[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1782 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1782
To require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct offshore oil and
gas Lease Sale 220 as soon as practicable, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 26, 2013
Mr. Rigell (for himself, Mr. Wittman, Mr. Griffith of Virginia, and Mr.
Hurt) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct offshore oil and
gas Lease Sale 220 as soon as practicable, 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 ``Virginia Jobs and Energy Act''.
SEC. 2. LEASE SALE 220 AND OTHER OCS OIL AND GAS LEASE SALES OFFSHORE
VIRGINIA.
(a) Conduct of Lease Sale.--Notwithstanding inclusion in the
current 5-year oil and gas leasing program under section 18 of the
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344), the Secretary of
the Interior shall conduct lease sale 220 (as defined in the Draft
Proposed Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program for
2010-2015 as published in the Federal Register on January 21, 2009 (74
Fed. Reg. 3631)) under section 8 of such Act (43 U.S.C. 1337) as soon
as practicable, but not later than 1 year after the date of enactment
of this Act.
(b) Inclusion in Future Leasing Programs.--The Secretary of the
Interior shall include at least one lease sale in the Virginia lease
sale planning area in each 5-year oil and gas leasing program that
applies after the current leasing program.
SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF MILITARY OPERATIONS.
(a) Prohibition.--No person may engage in any exploration,
development, or production of oil or natural gas off the coast of
Virginia that would conflict with any military operation, as determined
in accordance with the Memorandum of Agreement between the Department
of Defense and the Department of the Interior on Mutual Concerns on the
Outer Continental Shelf signed July 20, 1983, and any revision or
replacement for that agreement that is agreed to by the Secretary of
Defense and the Secretary of the Interior after that date but before
the date of issuance of the lease under which such exploration,
development, or production is conducted.
(b) Review and Updating of MOA.--The Secretary of the Interior and
the Secretary of Defense shall periodically review and revise such
memorandum of agreement to account for new offshore energy production
technologies, including those that use wind energy.
SEC. 4. DISPOSITION OF REVENUE.
(a) Payment of New Leasing Revenues to Mid-Atlantic States.--
Notwithstanding section 9 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43
U.S.C. 1338), of the amount of new leasing revenues received by the
United States each fiscal year under any lease issued under this Act,
37.5 percent shall be allocated and paid in accordance with subsection
(b) to Mid-Atlantic States that are affected States with respect to the
leases under which those revenues are received by the United States.
(b) Allocation of Payments.--
(1) In general.--The amount of new leasing revenues
received by the United States with respect to a leased tract
that are required to be paid to Mid-Atlantic States in
accordance with this subsection each fiscal year shall be
allocated among and paid to Mid-Atlantic States that are within
200 miles of the leased tract, in amounts that are inversely
proportional to the respective distances between the point on
the coastline of each such State that is closest to the
geographic center of the lease tract, as determined by the
Secretary.
(2) Minimum and maximum allocation.--The amount allocated
to a Mid-Atlantic State under paragraph (1) each fiscal year
with respect to a leased tract shall be--
(A) in the case of a Mid-Atlantic State that is the
nearest Mid-Atlantic State to the geographic center of
the leased tract, not less than 25 percent of the total
amounts allocated with respect to the leased tract; and
(B) in the case of any other Mid-Atlantic State,
not less than 10 percent, and not more than 15 percent,
of the total amounts allocated with respect to the
leased tract.
(3) Administration.--Amounts allocated to a Mid-Atlantic
State under this subsection--
(A) shall be available to the State without further
appropriation;
(B) shall remain available until expended; and
(C) shall be in addition to any other amounts
available to the State under the Outer Continental
Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.).
(4) Use of funds.--
(A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph
(B), a Mid-Atlantic State may use funds allocated and
paid to it under this subsection for any purpose as
determined by the laws of that State.
(B) Restriction on use for matching.--Funds
allocated and paid to a Mid-Atlantic State under this
subsection may not be used as matching funds for any
other Federal program.
(c) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Affected state.--The term ``affected State'' has the
meaning that term has under section 2 of the Outer Continental
Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331).
(2) Mid-atlantic state.--The term ``Mid-Atlantic State''
means each of the States of Delaware, North Carolina, Maryland,
and Virginia.
(3) New leasing revenues.--The term ``new leasing
revenues'' means amounts received by the United States as
bonuses, rents, and royalties under leases for oil and gas,
wind, tidal, or other energy exploration, development, and
production on areas of the Outer Continental Shelf that are
authorized to be made available for leasing as a result of
enactment of this Act.
(4) Virginia lease sale planning area.--The term ``Virginia
lease sale planning area'' means the area of the outer
Continental Shelf (as that term is defined in the Outer
Continental Shelf Lands Act (33 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.)) that
has--
(A) a boundary consisting of a straight line
extending from the northernmost point of Virginia's
seaward boundary to the point on the seaward boundary
of the United States exclusive economic zone located at
37 degrees 17 minutes 1 second North latitude, 71
degrees 5 minutes 16 seconds West longitude; and
(B) a southern boundary consisting of a straight
line extending from the southernmost point of
Virginia's seaward boundary to the point on the seaward
boundary of the United States exclusive economic zone
located at 36 degrees 31 minutes 58 seconds North
latitude, 71 degrees 30 minutes 1 second West
longitude.
SEC. 5. OFFSHORE METEOROLOGICAL SITE TESTING AND MONITORING PROJECTS.
(a) Offshore Meteorological Project Permitting.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of the Interior shall by
regulation require that any applicant seeking to conduct an
offshore meteorological site testing and monitoring project on
the outer Continental Shelf (as that term is defined in the
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.))
must obtain a permit and right of way for the project in
accordance with this subsection.
(2) Permit and right-of-way timeline and conditions.--
(A) Deadline for approval.--The Secretary shall
decide whether to issue a permit and right of way for
an offshore meteorological site testing and monitoring
project within 30 days after receiving an application.
(B) Public comment and consultation.--During the
period referred to in subparagraph (A), the Secretary
shall--
(i) provide an opportunity for submission
of comments by the public; and
(ii) consult with the Secretary of Defense,
the Commandant of the Coast Guard, and the
heads of other Federal, State, and local
agencies that would be affected by issuance of
the permit and right of way.
(C) Denial of permit; opportunity to remedy
deficiencies.--If the application is denied, the
Secretary shall provide the applicant--
(i) in writing, clear and comprehensive
reasons why the application was not approved
and detailed information concerning any
deficiencies in the application; and
(ii) an opportunity to remedy such
deficiencies.
(b) NEPA Exclusion.--Section 102(2)(C) of the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)) shall not apply
with respect to an offshore meteorological site testing and monitoring
project.
(c) Protection of Information.--The information provided to the
Secretary of the Interior pursuant to subsection (d)(3) shall be
treated by the Secretary as proprietary information and protected
against disclosure.
(d) Definition of an Offshore Meteorological Site Testing and
Monitoring Project.--In this section, the term ``offshore
meteorological site testing and monitoring project'' means a project
carried out on or in the waters of the Outer Continental Shelf
administered by the Department of the Interior to test or monitor
weather (including wind, tidal, current, and solar energy) using
towers, buoys, or other temporary ocean infrastructure, that--
(1) causes--
(A) less than 1 acre of surface or seafloor
disruption at the location of each meteorological tower
or other device; and
(B) not more than 5 acres of surface or seafloor
disruption within the proposed area affected by the
project (including hazards to navigation);
(2) is decommissioned not more than 5 years after the date
of commencement of the project, including--
(A) removal of towers, buoys, or other temporary
ocean infrastructure from the project site; and
(B) restoration of the project site to
approximately the original condition of the site; and
(3) provides meteorological information obtained by the
project to the Secretary of the Interior.
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