[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4383 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4383

To streamline the application for permits to drill process and increase 
  funds for energy project permit processing, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 18, 2012

 Mr. Lamborn 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 streamline the application for permits to drill process and increase 
  funds for energy project permit processing, 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 ``Streamlining Permitting of American 
Energy Act of 2012''.

SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    The table of contents for this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents.
        TITLE I--APPLICATION FOR PERMITS TO DRILL PROCESS REFORM

Sec. 101. Permit to drill application timeline.
Sec. 102. Solar and wind right-of-way rental reform.
         TITLE II--ADMINISTRATIVE PROTEST DOCUMENTATION REFORM

Sec. 201. Administrative protest documentation reform.
                     TITLE III--PERMIT STREAMLINING

Sec. 301. Improve Federal energy permit coordination.
Sec. 302. Administration of current law.
                       TITLE IV--JUDICIAL REVIEW

Sec. 401. Definitions.
Sec. 402. Exclusive venue for certain civil actions relating to covered 
                            energy projects.
Sec. 403. Timely filing.
Sec. 404. Expedition in hearing and determining the action.
Sec. 405. Standard of review.
Sec. 406. Limitation on injunction and prospective relief.
Sec. 407. Limitation on attorneys' fees.
Sec. 408. Legal standing.

        TITLE I--APPLICATION FOR PERMITS TO DRILL PROCESS REFORM

SEC. 101. PERMIT TO DRILL APPLICATION TIMELINE.

    Notwithstanding section 17(p)(2) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 
U.S.C. 226(p)(2)) is amended to read as follows:
            ``(2) Applications for permits to drill reform and 
        process.--
                    ``(A) Timeline.--The Secretary shall decide whether 
                to issue a permit to drill within 30 days after 
                receiving an application for the permit. The Secretary 
                may extend such period for up to 2 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) Notice of reasons for denial.--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) Application deemed approved.--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, except in cases in 
                which existing reviews under the National Environmental 
                Policy Act of 1969 or Endangered Species Act of 1973 
                are incomplete.
                    ``(D) Denial of permit.--If the Secretary decides 
                not to issue a permit to drill in accordance with 
                subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall--
                            ``(i) provide to the applicant a 
                        description of the reasons for the denial of 
                        the permit;
                            ``(ii) allow the applicant to resubmit an 
                        application for a permit to drill during the 
                        10-day period beginning on the date of the 
                        receipt of the description by the applicant; 
                        and
                            ``(iii) issue or deny any resubmitted 
                        application not later than 10 days after the 
                        date the application is submitted to the 
                        Secretary.
                    ``(E) Fee.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Notwithstanding any 
                        other law, the Secretary shall collect a single 
                        $6,500 permit processing fee per application 
                        from each applicant at the time the decision is 
                        made whether or not to issue a permit under 
                        subparagraph (A).
                            ``(ii) Treatment of permit processing 
                        fee.--Of all fees collected under this 
                        paragraph, 50 percent shall be transferred to 
                        the field office where they are collected and 
                        used to process protests, leases, and permits 
                        under this Act subject to appropriations.''.

SEC. 102. SOLAR AND WIND RIGHT-OF-WAY RENTAL REFORM.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, each fiscal year, of 
fees collected as annual wind energy and solar energy right-of-way 
authorization fees required under section 504(g) of the Federal Land 
Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1764(g)), 50 percent shall 
be transferred to the field office where they are collected and used to 
process permits, right-of-way applications, and other activities 
necessary for renewable energy development subject to appropriations.

         TITLE II--ADMINISTRATIVE PROTEST DOCUMENTATION REFORM

SEC. 201. ADMINISTRATIVE PROTEST DOCUMENTATION REFORM.

    Section 17(p) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(p)) is 
further amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) Protest fee.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall collect a 
                $5,000 documentation fee to accompany each protest for 
                a lease, right of way, or application for permit to 
                drill.
                    ``(B) Treatment of fees.--Of all fees collected 
                under this paragraph, 50 percent shall remain in the 
                field office where they are collected and used to 
                process protests subject to appropriations.''.

                     TITLE III--PERMIT STREAMLINING

SEC. 301. IMPROVE FEDERAL ENERGY PERMIT COORDINATION.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary of the Interior (referred to in 
this section as the ``Secretary'') shall establish a Federal Permit 
Streamlining Project (referred to in this section as the ``Project'') 
in every Bureau of Land Management Field office with responsibility for 
permitting energy projects on Federal land.
    (b) Memorandum of Understanding.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall enter into a 
        memorandum of understanding for purposes of this section with--
                    (A) the Secretary of Agriculture;
                    (B) the Administrator of the Environmental 
                Protection Agency; and
                    (C) the Chief of the Army Corps of Engineers.
            (2) State participation.--The Secretary may request that 
        the Governor of any State with energy projects on Federal lands 
        to be a signatory to the memorandum of understanding.
    (c) Designation of Qualified Staff.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 30 days after the date of 
        the signing of the memorandum of understanding under subsection 
        (b), all Federal signatory parties shall, if appropriate, 
        assign to each of the field offices an employee who has 
        expertise in the regulatory issues relating to the office in 
        which the employee is employed, including, as applicable, 
        particular expertise in--
                    (A) the consultations and the preparation of 
                biological opinions under section 7 of the Endangered 
                Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536);
                    (B) permits under section 404 of Federal Water 
                Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344);
                    (C) regulatory matters under the Clean Air Act (42 
                U.S.C. 7401 et seq.);
                    (D) planning under the National Forest Management 
                Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 472a et seq.); and
                    (E) the preparation of analyses under the National 
                Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 
                seq.).
            (2) Duties.--Each employee assigned under paragraph (1) 
        shall--
                    (A) not later than 90 days after the date of 
                assignment, report to the Bureau of Land Management 
                Field Managers in the office to which the employee is 
                assigned;
                    (B) be responsible for all issues relating to the 
                jurisdiction of the project permitting home office or 
                agency of the employee; and
                    (C) participate as part of the team of personnel 
                working on proposed energy projects, planning, and 
                environmental analyses on Federal lands.
    (d) Additional Personnel.--The Secretary shall assign to each field 
office identified in subsection (a) any additional personnel that are 
necessary to ensure the effective implementation of programs 
administered by the field offices, including inspection and enforcement 
relating to energy development on Federal land, in accordance with the 
multiple use mandate of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 
1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.).
    (e) Funding.--Funding for the additional personnel shall come from 
the Department of the Interior reforms identified in sections 101, 102, 
and 201.
    (f) Savings Provision.--Nothing in this section affects--
            (1) the operation of any Federal or State law; or
            (2) any delegation of authority made by the head of a 
        Federal agency whose employees are participating in the 
        Project.
    (g) Definition.--For purposes of this section the term ``energy 
projects'' includes oil, natural gas, coal, and other energy projects 
as defined by the Secretary.

SEC. 302. ADMINISTRATION OF CURRENT LAW.

    Notwithstanding any other law, the Secretary of the Interior shall 
not require a finding of extraordinary circumstances in administering 
section 390 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

                       TITLE IV--JUDICIAL REVIEW

SEC. 401. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act--
            (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 on Federal 
        lands of the United States; and
            (2) the term ``covered energy project'' means the leasing 
        of Federal lands of the United States for the exploration, 
        development, production, processing, or transmission of oil, 
        natural gas, wind, or any other source of energy, 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. 402. EXCLUSIVE VENUE FOR CERTAIN CIVIL ACTIONS RELATING TO COVERED 
              ENERGY PROJECTS.

    Venue for any covered civil action shall lie in the district court 
where the project or leases exist or are proposed.

SEC. 403. TIMELY FILING.

    To ensure timely redress by the courts, a covered civil action must 
be filed no later than the end of the 90-day period beginning on the 
date of the final Federal agency action to which it relates.

SEC. 404. EXPEDITION IN HEARING AND DETERMINING THE ACTION.

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

SEC. 405. 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. 406. LIMITATION ON INJUNCTION AND 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. In addition, courts shall limit the duration of 
preliminary injunctions to halt covered energy projects to no more than 
60 days, unless the court finds clear reasons to extend the injunction. 
In such cases of extensions, such extensions shall only be in 30-day 
increments and shall require action by the court to renew the 
injunction.

SEC. 407. 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.

SEC. 408. LEGAL STANDING.

    Challengers filing appeals with the Department of the Interior 
Board of Land Appeals shall meet the same standing requirements as 
challengers before a United States district court.
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