1.This Act may be cited as the
Facilitating American Security Through Energy Resources Act
or
the FASTER Act
.
2.Congress finds the following:
(1)The Obama Administration has restricted
access to potential onshore Federal energy resources.
(2)The non-partisan
Congressional Research Service reported that the combined recoverable oil,
natural gas, and coal resources of the United States is 1,300,000,000,000
barrels of oil equivalent, the largest barrel equivalent in the world, much of
which is located on Federal lands.
(3)In 2008 there were 2,416 new oil and
natural gas leases issued on Bureau of Land Management land and 2,600,000 acres
leased. In 2010, under the Obama Administration, the number of new leases
issued dropped to 1,308 and the number of acres leased dropped to
1,300,000.
(4)Oil and natural gas jobs pay an average
salary of $84,500 and are important sources of opportunity to rural
communities, yet the Western Energy Alliance estimates that 16,200 jobs have
been prevented in the American West due to policies that restrict energy
resource development on public lands.
(5)After the Internal
Revenue Service, the oil and natural gas industry is the second largest source
of Federal revenue. The industry averages a 40:1 return on royalties and
leasing revenue for every dollar spent on administering Federal oil and natural
gas programs. These revenues and royalties not only help balance the Federal
budget, but are shared with states, and assist in funding of education,
infrastructure, and public safety.
(6)Increasing oil and
natural gas production by the equivalent 1,000,000 barrels a day would generate
225,000 jobs, $36,300,000,000 in gross domestic product, and $3,900,000,000 in
revenue and royalties.
(7)In 2007, the Energy Information
Administration projected that the 2010 total oil production on Federal lands
would be 850,000,000 barrels, while current production on Federal lands is
714,000,000 barrels, which is a 16 percent decline from that projection.
(8)Approximately one-half of nonproducing
leases are waiting to complete environmental review and obtain permits to
drill, and the Obama Administration has added new delays of additional
regulations and hurdles to slow this process.
(9)The Bureau of Land Management has
acknowledged a 206-day average processing time for Applications for Permits to
Drill, but the actual time from when a company submits an Application for
Permit to Drill to final approval is close to 2 years in some field
offices.
(10)Congress should act to increase the
approval of oil and gas production on Federal land.
3.Report on
potential production of oil and gas leases on Federal land
(a)The Secretary of the Interior (hereinafter
referred to as the Secretary
), in consultation with lease
holders, shall identify on an annual basis 200 non-producing oil and gas leases
held for onshore Federal land that—
(1)have the highest
potential for oil and gas production; and
(2)for which the
Department of the Interior has already received an Application for Permit to
Drill.
(b)Not less than 60
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sectretary shall submit
to Congress a report including all findings and determinations of the
assessment under subsection (a).
4.Permit issuance
for development of oil and gas leases on Federal land
(a)Not later than 180 days after issuing the report under
section 3(b), the Secretary of the Interior shall issue permits to drill on the
200 leases identified in the assessment under section 3(a).
(b)Issuing permits under subsection (a) shall not delay,
reduce, or defer action upon, any other permitting processes.