[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1215 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
114th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1215
To amend the Methane Hydrate Research and Development Act of 2000 to
provide for the development of methane hydrate as a commercially viable
source of energy.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 6, 2015
Ms. Murkowski introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Methane Hydrate Research and Development Act of 2000 to
provide for the development of methane hydrate as a commercially viable
source of energy.
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 ``Methane Hydrate Research and
Development Amendments Act of 2015''.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE METHANE HYDRATE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ACT
OF 2000.
(a) Findings.--Section 2 of the Methane Hydrate Research and
Development Act of 2000 (30 U.S.C. 2001) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (4), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) in paragraph (5), by striking the period at the end and
inserting a semicolon; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(6) methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that may be
exchanged between terrestrial methane hydrate reservoirs and
the atmosphere by natural or anthropogenic processes; and
``(7) the short- and long-term release of methane from
arctic or marine reservoirs may have significant environmental
effects, including global climate change.''.
(b) Methane Hydrate Research and Development Program.--
(1) In general.--Section 4 of the Methane Hydrate Research
and Development Act of 2000 (30 U.S.C. 2003) is amended by
striking subsection (b) and inserting the following:
``(b) Grants, Contracts, Cooperative Agreements, Interagency Funds
Transfer Agreements, and Field Work Proposals.--
``(1) Assistance and coordination.--In carrying out the
program of methane hydrate research and development authorized
by this section, the Secretary may award grants to, or enter
into contracts or cooperative agreements with, institutions
that--
``(A) conduct basic and applied research to
identify, explore, assess, and develop methane hydrate
as a commercially viable source of energy;
``(B) identify and characterize methane hydrate
resources using remote sensing and seismic data,
including the characterization of hydrate
concentrations in marine reservoirs in the Gulf of
Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean Basin by the date that is
4 years after the date of enactment of the Methane
Hydrate Research and Development Amendments Act of
2015;
``(C) develop technologies required for efficient
and environmentally sound development of methane
hydrate resources;
``(D) conduct basic and applied research to assess
and mitigate the environmental impact of hydrate
degassing (including natural degassing and degassing
associated with commercial development);
``(E) develop technologies to reduce the risks of
drilling through methane hydrates;
``(F) conduct exploratory drilling, well testing,
and production testing operations on permafrost and
nonpermafrost gas hydrates in support of the activities
authorized by this paragraph, including--
``(i) drilling of a test well and
performing a long-term hydrate production test
on land in the United States Arctic region by
the date that is 4 years after the date of
enactment of the Methane Hydrate Research and
Development Amendments Act of 2015;
``(ii) drilling of a test well and
performing a long-term hydrate production test
in a marine environment by the date that is 10
years after the date of enactment of the
Methane Hydrate Research and Development
Amendments Act of 2015; and
``(iii) drilling a full-scale production
test well at a location to be determined by the
Secretary; or
``(G) expand education and training programs in
methane hydrate resource research and resource
development through fellowships or other means for
graduate education and training.
``(2) Environmental monitoring.--The Secretary shall
conduct a long-term environmental monitoring program to study
the effects of production from methane hydrate reservoirs.
``(3) Competitive peer review.--Funds made available under
paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be made available based on a
competitive process using external scientific peer review of
proposed research.''.
(2) Conforming amendment.--Section 4(e) of the Methane
Hydrate Research and Development Act of 2000 (30 U.S.C.
2003(e)) is amended in the matter preceding paragraph (1) by
striking ``subsection (b)(1)'' and inserting ``paragraphs (1)
and (2) of subsection (b)''.
(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--The Methane Hydrate Research
and Development Act of 2000 is amended by striking section 7 (30 U.S.C.
2006) and inserting the following:
``SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
``There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such
sums as are necessary to carry out this Act.''.
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