Lease Now Act of 2022
This bill directs the Department of the Interior to resume sales of onshore and offshore oil and gas leases and specifies lease terms and other requirements related to those sales. The bill also prohibits the President from taking actions to cancel, delay, or otherwise impede federal processes related to energy mineral leasing without congressional approval.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4228 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4228
To require the Secretary of the Interior to immediately resume oil and
gas lease sales, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 17, 2022
Mr. Barrasso (for himself, Ms. Lummis, Mr. Risch, Mr. Marshall, Mr.
Hoeven, Mr. Cruz, and Mrs. Hyde-Smith) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of the Interior to immediately resume oil and
gas lease sales, 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 ``Lease Now Act of 2022''.
SEC. 2. ONSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASING.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Onshore oil and gas lease sale.--The term ``onshore oil
and gas lease sale'' means an oil and gas lease sale conducted
under section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226).
(2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior.
(b) Onshore Oil and Gas Lease Sales.--
(1) Congressional declaration of policy.--Consistent with
the policy described in section 102(a)(12) of the Federal Land
Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701(a)(12)) that
the Bureau of Land Management manage public land ``in a manner
which recognizes the Nation's need for domestic sources of
minerals'' from public land, Congress declares that it is the
policy of the United States that it is in the national interest
for the Department of the Interior to move forward
expeditiously to immediately resume--
(A) onshore oil and gas lease sales; and
(B) the processing and authorization of onshore oil
and gas permits.
(2) Requirement to immediately resume onshore oil and gas
lease sales.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary shall immediately
resume quarterly onshore oil and gas lease sales in
accordance with section 17(b)(1)(A) of the Mineral
Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(b)(1)(A)).
(B) Third quarter lease sale.--The Secretary shall
immediately begin the leasing process for the quarterly
onshore oil and gas lease sale for the third quarter of
calendar year 2022, including the scoping process, if
needed.
(C) Minimum statutory lease terms.--During the 5-
year period beginning on the date of enactment of this
Act, the Secretary shall offer all onshore oil and gas
lease sales subject to the following minimum lease
terms:
(i) A royalty rate of 12.5 percent.
(ii) A minimum acceptable bid of $2 per
acre.
(iii) Rental rates of--
(I) not less than $1.50 per acre
per year for the first through fifth
years of the onshore oil and gas lease;
and
(II) not less $2 per acre per year
for each year thereafter of the onshore
oil and gas lease.
(iv) The applicable bond amount pursuant to
subpart 3104 of part 3100 of title 43, Code of
Federal Regulations (as in effect as of the
date of enactment of this Act).
(D) Resource management plan requirement.--In
conducting an onshore oil and gas lease sale in a State
described in section 17(b)(1)(A) of the Mineral Leasing
Act (30 U.S.C. 226(b)(1)(A)), the Secretary shall offer
not less than 70 percent of parcels nominated for oil
and gas development under the applicable resource
management plan in effect for relevant Bureau of Land
Management resource management areas within the
applicable State.
(E) Replacement sales.--If, for any reason, an
onshore oil and gas lease sale for a calendar year is
canceled, delayed, or deferred or is paused due to
section 208 of Executive Order 14008 (42 U.S.C. 4321
note; relating to tackling the climate crisis at home
and abroad), the Secretary shall conduct a replacement
sale by not later than 3 calendar years after the date
of the cancellation, delay, deferral, or pause, as
applicable.
SEC. 3. OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASING.
(a) 2017-2022 Oil and Gas Leasing Program.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall conduct all lease
sales described in the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil
and Gas Leasing Proposed Final Program (November 2016) that
have not been conducted as of the date of enactment of this Act
by not later than December 31, 2023.
(2) Lease sale 257.--Not later than 30 days after the date
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue leases to
the successful bidders for Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 257
conducted on November 17, 2021.
(b) 2022-2027 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing
Program.--
(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, not later than June 30, 2022, the Secretary of the
Interior (referred to in this section as the ``Secretary'')
shall approve a final 2022-2027 oil and gas leasing program
under section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43
U.S.C. 1344).
(2) Waiver.--In order to meet the deadline described in
paragraph (1), the Secretary may--
(A) limit any comment periods required under
subsections (c) and (d) of section 18 of the Outer
Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344); and
(B) waive any other requirements under that section
that would delay final approval of the oil and gas
leasing program described in paragraph (1).
(3) Requirements.--The oil and gas leasing program
described in paragraph (1) shall include not fewer than 10
lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska regions of the
outer Continental Shelf, with a minimum of 2 lease sales to be
held in those regions each calendar year, not fewer than 1 of
which shall be in the Gulf of Mexico region.
(4) Limitation.--The royalty rate for a lease issued under
the oil and gas leasing program described in paragraph (1)
shall not exceed 18.75 percent.
(c) Subsequent Offshore Leasing Programs.--Section 18 of the Outer
Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), in the first sentence of the matter
preceding paragraph (1), by striking ``subsections (c) and (d)
of this section'' and inserting ``subsections (c) through
(f)'';
(2) by redesignating subsections (f) through (h) as
subsections (g) through (i), respectively; and
(3) by inserting after subsection (e) the following:
``(f) Subsequent Leasing Programs.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 36 months after
conducting the first lease sale under an oil and gas leasing
program prepared pursuant to this section, the Secretary shall
begin preparing the subsequent oil and gas leasing program
under this section.
``(2) Requirement.--Each subsequent oil and gas leasing
program under this section--
``(A) shall be approved not later than 180 days
before the expiration of the previous oil and gas
leasing program; and
``(B) shall contain a minimum of 5 lease sales.''.
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON DELAYS.
(a) In General.--The President shall not, through Executive order
or any other administrative procedure, pause, cancel, delay, defer, or
otherwise impede or circumvent the Federal energy mineral leasing
processes under the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) or the
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) or a related
rulemaking process required by subchapter II of chapter 5, and chapter
7, of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the
``Administrative Procedure Act''), without Congressional approval.
(b) Rebuttable Presumption.--There shall be a rebuttable
presumption that any attempt by the President to pause, cancel, delay,
defer, or otherwise impede or circumvent any Federal energy mineral
leasing or permitting process under the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C.
181 et seq.) or the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331
et seq.) or a related rulemaking process required by subchapter II of
chapter 5, and chapter 7, of title 5, United States Code (commonly
known as the ``Administrative Procedure Act''), without Congressional
approval, is a violation of the applicable law.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
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