[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1650 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1650

To clarify that the Bureau of Land Management shall not require permits 
 for oil and gas activities conducted on non-Federal surface estate to 
access subsurface mineral estate that is less than 50 percent federally 
                     owned, and for other purposes.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 8, 2019

 Ms. Cheney (for herself, Mr. Gosar, Mr. Gohmert, Mr. Hunter, and Mr. 
   Meadows) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

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                                 A BILL


 
To clarify that the Bureau of Land Management shall not require permits 
 for oil and gas activities conducted on non-Federal surface estate to 
access subsurface mineral estate that is less than 50 percent federally 
                     owned, 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 ``Ending Duplicative Permitting Act''.

SEC. 2. ACCESS TO FEDERAL OIL AND GAS FROM NON-FEDERAL SURFACE ESTATE.

    Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``(q) No Federal Permit Required for Oil and Gas Activities on 
Certain Land.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall not require an 
        operator to obtain a Federal drilling permit for oil and gas 
        exploration and production activities conducted on non-Federal 
        surface estate, provided that--
                    ``(A) the United States holds an ownership interest 
                of less than 50 percent of the subsurface mineral 
                estate to be accessed by the proposed action; and
                    ``(B) the operator submits to the Secretary a State 
                permit to conduct oil and gas exploration and 
                production activities on the non-Federal surface 
                estate.
            ``(2) No federal action.--Oil and gas exploration and 
        production activities carried out under paragraph (1)--
                    ``(A) shall require no additional Federal action;
                    ``(B) may commence 30 days after submission of the 
                State permit to the Secretary;
                    ``(C) are categorically excluded from any further 
                analysis and documentation under the National 
                Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 
                seq.);
                    ``(D) shall not require any analysis under section 
                106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, 
                as amended (54 U.S.C. 306108); and
                    ``(E) shall not require any analysis, assessment, 
                or consultation under section 7 of the Endangered 
                Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536).
            ``(3) Royalties and production accountability.--(A) Nothing 
        in this subsection shall affect the amount of royalties due to 
        the United States under this Act from the production of oil and 
        gas, or alter the Secretary's authority to conduct audits and 
        collect civil penalties pursuant to the Federal Oil and Gas 
        Royalty Management Act of 1982 (30 U.S.C. 1711 et seq.).
            ``(B) The Secretary may conduct on-site reviews and 
        inspections to ensure proper accountability, measurement, and 
        reporting of production of Federal oil and gas, and payment of 
        royalties.
            ``(4) Exceptions.--This subsection shall not apply to 
        actions on Indian lands or resources managed in trust for the 
        benefit of Indian tribes.''.
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