[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1700 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1700

To require certain issuers to disclose payments to foreign governments 
 for the commercial development of oil, natural gas, and minerals, to 
 express the sense of Congress that the President should disclose any 
payment relating to the commercial development of oil, natural gas, and 
           minerals on Federal land, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 23, 2009

   Mr. Lugar (for himself, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Wicker, Mr. 
Feingold, and Mr. Whitehouse) introduced the following bill; which was 
read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require certain issuers to disclose payments to foreign governments 
 for the commercial development of oil, natural gas, and minerals, to 
 express the sense of Congress that the President should disclose any 
payment relating to the commercial development of oil, natural gas, and 
           minerals on Federal land, 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 ``Energy Security Through Transparency 
Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) It is in the interest of the United States to promote 
        good governance in the extractive industries sector because 
        good governance strengthens the national security and foreign 
        policy of the United States, contributes to a better investment 
        climate for businesses in the United States, increases the 
        reliability of commodity supplies upon which businesses and 
        people in the United States rely, and promotes greater energy 
        security.
            (2) Developing countries that derive a significant portion 
        of revenues from natural resource extraction tend to have 
        higher poverty rates, weaker governance, higher rates of 
        conflict, and poorer development records than countries that do 
        not rely on resource revenues. The consequences of what is 
        known as the ``resource curse'' including the erosion of civil 
        society, a rise in internal conflicts and regional violence, 
        and the proliferation of terrorism are likely to pose a long-
        term threat to the national security, foreign policy, and 
        economic interests of the United States.
            (3) Transparency in revenue payments to governments enables 
        citizens to hold their leaders more accountable.
            (4) There is a growing consensus among oil, gas, and mining 
        companies that transparency in revenue payments is good for 
        business, since it improves the business climate in which they 
        work and fosters good governance and accountability.
            (5) Transparency in revenue payments benefits shareholders 
        of corporations that make such payments because such 
        shareholders have a desire to know the amount of such payments 
        in order to assess financial risk, compare payments from 
        country to country, and assess whether such payments help to 
        create a more stable investment climate. Undisclosed payments 
        may be perceived as corrupt and as decreasing the value of the 
        corporation.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO TRANSPARENCY FOR EXTRACTIVE 
              INDUSTRIES.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the President should work with foreign governments, 
        including members of the Group of 8 and the Group of 20, to 
        establish domestic requirements that companies under the 
        jurisdiction of each government publicly disclose any payments 
        made to a government relating to the commercial development of 
        oil, natural gas, and minerals; and
            (2) the United States Government should commit to global 
        leadership of transparency in extractive industries by 
        supporting--
                    (A) multilateral pro-transparency efforts, such as 
                the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, in 
                revenue collection, budgeting, expenditure, and wealth 
                management;
                    (B) bilateral efforts to promote good governance in 
                the extractive industries through United States 
                missions and activities abroad;
                    (C) the implementation of extractive industries 
                reporting requirements for companies under the 
                jurisdiction of the United States similar to the 
                requirements established under section 6 of this Act; 
                and
                    (D) efforts to persuade other members of the 
                Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development 
                and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation to adopt uniform 
                legislation to ensure a coordinated regulatory 
                approach.

SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO THE EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRY 
              TRANSPARENCY INITIATIVE.

    It is the sense of Congress that the President should commit the 
United States to become a Candidate Country of the Extractive Industry 
Transparency Initiative.

SEC. 5. DISCLOSURE OF PAYMENTS TO THE UNITED STATES.

    The Secretary of the Interior shall disclose to the public any 
payment (as that term is defined in section 13(m) of the Securities 
Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m(m)), as added by section 6 of this 
Act) relating to the commercial development of oil, natural gas, and 
minerals on Federal land made by any person to the Federal Government.

SEC. 6. DISCLOSURE OF PAYMENTS BY RESOURCE EXTRACTION ISSUERS.

    Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(m) Disclosure of Payment by Resource Extraction Issuers.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection--
                    ``(A) the term `commercial development of oil, 
                natural gas, or minerals' includes the acquisition of a 
                license, exploration, extraction, processing, export, 
                and other significant actions relating to oil, natural 
                gas, or minerals, as determined by the Commission;
                    ``(B) the term `foreign government' means a foreign 
                government, an officer or employee of a foreign 
                government, an agent of a foreign government, a company 
                owned by a foreign government, or a person who will 
                provide a personal benefit to an officer of a 
                government if that person receives a payment, as 
                determined by the Commission;
                    ``(C) the term `payment'--
                            ``(i) means a payment that is--
                                    ``(I) made to further the 
                                commercial development of oil, natural 
                                gas, or minerals; and
                                    ``(II) not de minimis; and
                            ``(ii) includes taxes, royalties, fees, 
                        licenses, production entitlements, bonuses, and 
                        other material benefits, as determined by the 
                        Commission; and
                    ``(D) the term `resource extraction issuer' means 
                an issuer that--
                            ``(i) is required to file an annual report 
                        with the Commission; and
                            ``(ii) engages in the commercial 
                        development of oil, natural gas, or minerals.
            ``(2) Disclosure.--
                    ``(A) Information required.--Not later than 270 
                days after the date of enactment of the Energy Security 
                Through Transparency Act of 2009, the Commission shall 
                issue final rules that require each resource extraction 
                issuer to include in the annual report of the resource 
                extraction issuer information relating to any payment 
                made by the resource extraction issuer, a subsidiary or 
                partner of the resource extraction issuer, or an entity 
                under the control of the resource extraction issuer to 
                a foreign government for the purpose of the commercial 
                development of oil, natural gas, or minerals, 
                including--
                            ``(i) the type and total amount of such 
                        payments made for each project of the resource 
                        extraction issuer relating to the commercial 
                        development of oil, natural gas, or minerals; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) the type and total amount of such 
                        payments made to each foreign government.
                    ``(B) International transparency efforts.--To the 
                extent practicable, the rules issued under subparagraph 
                (A) shall support the commitment of the United States 
                Government to international transparency promotion 
                efforts relating to the commercial development of oil, 
                natural gas, or minerals.
                    ``(C) Effective date.--With respect to each 
                resource extraction issuer, the final rules issued 
                under subparagraph (A) shall take effect on the date on 
                which the resource extraction issuer is required to 
                submit an annual report relating to the fiscal year of 
                the resource extraction issuer that ends not earlier 
                than 1 year after the date on which the Commission 
                issues final rules under subparagraph (A).
            ``(3) Public availability of information.--
                    ``(A) In general.--To the extent practicable, the 
                Commission shall make available online, to the public, 
                a compilation of the information required to be 
                submitted under the rules issued under paragraph 
                (2)(A).
                    ``(B) Other information.--Nothing in this paragraph 
                shall require the Commission to make available online 
                information other than the information required to be 
                submitted under the rules issued under paragraph 
                (2)(A).
            ``(4) Authorization of appropriations.--There are 
        authorized to be appropriated to the Commission such sums as 
        may be necessary to carry out this subsection.''.
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