[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3407 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3407

 To direct the Secretary of the Interior to establish and implement a 
     competitive oil and gas leasing program for the exploration, 
development, and production of the oil and gas resources of the Coastal 
 Plain of Alaska, to ensure secure energy supplies for the continental 
 Pacific Coast of the United States, lower prices, and reduce imports, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 14, 2011

   Mr. Hastings of Washington (for himself and Mr. Young of Alaska) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Secretary of the Interior to establish and implement a 
     competitive oil and gas leasing program for the exploration, 
development, and production of the oil and gas resources of the Coastal 
 Plain of Alaska, to ensure secure energy supplies for the continental 
 Pacific Coast of the United States, lower prices, and reduce imports, 
                        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 ``Alaskan Energy for American Jobs 
Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Coastal plain.--The term ``Coastal Plain'' means that 
        area described in appendix I to part 37 of title 50, Code of 
        Federal Regulations.
            (2) Peer reviewed.--The term ``peer reviewed'' means 
        reviewed--
                    (A) by individuals chosen by the National Academy 
                of Sciences with no contractual relationship with or 
                those who have an application for a grant or other 
                funding pending with the Federal agency with leasing 
                jurisdiction; or
                    (B) if individuals described in subparagraph (A) 
                are not available, by the top individuals in the 
                specified biological fields, as determined by the 
                National Academy of Sciences.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'', except as otherwise 
        provided, means the Secretary of the Interior or the 
        Secretary's designee.

SEC. 3. LEASING PROGRAM FOR LANDS WITHIN THE COASTAL PLAIN.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall take such actions as are 
necessary--
            (1) to establish and implement, in accordance with this Act 
        and acting through the Director of the Bureau of Land 
        Management in consultation with the Director of the United 
        States Fish and Wildlife Service, a competitive oil and gas 
        leasing program that will result in the exploration, 
        development, and production of the oil and gas resources of the 
        Coastal Plain; and
            (2) to administer the provisions of this Act through 
        regulations, lease terms, conditions, restrictions, 
        prohibitions, stipulations, and other provisions that ensure 
        the oil and gas exploration, development, and production 
        activities on the Coastal Plain will result in no significant 
        adverse effect on fish and wildlife, their habitat, subsistence 
        resources, and the environment, including, in furtherance of 
        this goal, by requiring the application of the best 
        commercially available technology for oil and gas exploration, 
        development, and production to all exploration, development, 
        and production operations under this Act in a manner that 
        ensures the receipt of fair market value by the public for the 
        mineral resources to be leased.
    (b) Repeal of Existing Restriction.--
            (1) Repeal.--Section 1003 of the Alaska National Interest 
        Lands Conservation Act of 1980 (16 U.S.C. 3143) is repealed.
            (2) Conforming amendment.--The table of contents in section 
        1 of such Act is amended by striking the item relating to 
        section 1003.
    (c) Compliance With Requirements Under Certain Other Laws.--
            (1) Compatibility.--For purposes of the National Wildlife 
        Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd et 
        seq.), the oil and gas leasing program and activities 
        authorized by this section in the Coastal Plain are deemed to 
        be compatible with the purposes for which the Arctic National 
        Wildlife Refuge was established, and no further findings or 
        decisions are required to implement this determination.
            (2) Adequacy of the department of the interior's 
        legislative environmental impact statement.--The ``Final 
        Legislative Environmental Impact Statement'' (April 1987) on 
        the Coastal Plain prepared pursuant to section 1002 of the 
        Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 (16 
        U.S.C. 3142) and section 102(2)(C) of the National 
        Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)) is 
        deemed to satisfy the requirements under the National 
        Environmental Policy Act of 1969 that apply with respect to 
        prelease activities under this Act, including actions 
        authorized to be taken by the Secretary to develop and 
        promulgate the regulations for the establishment of a leasing 
        program authorized by this Act before the conduct of the first 
        lease sale.
            (3) Compliance with nepa for other actions.--Before 
        conducting the first lease sale under this Act, the Secretary 
        shall prepare an environmental impact statement under the 
        National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 with respect to the 
        actions authorized by this Act that are not referred to in 
        paragraph (2). Notwithstanding any other law, the Secretary is 
        not required to identify nonleasing alternative courses of 
        action or to analyze the environmental effects of such courses 
        of action. The Secretary shall only identify a preferred action 
        for such leasing and a single leasing alternative, and analyze 
        the environmental effects and potential mitigation measures for 
        those two alternatives. The identification of the preferred 
        action and related analysis for the first lease sale under this 
        Act shall be completed within 18 months after the date of 
        enactment of this Act. The Secretary shall only consider public 
        comments that specifically address the Secretary's preferred 
        action and that are filed within 20 days after publication of 
        an environmental analysis. Notwithstanding any other law, 
        compliance with this paragraph is deemed to satisfy all 
        requirements for the analysis and consideration of the 
        environmental effects of proposed leasing under this Act.
    (d) Relationship to State and Local Authority.--Nothing in this Act 
shall be considered to expand or limit State and local regulatory 
authority.
    (e) Special Areas.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary, after consultation with the 
        State of Alaska, the city of Kaktovik, and the North Slope 
        Borough, may designate up to a total of 45,000 acres of the 
        Coastal Plain as a Special Area if the Secretary determines 
        that the Special Area is of such unique character and interest 
        so as to require special management and regulatory protection. 
        The Secretary shall designate as such a Special Area the 
        Sadlerochit Spring area, comprising approximately 4,000 acres.
            (2) Management.--Each such Special Area shall be managed so 
        as to protect and preserve the area's unique and diverse 
        character including its fish, wildlife, and subsistence 
        resource values.
            (3) Exclusion from leasing or surface occupancy.--The 
        Secretary may exclude any Special Area from leasing. If the 
        Secretary leases a Special Area, or any part thereof, for 
        purposes of oil and gas exploration, development, production, 
        and related activities, there shall be no surface occupancy of 
        the lands comprising the Special Area.
            (4) Directional drilling.--Notwithstanding the other 
        provisions of this subsection, the Secretary may lease all or a 
        portion of a Special Area under terms that permit the use of 
        horizontal drilling technology from sites on leases tracts 
        located outside the Special Area.
    (f) Limitation on Closed Areas.--The Secretary's sole authority to 
close lands within the Coastal Plain to oil and gas leasing and to 
exploration, development, and production is that set forth in this Act.
    (g) Regulations.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall prescribe such 
        regulations as may be necessary to carry out this Act, 
        including regulations relating to protection of the fish and 
        wildlife, their habitat, subsistence resources, and environment 
        of the Coastal Plain, by no later than 15 months after the date 
        of enactment of this Act.
            (2) Revision of regulations.--The Secretary shall, through 
        a rule making conducted in accordance with section 553 of title 
        5, United States Code, periodically review and, if appropriate, 
        revise the regulations issued under subsection (a) to reflect a 
        preponderance of the best available scientific evidence that 
        has been peer reviewed and obtained by following appropriate, 
        documented scientific procedures, the results of which can be 
        repeated using those same procedures.

SEC. 4. LEASE SALES.

    (a) In General.--Lands may be leased under this Act to any person 
qualified to obtain a lease for deposits of oil and gas under the 
Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.).
    (b) Procedures.--The Secretary shall, by regulation and no later 
than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, establish 
procedures for--
            (1) receipt and consideration of sealed nominations for any 
        area of the Coastal Plain for inclusion in, or exclusion (as 
        provided in subsection (c)) from, a lease sale;
            (2) the holding of lease sales after such nomination 
        process; and
            (3) public notice of and comment on designation of areas to 
        be included in, or excluded from, a lease sale.
    (c) Lease Sale Bids.--Lease sales under this Act may be conducted 
through an Internet leasing program, if the Secretary determines that 
such a system will result in savings to the taxpayer, an increase in 
the number of bidders participating, and higher returns than oral 
bidding or a sealed bidding system.
    (d) Sale Acreages and Schedule.--
            (1) The Secretary shall offer for lease under this Act 
        those tracts the Secretary considers to have the greatest 
        potential for the discovery of hydrocarbons, taking into 
        consideration nominations received pursuant to subsection 
        (b)(1).
            (2) The Secretary shall offer for lease under this Act no 
        less than 50,000 acres for lease within 22 months after the 
        date of the enactment of this Act.
            (3) The Secretary shall offer for lease under this Act no 
        less than an additional 50,000 acres at 6-, 12-, and 18-month 
        intervals following offering under paragraph (2).
            (4) The Secretary shall conduct four additional sales under 
        the same terms and schedule no later than two years after the 
        date of the last sale under paragraph (3), if sufficient 
        interest in leasing exists to warrant, in the Secretary's 
        judgment, the conduct of such sales.
            (5) The Secretary shall evaluate the bids in each sale and 
        issue leases resulting from such sales, within 90 days after 
        the date of the completion of such sale.

SEC. 5. GRANT OF LEASES BY THE SECRETARY.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary may grant to the highest responsible 
qualified bidder in a lease sale conducted under section 4 any lands to 
be leased on the Coastal Plain upon payment by the such bidder of such 
bonus as may be accepted by the Secretary.
    (b) Subsequent Transfers.--No lease issued under this Act may be 
sold, exchanged, assigned, sublet, or otherwise transferred except with 
the approval of the Secretary. Prior to any such approval the Secretary 
shall consult with, and give due consideration to the views of, the 
Attorney General.

SEC. 6. LEASE TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

    (a) In General.--An oil or gas lease issued under this Act shall--
            (1) provide for the payment of a royalty of not less than 
        12\1/2\ percent in amount or value of the production removed or 
        sold under the lease, as determined by the Secretary under the 
        regulations applicable to other Federal oil and gas leases;
            (2) provide that the Secretary may close, on a seasonal 
        basis, portions of the Coastal Plain to exploratory drilling 
        activities as necessary to protect caribou calving areas and 
        other species of fish and wildlife based on a preponderance of 
        the best available scientific evidence that has been peer 
        reviewed and obtained by following appropriate, documented 
        scientific procedures, the results of which can be repeated 
        using those same procedures;
            (3) require that the lessee of lands within the Coastal 
        Plain shall be fully responsible and liable for the reclamation 
        of lands within the Coastal Plain and any other Federal lands 
        that are adversely affected in connection with exploration, 
        development, production, or transportation activities conducted 
        under the lease and within the Coastal Plain by the lessee or 
        by any of the subcontractors or agents of the lessee;
            (4) provide that the lessee may not delegate or convey, by 
        contract or otherwise, the reclamation responsibility and 
        liability to another person without the express written 
        approval of the Secretary;
            (5) provide that the standard of reclamation for lands 
        required to be reclaimed under this Act shall be, as nearly as 
        practicable, a condition capable of supporting the uses which 
        the lands were capable of supporting prior to any exploration, 
        development, or production activities, or upon application by 
        the lessee, to a higher or better use as certified by the 
        Secretary;
            (6) contain terms and conditions relating to protection of 
        fish and wildlife, their habitat, subsistence resources, and 
        the environment as required pursuant to section 3(a)(2);
            (7) provide that the lessee, its agents, and its 
        contractors use best efforts to provide a fair share, as 
        determined by the level of obligation previously agreed to in 
        the 1974 agreement implementing section 29 of the Federal 
        Agreement and Grant of Right of Way for the Operation of the 
        Trans-Alaska Pipeline, of employment and contracting for Alaska 
        Natives and Alaska Native corporations from throughout the 
        State;
            (8) prohibit the export of oil produced under the lease; 
        and
            (9) contain such other provisions as the Secretary 
        determines necessary to ensure compliance with this Act and the 
        regulations issued under this Act.

SEC. 7. COASTAL PLAIN ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION.

    (a) No Significant Adverse Effect Standard To Govern Authorized 
Coastal Plain Activities.--The Secretary shall, consistent with the 
requirements of section 3, administer this Act through regulations, 
lease terms, conditions, restrictions, prohibitions, stipulations, and 
other provisions that--
            (1) ensure the oil and gas exploration, development, and 
        production activities on the Coastal Plain will result in no 
        significant adverse effect on fish and wildlife, their habitat, 
        and the environment;
            (2) require the application of the best commercially 
        available technology for oil and gas exploration, development, 
        and production on all new exploration, development, and 
        production operations; and
            (3) ensure that the maximum amount of surface acreage 
        covered by production and support facilities, including 
        airstrips and any areas covered by gravel berms or piers for 
        support of pipelines, does not exceed 10,000 acres on the 
        Coastal Plain for each 100,000 acres of area leased.
    (b) Site-Specific Assessment and Mitigation.--The Secretary shall 
also require, with respect to any proposed drilling and related 
activities, that--
            (1) a site-specific analysis be made of the probable 
        effects, if any, that the drilling or related activities will 
        have on fish and wildlife, their habitat, subsistence 
        resources, and the environment;
            (2) a plan be implemented to avoid, minimize, and mitigate 
        (in that order and to the extent practicable) any significant 
        adverse effect identified under paragraph (1); and
            (3) the development of the plan shall occur after 
        consultation with the agency or agencies having jurisdiction 
        over matters mitigated by the plan.
    (c) Regulations To Protect Coastal Plain Fish and Wildlife 
Resources, Subsistence Users, and the Environment.--Before implementing 
the leasing program authorized by this Act, the Secretary shall prepare 
and promulgate regulations, lease terms, conditions, restrictions, 
prohibitions, stipulations, and other measures designed to ensure that 
the activities undertaken on the Coastal Plain under this Act are 
conducted in a manner consistent with the purposes and environmental 
requirements of this Act.
    (d) Compliance With Federal and State Environmental Laws and Other 
Requirements.--The proposed regulations, lease terms, conditions, 
restrictions, prohibitions, and stipulations for the leasing program 
under this Act shall require compliance with all applicable provisions 
of Federal and State environmental law, and shall also require the 
following:
            (1) Standards at least as effective as the safety and 
        environmental mitigation measures set forth in items 1 through 
        29 at pages 167 through 169 of the ``Final Legislative 
        Environmental Impact Statement'' (April 1987) on the Coastal 
        Plain.
            (2) Seasonal limitations on exploration, development, and 
        related activities, where necessary, to avoid significant 
        adverse effects during periods of concentrated fish and 
        wildlife breeding, denning, nesting, spawning, and migration 
        based on a preponderance of the best available scientific 
        evidence that has been peer reviewed and obtained by following 
        appropriate, documented scientific procedures, the results of 
        which can be repeated using those same procedures.
            (3) That exploration activities, except for surface 
        geological studies, be limited to the period between 
        approximately November 1 and May 1 each year and that 
        exploration activities shall be supported, if necessary, by ice 
        roads, winter trails with adequate snow cover, ice pads, ice 
        airstrips, and air transport methods, except that such 
        exploration activities may occur at other times if the 
        Secretary finds that such exploration will have no significant 
        adverse effect on the fish and wildlife, their habitat, and the 
        environment of the Coastal Plain.
            (4) Design safety and construction standards for all 
        pipelines and any access and service roads, that--
                    (A) minimize, to the maximum extent possible, 
                adverse effects upon the passage of migratory species 
                such as caribou; and
                    (B) minimize adverse effects upon the flow of 
                surface water by requiring the use of culverts, 
                bridges, and other structural devices.
            (5) Prohibitions on general public access and use on all 
        pipeline access and service roads.
            (6) Stringent reclamation and rehabilitation requirements, 
        consistent with the standards set forth in this Act, requiring 
        the removal from the Coastal Plain of all oil and gas 
        development and production facilities, structures, and 
        equipment upon completion of oil and gas production operations, 
        except that the Secretary may exempt from the requirements of 
        this paragraph those facilities, structures, or equipment that 
        the Secretary determines would assist in the management of the 
        Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and that are donated to the 
        United States for that purpose.
            (7) Appropriate prohibitions or restrictions on access by 
        all modes of transportation.
            (8) Appropriate prohibitions or restrictions on sand and 
        gravel extraction.
            (9) Consolidation of facility siting.
            (10) Appropriate prohibitions or restrictions on use of 
        explosives.
            (11) Avoidance, to the extent practicable, of springs, 
        streams, and river systems; the protection of natural surface 
        drainage patterns, wetlands, and riparian habitats; and the 
        regulation of methods or techniques for developing or 
        transporting adequate supplies of water for exploratory 
        drilling.
            (12) Avoidance or minimization of air traffic-related 
        disturbance to fish and wildlife.
            (13) Treatment and disposal of hazardous and toxic wastes, 
        solid wastes, reserve pit fluids, drilling muds and cuttings, 
        and domestic wastewater, including an annual waste management 
        report, a hazardous materials tracking system, and a 
        prohibition on chlorinated solvents, in accordance with 
        applicable Federal and State environmental law.
            (14) Fuel storage and oil spill contingency planning.
            (15) Research, monitoring, and reporting requirements.
            (16) Field crew environmental briefings.
            (17) Avoidance of significant adverse effects upon 
        subsistence hunting, fishing, and trapping by subsistence 
        users.
            (18) Compliance with applicable air and water quality 
        standards.
            (19) Appropriate seasonal and safety zone designations 
        around well sites, within which subsistence hunting and 
        trapping shall be limited.
            (20) Reasonable stipulations for protection of cultural and 
        archeological resources.
            (21) All other protective environmental stipulations, 
        restrictions, terms, and conditions deemed necessary by the 
        Secretary.
    (e) Considerations.--In preparing and promulgating regulations, 
lease terms, conditions, restrictions, prohibitions, and stipulations 
under this section, the Secretary shall consider the following:
            (1) The stipulations and conditions that govern the 
        National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska leasing program, as set forth 
        in the 1999 Northeast National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska Final 
        Integrated Activity Plan/Environmental Impact Statement.
            (2) The environmental protection standards that governed 
        the initial Coastal Plain seismic exploration program under 
        parts 37.31 to 37.33 of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations.
            (3) The land use stipulations for exploratory drilling on 
        the KIC-ASRC private lands that are set forth in appendix 2 of 
        the August 9, 1983, agreement between Arctic Slope Regional 
        Corporation and the United States.
    (f) Facility Consolidation Planning.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall, after providing for 
        public notice and comment, prepare and update periodically a 
        plan to govern, guide, and direct the siting and construction 
        of facilities for the exploration, development, production, and 
        transportation of Coastal Plain oil and gas resources.
            (2) Objectives.--The plan shall have the following 
        objectives:
                    (A) Avoiding unnecessary duplication of facilities 
                and activities.
                    (B) Encouraging consolidation of common facilities 
                and activities.
                    (C) Locating or confining facilities and activities 
                to areas that will minimize impact on fish and 
                wildlife, their habitat, and the environment.
                    (D) Utilizing existing facilities wherever 
                practicable.
                    (E) Enhancing compatibility between wildlife values 
                and development activities.
    (g) Access to Public Lands.--The Secretary shall--
            (1) manage public lands in the Coastal Plain subject to of 
        section 811 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation 
        Act (16 U.S.C. 3121); and
            (2) ensure that local residents shall have reasonable 
        access to public lands in the Coastal Plain for traditional 
        uses.

SEC. 8. EXPEDITED JUDICIAL REVIEW.

    (a) Filing of Complaint.--
            (1) Deadline.--Subject to paragraph (2), any complaint 
        seeking judicial review--
                    (A) of any provision of this Act shall be filed by 
                not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
                this Act; or
                    (B) of any action of the Secretary under this Act 
                shall be filed--
                            (i) except as provided in clause (ii), 
                        within the 90-day period beginning on the date 
                        of the action being challenged; or
                            (ii) in the case of a complaint based 
                        solely on grounds arising after such period, 
                        within 90 days after the complainant knew or 
                        reasonably should have known of the grounds for 
                        the complaint.
            (2) Venue.--Any complaint seeking judicial review of any 
        provision of this Act or any action of the Secretary under this 
        Act may be filed only in the United States Court of Appeals for 
        the District of Columbia.
            (3) Limitation on scope of certain review.--Judicial review 
        of a Secretarial decision to conduct a lease sale under this 
        Act, including the environmental analysis thereof, shall be 
        limited to whether the Secretary has complied with this Act and 
        shall be based upon the administrative record of that decision. 
        The Secretary's identification of a preferred course of action 
        to enable leasing to proceed and the Secretary's analysis of 
        environmental effects under this Act shall be presumed to be 
        correct unless shown otherwise by clear and convincing evidence 
        to the contrary.
    (b) Limitation on Other Review.--Actions of the Secretary with 
respect to which review could have been obtained under this section 
shall not be subject to judicial review in any civil or criminal 
proceeding for enforcement.
    (c) Limitation on Attorneys' Fees and Court Costs.--No person 
seeking judicial review of any action under this Act shall receive 
payment from the Federal Government for their attorneys' fees and other 
court costs, including under any provision of law enacted by the Equal 
Access to Justice Act (5 U.S.C. 504 note).

SEC. 9. TREATMENT OF REVENUES.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 50 percent of the 
amount of bonus, rental, and royalty revenues from Federal oil and gas 
leasing and operations authorized under this Act shall be deposited in 
the Treasury.

SEC. 10. RIGHTS-OF-WAY ACROSS THE COASTAL PLAIN.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall issue rights-of-way and 
easements across the Coastal Plain for the transportation of oil and 
gas produced under leases under this Act--
            (1) except as provided in paragraph (2), under section 28 
        of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 185), without regard to 
        title XI of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act 
        (16 U.S.C. 3161 et seq.); and
            (2) under title XI of the Alaska National Interest Lands 
        Conservation Act (30 U.S.C. 3161 et seq.), for access 
        authorized by sections 1110 and 1111 of that Act (16 U.S.C. 
        3170 and 3171).
    (b) Terms and Conditions.--The Secretary shall include in any 
right-of-way or easement issued under subsection (a) such terms and 
conditions as may be necessary to ensure that transportation of oil and 
gas does not result in a significant adverse effect on the fish and 
wildlife, subsistence resources, their habitat, and the environment of 
the Coastal Plain, including requirements that facilities be sited or 
designed so as to avoid unnecessary duplication of roads and pipelines.
    (c) Regulations.--The Secretary shall include in regulations under 
section 3(g) provisions granting rights-of-way and easements described 
in subsection (a) of this section.

SEC. 11. CONVEYANCE.

    In order to maximize Federal revenues by removing clouds on title 
to lands and clarifying land ownership patterns within the Coastal 
Plain, the Secretary, notwithstanding section 1302(h)(2) of the Alaska 
National Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 3192(h)(2)), shall 
convey--
            (1) to the Kaktovik Inupiat Corporation the surface estate 
        of the lands described in paragraph 1 of Public Land Order 
        6959, to the extent necessary to fulfill the Corporation's 
        entitlement under sections 12 and 14 of the Alaska Native 
        Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1611 and 1613) in accordance 
        with the terms and conditions of the Agreement between the 
        Department of the Interior, the United States Fish and Wildlife 
        Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Kaktovik 
        Inupiat Corporation dated January 22, 1993; and
            (2) to the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation the remaining 
        subsurface estate to which it is entitled pursuant to the 
        August 9, 1983, agreement between the Arctic Slope Regional 
        Corporation and the United States of America.
                                 <all>