[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1229 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1229

 To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to facilitate the safe 
  and timely production of American energy resources from the Gulf of 
                                Mexico.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 29, 2011

Mr. Hastings of Washington (for himself, Mr. Lamborn, Mr. Fleming, Mr. 
Landry, Mr. Flores, Mr. Johnson of Ohio, Mr. Duncan of South Carolina, 
Mr. Wittman, Mr. Broun of Georgia, Mr. Tipton, Mr. Gohmert, Mr. Denham, 
   Mr. Duncan of Tennessee, Mr. Nunes, Mr. Boustany, Mr. Grimm, Mr. 
Scalise, Mr. Ross of Florida, Mr. Graves of Missouri, Mrs. Myrick, Mrs. 
Lummis, Mr. Gingrey of Georgia, Mr. Pompeo, Mr. Olson, Mrs. Capito, Mr. 
   Westmoreland, Mr. Long, Mr. Simpson, Ms. Jenkins, Mr. Kelly, Mr. 
   Rigell, Mr. Heller, Mrs. Hartzler, and Mr. Posey) introduced the 
    following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 
  Resources, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a 
 period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to facilitate the safe 
  and timely production of American energy resources from the Gulf of 
                                Mexico.

    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 ``Putting the Gulf of Mexico Back to 
Work Act''.

      TITLE I--AMENDMENT TO THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF LANDS ACT

SEC. 101. AMENDMENT TO OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF LANDS ACT.

    (a) Amendment.--Section 11(d) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 
Act (43 U.S.C. 1340(d)) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(d) Drilling Permits.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall by regulation 
        require that any lessee operating under an approved exploration 
        plan--
                    ``(A) must obtain a permit before drilling any well 
                in accordance with such plan; and
                    ``(B) must obtain a new permit before drilling any 
                well of a design that is significantly different than 
                the design for which an existing permit was issued.
            ``(2) Safety review required.--The Secretary shall not 
        issue a permit under paragraph (1) without ensuring that the 
        proposed drilling operations meet all--
                    ``(A) critical safety system requirements, 
                including blowout prevention; and
                    ``(B) oil spill response and containment 
                requirements.
            ``(3) Timeline.--
                    ``(A) The Secretary shall decide whether to issue a 
                permit under paragraph (1) within 30 days after 
                receiving an application for the permit. The Secretary 
                may extend such period for up to two periods of 15 days 
                each, if the Secretary has given written notice of the 
                delay to the applicant. The notice shall be in the form 
                of a letter from the Secretary or a designee of the 
                Secretary, and shall include the names and titles of 
                the persons processing the application, the specific 
                reasons for the delay, and a specific date a final 
                decision on the application is expected.
                    ``(B) If the application is denied, the Secretary 
                shall provide the applicant--
                            ``(i) in writing, clear and comprehensive 
                        reasons why the application was not accepted 
                        and detailed information concerning any 
                        deficiencies, and
                            ``(ii) an opportunity to remedy any 
                        deficiencies.
                    ``(C) If the Secretary has not made a decision on 
                the application by the end of the 60-day period 
                beginning on the date the application is received by 
                the Secretary, the application is deemed approved.''.
    (b) Deadline for Certain Permit Applications Under Existing 
Leases.--
            (1) In general.--Notwithstanding the amendment made by 
        subsection (a), a lease under which a covered application is 
        submitted to the Secretary of the Interior shall be considered 
        to be in directed suspension during the period beginning May 
        27, 2010, and ending on the date the Secretary issues a final 
        decision on the application, if the Secretary does not issue a 
        final decision on the application--
                    (A) before the end of the 30-day period beginning 
                on the date of enactment of this Act, in the case of a 
                covered application submitted before such date of 
                enactment; or
                    (B) before the end of the 30-day period beginning 
                on the date the application is received by the 
                Secretary, in the case of a covered application 
                submitted on or after such date of enactment.
            (2) Covered application.--In this subsection the term 
        ``covered application'' means an application for a permit to 
        drill under an oil and gas lease under the Outer Continental 
        Shelf Lands Act in effect on the date of enactment of this Act, 
        that--
                    (A) represents a resubmission of an approved permit 
                to drill (including an application for a permit to 
                sidetrack) that was approved by the Secretary before 
                May 27, 2010; and
                    (B) is received by the Secretary after October 12, 
                2010, and before the end of the 30-day period beginning 
                on the date of enactment of this Act.

     TITLE II--JUDICIAL REVIEW OF AGENCY ACTIONS RELATING TO OUTER 
           CONTINENTAL SHELF ACTIVITIES IN THE GULF OF MEXICO

SEC. 201. DEFINITIONS FOR TITLE.

    In this title--
            (1) the term ``covered civil action'' means a civil action 
        containing a claim under section 702 of title 5, United States 
        Code, regarding agency action (as defined for the purposes of 
        that section) affecting a covered energy project in the Gulf of 
        Mexico; and
            (2) the term ``covered energy project'' means the leasing 
        of Federal lands of the Outer Continental Shelf (including 
        submerged lands) for the exploration, development, production, 
        processing, or transmission of oil, natural gas, wind, or any 
        other source of energy in the Gulf of Mexico, and any action 
        under such a lease, except that the term does not include any 
        disputes between the parties to a lease regarding the 
        obligations under such lease, including regarding any alleged 
        breach of the lease.

SEC. 202. EXCLUSIVE VENUE FOR CERTAIN CIVIL ACTIONS RELATING TO COVERED 
              ENERGY PROJECTS IN THE GULF OF MEXICO.

    Venue for any covered civil action shall not lie in any district 
court not within the 5th circuit unless there is no proper venue in any 
court within that circuit.

SEC. 203. TIME LIMITATION ON FILING.

    A covered civil action is barred unless filed no later than the end 
of the 60-day period beginning on the date of the final Federal agency 
action to which it relates.

SEC. 204. EXPEDITION IN HEARING AND DETERMINING THE ACTION.

    The court shall endeavor to hear and determine any covered civil 
action as expeditiously as possible.

SEC. 205. STANDARD OF REVIEW.

    In any judicial review of a covered civil action, administrative 
findings and conclusions relating to the challenged Federal action or 
decision shall be presumed to be correct, and the presumption may be 
rebutted only by the preponderance of the evidence contained in the 
administrative record.

SEC. 206. LIMITATION ON PROSPECTIVE RELIEF.

    In a covered civil action, the court shall not grant or approve any 
prospective relief unless the court finds that such relief is narrowly 
drawn, extends no further than necessary to correct the violation of a 
legal requirement, and is the least intrusive means necessary to 
correct that violation.

SEC. 207. LIMITATION ON ATTORNEYS' FEES.

    Sections 504 of title 5, United States Code, and 2412 of title 28, 
United States Code (together commonly called the Equal Access to 
Justice Act) do not apply to a covered civil action, nor shall any 
party in such a covered civil action receive payment from the Federal 
Government for their attorneys' fees, expenses, and other court costs.
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