of the
proposed surface use agreement, the surface owner may accept or reject the
agreement.
(ii)Failure to accept the agreement during the 30-day period
described in clause (i) may be considered a rejection of the agreement.
(C)The
surface owner and operator may enter into negotiations regarding the surface
use agreement.
(D)The
operator and the surface owner may enter into a mutually acceptable agreement
that specifies the rights and obligations of the parties with respect to the
surface activities conducted by the operator.
(5)Entry without
agreement; bond
(A)In lieu of executing a surface use agreement under
paragraph (4)(A), the operator may enter the property of the surface owner and
conduct oil and gas operations as provided in this section.
(B)The operator shall provide an appropriate financial
assurance for the benefit of the surface owner, as determined by the Secretary,
prior to commencing operations under this paragraph.
(C)Release of
financial assuranceThe Secretary shall provide for the
appropriate release of the financial assurance on a determination that—
(i)the reclamation is
complete; and
(ii)the surface owner
has been compensated for any damages.
(6)Notice of
Secretarial action with respect to Federal leasesThe Secretary
shall make reasonable efforts to provide to each surface owner of affected
covered land, and to each permittee or right-of-way holder with the right to
use the surface of affected Federal land, written notice of—
(A)any lease sale for
an oil or gas lease under this Act by not later than 30 days before the date of
the lease sale; and
(B)the issuance of a
drilling permit by not later than 5 days before the date of issuance.
(7)Relationship to
State lawNothing in this subsection preempts any applicable
State
law.
.
(b)Not
later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of
the Interior shall promulgate such regulations as are necessary to carry out
the amendment made by subsection (a).