[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 722 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 722
To streamline the oil and gas permitting process and to recognize fee
ownership for certain oil and gas drilling or spacing units, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 25, 2025
Mr. Hoeven (for himself, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Cramer, and Mr. Daines)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To streamline the oil and gas permitting process and to recognize fee
ownership for certain oil and gas drilling or spacing units, 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 ``Bureau of Land Management Mineral
Spacing Act''.
SEC. 2. COMPLIANCE WITH BLM PERMITTING.
(a) In General.--Notwithstanding the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C.
181 et seq.), the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982
(30 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), or subpart 3162 of part 3160 of title 43,
Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations), but subject to
any applicable State or Tribal requirements and subsection (c), the
Secretary of the Interior shall not require a permit to drill for an
oil and gas lease under the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.)
for an action occurring within an oil and gas drilling or spacing unit
if--
(1) the Federal Government--
(A) owns less than 50 percent of the minerals
within the oil and gas drilling or spacing unit; and
(B) does not own or lease the surface estate within
the area directly impacted by the action;
(2) the well is located on non-Federal land overlying a
non-Federal mineral estate, but some portion of the wellbore
enters and produces from the Federal mineral estate subject to
the lease; or
(3) the well is located on non-Federal land overlying a
non-Federal mineral estate, but some portion of the wellbore
traverses but does not produce from the Federal mineral estate
subject to the lease.
(b) Notification.--For each State permit to drill or drilling plan
that would impact or extract oil and gas owned by the Federal
Government--
(1) each lessee of Federal minerals in the unit, or
designee of a lessee, shall--
(A) notify the Secretary of the Interior of the
submission of a State application for a permit to drill
or drilling plan on submission of the application; and
(B) provide a copy of the application described in
subparagraph (A) to the Secretary of the Interior not
later than 5 days after the date on which the permit or
plan is submitted;
(2) each lessee, designee of a lessee, or applicable State
shall notify the Secretary of the Interior of the approved
State permit to drill or drilling plan not later than 45 days
after the date on which the permit or plan is approved; and
(3) each lessee or designee of a lessee shall provide,
prior to commencing drilling operations, agreements authorizing
the Secretary of the Interior to enter non-Federal land, as
necessary, for inspection and enforcement of the terms of the
Federal lease.
(c) Nonapplicability to Indian Lands.--Subsection (a) shall not
apply to Indian lands (as defined in section 3 of the Federal Oil and
Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982 (30 U.S.C. 1702)).
(d) Effect.--Nothing in this section affects--
(1) other authorities of the Secretary of the Interior
under the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982
(30 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); or
(2) the amount of royalties due to the Federal Government
from the production of the Federal minerals within the oil and
gas drilling or spacing unit.
(e) Authority on Non-Federal Land.--Section 17(g) of the Mineral
Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(g)) is amended--
(1) by striking the subsection designation and all that
follows through ``Secretary of the Interior, or'' in the first
sentence and inserting the following:
``(g)(1) The Secretary of the Interior, or''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(2)(A) In the case of an oil and gas lease under this Act on land
described in subparagraph (B) located within an oil and gas drilling or
spacing unit, nothing in this Act authorizes the Secretary of the
Interior--
``(i) to require a bond to protect non-Federal land;
``(ii) to enter non-Federal land without the consent of the
applicable landowner;
``(iii) to impose mitigation requirements; or
``(iv) to require approval for surface reclamation.
``(B) Land referred to in subparagraph (A) is land where--
``(i) the Federal Government--
``(I) owns less than 50 percent of the minerals
within the oil and gas drilling or spacing unit; and
``(II) does not own or lease the surface estate
within the area directly impacted by the action;
``(ii) the well is located on non-Federal land overlying a
non-Federal mineral estate, but some portion of the wellbore
enters and produces from the Federal mineral estate subject to
the lease; or
``(iii) the well is located on non-Federal land overlying a
non-Federal mineral estate, but some portion of the wellbore
traverses but does not produce from the Federal mineral estate
subject to the lease.''.
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