KEN20008 S.L.C. 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. ll To discourage speculative oil and gas leasing and to promote enhanced multiple use management of public land and National Forest System land, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES llllllllll Ms. CORTEZ MASTO introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on llllllllll A BILL To discourage speculative oil and gas leasing and to promote enhanced multiple use management of public land and National Forest System land, and for other purposes. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 4 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ‘‘End Speculative Oil 5 and Gas Leasing Act of 2020’’. 6 7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. Congress finds that— 8 (1) Federal land should be managed for mul- 9 tiple uses, resources, and values, including recreation V80 PJ TF0 KEN20008 S.L.C. 2 1 use, grazing use, timber resources, mineral re- 2 sources, watershed management, wildlife and fish 3 habitat, and natural, scenic, scientific, and historic 4 values; 5 (2) section 17(a) of the Mineral Leasing Act 6 (30 U.S.C. 226(a)) authorizes the Secretary of the 7 Interior to offer for lease only land that is ‘‘known 8 or believed to contain oil or gas deposits’’; 9 (3)(A) in determining whether a parcel of Fed- 10 eral land should be made available for oil and gas 11 leasing and development, and in offering such a par- 12 cel for sale, the Secretary does not meaningfully 13 take into consideration the oil and gas development 14 potential of that parcel; and 15 (B) as a result, the Secretary regularly offers 16 and leases for oil and gas development Federal land 17 that has no or low potential for the development of 18 oil and gas resources (referred to in this section as 19 ‘‘no- or low-potential Federal land’’); 20 (4)(A) no- or low-potential Federal land is fre- 21 quently leased for or near the minimum lease bid, or 22 noncompetitively, and rarely produce oil or gas re- 23 sources; and V80 PJ TF0 KEN20008 S.L.C. 3 1 (B) as a result, taxpayers in the United States 2 receive minimal revenue from the leasing of no- or 3 low-potential Federal land; 4 (5) making no- or low-potential Federal land 5 available for oil and gas leasing can result in leases 6 being obtained for speculative purposes; 7 (6) the Secretary wastes taxpayer resources in 8 issuing and managing leases on no- or low-potential 9 Federal land; 10 (7) no- or low-potential Federal land frequently 11 supports other economically important uses, re- 12 sources, and values including the uses, resources, 13 and values described in paragraph (1); 14 (8) the existence of leases on no- and low-poten- 15 tial Federal land can and does limit the ability of 16 the Secretary to support and enhance the uses, re- 17 sources, and values described in paragraph (1); and 18 (9) meaningful public participation in leasing 19 decisions is essential and can help to ensure that the 20 decisions of the Secretary are well-informed and 21 based on current and reliable information and data. 22 23 SEC. 3. POLICY. In accordance with Federal multiple use land man- 24 agement goals, it is the policy of the United States that— 25 (1) the Secretary— V80 PJ TF0 KEN20008 S.L.C. 4 1 (A) shall not, absent exceptional cir- 2 cumstances, offer for lease any Federal land 3 that has low or no potential for the development 4 of oil and gas resources; (B) shall discourage speculation in the 5 6 Federal onshore oil and gas leasing program; 7 (C) by not offering for lease Federal land 8 described in subparagraph (A), shall conserve 9 limited Federal resources that can be better ap- 10 plied elsewhere; and 11 (2) the policies described in paragraph (1) are 12 in keeping with, and are not detrimental to, the en- 13 ergy security of the United States. 14 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 15 In this Act: 16 (1) DRAINAGE.—The term ‘‘drainage’’ means 17 the migration of hydrocarbons, inert gases (other 18 than helium), or associated resources from a well 19 caused by production from another well. 20 21 (2) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ means— 22 (A) public land; and 23 (B) National Forest System land. 24 (3) LAND 25 plan’’ means— V80 PJ TF0 USE PLAN.—The term ‘‘land use KEN20008 S.L.C. 5 1 (A) a land use plan required under sec- 2 tions 201 and 202 of the Federal Land Policy 3 and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1711, 4 1712), including any resource management plan 5 (as defined in section 1601.0–5 of title 43, 6 Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regu- 7 lations)); and 8 (B) a land and resource management plan 9 developed by the Secretary of Agriculture pur- 10 suant to section 6 of the Forest and Rangeland 11 Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 12 U.S.C. 1604). 13 (4) PUBLIC LAND.—The term ‘‘public land’’ 14 has the meaning given the term ‘‘public lands’’ in 15 section 103 of the Federal Land Policy and Manage- 16 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702). 17 (5) REASONABLY FORESEEABLE DEVELOPMENT 18 SCENARIO.—The 19 opment scenario’’ has the meaning given the term in 20 the handbook of the Bureau of Land Management 21 entitled ‘‘H — 1624–1 — Planning for Fluid Min- 22 eral Resources’’ (as in effect on the date of enact- 23 ment of this Act) and issued pursuant to the Fed- 24 eral Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 25 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.). V80 PJ TF0 term ‘‘reasonably foreseeable devel- KEN20008 S.L.C. 6 1 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 2 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di- 3 rector of the Bureau of Land Management. 4 SEC. 5. FEDERAL LAND COVERED BY REASONABLY FORE- 5 SEEABLE DEVELOPMENT SCENARIO ISSUED 6 BEFORE DATE OF ENACTMENT. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—With respect to Federal land oth- 8 erwise available for leasing of oil and gas resources pursu9 ant to the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) 10 or the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands (30 U.S.C. 11 351 et seq.) that is covered by a reasonably foreseeable 12 development scenario issued before the date of enactment 13 of this Act, except as provided in subsection (b), the Sec14 retary shall not offer the Federal land for lease unless the 15 reasonably foreseeable development scenario for that land 16 includes an assessment of the oil and gas development po17 tential of that land that specifically identifies the potential 18 for all acres subject to decisions on availability for leasing. 19 (b) EXCEPTION FOR DRAINAGE.— (1) IN 20 GENERAL.—The Secretary may offer for 21 lease any Federal land described in subsection (a) 22 without meeting the requirements of that subsection 23 if— (A)(i) the Federal land is adjacent to land 24 25 currently producing oil or gas; and V80 PJ TF0 KEN20008 S.L.C. 7 1 (ii) the lease is issued for the purpose of 2 preventing drainage from the adjacent land; or (B) the Federal land— 3 4 (i) does not exceed 640 acres; and 5 (ii) is located within 1 mile of a well 6 producing oil or gas in paying quantities 7 on the date on which the Federal land is 8 offered for leasing. 9 (2) REQUIREMENT.—A lease issued under para- 10 graph (1) shall be consistent with the applicable 11 land use plan and all other applicable law. 12 SEC. 6. FEDERAL LAND NOT COVERED BY CURRENT REA- 13 SONABLY FORESEEABLE DEVELOPMENT SCE- 14 NARIO. 15 16 (a) IN GENERAL.— (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub- 17 section (c), if the Secretary determines that Federal 18 land otherwise available for leasing of oil and gas re- 19 sources pursuant to the Mineral Leasing Act (30 20 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) or the Mineral Leasing Act for 21 Acquired Lands (30 U.S.C. 351 et seq.) is not cov- 22 ered by a reasonably foreseeable development sce- 23 nario issued in accordance with this subsection or 24 section 5(a), the Secretary, in cooperation with the 25 Secretary of Agriculture with respect to National V80 PJ TF0 KEN20008 S.L.C. 8 1 Forest System land, shall complete such a reason- 2 ably foreseeable development scenario. 3 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—Any reasonably foresee- 4 able development scenario issued on or after the 5 date of enactment of this Act shall, at a minimum— 6 (A) assess and designate all Federal land 7 covered by the reasonably foreseeable develop- 8 ment scenario as having high, moderate, low, or 9 no potential for development of oil and gas re- 10 sources; and 11 (B) publish a map depicting the covered 12 Federal land and the development potential for 13 that Federal land designated under subpara- 14 graph (A). 15 (3) FACTORS.— 16 (A) IN GENERAL.—In completing a reason- 17 ably foreseeable development scenario for Fed- 18 eral land, the Secretary shall take into consider- 19 ation— 20 (i) past and present exploration and 21 development activity in the vicinity, includ- 22 ing historic trends; 23 (ii) for each lease in the vicinity, the 24 number, location, and types of wells 25 drilled, the representative depth of wells V80 PJ TF0 KEN20008 S.L.C. 9 1 drilled, the number and location of dry 2 holes, the success ratio for wells drilled, 3 and the location, production history, and 4 life expectancy of producing fields; 5 (iii) geological, geophysical, and geo- 6 chemical information for the Federal land, 7 including data and information from the 8 United States Geological Survey, the De- 9 partment of Energy, State agencies, indus- 10 try, professional societies, 11 sources, and the public; academic 12 (iv) structural and stratigraphic data 13 and information relating to basins, fields, 14 and plays on the Federal land; and 15 (v) data and information on the likeli- 16 hood that economically recoverable oil and 17 gas resources are present in a given area, 18 including information submitted by experts 19 and the public. 20 (B) EXPLANATION OF FACTORS.—The 21 Secretary shall document how each factor de- 22 scribed in subparagraph (A) and any other fac- 23 tors considered by the Secretary support the 24 designation of the potential for development of 25 oil and gas resources on the Federal land. V80 PJ TF0 KEN20008 S.L.C. 10 1 (4) OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPA- 2 TION.—In carrying out a reasonably foreseeable de- 3 velopment scenario under this subsection, the Sec- 4 retary shall— 5 (A) notify the public that the reasonably 6 foreseeable development scenario is being initi- 7 ated; 8 (B) publish a request for information for 9 the reasonably foreseeable development sce- 10 nario; 11 (C) release a draft version of the reason- 12 ably foreseeable development scenario for a 13 public review and comment for a period of not 14 less than 60 days; and 15 (D) consider and respond to public com- 16 ments in the final version of the reasonably 17 foreseeable development scenario. 18 19 (b) REGULAR UPDATE.— (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 15 years 20 after the date of enactment of this Act, and not less 21 frequently than every 15 years thereafter, the Sec- 22 retary, consistent with subsection (a) and in co- 23 operation with the Secretary of Agriculture with re- 24 spect to National Forest System land, shall review V80 PJ TF0 KEN20008 S.L.C. 11 1 and update all reasonably foreseeable development 2 scenarios covering Federal land. 3 (2) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided in sub- 4 section (c), the Secretary shall not offer for lease 5 any Federal land otherwise available for leasing of 6 oil and gas resources pursuant to the Mineral Leas- 7 ing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) or the Mineral Leas- 8 ing Act for Acquired Lands (30 U.S.C. 351 et seq.) 9 unless the Secretary has updated the reasonably 10 foreseeable development scenario covering that Fed- 11 eral land in accordance with paragraph (1). 12 (c) EXCEPTION FOR DRAINAGE.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may offer for 14 lease any Federal land otherwise available for leas- 15 ing of oil and gas resources pursuant to the Mineral 16 Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) or the Mineral 17 Leasing Act for Acquired Lands (30 U.S.C. 351 et 18 seq.) without completing or updating a reasonably 19 foreseeable development scenario for that land under 20 subsection (a) or (b), as applicable, if— (A)(i) the Federal land is adjacent to land 21 22 currently producing oil or gas; and 23 (ii) the lease is issued for the purpose of 24 preventing drainage from the adjacent land; or (B) the Federal land— 25 V80 PJ TF0 KEN20008 S.L.C. 12 1 (i) does not exceed 640 acres; and 2 (ii) is located within 1 mile of a well 3 producing oil or gas in paying quantities 4 on the date on which the Federal land is 5 offered for leasing. 6 (2) REQUIREMENT.—A lease issued under para- 7 graph (1) shall be consistent with the applicable 8 land use plan and all other applicable law. 9 SEC. 7. LAND HAVING NO OR LOW DEVELOPMENT POTEN- 10 TIAL UNDER A REASONABLY FORESEEABLE 11 DEVELOPMENT SCENARIO. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsections 13 (b) and (c), the Secretary shall not offer for lease any Fed14 eral land otherwise available for leasing of oil and gas re15 sources pursuant to the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 16 181 et seq.) or the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired 17 Lands (30 U.S.C. 351 et seq.) if the Federal land is des18 ignated in the applicable reasonably foreseeable develop19 ment scenario as having low or no potential for develop20 ment of oil or gas resources. 21 (b) EXCEPTION FOR DRAINAGE.— (1) IN 22 GENERAL.—The Secretary may offer for 23 lease any Federal land described in subsection (a) 24 if— V80 PJ TF0 KEN20008 S.L.C. 13 (A)(i) the Federal land is adjacent to land 1 2 currently producing oil or gas; and 3 (ii) the lease is issued for the purpose of 4 preventing drainage from the adjacent land; or (B) the Federal land— 5 6 (i) does not exceed 640 acres; and 7 (ii) is located within 1 mile of a well 8 producing oil or gas in paying quantities 9 on the date on which the Federal land is offered for leasing. 10 11 (2) REQUIREMENT.—A lease issued under para- 12 graph (1) shall be consistent with the applicable 13 land use plan and all other applicable law. 14 (c) VARIANCE PROCESS.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—An entity seeking to lease 16 Federal land described in subsection (a) for pur- 17 poses other than the purpose described in subsection 18 (b)(1)(A)(ii) may submit to the Secretary an appli- 19 cation for a variance under which the applicant shall 20 bear the full burden of establishing and documenting 21 that providing a variance for the Federal land 22 would— 23 (A) be consistent with decisions contained 24 in the land use plan in effect for the Federal 25 land; V80 PJ TF0 KEN20008 S.L.C. 14 (B) affect only areas— 1 2 (i) with low wildlife, recreation, live- 3 stock, and other multiple-use resource val- 4 ues; and 5 (ii) where impacts to those values 6 arising from the variance can be resolved; 7 (C) optimize the use of existing infrastruc- 8 ture and avoid duplication of infrastructure and 9 disruption of public land; 10 (D) minimize adverse impacts on fish and 11 wildlife habitats and migration and movement 12 corridors in nearby areas; 13 (E) cause no significant effects on species 14 listed as endangered species or threatened spe- 15 cies under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 16 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) or the habitats of 17 those species; 18 (F) cause no cumulative impacts on air or 19 water resources of concern that cannot be 20 avoided or minimized; (G) cause no adverse impacts on— 21 22 (i) units of the National Park System; 23 (ii) units of the National Wildlife Refuge System; 24 V80 PJ TF0 KEN20008 S.L.C. 15 (iii) areas of critical environmental 1 concern; 2 (iv) components of the National Wil- 3 derness Preservation System; or 4 5 (v) other special status areas, includ- 6 ing State and local parks and wildlife and 7 recreation areas; and 8 (H) allow the Federal land to be developed 9 10 11 in the public interest. (2) OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPA- TION.— (A) IN 12 GENERAL.—On receipt of an appli- 13 cation for a variance under paragraph (1), the 14 Secretary shall— (i) promptly notify the public that the 15 application has been received; and 16 17 (ii) provide the public with an oppor- 18 tunity to review and comment on the appli- 19 cation, including any supporting docu- 20 ments, for a period of not less than 60 21 days. 22 (B) RESPONSE.—The Secretary shall con- 23 sider and respond in writing to any public com- 24 ments received under subparagraph (A)(ii) be- V80 PJ TF0 KEN20008 S.L.C. 16 1 fore making a determination under paragraph 2 (3)(A). 3 (3) GRANTING OF VARIANCE.—The Secretary 4 may grant a variance for Federal land described in 5 subsection (a) pursuant to an application submitted 6 under paragraph (1), and offer that Federal land for 7 lease, if— (A) the Secretary publishes in the Federal 8 9 Register a determination that— 10 (i) the applicant met the burden of es- 11 tablishing and documenting that the vari- 12 ance would meet the requirements de- 13 scribed in paragraph (1); (ii) offering the Federal land for 14 lease— 15 16 (I) would not preclude the use of 17 the Federal land for other uses, in- 18 cluding grazing, fish and wildlife, and 19 recreation uses; and 20 (II) would be managed in accord- 21 ance with the principles of multiple 22 use (as defined in section 103 of the 23 Federal Land Policy and Management 24 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702)); and V80 PJ TF0 KEN20008 S.L.C. 17 (iii) the variance is in the public inter- 1 2 est; and 3 (B) the Federal land— 4 (i) is adjacent to land currently pro- 5 ducing oil or gas in commercial quantities 6 on the date on which the variance is grant- 7 ed; and 8 (ii) does not exceed 640 acres. 9 (4) REQUIREMENT.—A lease issued under para- 10 graph (3) shall be consistent with the applicable 11 land use plan and all other applicable law. 12 (5) LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall not 13 grant more than 1 variance under this subsection 14 per 5-year period to an applicant or to an entity 15 under common ownership or control with the appli- 16 cant. 17 SEC. 8. EFFECT. 18 (a) MULTIPLE USE CONSIDERATIONS.—Nothing in 19 this Act, including a determination under a reasonably 20 foreseeable development scenario issued pursuant to this 21 Act that Federal land has high or moderate potential for 22 development of oil and gas resources, alters— 23 (1) the requirements under section 202(c) of 24 the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 25 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712(c)) that prior to offering for V80 PJ TF0 KEN20008 S.L.C. 18 1 lease any public land otherwise available for leasing 2 of oil and gas resources pursuant to the Mineral 3 Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) or the Mineral 4 Leasing Act for Acquired Lands (30 U.S.C. 351 et 5 seq.), the Secretary shall consider and weigh the 6 multiple use and sustained yield values of the public 7 land; 8 (2) the requirements of subsections (b) and (e) 9 of section 6 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable 10 Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604) 11 that prior to offering for lease any National Forest 12 System land otherwise available for leasing of oil 13 and gas resources pursuant to the Mineral Leasing 14 Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) or the Mineral Leasing 15 Act for Acquired Lands (30 U.S.C. 351 et seq.), the 16 Secretary of Agriculture shall consider and weigh 17 the multiple use and sustained yield values of the 18 National Forest System land; or 19 20 (3) any other applicable requirements of law. (b) NEPA.—Nothing in this Act modifies, alters, or 21 impacts the applicability of the National Environmental 22 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) to the leasing 23 of Federal land by the Secretary. V80 PJ TF0