[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 132 (Tuesday, September 16, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S5649]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
BLM PERMIT PROCESSING IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2014
Ms. HEITKAMP. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Energy
Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 2440 and the
Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
The clerk will report the bill by title.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 2440) to expand and extend the program to
improve permit coordination by the Bureau of Land Management,
and for other purposes.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
Ms. HEITKAMP. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a Udall of
New Mexico amendment, which is at the desk, be agreed to, the bill, as
amended, be read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider
be considered made and laid upon the table.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
The amendment (No. 3822) was agreed to, as follows:
(Purpose: To clarify the uses of the BLM Permit Processing Improvement
Fund)
On page 5, line 13, insert ``and Indian trust mineral
estate'' after ``Federal''.
On page 6, line 5, insert ``and Indian trust mineral
estate'' after ``Federal''.
On page 7, line 11, insert ``and Indian trust mineral
estate'' after ``Federal''.
The bill (S. 2440), as amended, was ordered to be engrossed for a
third reading, was read the third time, and passed, as follows:
S. 2440
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 ``BLM Permit Processing
Improvement Act of 2014''.
SEC. 2. PROGRAM TO IMPROVE FEDERAL PERMIT COORDINATION.
Section 365 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C.
15924) is amended--
(1) in the section heading, by striking ``pilot'';
(2) by striking ``Pilot Project'' each place it appears and
inserting ``Project'';
(3) in subsection (b)(2), by striking ``Wyoming, Montana,
Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico'' and inserting ``the States
in which Project offices are located'';
(4) in subsection (d)--
(A) in the subsection heading, by striking ``Pilot''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(8) Any other State, district, or field office of the
Bureau of Land Management determined by the Secretary.'';
(5) by striking subsection (e) and inserting the following:
``(e) Report to Congress.--Not later than February 1 of the
first fiscal year beginning after the date of enactment of
the BLM Permit Processing Improvement Act of 2014 and each
February 1 thereafter, the Secretary shall report to the
Chairman and ranking minority Member of the Committee on
Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee
on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives, which
shall include--
``(1) the allocation of funds to each Project office for
the previous fiscal year; and
``(2) the accomplishments of each Project office relating
to the coordination and processing of oil and gas use
authorizations during that fiscal year.'';
(6) in subsection (h), by striking paragraph (6) and
inserting the following:
``(6) the States in which Project offices are located.'';
(7) by striking subsection (i); and
(8) by redesignating subsection (j) as subsection (i).
SEC. 3. BLM OIL AND GAS PERMIT PROCESSING FEE.
Section 35 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 191) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(d) BLM Oil and Gas Permit Processing Fee.--
``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, for each of fiscal years 2016 through 2026, the
Secretary, acting through the Director of the Bureau of Land
Management, shall collect a fee for each new application for
a permit to drill that is submitted to the Secretary.
``(2) Amount.--The amount of the fee shall be $9,500 for
each new application, as indexed for United States dollar
inflation from October 1, 2015 (as measured by the Consumer
Price Index).
``(3) Use.--Of the fees collected under this subsection for
a fiscal year, the Secretary shall transfer--
``(A) for each of fiscal years 2016 through 2019--
``(i) 15 percent to the field offices that collected the
fees and used to process protests, leases, and permits under
this Act, subject to appropriation; and
``(ii) 85 percent to the BLM Permit Processing Improvement
Fund established under subsection (c)(2)(B) (referred to in
this subsection as the `Fund'); and
``(B) for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2026, all of
the fees to the Fund.
``(4) Additional costs.--During each of fiscal years of
2016 through 2026, the Secretary shall not implement a
rulemaking that would enable an increase in fees to recover
additional costs related to processing applications for
permits to drill.''.
SEC. 4. BLM PERMIT PROCESSING IMPROVEMENT FUND.
(a) In General.--Section 35(c) of the Mineral Leasing Act
(30 U.S.C. 191(c)) is amended by striking paragraph (3) and
inserting the following:
``(3) Use of fund.--
``(A) In general.--The Fund shall be available to the
Secretary of the Interior for expenditure, without further
appropriation and without fiscal year limitation, for the
coordination and processing of oil and gas use authorizations
on onshore Federal and Indian trust mineral estate land.
``(B) Accounts.--The Secretary shall divide the Fund into--
``(i) a Rental Account (referred to in this subsection as
the `Rental Account') comprised of rental receipts collected
under this section; and
``(ii) a Fee Account (referred to in this subsection as the
`Fee Account') comprised of fees collected under subsection
(d).
``(4) Rental account.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall use the Rental
Account for--
``(i) the coordination and processing of oil and gas use
authorizations on onshore Federal and Indian trust mineral
estate land under the jurisdiction of the Project offices
identified under section 365(d) of the Energy Policy Act of
2005 (42 U.S.C. 15924(d)); and
``(ii) training programs for development of expertise
related to coordinating and processing oil and gas use
authorizations.
``(B) Allocation.--In determining the allocation of the
Rental Account among Project offices for a fiscal year, the
Secretary shall consider--
``(i) the number of applications for permit to drill
received in a Project office during the previous fiscal year;
``(ii) the backlog of applications described in clause (i)
in a Project office;
``(iii) publicly available industry forecasts for
development of oil and gas resources under the jurisdiction
of a Project office; and
``(iv) any opportunities for partnership with local
industry organizations and educational institutions in
developing training programs to facilitate the coordination
and processing of oil and gas use authorizations.
``(5) Fee account.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall use the Fee Account
for the coordination and processing of oil and gas use
authorizations on onshore Federal and Indian trust mineral
estate land.
``(B) Allocation.--The Secretary shall transfer not less
than 75 percent of the revenues collected by an office for
the processing of applications for permits to the State
office of the State in which the fees were collected.''.
(b) Interest on Overpayment Adjustment.--Section 111(h) of
the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982 (30
U.S.C. 1721(h)) is amended in the first sentence by striking
``the rate'' and all that follows through the period at the
end of the sentence and inserting ``a rate equal to the sum
of the Federal short-term rate determined under section
6621(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 plus 1
percentage point.''.
SEC. 5. BUDGETARY EFFECTS.
The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of
complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go-Act of 2010, shall
be determined by reference to the latest statement titled
``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation'' for this Act,
submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the
Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, provided that such
statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.
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