[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1560 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1560

   To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to provide for the 
 sharing of certain outer Continental Shelf revenues from areas in the 
                         Alaska Adjacent Zone.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 3, 2009

  Mr. Begich introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to provide for the 
 sharing of certain outer Continental Shelf revenues from areas in the 
                         Alaska Adjacent Zone.

    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 ``Alaska Adjacent Zone Revenue Sharing 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the United States is an Arctic nation with--
                    (A) an approximately 700-mile border with the 
                Arctic Ocean;
                    (B) more than 100,000,000 acres of land above the 
                Arctic Circle; and
                    (C) an even broader area defined as Arctic by 
                temperature, which includes the Bering Sea and Aleutian 
                Islands;
            (2) the Arctic region of the United States--
                    (A) is home to an indigenous population that has 
                subsisted for millennia on the abundance of marine 
                mammals, fish, and wildlife in the Arctic region, many 
                of which are unique to the region;
                    (B) is known to the indigenous population as 
                Inuvikput or the ``place where we live''; and
                    (C) has produced more than 16,000,000,000 barrels 
                of oil and, according to the United States Geological 
                Survey, may hold an additional 30,000,000,000 barrels 
                of oil and 220,000,000,000,000 cubic feet of natural 
                gas, making the region of fundamental importance to the 
                national interest of the United States;
            (3) temperatures in the United States Arctic region have 
        warmed by 3 to 4 degrees Celsius over the past half-century, a 
        rate of increase that is twice the global average;
            (4) the Arctic ice pack is rapidly diminishing and 
        thinning, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
        Administration estimates the Arctic Ocean may be ice-free 
        during summer months in as few as 30 years;
            (5) those changes to the Arctic region are having a 
        significant impact on the indigenous people of the Arctic, the 
        communities and ecosystems of the people, as well as the marine 
        mammals, fish, and wildlife on which the people depend; and
            (6) those changes are opening new portions of the United 
        States Arctic continental shelf to possible development for 
        offshore oil and gas, commercial fishing, marine shipping, and 
        tourism.

SEC. 3. REVENUE SHARING FROM AREAS IN ALASKA ADJACENT ZONE.

    Section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 
1344) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(i) Revenue Sharing From Areas in Alaska Adjacent Zone.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Coastal political subdivision.--The term 
                `coastal political subdivision' means a county-
                equivalent subdivision of the State all or part of 
                which--
                            ``(i) lies within the coastal zone (as 
                        defined in section 304 of the Coastal Zone 
                        Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1453)); and
                            ``(ii) the closest point of which is not 
                        more than 300 statute miles from the 
                        geographical center of any leased tract.
                    ``(B) Distance.--The terms `distance' means minimum 
                great circle distance.
                    ``(C) Indian tribe.--The term `Indian tribe' means 
                an Alaska Native entity recognized and eligible to 
                receive services from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the 
                headquarters of which is located within 300 miles of 
                the geographical center of a leased tract.
                    ``(D) Leased tract.--The term `leased tract' means 
                a tract leased under this Act for the purpose of 
                drilling for, developing, and producing oil or natural 
                gas resources.
                    ``(E) State.--The term `State' means the State of 
                Alaska.
            ``(2) Bonus bids.--Subject to paragraphs (4), (5), and (6), 
        effective beginning on the date that is 5 years after the date 
        of enactment of this subsection, the State shall, without 
        further appropriation or action, receive 37.5 percent of any 
        bonus bid paid for leasing rights for any area in the Alaska 
        Adjacent Zone.
            ``(3) Post leasing revenues.--Subject to paragraphs (4), 
        (5), and (6), in addition to bonus bids under paragraph (1), 
        the State shall receive, from leasing of the area, 37.5 percent 
        of--
                    ``(A) any lease rental payments;
                    ``(B) any lease royalty payments;
                    ``(C) any royalty proceeds from a sale of royalties 
                taken in kind by the Secretary; and
                    ``(D) any other revenues from a bidding system 
                under section 8.
            ``(4) Allocation among coastal political subdivisions of 
        the state.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall pay 20 
                percent of any allocable share of the State, as 
                determined under paragraphs (2) and (3), directly to 
                coastal political subdivisions.
                    ``(B) Allocation.--
                            ``(i) In general.--For each leased tract 
                        used to calculate the allocation of the State, 
                        the Secretary shall pay the coastal political 
                        subdivisions within 300 miles of the 
                        geographical center of the leased tract based 
                        on the relative distance of the coastal 
                        political subdivisions from the leased tract in 
                        accordance with this subparagraph.
                            ``(ii) Distances.--For each coastal 
                        political subdivision, the Secretary shall 
                        determine the distance between the point on the 
                        coastal political subdivision coastline closest 
                        to the geographical center of the leased tract 
                        and the geographical center of the tract.
                            ``(iii) Payments.--The Secretary shall 
                        divide and allocate the qualified outer 
                        Continental Shelf revenues derived from the 
                        leased tract among coastal political 
                        subdivisions in amounts that are inversely 
                        proportional to the applicable distances 
                        determined under clause (ii).
            ``(5) Allocation among regional corporations.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall pay 33 
                percent of any allocable share of the State, as 
                determined under this subsection, directly to certain 
                Regional Corporations established under section 7(a) of 
                the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 
                1606(a)).
                    ``(B) Allocation.--
                            ``(i) In general.--For each leased tract 
                        used to calculate the allocation of the State, 
                        the Secretary shall pay the Regional 
                        Corporations, after determining those Native 
                        villages within the region of the Regional 
                        Corporation which are within 300 miles of the 
                        geographical center of the leased tract based 
                        on the relative distance of such villages from 
                        the leased tract, in accordance with this 
                        paragraph.
                            ``(ii) Distances.--For each such village, 
                        the Secretary shall determine the distance 
                        between the point in the village closest to the 
                        geographical center of the leased tract and the 
                        geographical center of the tract.
                            ``(iii) Payments.--The Secretary shall 
                        divide and allocate the qualified outer 
                        Continental Shelf revenues derived from the 
                        leased tract among the qualifying Regional 
                        Corporations in amounts that are inversely 
                        proportional to the distances of all of the 
                        Native villages within each qualifying region.
                            ``(iv) Revenues.--All revenues received by 
                        each Regional Corporation shall be--
                                    ``(I) treated by the Regional 
                                Corporation as revenue subject to the 
                                distribution requirements of section 
                                7(i)(1)(A) of the Alaska Native Claims 
                                Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 
                                1606(i)(1)(A)); and
                                    ``(II) divided annually by the 
                                Regional Corporation among all 12 
                                Regional Corporations in accordance 
                                with section 7(i) of that Act.
                            ``(v) Further distribution.--A Regional 
                        Corporation receiving revenues under clause 
                        (iv)(II) shall further distribute 50 percent of 
                        the revenues received in accordance with 
                        section 7(j) of the Alaska Native Claims 
                        Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1606(j)).
            ``(6) Allocation among indian tribes.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall pay 7 
                percent of any allocable share of the State, as 
                determined under this subsection, directly to Indian 
                tribes.
                    ``(B) Allocation.--
                            ``(i) In general.--For each leased tract 
                        used to calculate the allocation of the State, 
                        the Secretary shall pay Indian tribes based on 
                        the relative distance of the headquarters of 
                        the Indian tribes from the leased tract, in 
                        accordance with this subparagraph.
                            ``(ii) Distances.--For each Indian tribe, 
                        the Secretary shall determine the distance 
                        between the location of the headquarters of the 
                        Indian tribe and the geographical center of the 
                        tract.
                            ``(iii) Payments.--The Secretary shall 
                        divide and allocate the qualified outer 
                        Continental Shelf revenues derived from the 
                        leased tract among the Indian tribes in amounts 
                        that are inversely proportional to the 
                        distances described in clause (ii).
            ``(7) Conservation royalty.--After making distributions 
        under paragraphs (2) and (3) and section 31, the Secretary 
        shall, without further appropriation or action, distribute a 
        conservation royalty equal to 6.25 percent of Federal royalty 
        revenues derived from an area leased under this subsection from 
        all areas leased under this subsection for any year, into 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) to provide financial assistance to States under section 
        6 of that Act (16 U.S.C. 460l-8).
            ``(8) Deficit reduction.--After making distributions in 
        accordance with paragraphs (2) and (3) and in accordance with 
        section 31, the Secretary shall, without further appropriation 
        or action, distribute an amount equal to 6.25 percent of 
        Federal royalty revenues derived from an area leased under this 
        subsection from all areas leased under this subsection for any 
        year, into direct Federal deficit reduction.''.
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