[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 133 (Tuesday, September 6, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H5069-H5070]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1730
                   INNOVATION IN OFFSHORE LEASING ACT

  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the 
rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5577) to amend the Outer Continental 
Shelf Lands Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct 
offshore oil and gas lease sales through Internet-based live lease 
sales, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 5577

       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 ``Innovation in Offshore 
     Leasing Act''.

     SEC. 2. INTERNET-BASED OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASE SALES.

       (a) Authorization.--Section 8 of the Outer Continental 
     Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337) is amended by adding at the 
     end the following:
       ``(q) Internet-Based Oil and Gas Lease Sales.--
       ``(1) In general.--In order to modernize the Nation's 
     offshore leasing program to ensure the best return to the 
     Federal taxpayer, reduce fraud, and ensure a fair and 
     competitive leasing process, the Secretary may conduct lease 
     sales under this section through Internet-based, sealed-
     bidding methods.
       ``(2) Sale requirements.--Sales conducted under paragraph 
     (1) shall ensure--
       ``(A) a publicly and freely accessible digital delivery of 
     the bid reading process, such as live Internet streaming, and 
     an option for bidders to submit bids electronically;
       ``(B) a bidder verification process that discloses to 
     bidders, by no later than 5 p.m. Central Time of the day 
     before each sale, a list of all bids submitted (including the 
     person submitting each bid) on each lease tract without 
     disclosing bid amounts;
       ``(C) the ability for a bidder to correct a possible 
     misreading of a submitted bid;
       ``(D) a designee from within the Office of the Solicitor of 
     the Department of the Interior to act as an independent, 
     third-party observer who will be present during the bid 
     reading process to prevent wrongdoing, independently certify 
     the bidding process, and maintain transparency;
       ``(E) data security measures to ensure bidder data is kept 
     secure; and
       ``(F) a participant survey soliciting voluntary feedback 
     from bidders on the bidding process.
       ``(3) Transparency in sale-day statistics.--
       ``(A) Requirement.--The Secretary shall publicly disclose 
     statistical data regarding each lease sale under this 
     subsection, on the day the sale is executed.
       ``(B) Included data.--Among data disclosed, the Secretary 
     shall include--
       ``(i) the total value of high bids;
       ``(ii) the number of tracts offered;
       ``(iii) the number of acres offered;
       ``(iv) the number of tracts receiving bids;
       ``(v) the number of acres receiving bids;
       ``(vi) the total number of bids;
       ``(vii) the average number of bids per tract;
       ``(viii) the total number of bidders participating;
       ``(ix) bidding statistics by water depth;
       ``(x) the name of the entity that submitted each bid, the 
     amount of the bid, and the tract for which the bid was 
     submitted;
       ``(xi) of tracts receiving bids, the number of bids per 
     tract by water depth;
       ``(xii) the tract receiving the greatest number of bids;
       ``(xiii) the tract receiving the highest bid; and
       ``(xiv) any other statistical data that may be disclosed in 
     accordance with this Act.
       ``(C) Data transparency.--The Secretary shall ensure all 
     data regarding lease sales under this subsection is publicly 
     available and easily accessible, free of charge, on the 
     Internet, including for download and aggregation in machine-
     readable format.''.
       (b) Modernizing Leasing Through Collaboration.--
       (1) In general.--Before conducting the first Internet-based 
     lease sale under the amendment made by this section, the 
     Secretary of the Interior shall issue a request for 
     information from each company present for bidding at the ten 
     most recent oil and gas lease sales conducted by the 
     Secretary under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, in 
     order to provide the bidding public sufficient opportunity to 
     share innovative ideas, methods, and concerns regarding 
     Internet-based leasing.
       (2) Integration of information.--The Secretary shall 
     review, evaluate, and integrate suggestions and concerns 
     collected under paragraph (1) as the Secretary works to 
     modernize the offshore leasing process through Internet-based 
     leasing options.
       (3) User workshop.--The Secretary shall conduct not less 
     than one user workshop with viable bidders prior to 
     conducting an Internet-based lease sale to provide the 
     bidding public with an opportunity to beta test any prototype 
     of an Internet-based leasing platform.
       (c) Deadline for Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale.--Not later than 
     18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
     Secretary of the Interior shall conduct at least one 
     Internet-based lease sale under the amendment made by 
     subsection (a) for leasable acreage in the Gulf of Mexico.
       (d) Evaluating Internet-Based Offshore Leasing.--Not later 
     than 90 days after the third Internet-based lease sale 
     conducted under the amendment made by subsection (a), the 
     Secretary of the Interior shall analyze all such Internet-
     based lease sales and transmit to Congress a thorough 
     analysis of the sales. The analysis shall include--
       (1) estimates of increases or decreases in such lease 
     sales, compared to sales conducted by non-Internet-based 
     bidding, in--
       (A) the number of bidders;
       (B) the average amount of bids;
       (C) the highest bid; and
       (D) the lowest bid;

[[Page H5070]]

       (2) an estimate of the total cost or savings to the 
     Department of the Interior as a result of such sales, 
     compared to sales conducted by non-Internet-based bidding;
       (3) voluntary and anonymous feedback from persons 
     participating in such sales, on the Internet-based leasing 
     process and potential areas for improvement in such sales; 
     and
       (4) an evaluation of the demonstrated or expected 
     effectiveness of different structures for lease sales that 
     may provide an opportunity to better maximize bidder 
     participation, ensure the highest return to the Federal 
     taxpayers, minimize opportunities for fraud or collusion, and 
     ensure the security and integrity of the leasing process.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Beyer) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania.


                             General Leave

  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent 
that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their 
remarks and include extraneous materials on the bill under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time 
as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 5577, introduced by Congressman Garret Graves, will 
increase transparency and efficiency regarding the Federal Government's 
current process for conducting lease sales while also saving Federal 
tax dollars in the development of oil and gas on the Outer Continental 
Shelf.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from Louisiana (Mr. Graves), the author of the bill.
  Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman 
for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, my fourth grader's homework is online. We go up on a Web 
site and pull down homework. My ninth grader can check out books from 
the library and download it to his Kindle. Our 6-year-old takes my 
iPhone and sends text messages, unbeknownst to me, to her aunts and 
uncles. Everything is now evolving to online--everything is.
  Mr. Speaker, the reality is that there is this reputation that the 
Federal Government has that we are incredibly inefficient and behind 
the times, and unfortunately that reality is well earned. Everything is 
going online now. We can go on different Web sites and have things 
delivered to our homes the same day or the next day. We can order 
things online and go to stores and go pick them up. That is how the 
world is evolving, and what the online presence does is it provides for 
transparency.
  Now, this bill addresses offshore lease sales. What are offshore 
lease sales? That is the second largest revenue stream for the United 
States Treasury after taxes. It is a huge revenue stream. By some 
estimates, it has exceeded $200 billion in revenues for the United 
States Treasury.
  What this bill is designed to do is to bring us into the 21st 
century, to allow for potential bidders to go online to broaden access, 
to allow for the taxpayer's resource, the American public's resource, 
to have more bidders, to have more competition to ultimately make sure 
that the full value of that resource is realized by taxpayers.
  I very much appreciate the gentleman from California (Mr. Lowenthal), 
my good friend, being our lead cosponsor on this bill, showing that 
this is a bipartisan bill, that we have strong support from very 
diverse ideologies across the country.
  Mr. Speaker, I just want to reiterate the fact that this simply puts 
it online. It simply allows for better access for information. This is 
an asset that belongs to the American public. It is worth billions and 
billions of dollars. It should have transparency in how the process 
takes place, in the amount that bidders put forth, the amount that 
bidders bid for different auctions or lease sales. I think it is very 
important.
  Lastly, Mr. Speaker, I also want to make note of this. What this 
does, this whole transparency and openness and improved value and 
competition, it complements the public process because, Mr. Speaker, 
related to this last lease sale, lease sale 248, there were 18 
opportunities for public participation, public comment, public 
meetings, 18 separate opportunities through the development of the 
lease sale, the development of the EIS, the development of the 5-year 
plan. So this complements all of that transparency and doesn't allow 
this to be done only by folks who can afford to go buy a plane ticket 
and go down into this facility, but that everyone can participate; and 
it allows for that public access to this last stage in the process that 
complements this very open and transparent process that takes place 
prior to.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I want to urge support for H.R. 5577. I think this 
is in the best interest of taxpayers. This is in the best interest of 
transparency and, certainly, the public.
  Mr. BEYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  H.R. 5577 is a bipartisan bill, introduced by two of my colleagues on 
the Committee on Natural Resources, the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. 
Graves), and the gentleman from California (Mr. Lowenthal). It really 
would bring the offshore oil and gas leasing system into the 21st 
century.
  Last month the Department of the Interior took one step in that 
direction by streaming the opening of leasing bids live on the Web. 
However, companies still submitted their bids by sticking them in an 
envelope and mailing them. This bill would direct Interior to start 
moving that process online and to provide much more transparency by 
ensuring that the public has access to all the data from these sales in 
machine-readable and downloadable format.
  H.R. 5577 will also ensure that people across the country can follow 
these sales in real time. I commend the sponsor of this bill for their 
efforts to improve government operations.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, once again, I urge passage 
of this measure.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 5577, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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