H.R. 2231 — what changed

Section 18(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(5)

“(A) In each oil and gas leasing program under this section, the Secretary shall make available for leasing and conduct lease sales including at least 50 percent of the available unleased acreage within each outer Continental Shelf planning area considered to have the largest undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources (on a total btu basis) based upon the most recent national geologic assessment of the outer Continental Shelf, with an emphasis on offering the most geologically prospective parts of the planning area.

changed “(B) The Secretary shall include in each proposed oil and gas leasing program under this section any State subdivision of an outer Continental Shelf planning area that the Governor of the State that represents that subdivision requests be made available for leasing. The Secretary may not remove such a subdivision from the program until publication of the final program.program, and shall include and consider all such subdivisions in any environmental review conducted and statement prepared for such program under section 102(2) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)).

“(C) In this paragraph the term “available unleased acreage” means that portion of the outer Continental Shelf that is not under lease at the time of a proposed lease sale, and that has not otherwise been made unavailable for leasing by law.

“(6)

“(A) In the 5-year oil and gas leasing program, the Secretary shall make available for leasing any outer Continental Shelf planning areas that—

“(i) are estimated to contain more than 2,500,000,000 barrels of oil; or

“(ii) are estimated to contain more than 7,500,000,000,000 cubic feet of natural gas.

“(B) To determine the planning areas described in subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall use the document entitled “Minerals Management Service Assessment of Undiscovered Technically Recoverable Oil and Gas Resources of the Nation’s Outer Continental Shelf, 2006”.”

“(c) Disposition of revenue under old leases—All rentals,”

“(d) Definitions—In this section:

“(1) Coastal State—The term “coastal State” includes a territory of the United States.

“(2) New leasing revenues—The term new leasing revenues—

“(A) 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 new areas of the outer Continental Shelf that are authorized to be made available for leasing as a result of enactment of the Offshore Energy and Jobs Act and leasing under that Act; and

“(B) does not include amounts received by the United States under any lease of an area located in the boundaries of the Central Gulf of Mexico and Western Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Planning Areas on the date of enactment of the Offshore Energy and Jobs Act, including a lease issued before, on, or after such date of enactment.”

“(a) Payment of new leasing revenues to coastal States

“(1) In general—Except as provided in paragraph (2), of the amount of new leasing revenues received by the United States each fiscal year, 37.5 percent shall be allocated and paid in accordance with subsection (b) to coastal States that are affected States with respect to the leases under which those revenues are received by the United States.

“(2) Phase-in

“(A) In general—Except as provided in subparagraph (B), paragraph (1) shall be applied—

“(i) with respect to new leasing revenues under leases awarded under the first leasing program under section 18(a) that takes effect after the date of enactment of the Offshore Energy and Jobs Act, by substituting “12.5 percent” for “37.5 percent”; and

“(ii) with respect to new leasing revenues under leases awarded under the second leasing program under section 18(a) that takes effect after the date of enactment of the Offshore Energy and Jobs Act, by substituting “25 percent” for “37.5 percent”.

“(B) Exempted lease sales—This paragraph shall not apply with respect to any lease issued under title II of the Offshore Energy and Jobs Act.

“(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 coastal States in accordance with this subsection each fiscal year shall be allocated among and paid to coastal 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 coastal State under paragraph (1) each fiscal year with respect to a leased tract shall be—

“(A) in the case of a coastal State that is the nearest 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;

“(B) in the case of any other coastal State, not less than 10 percent, and not more than 15 percent, of the total amounts allocated with respect to the leased tract; and

changed “(C) in the case of a coastal State that is the only coastal State within 200 miles of a least leased tract, 100 percent of the total amounts allocated with respect to the leased tract.

“(3) Administration—Amounts allocated to a coastal State under this subsection—

“(A) shall be available to the coastal State without further appropriation;

“(B) shall remain available until expended;

“(C) shall be in addition to any other amounts available to the coastal State under this Act; and

“(D) shall be distributed in the fiscal year following receipt.

“(4) Use of funds

“(A) In general—Except as provided in subparagraph (B), a coastal 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 coastal State under this subsection may not be used as matching funds for any other Federal program.”