[House Report 116-133]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


116th Congress    }                                   {         Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session      }                                   {        116-133

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



 
            ARCTIC CULTURAL AND COASTAL PLAIN PROTECTION ACT

                                _______
                                

 June 27, 2019.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

        Mr. Grijalva, from the Committee on Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                             together with

                            DISSENTING VIEWS

                        [To accompany H.R. 1146]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 1146) to amend Public Law 115-97 (commonly known 
as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act) to repeal the Arctic National 
Wildlife Refuge oil and gas program, and for other purposes, 
having considered the same, reports favorably thereon with an 
amendment and recommends that the bill as amended do pass.
    The amendment is as follows:
  Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

  This Act may be cited as the ``Arctic Cultural and Coastal Plain 
Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. REPEAL OF ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE OIL AND GAS PROGRAM.

  Section 20001 of Public Law 115-97 (16 U.S.C. 3143 note) is hereby 
repealed.

                          Purpose of the Bill

    The purpose of H.R. 1146 is to amend Public Law 115-97 to 
repeal the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge oil and gas program.

                  Background and Need for Legislation

    The area that later became the Arctic National Wildlife 
Refuge (ANWR, or the Arctic Refuge) was first protected by 
Secretarial Order in 1960 as the 8.9-million-acre Arctic 
National Wildlife Range. In 1980, the Alaska National Interest 
Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA, Pub. L. No. 96-487, 94 Stat. 
2371) established the 19.6-million-acre Refuge in part ``to 
conserve fish and wildlife populations and habitats in their 
natural diversity including, but not limited to, the Porcupine 
caribou herd . . . polar bears, grizzly bears, muskox, Dall 
sheep, wolves, wolverines, snow geese, peregrine falcons and 
other migratory birds and Arctic char and grayling.''\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\Pub. L. 96-487, Sec. 303(2)(B)(i).
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    Approximately 7.2 million acres of ANWR was designated as 
wilderness, but not the 1.5-million-acre coastal plain, which 
was to be studied for potential oil and gas development under 
section 1002 of ANILCA. Section 1003 of ANILCA prohibited any 
oil and gas leasing on the coastal plain unless it were 
specifically authorized by Congress.
    Not all the land in the 1002 area is federal. Approximately 
92,000 acres around the town of Kaktovik have been conveyed to 
Alaska Native corporations under the Alaska Native Claims 
Settlement Act, and a well was drilled on those lands in 1986 
by a consortium of two oil and gas companies and two Native 
corporations. It is the only well that has been drilled on the 
coastal plain, and the results have been kept secret.
    For decades, the oil and gas industry has considered the 
coastal plain to be one of the more promising areas for 
exploration, but the critical importance of the area for 
wildlife and nearby tribes has made protecting it a top 
priority for the environmental community. The coastal plain is 
considered the ``biological heart'' of ANWR, providing 
important denning habitat for polar bears and calving ground 
for caribou, and hosting more than 200 species of migratory 
birds each year.\2\ The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
described the Refuge as ``the only conservation system unit 
that protects, in an undisturbed condition, a complete spectrum 
of the arctic ecosystems in North America'' and said the 
coastal plain has ``outstanding wilderness qualities'' and is 
``the most biologically productive part of the Arctic Refuge 
for wildlife.''\3\ For the Gwich'in people, who do not live in 
the coastal plain but depend on the Porcupine Caribou Herd for 
subsistence, the coastal plain is ``the sacred place where life 
begins.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\Laura B. Comay et al., Cong. Research Serv., RL33872, Arctic 
National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) (2018).
    \3\U.S. Dep't of the Interior, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 
Alaska, Coastal Plain Resource Assessment (1987), https://www.fws.gov/
uploadedFiles/Region_7/NWRS/Zone_1/
Arctic/PDF/1987leis.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Numerous legislative attempts were made in the thirty years 
preceding H.R. 1's passage in 2017 to open the Arctic Refuge to 
oil and gas development, but none succeeded. The Committee 
notes that while the arguments made in previous decades in 
favor of opening ANWR were dubious and easily refuted, they 
were made in response to underlying conditions--such as rising 
gasoline prices, increasing dependence on imports, or declining 
throughput in the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS)--that 
were significant concerns in the past but do not exist at the 
present time. Gasoline prices have been fairly stable, with 
monthly averages below $3 since October 2014, while the price 
impact of opening ANWR is estimated by the Energy Information 
Administration to be no more than 3.5 cents per gallon.\4\ 
Domestic crude production has more than doubled since 2008, 
reaching an all-time high of over 12 million barrels per day in 
early 2019, but efforts to achieve energy independence have 
been abandoned in favor of encouraging unfettered crude 
exports, which have been averaging nearly 3 million barrels per 
day this year, and are expected to grow. Finally, new 
developments underway in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska 
will provide TAPS with sufficient oil volumes to operate 
economically for decades to come. In short, the Committee 
believes that even the unpersuasive arguments made in the past 
in favor of opening the Reserve to oil and gas development fall 
apart completely in light of the current U.S. oil supply 
situation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\U.S. Energy Info. Admin., Analysis of Crude Oil Production in 
the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 11 (2008), https://www.eia.gov/
analysis/requests/2008/anwr/pdf/sroiaf(2008)03.pdf (using $1.44/bbl 
price impact in high resource case, with one barrel equaling 42 
gallons, which likely overstates the direct impact of ANWR production 
on gasoline prices, since the price of crude oil contributes only a 
little more than half to the price of gasoline, see U.S. Energy Info. 
Admin., Factors Affecting Gasoline Prices (last updated Feb. 13, 2019), 
https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/
index.php?page=gasoline_factors_affecting_prices).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Nevertheless, Congressional Republicans included 
reconciliation instructions in the FY 2018 budget resolution 
that allowed the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee 
to add a revenue-generating ANWR leasing program onto H.R. 1, 
the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,\5\ which needed only 50 votes in the 
Senate to pass. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated 
that the language would raise $1.1 billion in federal revenues, 
but that estimate was questioned by then-Ranking Members 
Grijalva, Huffman, and Lowenthal, who pointed to recent lease 
sales in the Arctic that had brought in far less money on per-
acre basis.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\Pub. L. 115-97.
    \6\Press Release, Democrats: After Alaska Lease Sale Fails to Raise 
Significant Revenue, GOP Must Face Reality on Arctic Refuge Drilling 
Plan (Dec. 7, 2017), https://naturalresources.house.gov/media/press-
releases/democrats-after-alaska-lease-sale-fails-to-raise-significant-
revenue-gop-must-face-reality-on-arctic-refuge-drilling-plan.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    H.R. 1 was signed into law on December 22, 2017, becoming 
Public Law 115-97. Title II of the law required that two lease 
sales offering no less than 400,000 acres in Arctic Refuge be 
held, one within four years after enactment and one within 
seven years. The law also limited total surface disturbance to 
be no more than 2,000 acres, but the Bureau of Land Management 
estimates that over 20 drill pads, 200 miles of roads, and 275 
miles of pipeline can easily be constructed within the 2,000-
acre limit, covering the breadth of the entire coastal 
plain.\7\ Despite the law providing until December 2021 to hold 
the first lease sale, officials at the Department of the 
Interior have expressed their determination to hold a lease 
sale in 2019, two years ahead of schedule.\8\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \7\2 Bureau of Land Mgmt., Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing 
Program Draft Environmental Impact Statement, tbl. B-5.
    \8\Yereth Rosen, U.S. Vows First Oil Lease Sale in Alaska Arctic 
Refuge This Year, Reuters (May 30, 2019), https://www.reuters.com/
article/us-alaska-oil-refuge/u-s-vows-first-oil-lease-sale-in-alaska-
arctic-refuge-this-year-idUSKCN1T1011.
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    The Committee believes that the partisan process used to 
force the enactment of an oil and gas drilling program in the 
Arctic Refuge, combined with the lack of care the current 
administration is taking in implementing that program, the 
inadequate or nonexistent consultation with Alaska Natives, the 
absence of any compelling public policy argument for drilling 
in the Refuge, and the biological and cultural importance of 
maintaining the current wilderness characteristics of the 
coastal plain, make it imperative to repeal the ANWR oil and 
gas program established in Pub. L. 115-97.

                            Committee Action

    H.R. 1146 was introduced on February 11, 2019, by 
Representative Jared Huffman (D-CA). The bill was referred 
solely to the Committee on Natural Resources, and within the 
Committee to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources. 
The Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill on March 26, 2019. 
On May 1, 2019, the Natural Resources Committee met to consider 
the bill. The Subcommittee was discharged by unanimous consent. 
Chair Grijalva (D-AZ) offered an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute. Representative Don Young (R-AK) offered an 
amendment designated Young #1 to the amendment in the nature of 
a substitute. The amendment was not agreed to by a roll call 
vote of 14 yeas and 22 nays, as follows:

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Representative Garret Graves (R-LA) offered an amendment 
designated Graves #1 to the amendment in the nature of a 
substitute. The amendment was not agreed to by a roll call vote 
of 14 yeas and 22 nays, as follows:

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Representative Garret Graves (R-LA) offered an amendment 
designated Graves #2 to the amendment in the nature of a 
substitute. The amendment was not agreed to by a roll call vote 
of 13 yeas, 22 nays, and 1 present, as follows:

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    The amendment in the nature of a substitute offered by 
Chair Grijalva was adopted by voice vote. The bill, as amended, 
was ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives 
by a roll call vote of 22 yeas and 14 nays, as follows:

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                                Hearings

    For the purposes of section 103(i) of H. Res. 6 of the 
116th Congress--the following hearing was used to develop or 
consider H.R. 1146: legislative hearing on March 26, 2019, 
titled ``The Need to Protect the Arctic National Wildlife 
Refuge Coastal Plain,'' considering H.R. 1146 (Huffman): The 
Arctic Cultural and Coastal Plain Protection Act.

            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 and Congressional Budget Act

    1. Cost of Legislation and the Congressional Budget Act. 
With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) and (3) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 
sections 308(a) and 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974, the Committee has received the following estimate for the 
bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                     Washington, DC, June 21, 2019.
Hon. Raul M. Grijalva,
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. 1146, the Arctic 
Cultural and Coastal Plain Protection Act.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Janani 
Shankaran.
            Sincerely,
                                         Phillip L. Swagel,
                                                          Director.
    Enclosure.

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    

    Bill summary: Current law directs the Department of the 
Interior (DOI) to implement an oil and gas leasing program for 
federal lands located within the coastal plain of the Arctic 
National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. H.R. 1146 would repeal that 
program. CBO estimates that enacting the legislation would 
result in the collection of fewer offsetting receipts, but also 
would lower payments to Alaska, which would have the effect of 
increasing net direct spending by $905 million over the 2019-
2029 period.
    Estimated Federal cost: The estimated budgetary effect of 
H.R. 1146 is shown in Table 1. The costs of the legislation 
fall within budget function 300 (natural resources and 
environment) and 800 (general government).

                                                   TABLE 1.--ESTIMATED BUDGETARY EFFECTS OF H.R. 1146
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                        By fiscal year, millions of dollars--
                                                            --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                                           2019-   2019-
                                                              2019   2020   2021   2022   2023   2024   2025   2026   2027   2028   2029   2024    2029
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              INCREASES IN DIRECT SPENDING
 
Estimated Budget Authority.................................      0      0      0    600      *      *    301      1      1      1      1     600     905
Estimated Outlays..........................................      0      0      0    600      *      *    301      1      1      1      1     600     905
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* = between zero and $500,000.

    Basis of estimate: For this estimate, CBO assumes that the 
legislation will be enacted near the end of 2019.
    Background: A provision of Public Law 115-97, the major tax 
legislation enacted in 2017, directs DOI to implement an oil 
and gas leasing program for 1.5 million acres of federal lands 
within ANWR's coastal plain. DOI is required to hold two 
sealed-bid-auction lease sales by 2025 and to offer at least 
400,000 acres for lease each time. The department is reviewing 
public comments and finalizing an environmental impact 
statement before holding the first sale.
    For each lease awarded, the lessee will pay the federal 
government a bonus bid (the amount that a company is willing to 
pay to acquire a lease), annual rent to retain the lease, and 
royalties based on the value of any oil or gas produced. (Those 
payments are recorded in the budget as offsetting receipts, or 
reductions in direct spending.) The current royalty rate for 
oil and gas production in ANWR is 16.67 percent. Alaska will 
receive one-half of the gross receipts from the leasing 
program.
    Direct spending: CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 1146 
would increase net direct spending by $905 million over the 
2019-2029 period.
    Bonus Bids. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimates 
that federal land in ANWR contains an average of 7.7 billion 
barrels of technically recoverable oil (oil that can be 
extracted using current methods).\1\ Using information from 
USGS, the state of Alaska, and representatives from the oil and 
gas industry, CBO estimates that, on average, the cost to 
produce oil in ANWR will range from $45 to $55 per barrel (in 
current dollars). The portion of the technically recoverable 
oil that will be extracted will depend on future market prices. 
CBO does not expect that natural gas production from ANWR will 
be economically viable in the next several years.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\USGS estimates that federal lands in ANWR contain between 4.3 
billion and 11.8 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil, and 
that there is a 50 percent chance that those lands contain at least 7.7 
billion barrels of oil. See U.S. Geological Survey, Arctic National 
Wildlife Refuge, 1002 Area, Petroleum Assessment, 1998, Including 
Economic Analysis (April 2001), https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs-0028-01.
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    Based on the results of lease sales in other areas 
perceived to contain large oil resources, CBO expects that oil 
companies will actively compete for leases in ANWR because of 
its strategic as well as its resource value. In addition, CBO 
expects that land in the western portion of ANWR--which 
contains the highest estimated concentration of resources--will 
be most attractive to bidders and will be leased in the first 
sale. Accordingly, we expect that the first sale will produce 
the highest bonus bids. Using information from major federal 
lease sales in the lower 48 states and onshore and offshore 
Alaska, where average bids ranged from roughly $200 to $20,000 
per acre (adjusted for inflation to 2019 dollars), CBO 
estimates that gross receipts from bonus bids for ANWR leases 
will total $1.8 billion over the 2019-2029 period In developing 
that estimate, CBO considered a range of projected oil prices, 
oil production volume, and total acreage leased. For example, 
if bidders were to lease all 800,000 acres that DOI is required 
to offer at a minimum, that estimate implies an average bonus 
bid of $2,250 per acre.
    Because half of those receipts will be paid to Alaska, CBO 
estimates that the net federal receipts from bonus bids will 
total $900 million over the 2019-2029 period. (Thus, CBO 
estimates that enacting H.R. 1146 would increase net direct 
spending by $900 million over the 2019-2029 period.
    Other Receipts. Federal oil and gas lessees pay rent 
annually to the government to hold a lease until production 
begins. Based on the annual minimum rental rate in current law 
of $3 per acre in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, CBO 
estimates that under H.R. 1146, the government would forgo 
rental payments totaling about $5 million over the 2019-2029 
period.
    CBO also estimates that the government will receive royalty 
payments on oil produced from ANWR leases. However, using 
information from the Energy Information Administration on the 
typical period that would be necessary to drill exploratory 
wells, complete production plans, and build infrastructure to 
produce and transport any oil from ANWR, CBO estimates that no 
significant royalty payments will be made until after 2029, 
once production begins.
    Uncertainty: The amount the government will collect from 
bonus bids for ANWR leases is uncertain and could be higher or 
lower than CBO estimates. Potential bidders could rely on 
assumptions that differ from CBO's, including projections of 
long-term prices for oil, production costs, the area's resource 
potential, and alternative investment opportunities. In 
particular, oil companies may evaluate and compare potential 
investments in ANWR with other domestic and overseas investment 
options. The factors that affect companies' investment 
decisions result in a wide range of possible bonus bids.
    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 Table 2.

                                             TABLE 2.--CBO'S ESTIMATE OF PAY-AS-YOU-GO EFFECTS OF H.R. 1146
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                        By fiscal year, millions of dollars--
                                                            --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                                           2019-   2019-
                                                              2019   2020   2021   2022   2023   2024   2025   2026   2027   2028   2029   2024    2029
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               NET INCREASE IN THE DEFICIT
 
Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Effect.............................      0      0      0    600      0      0    301      1      1      1      1     600     905
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Increase in Long-term deficits: CBO estimates that enacting 
the bill would increase on-budget deficits by more than $5 
billion in at least one of the four consecutive 10-year periods 
beginning in 2030. After considering a range of price and 
production scenarios, CBO estimates that under current law, net 
royalties will exceed $500 million annually over the years of 
peak oil production in ANWR. Under H.R. 1146, the federal 
government would forgo those royalties.
    Mandates: None.
    Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Janani Shankaran; 
Mandates: Jon Sperl.
    Estimate reviewed by: Kim P. Cawley, Chief, Natural and 
Physical Resources Cost Estimates Unit; H. Samuel Papenfuss, 
Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis; Theresa Gullo, 
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
    2. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goals and 
objectives of this bill is to repeal the Arctic National 
Wildlife Refuge oil and gas program.

                           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.

                 Unfunded Mandates Reform Act Statement

    This bill contains no unfunded mandates.

                           Existing Programs

    This bill does not establish or reauthorize a program of 
the federal government known to be duplicative of another 
program.

                  Applicability to Legislative Branch

    The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to 
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public 
services or accommodations within the meaning of section 
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act.

               Preemption of State, Local, or Tribal Law

    Any preemptive effect of this bill over state, local, or 
tribal law is intended to be consistent with the bill's 
purposes and text and the Supremacy Clause of Article VI of the 
U.S. Constitution.

         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 and 
existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman):

                   SECTION 20001 OF PUBLIC LAW 115-97


[SEC. 20001. OIL AND GAS PROGRAM.

  [(a) Definitions.--In this section:
          [(1) Coastal plain.--The term ``Coastal Plain'' means 
        the area identified as the 1002 Area on the plates 
        prepared by the United States Geological Survey 
        entitled ``ANWR Map--Plate 1'' and ``ANWR Map--Plate 
        2'', dated October 24, 2017, and on file with the 
        United States Geological Survey and the Office of the 
        Solicitor of the Department of the Interior.
          [(2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the 
        Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of 
        Land Management.
  [(b) Oil and Gas Program.--
          [(1) In general.--Section 1003 of the Alaska National 
        Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 3143) shall 
        not apply to the Coastal Plain.
          [(2) Establishment.--
                  [(A) In general.--The Secretary shall 
                establish and administer a competitive oil and 
                gas program for the leasing, development, 
                production, and transportation of oil and gas 
                in and from the Coastal Plain.
                  [(B) Purposes.--Section 303(2)(B) of the 
                Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act 
                (Public Law 96-487; 94 Stat. 2390) is amended--
                          [(i) in clause (iii), by striking 
                        ``and'' at the end;
                          [(ii) in clause (iv), by striking the 
                        period at the end and inserting ``; 
                        and''; and
                          [(iii) by adding at the end the 
                        following:
                          [``(v) to provide for an oil and gas 
                        program on the Coastal Plain.''.
          [(3) Management.--Except as otherwise provided in 
        this section, the Secretary shall manage the oil and 
        gas program on the Coastal Plain in a manner similar to 
        the administration of lease sales under the Naval 
        Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976 (42 U.S.C. 
        6501 et seq.) (including regulations).
          [(4) Royalties.--Notwithstanding the Mineral Leasing 
        Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.), the royalty rate for 
        leases issued pursuant to this section shall be 16.67 
        percent.
          [(5) Receipts.--Notwithstanding the Mineral Leasing 
        Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.), of the amount of adjusted 
        bonus, rental, and royalty receipts derived from the 
        oil and gas program and operations on Federal land 
        authorized under this section--
                  [(A) 50 percent shall be paid to the State of 
                Alaska; and
                  [(B) the balance shall be deposited into the 
                Treasury as miscellaneous receipts.
  [(c) 2 Lease Sales Within 10 Years.--
          [(1) Requirement.--
                  [(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph 
                (B), the Secretary shall conduct not fewer than 
                2 lease sales area-wide under the oil and gas 
                program under this section by not later than 10 
                years after the date of enactment of this Act.
                  [(B) Sale acreages; schedule.--
                          [(i) Acreages.--The Secretary shall 
                        offer for lease under the oil and gas 
                        program under this section--
                                  [(I) not fewer than 400,000 
                                acres area-wide in each lease 
                                sale; and
                                  [(II) those areas that have 
                                the highest potential for the 
                                discovery of hydrocarbons.
                          [(ii) Schedule.--The Secretary shall 
                        offer--
                                  [(I) the initial lease sale 
                                under the oil and gas program 
                                under this section not later 
                                than 4 years after the date of 
                                enactment of this Act; and
                                  [(II) a second lease sale 
                                under the oil and gas program 
                                under this section not later 
                                than 7 years after the date of 
                                enactment of this Act.
          [(2) Rights-of-way.--The Secretary shall issue any 
        rights-of-way or easements across the Coastal Plain for 
        the exploration, development, production, or 
        transportation necessary to carry out this section.
          [(3) Surface development.--In administering this 
        section, the Secretary shall authorize up to 2,000 
        surface acres of Federal land on the Coastal Plain to 
        be covered by production and support facilities 
        (including airstrips and any area covered by gravel 
        berms or piers for support of pipelines) during the 
        term of the leases under the oil and gas program under 
        this section.]

                            DISSENTING VIEWS

    We strongly oppose H.R. 1146. This bill would repeal 
Section 200001 of Public Law 115-17, eliminating the 
authorization of an oil and gas development program in the 1002 
Area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
    ANWR encompasses 19.64 million acres in northeastern Alaska 
and is a unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System.\1\ ANWR, 
while managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is not 
entirely owned by the federal government. The Alaska Native 
Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA, 43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) 
transferred parts of ANWR to Native Corporations but requires 
that subsurface lands in national wildlife refuges created 
before 1971 be managed according to the refuge's regulations, 
and oil development is restricted in the other 18.07 million 
acres of ANWR accordingly.\2\ Thus, oil and gas activities in 
ANWR, even on lands owned by Alaska Natives, must be authorized 
by Congress. While Congressional authorization is required by 
law, the Committee Minority believes that Alaska Natives should 
be able to exercise their right to develop minerals on their 
lands if they so choose.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. About the refuge. https://
wvvw.fws.gov/refuge/Arctic/about.html.
    \2\M. Lynne Com, Michael Ratner, and Laura B. Comay. Arctic 
National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR): An Overview. (Congressional Research 
Service, RL33872), (2017).
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    The Coastal Plain or 1002 Area within ANWR encompasses 1.57 
million acres and was set apart by Congress at the time of 
ANWR's creation due to its potential for oil and gas 
development. Under Section 1002 of the Alaska National Interest 
Lands Conservation Act (Public Law 96-487), Congress directed a 
study of the resources in the Coastal Plain. Under Section 1003 
of that Act, Congress prohibited oil and gas development in 
that area unless specifically authorized by Congress.\3\ This 
study was completed in 1987 and recommended full energy 
development of the 1002 Area.
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    \3\M. Lynne Com, Michael Ratner, and Laura B. Comay. Arctic 
National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR): An Overview. (Congressional Research 
Service, RL33872), (2017).
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    Congress finally acted to authorize oil and gas development 
in the 1002 Area in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.\4\ The 
law restricts development to 2,000 acres (one ten-thousandth of 
ANWR's acreage) and could result in the development of 10.4 
billion barrels of oil.\5\ The Administration must hold one 
lease sale within 4 years of enactment and a second lease sale 
within 7 years of enactment.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\Public Law 115-97. In 1995, H.R. 2491 authorized the development 
of the 1002 Area but was vetoed by President Bill Clinton. https://
library.cqpress.com/cqalmanac/document. php?id=cqal95-1100433.
    \5\US Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee. At Last: 
Congress Approves Legislation to Open Alaska's 1002 Area. December 20, 
2017, https://www.energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2017/12/at-last-
congress-approves-legislation-to-open-alaska-s-1002-area.
    \6\Public Law 115-97.
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    The oil and gas sector has historically served as a 
significant source of employment, revenue, and reliable energy 
for the State of Alaska and Alaska Natives.\7\ Nevertheless, 
the Members of the Committee Majority, representing districts 
from the lower 48 States, wish to eliminate oil and gas 
production in Alaska, along with the thousands of jobs 
supported by the industry.
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    \7\Alaska Resource Development Council. Alaska's Oil and Gas 
Industry, http://www.akrdc.org/oil-and-gas.
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    The oil industry is the largest source of unrestricted 
revenue to Alaska. Since Alaska became a state in 1959, the oil 
and gas industry has contributed almost 90 percent of the 
State's unrestricted General Fund and over $180 billion in 
total State revenue.\8\ Overall, the oil industry supports over 
110,000 direct and indirect jobs.\9\ In 2016, average earnings 
in the industry were 2.5 times higher than the State 
average.\10\ Since the 1950s, oil and gas operators have 
invested over $55 billion in developing infrastructure in the 
North Slope and Cook Inlet.\11\
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    \8\Alaska Resource Development Council. Alaska's Oil and Gas 
Industry, http://www.akrdc.org/oil-and-gas.
    \9\Alaska Resource Development Council. Alaska's Oil and Gas 
Industry, http://www.akrdc.org/oil-and-gas.
    \10\Alaska Resource Development Council. Alaska's Oil and Gas 
Industry, http://www.akrdc.org/oil-and-gas.
    \11\Alaska Resource Development Council. Alaska's Oil and Gas 
Industry, http://www.akrdc.org/oil-and-gas.
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    The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) established 
Native Regional Corporations to manage and promote economic 
development for Alaska Natives. There are 12 Alaska-based 
Native Regional Corporations and a 13th Regional Corporation 
represents non-resident Alaska Natives. Each Regional 
Corporation redistributes 70 percent of all revenues received 
from subsurface estate resources (including oil and gas) evenly 
among all 12 Regional Corporations in proportion to the number 
of Alaska Natives in each region, at least half of which must 
be redistributed among Village Corporations.\12\ Since the 
enactment of ANCSA, Regional Corporations have received over $1 
billion in receipts from subsurface estate resources.\13\ 
Accordingly, Alaska Natives will benefit from energy 
development in the 1002 Area.
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    \12\Alaska Resource Development Council. Alaska Native 
Corporations. http://www.akrdc.org/alaska-native-corporations.
    \13\Alaska Resource Development Council. Alaska Native 
Corporations. http://www.akrdc.org/alaska-native-corporations.
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    The Village of Kaktovik is located on the coast of ANWR 
near the 1002 Area. The Kaktovik Inupiat Corporation owns 
92,000 acres of surface lands, all of which are located within 
ANWR.\14\ This means that the people of Kaktovik will benefit 
greatly from oil and gas drilling revenues and jobs in the 1002 
Area. Notably, H.R. 1146 does not mention the Inupiat residents 
of the Coastal Plain, only the Gwich'in, who live more than 100 
miles away from the 1002 Area. The Committee Majority did not 
invite any residents of the Village of Kaktovik to testify on 
this legislation. The two hearing witnesses who reside in the 
Village of Kaktovik were invited to testify by the Committee 
Minority.
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    \14\Arctic Slope Regional Corporation. Kaktovik. https://
www.asrc.com/Communities/Pages/Kaktovik.aspx.
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    With modern drilling technology, surface disturbance 
associated with drilling operations in the 1002 will be 
limited. Current operations on the North Slope near the 1002 
Area utilize directional drilling, allowing for more production 
with less environmental impact. In 1970, when operations began 
in Prudhoe Bay, a 65-acre gravel pad could only support a 
drilling radius of 5,000 feet beneath the surface. Today, a 12-
acre gravel pad can support a drilling radius of roughly 22,000 
feet. This technology will only improve over time, enabling 
even more development with less impact to the surrounding 
community.\15\
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    \15\ConocoPhillips. Alaska Western North Slope Overview. (May 
2017).
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    We recognize that, just as local Alaskan communities are 
reliant on the oil and gas industry for jobs, a tax base, and a 
supply of electricity, they are also dependent upon the health 
of various species for subsistence and tourism purposes. Oil 
and gas development activities in the Coastal Plain must take 
the welfare of species such as caribou, musk oxen, polar bear, 
and migratory birds into account. The people of Kaktovik, as 
well as the Gwich'in, rely on species within ANWR for their 
food source. We support the use of mitigation techniques on oil 
and gas operations to ensure the health of these species for 
subsistence.
                                   Don Young.
                                   Rob Bishop.

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