[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1623 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1623

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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 6, 2009

 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.

    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 ``Responsible Federal Oil and Gas 
Lease Act''.

SEC. 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).
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