[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5616 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5616

 To require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct certain offshore 
                              lease sales.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 21, 2023

 Mr. Graves of Louisiana (for himself, Mr. Scalise, Mr. Crenshaw, Mr. 
    Ellzey, and Mr. Ezell) introduced the following bill; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct certain offshore 
                              lease sales.

    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 ``Bringing Reliable Investment into 
Domestic Gulf Energy Production Act of 2023'' or the ``BRIDGE 
Production Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASE SALES.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Offshore lease sale.--The term ``offshore lease sale'' 
        means an oil and gas lease sale--
                    (A) that is held by the Secretary in accordance 
                with the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 
                1331 et seq.), notwithstanding the requirements of 
                section 18 of that Act (43 U.S.C. 1344);
                    (B) offers the same lease form, lease terms, 
                economic conditions, and stipulations as contained in 
                the final notice of sale entitled ``Gulf of Mexico 
                Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Lease Sale 257'' 
                (86 Fed. Reg. 54728 (October 4, 2021)); and
                    (C) that, if any acceptable bids have been received 
                for any tract offered in the lease sale, results in the 
                issuance of leases within 90 days of the sale to the 
                highest bids on the tracts offered, subject to the 
                Bureau of Ocean Energy Management ``Summary of 
                Procedures for Determining Bid Adequacy at Offshore Oil 
                and Gas Lease Sales Effective March 2016, with Central 
                Gulf of Mexico Sale 241 and Eastern Gulf of Mexico Sale 
                226''.
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.
    (b) Waiver.--The Secretary may waive any other requirements under 
section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344) 
that would delay final approval of an offshore lease sale under 
subsection (c).
    (c) Requirement.--Notwithstanding section 18 of the Outer 
Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344), the Secretary shall--
            (1) conduct not fewer than 4 offshore lease sales during 
        the 2-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this 
        Act; and
            (2) ensure that the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil 
        and Gas Leasing Program Final Programmatic Environmental Impact 
        Statement and Record of Decision shall apply to lease sales 
        conducted under this subsection and shall be sufficient for 
        purposes of complying with the National Environmental Policy 
        Act for offshore lease sales conducted under this subsection to 
        the extent it does not conflict with this Act.
    (d) Timing.--In conducting the offshore lease sales required under 
subsection (c), the Secretary shall conduct an offshore lease sale not 
later than--
            (1) March 31, 2024;
            (2) August 31, 2024;
            (3) March 31, 2025; and
            (4) August 31, 2025.
    (e) Area Offered for Lease.--
            (1) Acreage.--The Secretary shall offer not fewer than 
        80,000,000 acres for each offshore lease sale conducted under 
        subsection (c).
            (2) Location.--An offshore lease sale conducted under 
        subsection (c) shall be in the Gulf of Mexico Region Program 
        Area as identified in Figure S-1 of the 2017-2022 Outer 
        Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Final Program 
        published on November 18, 2016, by the Bureau of Ocean Energy 
        Management (as announced in the notice of availability of the 
        Bureau of Ocean Energy Management entitled ``Notice of 
        Availability of the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and 
        Gas Leasing Proposed Final Program'' (81 Fed. Reg. 84612 
        (November 23, 2016)).
    (f) Effect of Litigation.--
            (1) In general.--A civil action challenging an offshore 
        lease sale conducted under this section shall not--
                    (A) affect the validity of any lease issued under 
                such an offshore lease sale; and
                    (B) except as provided in paragraph (3)(B), cause a 
                delay in the timelines for the consideration of any 
                exploration plan, development plan, development 
                operations coordination document, applications for 
                permit to drill, or other application for a Federal 
                agency authorization or approval for activities on a 
                lease issued under such an offshore lease sale.
            (2) Remand; processing of approvals and applications.--If, 
        in a civil action described in paragraph (1), a court finds 
        that the offshore lease sale was not carried out in compliance 
        with Federal law--
                    (A) the court shall not--
                            (i) set aside, vacate, or enjoin the 
                        offshore lease sale;
                            (ii) set aside, vacate, or enjoin the 
                        leases issued pursuant to the offshore lease 
                        sale; or
                            (iii) enjoin the Secretary from issuing 
                        leases to the highest bidders in the challenged 
                        offshore lease sale;
                    (B) the court shall remand the matter to the 
                Secretary and require the Secretary to correct the 
                noncompliance; and
                    (C) the Secretary shall continue to process all 
                exploration plans, development plans, development 
                operations coordination documents, applications for a 
                permit to drill, and other applications for a Federal 
                agency authorization or other approval for activities 
                requested under any lease issued under the challenged 
                offshore lease sale in accordance with the Outer 
                Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.).
            (3) Notice.--
                    (A) In general.--Not later than 10 days after the 
                date on which a civil action described in paragraph (1) 
                is served on the United States, the Secretary shall 
                notify the holder of any lease issued, or apparent high 
                bidder if the lease has not yet been issued, under the 
                offshore lease sale that is the subject of the civil 
                action of the filing of the civil action.
                    (B) Timeline.--Not later than 90 days after the 
                date of receipt of a notice under subparagraph (A), the 
                holder of the lease may file with the Secretary, and 
                the Secretary may approve, a request to pause the 
                timeline with respect to the term of the lease during 
                any period in which the civil action is pending.
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