Promoting Energy Independence and Transparency Act
This bill requires the Department of the Interior to take certain actions related to parcels of land that have been nominated for future sales of onshore oil and gas leases and related drilling permits. Specifically, Interior must (1) report to Congress about the status of the parcels, (2) publish on its website information concerning expressions of interest in nominated parcels and drilling permits, and (3) issue certain pending applications for drilling permits within 30 days.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7298 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7298
To require the Secretary of the Interior to submit a report on
expressions of interest and applications for permits to drill, to amend
the Mineral Leasing Act to require the publication of data on
expressions of interest and applications for permits to drill, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 30, 2022
Mr. Moore of Utah (for himself, Mr. Carl, Mr. Newhouse, Mr. Stauber,
Mr. Rosendale, Mr. Westerman, Mr. Wittman, Ms. Herrell, Mr. McClintock,
Mr. Stewart, Ms. Van Duyne, Mr. Tiffany, Mr. Van Drew, Mr. Graves of
Louisiana, Ms. Cheney, Mr. Lamborn, Mr. Balderson, Ms. Stefanik, Mr.
Webster of Florida, Mr. Gohmert, and Mr. Bentz) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural
Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of the Interior to submit a report on
expressions of interest and applications for permits to drill, to amend
the Mineral Leasing Act to require the publication of data on
expressions of interest and applications for permits to drill, 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 ``Promoting Energy Independence and
Transparency Act''.
SEC. 2. EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST; APPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO DRILL.
(a) Report.--Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of
this section, the Secretary of the Interior shall submit to the
Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report that
describes--
(1) the status of nominated parcels for future onshore oil
and gas lease sales, including--
(A) the number of expressions of interest that the
Bureau of Land Management has not taken any action to
review, or not completed review of, as of the date of
enactment of this section; and
(B) how long such expressions of interest have been
pending;
(2) the status of each pending application for a permit to
drill in each Bureau of Land Management State office as of the
date of enactment of this section, including--
(A) a description of the cause of delay for
outstanding applications, including as a result of
staffing shortages, technical limitations, incomplete
applications, and incomplete review pursuant to the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C.
4321 et seq.) or other applicable laws;
(B) the number of days a permit has been
outstanding in violation of section 17(p)(2) of the
Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(p)(2)); and
(C) steps the office is taking to come into
compliance with the requirements of section 17(p)(2) of
the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(p)(2));
(3) the number of applications for a permit to drill issued
by each Bureau of Land Management State office as of the date
of enactment of this section;
(4) how the Bureau of Land Management determines whether
to--
(A) issue a permit to drill; and
(B) issue, extend, or suspend an oil and gas lease;
(5) when determinations described in paragraph (4) are sent
to the national office of the Bureau of Land Management for
final approval; and
(6) the degree to which the Bureau of Land Management field
offices exercise discretion on such final approval.
(b) Pending Applications for Permits To Drill.--Not later than 30
days after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary of the
Interior shall issue all pending applications for a permit to drill
that meet the requirements of section 17(p)(2) of the Mineral Leasing
Act (30 U.S.C. 226(p)(2)).
(c) Public Availability of Data.--Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing
Act (30 U.S.C. 226) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(q) Public Availability of Data.--
``(1) Expressions of interest.--Not later than 30 days
after the date of enactment of this subsection, and each month
thereafter, the Secretary of the Interior shall publish on the
website of the Department of the Interior the number of
pending, approved, and not approved expressions of interest in
nominated parcels for future onshore oil and gas lease sales in
the preceding month.
``(2) Applications for permits to drill.--Not later than 30
days after the date of enactment of this subsection, and each
month thereafter, the Secretary of the Interior shall publish
on the website of the Department of the Interior the number of
pending and approved applications for permits to drill in the
preceding month.''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
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