[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4733 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4733
To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to provide for certain reforms to the
process relating to applications for permits to drill and the
eligibility requirements for prospective bidders in lease sales, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
August 2, 2022
Ms. Cortez Masto introduced the following bill; which was read twice
and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to provide for certain reforms to the
process relating to applications for permits to drill and the
eligibility requirements for prospective bidders in 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 ``Use it or Lose It Act''.
SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY TO PARTICIPATE IN LEASE SALES.
Section 17(h) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(h)) is
amended by striking the subsection designation and all that follows
through ``The Secretary'' and inserting the following:
``(h) Limitations.--
``(1) Required certification.--A prospective lessee shall
not be eligible to participate in a lease sale or otherwise
acquire a new lease under this section until the date on which
the prospective lessee, in accordance with procedures developed
by the Secretary of the Interior, certifies to the Secretary of
the Interior that the prospective lessee--
``(A) has diligently developed all other leases
issued to the prospective bidder under this section by
not later than the expiration of the applicable primary
lease term, as determined by the Secretary of the
Interior;
``(B) has relinquished any other leases issued to
the prospective bidder under this section that have not
been diligently developed by the prospective bidder by
not later than the expiration of the applicable primary
lease term, as determined by the Secretary; and
``(C) has complied with any other certifications
that the Secretary of the Interior may reasonably
require.
``(2) National forest system land.--The Secretary''.
SEC. 3. APPLICATIONS FOR PERMITS TO DRILL.
Section 17(p) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(p)) is
amended adding at the end the following:
``(4) Priority for issuing applications for permits to
drill.--For purposes of considering applications for permits to
drill submitted to the Secretary of the Interior under this
subsection, the Secretary of the Interior shall give priority
to any applicant that has--
``(A) demonstrated, to the satisfaction of the
Secretary of the Interior, an ability and willingness
to commit to climate mitigation and other forms of
environmental mitigation with respect to the proposed
activities, including--
``(i) binding commitments to plug and
reclaim inactive wells; and
``(ii) a willingness to relinquish leases
in sensitive areas, particularly areas that
were subsequently closed to, or withdrawn from,
leasing;
``(B) provided production estimates for the
proposed drilling activities; or
``(C) demonstrated previous success with respect to
completing wells.
``(5) Expiration of unused applications for permits to
drill; extensions.--
``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), an
application for a permit to drill that is approved
under this subsection after the date of enactment of
this paragraph that is considered to be unused, as
determined by the Secretary of the Interior, shall
expire on the date that is 1 year after the date of the
approval of the application for a permit to drill.
``(B) Extensions.--The Secretary of the Interior--
``(i) may extend, not more than 1 time, the
expiration date of an unused approved
application for a permit to drill that would
otherwise expire under subparagraph (A) for a
period of not more than 180 days; and
``(ii) may not extend the expiration date
of an approved application for a permit to
drill that was approved before the date of
enactment of this paragraph that is considered
to be unused, as determined by the Secretary of
the Interior.
``(C) Disqualification of certain applicants.--
Beginning on the date of enactment of this paragraph,
an applicant for a permit to drill that has a higher
than average number of unused approved applications for
permits to drill under this subsection, as determined
by the Secretary of the Interior, shall not be eligible
for a new application for a permit to drill under this
subsection unless the Secretary of the Interior
determines that--
``(i) the applicant has relinquished a
sufficient number of unused approved
applications for permits to drill; or
``(ii) the applicant has converted a
sufficient number of unused approved
applications for permits to drill of the
applicant to `in use' status.''.
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