[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 157 (Monday, October 2, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H7640-H7641]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          COOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT OF MINERAL RIGHTS ACT OF 2017

  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the 
rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2316) to amend the Mineral Leasing Act 
and the Energy Policy Act of 1992 to repeal provisions relating only to 
the Allegheny National Forest.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows

                               H.R. 2316

       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 ``Cooperative Management of 
     Mineral Rights Act of 2017''.

     SEC. 2. REPEAL OF PROVISIONS REGARDING THE ALLEGHENY NATIONAL 
                   FOREST.

       (a) Repeal.--Subsection (o) of section 17 of the Mineral 
     Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) and section 2508 of the Energy 
     Policy Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-486; 106 Stat. 3108) are 
     repealed.
       (b) Notice Requirement Not Affected.--Nothing in this Act 
     shall be construed or interpreted--
       (1) to limit, modify, or otherwise affect the existing 
     requirement to provide in writing 60-day advance notice of 
     specific activities in accordance with the order dated 
     December 16, 1980, in the case United States of America v. 
     Minard Run Oil Company, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9570 (W.D. Pa., 
     Dec. 16, 1980); or
       (2) to limit existing authority of the Forest Service under 
     provisions of law codified in section 551 of title 16, United 
     States Code.
       (c) Permitting Authority Not Affected.--Nothing in this Act 
     shall be construed or interpreted to alter, repeal, or 
     otherwise limit the existing authority of the Forest Service 
     to permit the harvest or sale of timber derived from the 
     Allegheny National Forest.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. 
McEachin) 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 material 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, I thank leadership for allowing H.R. 2316 to come to the 
floor.
  The Allegheny National Forest, located in my district in northwestern 
Pennsylvania, is located near the first commercial oil discovery in the 
country. The Allegheny National Forest is Pennsylvania's only national 
forest and, since its creation in 1923, has been home to numerous 
recreational and commercial activities.
  Oil and gas has been produced from privately owned subsurface 
minerals within the forest for decades, and mineral owners worked 
cooperatively with the Forest Service to safely produce oil and gas 
within the national forest boundaries.
  Mineral owners routinely provided 60-day notification of drilling 
plans

[[Page H7641]]

prior to the commencement of operations, and the Forest Service then 
issued a notice to proceed, or NTP. However, in 2006, the Forest 
Service deemed issuance of an NTP to be a major Federal action that 
triggered the application of the National Environmental Policy Act.
  This designation requires a full environmental analysis of the 
Allegheny National Forest, and environmental groups were quick to sue 
the Forest Service to enforce the new rule. After settling with these 
groups, the Forest Service issued a moratorium when issuing NTPs until 
the full environmental analysis was completed. This moratorium had 
immediate and severe impacts on the mineral rights owners, who were 
unfairly denied access to their mineral property.
  The oil and gas industry sued, claiming that the Forest Service did 
not have the authority to preclude the development of privately owned 
minerals, and in 2009 the U.S. District Court of Western Pennsylvania 
agreed and lifted the moratorium in the Allegheny National Forest. The 
lower court's decision was confirmed on appeal in 2013. This bill fully 
repeals the invalidated language from the Mineral Leasing Act and the 
Energy Policy Act of 1992 in accordance with these court decisions.
  Throughout the litigation, the Forest Service claimed section 2508 of 
the Energy Policy Act of 1992, codified in the Mineral Leasing Act, 
provided them with the authority to restrict mineral development. It is 
critical to strike this language. Had this regulation not been 
challenged, over 11 million acres of split estate minerals throughout 
the country would have been locked up, devastating mineral owners and 
local and State economies.
  A similar version of this bill passed the House during the 114th 
Congress, demonstrating the support for protecting private property 
rights in the Allegheny National Forest.
  Mr. Speaker, I look forward to implementing this crucial solution. I 
urge adoption of the measure.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McEACHIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2316 is nearly identical to a bill that passed the 
House last year with overwhelming bipartisan support.
  The intent of the bill, according to the sponsor, is to ensure that 
owners of mineral rights in the Allegheny National Forest are allowed 
to drill for their oil and gas within the boundaries of that national 
forest.
  In the Natural Resources Committee last Congress, the majority 
accepted an amendment by Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee 
Ranking Member Lowenthal that clarified the intent of the bill and 
ensured that the Forest Service would still receive advance notice of 
any oil and gas operations and that no other national forest would be 
affected.
  So this bill is a bipartisan compromise that protects the private 
property rights while also protecting the rights of the Forest Service, 
and I thank the sponsor for working so cooperatively on this.
  Mr. Speaker, I support H.R. 2316, and I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional 
speakers, and 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. 2316.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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