Federal Land Freedom Act
This bill authorizes a state with an oil and gas leasing program to take responsibility from the federal government for leasing and regulating the exploration and development of oil, gas, and other forms of energy on federal land in the state.
A state must submit to the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture a regulatory program which demonstrates that it has the capability to take responsibility from the federal government, including that it has a state law which provides sanctions for violations of state laws, regulations, or conditions of permits concerning oil and gas exploration, development, and production activities.
[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3565 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
115th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3565
To achieve domestic energy independence by empowering States to control
the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas on all
available Federal land, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 28, 2017
Mrs. Black (for herself, Mr. Fleischmann, Mr. Kustoff of Tennessee, Mr.
Sessions, Mr. Stewart, Mr. Gosar, Mr. Duncan of South Carolina, Mr. Roe
of Tennessee, Mrs. Blackburn, and Mr. Duncan of Tennessee) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural
Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To achieve domestic energy independence by empowering States to control
the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas on all
available Federal land, and for other purposes.
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 ``Federal Land Freedom Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) as of the date of the enactment of this Act--
(A) 113,000,000 acres of onshore Federal land are
open and accessible for oil and gas development; and
(B) approximately 166,000,000 acres of onshore
Federal land are off-limits or inaccessible for oil and
gas development;
(2) despite the recent oil and gas boom in the United
States, the number of acres of Federal land leased for oil and
gas exploration has decreased by 31 percent since 2008;
(3) in 2015, the Federal Government leased only 36,000,000
acres of Federal land, in contrast to the 131,000,000 acres
that were leased in 1984;
(4) the reduction in leasing of Federal land harms economic
growth and Federal revenues;
(5) in 2015, it took, on average, 220 days to process
applications for permits to drill on Federal land; and
(6) States have extensive and sufficient regulatory
frameworks for permitting oil and gas development.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Available federal land.--The term ``available Federal
land'' means any Federal land that, as of May 31, 2017--
(A) is located within the boundaries of a State;
(B) is not held by the United States in trust for
the benefit of a federally recognized Indian tribe;
(C) is not a unit of the National Park System;
(D) is not a unit of the National Wildlife Refuge
System;
(E) is not Congressionally approved wilderness area
under the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.); and
(F) has been identified as land available for lease
for the exploration, development, and production of oil
or gas--
(i) by the Bureau of Land Management under
a Resource Management Plan pursuant to the
process provided for in the Federal Land
Management and Policy Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C.
1701 et seq.); or
(ii) by the Forest Service under a Forest
Management Plan pursuant to the process
provided for in the National Forest Management
Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 1600 et seq.).
(2) State.--The term ``State'' means--
(A) one of the several States; and
(B) the District of Columbia.
(3) State regulatory program.--The term ``State regulatory
program'' means a program established pursuant to State law
that regulates oil and gas exploration, development, and
production on land located in the State.
SEC. 4. STATE CONTROL OF OIL AND GAS EXPLORATION, DEVELOPMENT, AND
PRODUCTION ON ALL AVAILABLE FEDERAL LAND.
(a) Submission of State Regulatory Program.--Each State in which
there may be the leasing, permitting, or regulating of oil and gas
exploration, development, and production activities on available
Federal lands, and which wishes to assume exclusive jurisdiction over
the leasing, permitting, and regulation of such oil and gas activities,
shall submit to the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture a State
regulatory program which demonstrates that such State has the
capability of carrying out the provisions of this Act and meeting its
purposes through--
(1) a State law which provides for the leasing, regulation
and permitting of oil and gas exploration, development, and
production activities;
(2) a State law which provides sanctions for violations of
State laws, regulations, or conditions of permits concerning
oil and gas exploration, development, and production
activities;
(3) a State regulatory authority with sufficient
administrative and technical personnel, and sufficient funding
to enable the State to lease, regulate and permit oil and gas
exploration, development, and production activities; and
(4) a State law which provides for the effective
implementation, maintenance, and enforcement of a permit system
for oil and gas exploration, development, and production
activities on available Federal lands within the State.
(b) Approval of State Regulatory Program.--
(1) In general.--The State regulatory program submitted
under subsection (a) shall be deemed approved, unless, not
later than 60 days after submission, the Secretaries of the
Interior and Agriculture--
(A) find approval of a State regulatory program
would result in decreased royalty payments to the
Federal Government; or
(B) determine that the State Regulatory Program
submitted under subsection (a) does not have the
capability to carry out the provisions of this Act.
(2) Adverse determination.--For any adverse determination
by the Secretaries, the Secretaries shall--
(A) notify, in writing, the State applicant of the
reason for the withholding of approval; and
(B) provide any additional information, data, or
analysis upon which such determination is based.
(c) Effect of Approval of State Regulatory Program.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, on approval of a State
regulatory program under subsection (b), the State shall assume the
Federal leasing, permitting and regulatory responsibilities for oil and
gas exploration, development, and production on available Federal land
located in the State in accordance with the approved plan.
(d) Effect of State Action.--Any action by a State to lease,
permit, or regulate oil and gas exploration, development, and
production in accordance with an approved State regulatory program
shall not be subject to, or considered a Federal action, Federal
permit, or Federal license under--
(1) subchapter II of chapter 5, and chapter 7, of title 5,
United States Code (commonly known as the ``Administrative
Procedure Act'');
(2) chapter 3001 of title 54, United States Code;
(3) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et
seq.); or
(4) the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
(e) Reassumption of Regulatory Authority by the Secretary.--
(1) Voluntary surrender of authority.--If a State
regulatory program has been approved under subsection (b), such
state may voluntarily revoke such approval, and relinquish the
duties under subsection (c) upon providing a 60-day notice to
the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture. Upon the
expiration of the 60-day period, the state shall no longer be
permitted to lease, regulate, or permit oil and gas
exploration, development, and production activities on
available Federal lands.
(2) Involuntary surrender of authority.--If the Secretaries
of the Interior or Agriculture determine a State regulatory
program has resulted in a 20-percent decrease in royalties to
the Federal government from the preceding year, the Secretaries
shall notify the state of such decrease. Such notified state
shall have 180 days to address the royalty deficiency. If a
state fails to improve the amount of royalties paid to the
federal government, then the Secretaries of the Interior and
Agriculture may jointly determine to revoke the approval of the
state regulatory program under subsection (b).
SEC. 5. NO EFFECT ON FEDERAL REVENUES.
(a) In General.--Any lease or permit issued by a State under
section 4 shall include provisions for the collection of royalties or
other revenues in an amount equal to the amount of royalties or
revenues that would have been collected if the lease or permit had been
issued by the Federal Government.
(b) Disposition of Revenues.--Any revenues collected under a lease
or permit issued by a State under section 4 shall be deposited in the
same Federal account in which the revenues would have been deposited if
the lease or permit had been issued by the Federal Government.
(c) Effect on State Processing Fees.--Nothing in this Act prohibits
a State from collecting and retaining a fee from an applicant to cover
the administrative costs of processing an application for a lease or
permit.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.
Subcommittee Hearings Held.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line