---
kind: "diff"
citation: "H.R. 2231"
bill: "113-hr-2231"
heading: "Offshore Energy and Jobs Act"
from: "rh"
from_label: "Reported in House"
to: "eh"
to_label: "Engrossed in House"
sections_amended: 2
sections_added: 12
sections_removed: 0
url: "https://uscodex.org/bills/113/hr/2231/changes/eh"
---

# H.R. 2231 — what changed

H.R. 2231, Offshore Energy and Jobs Act — 2 sections amended and 12 added between Reported in House and Engrossed in House.

Edits are marked `<del>struck</del>` and `<ins>inserted</ins>`.

## Sec. 101 Outer Continental Shelf leasing program reforms

- 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.
- “(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 <del>program.</del><ins>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)).</ins>
- “(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”.”

## Sec. 104 Rule of construction — added

- <ins>Nothing in this Act shall be construed to authorize the issuance of a lease under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) to any person designated for the imposition of sanctions pursuant to—</ins>
- (1) <ins>the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note), the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestiture Act of 2010 (22 U.S.C. 8501 et seq.), the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 (22 U.S.C. 8701 et seq.), section 1245 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (22 U.S.C. 8513a), or the Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act of 2012 (22 U.S.C. 8801 et seq.);</ins>
- (2) <ins>Executive Order No. 13622 (July 30, 2012), Executive Order No. 13628 (October 9, 2012), or Executive Order No. 13645 (June 3, 2013);</ins>
- (3) <ins>Executive Order No. 13224 (September 23, 2001) or Executive Order No. 13338 (May 11, 2004); or</ins>
- (4) <ins>the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 2151 note).</ins>

## Sec. 301 Disposition of Outer Continental Shelf revenues to coastal States

- (a) In general— Section 9 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1338) is amended—
  - (1) in the existing text—
    - (A) in the first sentence, by striking “All rentals,” and inserting the following:
      - “(c) Disposition of revenue under old leases—All rentals,”
    - (B) in subsection (c) (as designated by the amendment made by subparagraph (A) of this paragraph), by striking “for the period from June 5, 1950, to date, and thereafter” and inserting “in the period beginning June 5, 1950, and ending on the date of enactment of the Offshore Energy and Jobs Act”;
  - (2) by adding after subsection (c) (as so designated) the following:
    - “(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.”
  - (3) by inserting before subsection (c) (as so designated) the following:
    - “(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
    - “(C) in the case of a coastal State that is the only coastal State within 200 miles of a <del>least </del><ins>leased </ins>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.”
- (b) Limitation on application— This section and the amendment made by this section shall not affect the application of section 105 of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 (title I of division C of Public Law 109–432; (43 U.S.C. 1331 note)), as in effect before the enactment of this Act, with respect to revenues received by the United States under oil and gas leases issued for tracts located in the Western and Central Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Planning Areas, including such leases issued on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.

## Sec. 410 Prohibition on action based on National Ocean Policy developed under Executive Order No. 13547 — added

- (a) <ins>Prohibition—</ins> <ins>The Bureau of Ocean Energy and the Ocean Energy Safety Service may not develop, propose, finalize, administer, or implement, any limitation on activities under their jurisdiction as a result of the coastal and marine spatial planning component of the National Ocean Policy developed under Executive Order No. 13547.</ins>
- (b) <ins>Report on expenditures—</ins> <ins>Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the President shall submit a report to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate identifying all Federal expenditures in fiscal years 2011, 2012, and 2013, by the Bureau of Ocean Energy and the Ocean Energy Safety Service and their predecessor agencies, by agency, account, and any pertinent subaccounts, for the development, administration, or implementation of the coastal and marine spatial planning component of the National Ocean Policy developed under Executive Order No. 13547, including staff time, travel, and other related expenses.</ins>

## Sec. 601 Rules regarding distribution of revenues under Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 — added

- (a) <ins>In general—</ins> <ins>Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall issue rules to provide more clarity, certainty, and stability to the revenue streams contemplated by the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 (43 U.S.C. 1331 note).</ins>
- (b) <ins>Contents—</ins> <ins>The rules shall include clarification of the timing and methods of disbursements of funds under section 105(b)(2) of such Act.</ins>

## Sec. 602 Amount of distributed qualified outer Continental Shelf revenues — added

- <ins>Section 105(f)(1) of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 (title I of division C of Public Law 109–432; 43 U.S.C. 1331 note) shall be applied by substituting “2023, and shall not exceed $999,999,999 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2055” for “2055”.</ins>

## Sec. 603 Seismic testing in the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf — added

- <ins>Not later than December 31, 2013, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management shall publish a record of decision on the Atlantic G&G Programmatic Final Environmental Impact Statement.</ins>

## Sec. 701 Time for filing complaint — added

- (a) <ins>In general—</ins> <ins>Any cause of action that arises from a covered energy decision must be filed not later than the end of the 60-day period beginning on the date of the covered energy decision. Any cause of action not filed within this time period shall be barred.</ins>
- (b) <ins>Exception—</ins> <ins>Subsection (a) shall not apply to a cause of action brought by a party to a covered energy lease.</ins>

## Sec. 702 District court deadline — added

- (a) <ins>In general—</ins> <ins>All proceedings that are subject to section 701—</ins>
  - (1) <ins>shall be brought in the United States district court for the district in which the Federal property for which a covered energy lease is issued is located or the United States District Court of the District of Columbia;</ins>
  - (2) <ins>shall be resolved as expeditiously as possible, and in any event not more than 180 days after such cause or claim is filed; and</ins>
  - (3) <ins>shall take precedence over all other pending matters before the district court.</ins>
- (b) <ins>Failure to comply with deadline—</ins> <ins>If an interlocutory or final judgment, decree, or order has not been issued by the district court by the deadline described under this section, the cause or claim shall be dismissed with prejudice and all rights relating to such cause or claim shall be terminated.</ins>

## Sec. 703 Ability to seek appellate review — added

- <ins>An interlocutory or final judgment, decree, or order of the district court in a proceeding that is subject to section 701 may be reviewed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The D.C. Circuit shall resolve any such appeal as expeditiously as possible and, in any event, not more than 180 days after such interlocutory or final judgment, decree, or order of the district court was issued.</ins>

## Sec. 704 Limitation on scope of review and relief — added

- (a) <ins>Administrative findings and conclusions—</ins> <ins>In any judicial review of any Federal action under this title, any administrative findings and conclusions relating to the challenged Federal action shall be presumed to be correct unless shown otherwise by clear and convincing evidence contained in the administrative record.</ins>
- (b) <ins>Limitation on prospective relief—</ins> <ins>In any judicial review of any action, or failure to act, under this title, the Court shall not grant or approve any prospective relief unless the Court finds that such relief is narrowly drawn, extends no further than necessary to correct the violation of a Federal law requirement, and is the least intrusive means necessary to correct the violation concerned.</ins>

## Sec. 705 Legal fees — added

- <ins>Any person filing a petition seeking judicial review of any action, or failure to act, under this title who is not a prevailing party shall pay to the prevailing parties (including intervening parties), other than the United States, fees and other expenses incurred by that party in connection with the judicial review, unless the Court finds that the position of the person was substantially justified or that special circumstances make an award unjust.</ins>

## Sec. 706 Exclusion — added

- <ins>This title shall not apply with respect to disputes between the parties to a lease issued pursuant to an authorizing leasing statute regarding the obligations of such lease or the alleged breach thereof.</ins>

## Sec. 707 Definitions — added

- <ins>In this title, the following definitions apply:</ins>
- (1) <ins>Covered energy decision—</ins> <ins>The term “covered energy decision” means any action or decision by a Federal official regarding the issuance of a covered energy lease.</ins>
- (2) <ins>Covered energy lease—</ins> <ins>The term “covered energy lease” means any lease under this Act or under an oil and gas leasing program under this Act.</ins>