[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2150 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2150

To amend the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976 to direct 
  the Secretary of the Interior to conduct an expeditious program of 
competitive leasing of oil and gas in the National Petroleum Reserve in 
 Alaska, including at least one lease sale in the Reserve each year in 
         the period 2011 through 2021, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 13, 2011

   Mr. Hastings of Washington (for himself, Mr. Young of Alaska, Mr. 
 Lamborn, Mr. Broun of Georgia, Mr. Gosar, Mr. Flores, Mr. Johnson of 
Ohio, Mr. Fleming, Mr. McClintock, Mr. Fleischmann, Mr. Bishop of Utah, 
and Mr. Southerland) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                 to the Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976 to direct 
  the Secretary of the Interior to conduct an expeditious program of 
competitive leasing of oil and gas in the National Petroleum Reserve in 
 Alaska, including at least one lease sale in the Reserve each year in 
         the period 2011 through 2021, 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 bill shall be called the ``National Petroleum Reserve Alaska 
Access Act''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS AND REAFFIRMING NATIONAL POLICY FOR THE 
              NATIONAL PETROLEUM RESERVE IN ALASKA.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska remains 
        explicitly designated, both in name and legal status, for 
        purposes of providing oil and natural gas resources to the 
        United States; and
            (2) accordingly, the national policy is to actively advance 
        oil and gas development within the Reserve by facilitating the 
        expeditious exploration, production, and transportation of oil 
        and natural gas from and through the Reserve.

SEC. 3. NATIONAL PETROLEUM RESERVE IN ALASKA: LEASE SALES.

    Section 107(a) of the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 
1976 (42 U.S.C. 6506a(a)) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall conduct an expeditious 
program of competitive leasing of oil and gas in the reserve in 
accordance with this Act. Such program shall include at least one lease 
sale annually in those areas of the reserve most likely to produce 
commercial quantities of oil and natural gas each year in the period 
2011 through 2021.''.

SEC. 4. NATIONAL PETROLEUM RESERVE IN ALASKA: PLANNING AND PERMITTING 
              PIPELINE AND ROAD CONSTRUCTION.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Secretary of 
Transportation, shall facilitate and ensure permits, in an 
environmentally responsible manner, for all surface development 
activities, including for the construction of pipelines and roads, 
necessary to--
            (1) develop and bring into production any areas within the 
        National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska that are subject to oil 
        and gas leases; and
            (2) transport oil and gas from and through the National 
        Petroleum Reserve in Alaska to existing transportation or 
        processing infrastructure on the North Slope of Alaska.
    (b) Timeline.--The Secretary shall ensure that any Federal 
permitting agency shall issue permits in accordance with the following 
timeline:
            (1) Permits for such construction for transportation of oil 
        and natural gas produced under existing Federal oil and gas 
        leases with respect to which the Secretary has issued a permit 
        to drill shall be approved within 60 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act.
            (2) Permits for such construction for transportation of oil 
        and natural gas produced under Federal oil and gas leases shall 
        be approved within 6 months after the submission to the 
        Secretary of a request for a permit to drill.
    (c) Plan.--To ensure timely future development of the Reserve, 
within 270 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of the Interior shall submit to Congress a plan for approved 
rights-of-way for a plan for pipeline, road, and any other surface 
infrastructure that may be necessary infrastructure that will ensure 
that all leasable tracts in the Reserve are within 25 miles of an 
approved road and pipeline right-of-way that can serve future 
development of the Reserve.

SEC. 5. DEPARTMENTAL ACCOUNTABILITY FOR DEVELOPMENT.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior shall issue 
regulations within 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act 
that establish clear requirements to ensure that the Department of the 
Interior is supporting development of oil and gas leases in the 
National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska.
    (b) Deadlines.--At a minimum, the regulations shall--
            (1) require the Department to respond within 5 business 
        days acknowledging receipt of any permit application for such 
        development; and
            (2) establish a timeline for the processing of each such 
        application, that--
                    (A) specifies deadlines for decisions and actions 
                on permit applications; and
                    (B) provide that the period for issuing each permit 
                after submission of such an application shall not 
                exceed 60 days without the concurrence of the 
                applicant.
    (c) Actions Required for Failure To Comply With Deadlines.--If the 
Department fails to comply with any deadline under subsection (b) with 
respect to a permit application, the Secretary shall notify the 
applicant every 5 days with specific information regarding the reasons 
for the permit delay, the name of the specific Department office or 
offices responsible for issuing the permit and for monitoring the 
permit delay, and an estimate of the time that the permit will be 
issued.

SEC. 6. UPDATED RESOURCE ASSESSMENT.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior shall complete a 
comprehensive assessment of all technically recoverable fossil fuel 
resources within the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, including 
all conventional and unconventional oil and natural gas.
    (b) Cooperation and Consultation.--The resource assessment required 
by subsection (a) shall be carried out by the United States Geological 
Survey in cooperation and consultation with the State of Alaska and the 
American Association of Petroleum Geologists.
    (c) Timing.--The resource assessment required by subsection (a) 
shall be completed within 24 months of the date of the enactment of 
this Act.
    (d) Funding.--The United States Geological Survey may, in carrying 
out the duties under this section, cooperatively use resources and 
funds provided by the State of Alaska.
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