Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Directing Responsibility to Interior for Leases and Licenses Act” or the “DRILL Act”.
Directing Responsibility to Interior for Leases and Licenses Act
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of the Interior to submit a report and maintain publicly available data on expressions of interests, applications for permits to drill, and offshore geological and geophysical survey licenses, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Expressions of interest; applications for permits to drill; offshore geological and geophysical survey licensing
Report— Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary of the Interior shall submit to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report that describes—
the status of nominated parcels for future onshore oil and gas lease sales, including—
the number of expressions of interest that the Bureau of Land Management has not taken any action to review, or not completed review of, as of the date of enactment of this section; and
how long such expressions of interest have been pending;
the status of each pending application for a permit to drill, including the number of applications received, in each Bureau of Land Management State office as of the date of enactment of this section, including—
a description of the cause of delay for pending applications, including as a result of staffing shortages, technical limitations, incomplete applications, and incomplete review pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) or other applicable laws;
the number of days an application has been pending in violation of section 17(p)(2) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(p)(2)); and
steps the office is taking to come into compliance with the requirements of section 17(p)(2) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(p)(2));
the number of permits to drill issued by each Bureau of Land Management State office as of the date of enactment of this section;
the status of each pending application for a license for offshore geological and geophysical surveys, including the number of applications received, in each Bureau of Ocean Energy management regional office, including—
a description of any cause of delay for pending applications, including as a result of staffing shortages, technical limitations, incomplete applications, and incomplete review pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) or other applicable laws;
the number of days an application has been pending; and
steps the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is taking to complete review of each application;
the number of licenses for offshore geological and geophysical surveys issued by each Bureau of Ocean Energy Management regional office as of the date of enactment of this section;
the status of each pending application for a permit to drill, including the number of applications received, in each Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement regional office, including—
a description of any cause of delay for pending applications, including as a result of staffing shortages, technical limitations, incomplete applications, and incomplete review pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) or other applicable laws;
the number of days an application has been pending; and
steps the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement is taking to complete review of each application;
the number of permits to drill issued by each Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement regional office as of the date of enactment of this section;
how, as applicable, the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement determines whether to—
issue a license for geological and geophysical surveys;
issue a permit to drill; and
issue, extend, or suspend an oil and gas lease;
when determinations described in paragraph (8) are sent to the national office of the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement for final approval;
the degree to which Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement field, State, and regional offices exercise discretion on such final approval;
the number of auctioned leases receiving accepted bids that have not been issued to winning bidders and the number days such leases have not been issued; and
a description of the uses of application for permit to drill fees paid by permit holders over the previous 5-year period.
Pending applications for permits To drill— Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary of the Interior shall issue all pending applications for a permit to drill that meet the requirements of section 17(p)(2) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(p)(2)).
Public availability of data—
Mineral Leasing Act— Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(s) Public availability of data
“(1) Expressions of interest—Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, and each month thereafter, the Secretary shall publish on the website of the Department of the Interior the number of pending, approved, and not approved expressions of interest in nominated parcels for future onshore oil and gas lease sales in the preceding month.
“(2) Applications for permits to drill—Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, and each month thereafter, the Secretary shall publish on the website of the Department of the Interior the number of pending and approved applications for permits to drill in the preceding month in each State office.
“(3) Past data—Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall publish on the website of the Department of the Interior, with respect to the 5-year period ending on the date of enactment of this subsection—
“(A) the number of approved and not approved expressions of interest for onshore oil and gas lease sales during such 5-year period; and
“(B) the number of approved and not approved applications for permits to drill during such 5-year period.”
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act— Section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(q) Public availability of data
“(1) Offshore geological and geophysical survey licenses—Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, and each month thereafter, the Secretary shall publish on the website of the Department of the Interior the number of pending and approved applications for licenses for offshore to geological and geophysical surveys in the preceding month.
“(2) Applications for permits to drill—Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, and each month thereafter, the Secretary shall publish on the website of the Department of the Interior the number of pending and approved applications for permits to drill on the outer Continental Shelf in the preceding month in each regional office.
“(3) Past data—Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall publish on the website of the Department of the Interior, with respect to the 5-year period ending on the date of enactment of this subsection—
“(A) the number of approved applications for licenses for offshore geological and geophysical surveys; and
“(B) the number of approved applications for permits to drill on the outer Continental Shelf.”
Requirement To submit documents and communications—
In general— Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary of the Interior shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives all documents and communications relating to the comprehensive review of Federal oil and gas permitting and leasing practices required under section 208 of Executive Order 14008 (86 Fed. Reg. 7624; relating to tackling the climate crisis at home and abroad).
Inclusions— The submission under paragraph (1) shall include all documents and communications submitted to the Secretary of the Interior by members of the public in response to any public meeting or forum relating to the comprehensive review described in that paragraph.
Sec. 3 Staff planning report
The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall each annually submit to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report on the staffing capacity of each respective agency with respect to issuing oil, gas, coal, and renewable energy leases, rights-of-way, easements, and permits. Each such report shall include—
the number of staff assigned to oil, gas, coal, and renewable energy leasing and permitting, respectively; and
a description of how many staff are needed to meet statutory requirements for such leasing and permitting and how, as applicable, the Department of the Interior or the Department of Agriculture plans to address staffing shortfalls for such leasing and permitting.