[House Report 112-69]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


112th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                     112-69

======================================================================



 
          REVERSING PRESIDENT OBAMA'S OFFSHORE MORATORIUM ACT

                                _______
                                

  May 2, 2011.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Hastings of Washington, from the Committee on Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                             together with

                            DISSENTING VIEWS

                        [To accompany H.R. 1231]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 1231) to amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 
Act to require that each 5-year offshore oil and gas leasing 
program offer leasing in the areas with the most prospective 
oil and gas resources, to establish a domestic oil and natural 
gas production goal, and for other purposes, having considered 
the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment and 
recommend that the bill as amended do pass.
    The amendment is as follows:
  Strike section 4.

                          Purpose of the Bill

    The purposes of H.R. 1231 are to amend the Outer 
Continental Shelf Lands Act to require that each five-year 
offshore oil and gas leasing program offer leasing in the areas 
with the most prospective oil and gas resources and to 
establish a domestic oil and natural gas production goal.

                  Background and Need for Legislation

    The Reversing President Obama's Offshore Moratorium Act 
will lift the President's ban on new offshore drilling by 
requiring the Administration to move forward on American energy 
production in areas estimated to contain the most oil and 
natural gas resources. It requires that each five-year leasing 
plan include lease sales in the areas assessed as containing 
the most oil and natural gas resources and requires the 
Secretary of the Interior to establish a production goal when 
writing a five-year plan. It also allows the governor of a 
state with resources estimated to be lower than the oil and 
natural gas target levels to opt-in to a five-year leasing 
plan.
    The 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) requires 
the Secretary of the Interior to prepare an oil and natural gas 
leasing program for the outer continental shelf (OCS) every 
five years. The OCS has been divided into 26 planning areas--11 
along the Lower 48 states, and 15 along Alaska. Only planning 
areas that have been included in a current five year plan can 
be leased for oil and natural gas development.
    OCS Moratorium: Beginning in Fiscal Year (FY) 1982, 
Congress included an annual spending prohibition in 
appropriations acts preventing the Minerals Management Service 
(MMS), superseded by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 
Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE), from spending money to 
plan for and conduct oil and natural gas lease sales for 
significant portions of the OCS. In addition, an overlapping 
presidential moratorium for these activities was issued in 1990 
and extended to 2012 in 1998.
    Lifting the OCS Moratoria: At the request of the Alaska 
delegation, the spending moratoria for the North Aleutian Basin 
was dropped from the FY2004 and subsequent appropriations acts. 
In addition, the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 
lifted the Congressional moratoria for the ``181 South Area'' 
in the Gulf of Mexico. President George W. Bush lifted the 
Presidential moratoria for these areas in January 2007. In July 
2008 President Bush revoked the Presidential moratorium for the 
OCS with exceptions for the Eastern Gulf of Mexico and 
designated Marine Sanctuaries. Congress did not include the 
annual spending moratorium for leasing activities on the OCS in 
the Continuing Resolution that funded the government from 
October 1, 2008, through March 6, 2009.
    The actions taken in 2008 by President Bush and Congress to 
lift the OCS moratoria on oil and natural gas exploration and 
development was in response to record-high gasoline prices in 
the spring and summer of 2008. The Bush Administration began 
work on a new five-year (2010-2015) leasing plan for the OCS to 
allow oil and natural gas leasing and development activities in 
the planning areas no longer under moratoria to occur.
    Since President Obama took office, he has systematically 
taken steps to re-impose a new offshore drilling moratorium. He 
first abandoned the 2010-2015 leasing plan that would have 
provided for oil and natural gas leasing in the newly opened 
areas. He postponed and cancelled previously scheduled lease 
sales in the Gulf of Mexico and Virginia identified in the 
2007-2012 five-year leasing plan for the OCS. In December 2010, 
the President announced a restrictive drilling plan that placed 
the entire Pacific Coast, the entire Atlantic Coast, the 
Eastern Gulf of Mexico, and much of Alaska off-limits to future 
energy production--as it was before record high gasoline prices 
in 2008 prompted President Bush and Congress to lift the 
moratoria.
    Despite abundant domestic onshore and offshore energy 
resources, due to development restrictions and the moratorium 
in the Gulf and other portions of the nation's OCS, the United 
States continues to import over half of its oil, leaving the 
nation vulnerable to hostile, unstable foreign countries. For 
example, in 2009, the United States imported 347,285 thousand 
barrels of crude oil from Venezuela, 283,091 thousand from 
Nigeria, and 22,354 thousand barrels from Libya. Over 3 billion 
barrels of crude oil were imported into the United States in 
2009 alone.
    Failure to develop our offshore energy resources is costing 
American jobs, hurting our economy, facilitating our dependence 
on foreign sources of oil, and denying American taxpayers 
revenue to help pay down the national debt. According to the 
American Energy Alliance, permanently lifting the offshore 
moratoria would result in the creation of 1.2 million private 
sector U.S. jobs, $8 trillion in additional economic output 
(GDP), $2.2 trillion in total tax receipts, and $70 billion in 
additional wages each year.
    The President's actions put some of the most promising 
shallow water energy resources in the world off-limits and 
pushed domestic oil development into a smaller fraction of the 
Gulf of Mexico and into deeper water. Domestic exploration and 
development are an essential component of our nation's energy 
and economic security. A robust domestic energy industry will 
create new jobs, generate much-needed revenue to help pay down 
our national debt, and strengthen our national security by 
lessening our dependence on foreign countries.

                            Committee Action

    H.R. 1231, the Reversing President Obama's Offshore 
Moratorium Act, was introduced on March 29, 2011, by Natural 
Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-WA). The bill was 
referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and within the 
Committee to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources. 
On April 6, 2011, the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral 
Resources held a hearing on the bill. On April 13, 2011, the 
Full Natural Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The 
Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources was discharged by 
unanimous consent. Congressman Jon Runyan (R-NJ) offered 
amendment designated 008; the amendment was not adopted by a 
roll call vote of 15-28, as follows:


    Congressman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) offered amendment 
designated 028; the amendment was not adopted by voice vote. 
Congressman Rush Holt (D-NJ) offered amendment designated 007; 
the amendment was not adopted by a roll call vote of 12-31, as 
follows:


    Congressman Andy Harris (R-MD) offered amendment designated 
008; the amendment was not adopted by voice vote. Congresswoman 
Colleen Hanabusa (D-HI) offered amendment designated 003; the 
amendment was not adopted by a roll call vote of 14-29, as 
follows:


    Congressman Edward Markey (D-MA) offered amendment 
designated 002; the amendment was not adopted by a roll call 
vote of 13-30, as follows:


    Congressman John Garamendi (D-CA) offered amendment 
designated 018; the amendment was not adopted by a roll call 
vote of 14-29, as follows:


    Chairman Doc Hastings (R-WA) offered an amendment which was 
adopted by voice vote. Congressman Edward Markey (D-MA) offered 
amendment designated 005; the amendment was ruled out of order. 
Congressman John Garamendi (D-CA) offered amendment designated 
019. Congressman Garamendi offered an amendment to the 
amendment which was adopted by unanimous consent. The 
amendment, as amended, was ruled out of order. Congressman 
Edward Markey (D-MA) offered amendment designated 005-2; the 
amendment was not adopted by a roll call vote of 14-29, as 
follows:


    Congressman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) offered amendment 
designated 027; the amendment was ruled out of order. 
Congressman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) offered amendment designated 
030; the amendment was not adopted by a roll call vote of 14-
29, as follows:


    The bill was then favorably reported, as amended, to the 
House of Representatives by a roll call vote of 29-14, as 
follows:


                     Major Provisions of H.R. 1231


Section 2. Outer Continental Shelf leasing program

    This section requires each five-year OCS leasing plan to 
include lease sales in the planning areas estimated to contain 
the greatest known oil and natural gas resources. For the 2012-
2017 leasing plan being written by the Obama Administration, 
the areas with the greatest known resources are specifically 
defined as those estimated to contain a minimum of 2.5 billion 
barrels of oil or 7.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. At 
least 50 percent of the planning area must be made available 
for leasing in the 2012-2017 five-year OCS leasing plan.
    Currently, the Obama Administration's 2012-2017 draft OCS 
leasing plan does not include planning areas for possible 
future lease sales outside of the Western and Central Gulf of 
Mexico. The requirements to lease in the most prospective 
offshore areas reverses the Administration's defacto moratorium 
on leasing in new planning areas opened in 2008.
    A state's governor may request to opt-in to a five-year 
leasing plan and if so, the Secretary of the Interior will 
include a lease sale, or sales, of the state's offshore area in 
the plan.

Section 3. Domestic oil and natural gas production goal

    This section requires the Secretary of the Interior to 
establish a production goal when writing a five-year plan. The 
goal will be the specific amount of oil and natural gas 
production that is estimated to result from leases issued under 
the plan. The section establishes the production goal for the 
2012-2017 OCS leasing plan being written by the Obama 
Administration at 3 million barrels of oil per day and 10 
billion cubic feet of natural gas per day by 2027. This time 
frame, 2012-2027, encompasses the five-year OCS leasing plan 
(2012-2017) and resulting five to ten-year leases issued under 
the plan. By comparison to current production from the OCS, 
including this production goal for oil and natural gas in the 
2012-2017 five-year plan will yield a tripling of current 
American offshore production and would reduce foreign imports 
by nearly one-third.

            Committee Oversight Findings and Recommendations

    Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee on Natural Resources' oversight findings and 
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.

                    Compliance With House Rule XIII

    1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and 
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be 
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(2)(B) 
of that rule provides that this requirement does not apply when 
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted 
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the 
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974. Under clause 3(c)(3) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 
403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has 
received the following cost estimate for this bill from the 
Director of the Congressional Budget Office:

                                                       May 2, 2011.
Hon. Doc Hastings,
Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1231, the 
Reversing President Obama's Offshore Moratorium Act.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CB0 staff contact is Kathleen 
Gramp.
            Sincerely,
                                              Douglas W. Elmendorf.
    Enclosure.

H.R. 1231--Reversing President Obama's Offshore Moratorium Act

    Summary: H.R. 1231 would direct the Department of the 
Interior (DOI) to auction leases for the development of oil and 
gas resources in the most geologically productive areas of the 
Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). For the 2012-2017 leasing 
period, the bill would require leasing in areas that are 
projected to contain more than 2.5 billion barrels of oil or 
7.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Areas meeting those 
criteria include the Central, Western, and Eastern Gulf of 
Mexico; the Beaufort, Chukchi, and North Aleutian areas off 
Alaska; the North and Mid-Atlantic planning areas; and the 
Southern California planning area.
    Enacting H.R. 1231 would affect direct spending; therefore, 
pay-as-you-go procedures apply. CB0 estimates that enacting 
this legislation would reduce direct spending (by increasing 
offsetting receipts) by about $350 million over the 2012-2016 
period and by $800 million over the 2012-2021 period. Enacting 
this legislation would not affect revenues. In addition, CB0 
estimates that the administrative costs of implementing the 
bill would total about $22 million over the 2011-2016 period, 
assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts.
    H.R. 1231 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) 
and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated 
budgetary impact of H.R. 1231 is shown in the following table. 
The costs of this legislation fall within budget function 950 
(undistributed offsetting receipts).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
                                               ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                 2012    2013    2014     2015     2016     2017     2018    2019    2020    2021   2012-2016  2012-2021
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               CHANGES IN DIRECT SPENDING

Estimated Budget Authority....................       0       0       0     -100     -250     -300     -150       0       0       0      -350       -800
Estimated Outlays.............................       0       0       0     -100     -250     -300     -150       0       0       0      -350       -800

                                                      CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION

Estimated Authorization Level.................       5       5       5        5        5        0        0       0       0       0        25         25
Estimated Outlays.............................       2       5       5        5        5        3        0       0       0       0        22         25
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Basis of estimate: For this estimate, CB0 assumes that H.R. 
1231 will be enacted before the end of fiscal year 2011 and 
that DOI will conduct the sales of federal leases in the OCS 
according to the schedule included in the President's budget 
request for fiscal year 2012. Bonus bids, rental fees, and 
royalty payments for OCS leases are recorded in the budget as 
offsetting receipts, which are an offset to direct spending. 
CBO also assumes the amounts necessary to implement the bill 
will be appropriated by the beginning of each fiscal year.

Direct spending

    The estimated budgetary impact of H.R. 1231 primarily 
reflects an assumption that leasing activity in areas in the 
Atlantic and California OCS would increase. CBO estimates that 
enacting the bill would have no effect on offsetting receipts 
from areas already included in the administration's leasing 
plans, such as the Central and Western Gulf of Mexico and the 
Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. Similarly, while the geologic 
criteria in this bill would apply to the Eastern Gulf of 
Mexico, CBO does not expect any leasing to occur in that area 
over the 2011-2021 period because of the statutory prohibition 
on such leasing under the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act.
    CBO's baseline projections assume that areas off the 
Atlantic and Pacific coasts will not be opened for leasing 
until after June 30, 2017. Under existing law, the department 
cannot auction acreage unless it is included in an approved 
five-year plan. A final leasing plan for the 2012-2017 period 
has not yet been adopted. However, the President's budget 
request for 2012 indicated that the Atlantic and Pacific areas 
are not included in the current scoping process for that plan. 
As a result, CBO expects that it is unlikely that leasing will 
occur over the 2012-2017 period under current policies.
    Based on information from DOI on the potential oil and gas 
resources in the Atlantic and Pacific regions, CBO estimates 
that holding additional lease sales in those areas would 
increase net offsetting receipts (and thus reduce direct 
spending) by about $800 million over the 10-year period. For 
this estimate, CBO assumes that the department would conduct 
the consultations and assessments necessary to incorporate the 
Atlantic and Pacific lease sales into the five-year plan for 
2012-2017, which could take at least two years to complete. 
Given the lead times needed to conduct sales and issue leases, 
CBO anticipates that proceeds from leasing in those areas 
probably would be collected after fiscal year 2014.

Spending subject to appropriation

    Based on historical spending trends for similar activities, 
CBO estimates that DOI would spend about $22 million over the 
2012-2016 period to complete the necessary environmental and 
other assessments necessary to conduct lease sales in the 
Atlantic and Pacific regions, assuming appropriation of the 
necessary amounts.
    Pay-As-You-Go considerations: The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go 
Act of 2010 establishes budget-reporting and enforcement 
procedures for legislation affecting direct spending or 
revenues. The net changes in outlays that are subject to those 
pay-as-you-go procedures are shown in the following table.

CBO ESTIMATE OF PAY-AS-YOU-GO EFFECTS FOR H.R. 1231, THE REVERSING PRESIDENT OBAMA'S OFFSHORE MORATORIUM ACT, AS ORDERED REPORTED BY THE HOUSE COMMITTEE
                                                         ON NATURAL RESOURCES ON APRIL 13, 2011
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                            By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
                                       -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         2011    2012    2013    2014     2015     2016     2017     2018    2019    2020    2021   2012-2016  2012-2021
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       NET INCREASE OR DECREASE (-) IN THE DEFICIT

Statutory Pay-As-You-Go-Impact........       0       0       0       0     -100     -250     -300     -150       0       0       0      -350       -800
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: H.R. 1230 
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as 
defined in UMRA and would impose no costs on state, local, or 
tribal governments.
    Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Kathleen Gramp: Impact 
on State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Melissa Merrell; 
Impact on the Private Sector: Amy Petz.
    Estimate approved by: Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.
    2. Section 308(a) of Congressional Budget Act. As required 
by clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives and section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget 
Act of 1974, this bill does not contain any new budget 
authority, spending authority, credit authority, or an increase 
or decrease in revenues or tax expenditures. According to the 
Congressional Budget Office, enactment of this bill would 
reduce direct spending (by increasing offsetting receipts) by 
about $350 million over the 2012-2016 period and by $800 
million over the 2012-2021 period. Enacting this legislation 
would not affect revenues. In addition, CBO estimates that the 
administrative costs of implementing the bill would total about 
$22 million over the 2011-2016 period, assuming appropriation 
of the necessary amounts.
    3. General Performance Goals and Objectives.
    This bill does not authorize funding and therefore, clause 
3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives does not apply.

                           Earmark Statement

    This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks, 
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined 
under clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives.

                    Compliance With Public Law 104-4

    This bill contains no unfunded mandates.

                Preemption of State, Local or Tribal Law

    This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or 
tribal law.

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

  In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law 
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new 
matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is 
proposed is shown in roman):

OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF LANDS ACT

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


  Sec. 18. Outer Continental Shelf Leasing Program.--(a) The 
Secretary, pursuant to procedures set forth in subsections (c) 
and (d) of this section, shall prepare and periodically revise, 
and maintain an oil and gas leasing program to implement the 
policies of this Act. The leasing program shall consist of a 
schedule of proposed lease sales indicating, as precisely as 
possible, the size, timing, and location of leasing activity 
which he determines will best meet national energy needs for 
the five-year period following its approval or reapproval. Such 
leasing program shall be prepared and maintained in a manner 
consistent with the following principles:
          (1) * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

          (4)(A) In each oil and gas leasing program under this 
        section, the Secretary shall make available for leasing 
        and conduct lease sales including--
                  (i) at least 50 percent of the available 
                unleased acreage within each outer Continental 
                Shelf planning area considered to have the 
                largest undiscovered, technically recoverable 
                oil and gas resources (on a total btu basis) 
                based upon the most recent national geologic 
                assessment of the outer Continental Shelf, with 
                an emphasis on offering the most geologically 
                prospective parts of the planning area; and
                  (ii) any State subdivision of an outer 
                Continental Shelf planning area that the 
                Governor of the State that represents that 
                subdivision requests be made available for 
                leasing.
          (B) In this paragraph the term ``available unleased 
        acreage'' means that portion of the outer Continental 
        Shelf that is not under lease at the time of a proposed 
        lease sale, and that has not otherwise been made 
        unavailable for leasing by law.
          (5)(A) In the 2012-2017 5-year oil and gas leasing 
        program, the Secretary shall make available for leasing 
        any outer Continental Shelf planning areas that--
                  (i) are estimated to contain more than 
                2,500,000,000 barrels of oil; or
                  (ii) are estimated to contain more than 
                7,500,000,000,000 cubic feet of natural gas.
          (B) To determine the planning areas described in 
        subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall use the document 
        entitled ``Minerals Management Service Assessment of 
        Undiscovered Technically Recoverable Oil and Gas 
        Resources of the Nation's Outer Continental Shelf, 
        2006''.
  [(b) The leasing program shall include estimates of the 
appropriations and staff required to--
          [(1) obtain resource information and any other 
        information needed to prepare the leasing program 
        required by this section;
          [(2) analyze and interpret the exploratory data and 
        any other information which may be compiled under the 
        authority of this Act;
          [(3) conduct environmental studies and prepare any 
        environmental impact statement required in accordance 
        with this Act and with section 102(2)(C) of the 
        National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 
        4332(2)(C)); and
          [(4) supervise operations conducted pursuant to each 
        lease in the manner necessary to assure due diligence 
        in the exploration and development of the lease area 
        and compliance with the requirement of applicable laws 
        and regulations, and with the terms of the lease.]
  (b) Domestic Oil and Natural Gas Production Goal.--
          (1) In general.--In developing a 5-year oil and gas 
        leasing program, and subject to paragraph (2), the 
        Secretary shall determine a domestic strategic 
        production goal for the development of oil and natural 
        gas as a result of that program. Such goal shall be--
                  (A) the best estimate of the possible 
                increase in domestic production of oil and 
                natural gas from the outer Continental Shelf;
                  (B) focused on meeting domestic demand for 
                oil and natural gas and reducing the dependence 
                of the United States on foreign energy; and
                  (C) focused on the production increases 
                achieved by the leasing program at the end of 
                the 15-year period beginning on the effective 
                date of the program.
          (2) 2012-2017 program goal.--For purposes of the 
        2012-2017 5-year oil and gas leasing program, the 
        production goal referred to in paragraph (1) shall be 
        an increase by 2027 of--
                  (A) no less than 3,000,000 barrels in the 
                amount of oil produced per day; and
                  (B) no less than 10,000,000,000 cubic feet in 
                the amount of natural gas produced per day.
          (3) Reporting.--The Secretary shall report annually, 
        beginning at the end of the 5-year period for which the 
        program applies, to the Committee on Natural Resources 
        of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
        Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate on the 
        progress of the program in meeting the production goal. 
        The Secretary shall identify in the report projections 
        for production and any problems with leasing, 
        permitting, or production that will prevent meeting the 
        goal.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


                            DISSENTING VIEWS

    We oppose H.R. 1231 because, in seeking to ``reverse'' a 
drilling moratorium that does not even exist, the bill will 
reverse any progress towards safer off-shore energy production.
    Section 18(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 
(OCSLA) (43 U.S.C. 1344) currently requires the Secretary of 
Interior to maintain an oil and gas leasing program consisting 
of a schedule of proposed lease sales to meet national energy 
needs for a five-year period. Section 18(a)(3) specifically 
requires that leasing be conducted so as to ``obtain the proper 
balance between the potential for environmental damage, the 
potential for the discovery of oil and gas, and the potential 
for adverse impact on the coastal zone.''
    In sharp contrast to this fundamental requirement for 
balance, H.R. 1231 would insert provisions into Section 18(a) 
mandating that the Secretary make available for lease ``at 
least 50 percent of the available unleased acreage within each 
outer Continental Shelf planning area considered to have the 
largest undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas 
resources'' and setting arbitrary triggers that would make 
broad swaths of the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts open for 
leasing automatically. The bill would also dictate that the 
plan include ``production goals'' that would increase the 
amount of oil produced per day by at least 3 million barrels 
and natural gas produced per day by 10 billion cubic feet by 
2027.
    Current law requires a balancing of energy production and 
environmental impacts. That balance must be reevaluated in the 
wake of the BP disaster. H.R. 1231 responds to the devastation 
caused by that spill by amending the law to further elevate oil 
and gas production above environmental and other concerns.
    None of the justifications offered for taking such drastic 
steps withstand scrutiny. No moratorium, de facto or otherwise, 
exists. While a temporary halt to drilling in the aftermath of 
the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster was an essential measure 
needed to allow regulators time to ensure that offshore 
drilling was safe, there is currently no moratorium on offshore 
drilling. Since October, the Administration has approved 39 
shallow-water permits. In February, for the first time, 
drilling companies demonstrated a capability to respond to a 
deep-water spill that could establish the new safety standards 
put in place by the Interior Department; the Department began 
issuing deep-water permits. Since that time, 10 new deepwater 
permits have been issued.
    The Majority further alleges that energy companies deserve 
access to large new areas off the East and West Coasts because 
they have diligently and responsibly developed leases they 
already hold in the Gulf of Mexico. In fact, energy companies 
are not producing on thousands of Gulf leases, covering tens of 
millions of acres. According to data provided to the Committee 
by the Department of the Interior, oil companies are 
stockpiling Gulf leases covering more natural gas and nearly as 
much oil as could ever be produced by opening up the Atlantic 
and Pacific Coasts. Granting these companies access to sweeping 
new areas while they warehouse existing leases in the Gulf 
cannot be justified.
    A third false assertion made by the Majority in offering 
this legislation is that it would be feasible or even desirable 
for Congress to mandate specific leasing plan requirements. As 
written, OCSLA establishes clear, appropriate principles to 
guide such planning but leaves actual development of the plan 
to the Interior Department, in consultation with the industry. 
There is no rationale for stripping these plans of critical 
flexibility by inserting arbitrary numbers selected by the 
Republican Majority.
    The Majority's zeal for expanding drilling at any cost was 
laid bare by the votes cast on amendments offered by Democrats. 
Republicans on the Committee voted in lock step to defeat an 
amendment offered by Ranking Member Markey and Subcommittee 
Ranking Member Holt that would have halted new leasing until 
the industry reduced its annual fatality rate. Rejection of 
this amendment is egregious given that the BP commission found 
that the rate of fatalities, per person-hour worked, in U.S. 
waters is four times higher than in the waters off Europe. An 
amendment offered by Representative Holt to incentivize oil 
companies to develop the leases they already hold before 
awarding them whole new coastlines was also defeated. Even a 
simple amendment offered by Representative Hanabusa requiring 
the 5-year plan to identify a ``worst-case discharge scenario'' 
so that the public could be on notice of the potential impacts 
of drilling was rejected by all Republican Committee Members.
    As with the other off-shore drilling measures being 
proposed by the Majority--H.R. 1229 and H.R. 1230--H.R. 1231 is 
nothing like it has been described by its proponents. This 
legislation cannot reverse a moratorium, since one does not 
exist and it will not reduce the price of oil. Beyond tipping 
the balance between drilling and protecting the Gulf, H.R. 1231 
smashes the scales.

                                   Edward J. Markey.
                                   Peter A. DeFazio.
                                   John P. Sarbanes.
                                   Raul M. Grijalva.
                                   Dale E. Kildee.
                                   Niki Tsongas.
                                   Betty Sutton.
                                   Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan.
                                   Frank Pallone, Jr.
                                   Colleen W. Hanabusa.
                                   Grace F. Napolitano.
                                   Eni F.H. Faleomavaega.
                                   Ben Ray Lujan.
                                   John Garamendi.
                                   Rush Holt.

                                   
                                   
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