[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6529 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6529
To greatly enhance the Nation's environmental, energy, economic, and
national security by terminating long-standing Federal prohibitions on
the domestic production of abundant offshore supplies of oil and
natural gas, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 17, 2008
Mr. Calvert (for himself, Mr. Burton of Indiana, Mr. Carter, Mr.
Doolittle, Mr. Gallegly, Mr. Herger, Mr. Kanjorski, Mr. Latta, Mr.
Lewis of California, Mr. Daniel E. Lungren of California, Mr. McKeon,
Mr. Nunes, Mr. Radanovich, Mr. Rohrabacher, and Mr. Dreier) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural
Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To greatly enhance the Nation's environmental, energy, economic, and
national security by terminating long-standing Federal prohibitions on
the domestic production of abundant offshore supplies of oil and
natural gas, 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 ``Maximize Offshore Resource
Exploration Act of 2008'' or the ``MORE Act of 2008''.
SEC. 2. TERMINATION OF PROHIBITIONS ON EXPENDITURES FOR, AND
WITHDRAWALS FROM, OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASING.
(a) Prohibitions on Expenditures.--All provisions of Federal law
that prohibit the expenditure of appropriated funds to conduct oil and
natural gas leasing and preleasing activities for any area of the Outer
Continental Shelf shall have no force or effect with respect to such
activities.
(b) Revocation Withdrawals.--All withdrawals of Federal submerged
lands of the Outer Continental Shelf from leasing, including
withdrawals by the President under the authority of section 12(a) of
the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1341(a)), are hereby
revoked and are no longer in effect with respect to the leasing of
areas for exploration for, and development and production of, oil and
natural gas.
SEC. 3. OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF OIL AND NATURAL GAS LEASING PROGRAM.
The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) is
amended by inserting after section 9 the following:
``SEC. 10. STATE APPROVAL REQUIREMENT WITH RESPECT TO OIL AND NATURAL
GAS LEASING.
``(a) In General.--The Secretary may not issue any lease
authorizing exploration for, or development of, oil and natural gas in
any area of the outer Continental Shelf that is located within 25 miles
of the coastline of a State unless the State has enacted a law
approving of the issuance of such leases by the Secretary.
``(b) State Approval Permanent.--Repeal of such a law by a State
shall have no effect for purposes of subsection (a).''.
SEC. 4. SHARING OF REVENUES.
(a) In General.--Section 8(g) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands
Act (43 U.S.C. 1337(g)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (2) by striking ``Notwithstanding'' and
inserting ``Except as provided in paragraph (6), and
notwithstanding'';
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (6) and (7) as paragraphs
(7) and (8); and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following:
``(6) Royalties under qualified oil and gas leases.--
``(A) In general.--Except as provided in
subparagraph (B), of amounts received by the United
States as royalties under any qualified oil and gas
lease on submerged lands that are located within the
seaward boundaries of a State established under section
4(a)(2)(A)--
``(i) 25 percent shall be deposited in the
general fund of the Treasury; and
``(ii) 75 percent shall be paid to the
States that are producing States with respect
to those submerged lands.
``(B) Lease tracts within 25 miles of the
coastline.--Of amounts received by the United States as
royalties under any qualified oil and gas lease on
submerged lands that are located within 25 miles of the
coastline of a State and within the seaward boundaries
of a State established under section 4(a)(2)(A)--
``(i) 10 percent shall be deposited in the
general fund of the Treasury; and
``(ii) 90 percent shall be paid to the
States that are producing States with respect
to those submerged lands.
``(C) Leased tract that lies partially within the
seaward boundaries of a state.--In the case of a leased
tract that lies partially within the seaward boundaries
of a State, the amounts of royalties from such tract
that are subject to subparagraph (A) or (B), as
applicable, with respect to such State shall be a
percentage of the total amounts of royalties from such
tract that is equivalent to the total percentage of
surface acreage of the tract that lies within such
seaward boundaries.
``(D) Definitions.--In this paragraph:
``(i) Adjacent state.--The term `adjacent
State' means, with respect to any program,
plan, lease sale, leased tract or other
activity, proposed, conducted, or approved
pursuant to the provisions of this Act, any
State the laws of which are declared, pursuant
to section 4(a)(2), to be the law of the United
States for the portion of the outer Continental
Shelf on which such program, plan, lease sale,
leased tract, or activity appertains or is, or
is proposed to be, conducted.
``(ii) Adjacent zone.--The term `adjacent
zone' means, with respect to any program, plan,
lease sale, leased tract, or other activity,
proposed, conducted, or approved pursuant to
the provisions of this Act, the portion of the
outer Continental Shelf for which the laws of a
particular adjacent State are declared,
pursuant to section 4(a)(2), to be the law of
the United States.
``(iii) Producing state.--The term
`producing State' means an Adjacent State
having an adjacent zone containing leased
tracts from which are derived royalties under a
lease under this Act.
``(iv) State.--The term `State' includes
Puerto Rico and the other territories of the
United States.
``(v) Qualified oil and gas lease.--The
term `qualified oil and gas lease' means a
lease under this Act granted after the date of
the enactment of the Maximize Offshore Resource
Exploration Act of 2008 that authorizes
development and production of oil and natural
gas and associated condensate.
``(E) Application.--This paragraph shall apply to
royalties received by the United States after September
30, 2008.''.
(b) Establishment of State Seaward Boundaries.--Section 4(a)(2)(A)
of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1333(a)(2)(A)) is
amended in the first sentence by striking ``, and the President'' and
all that follows through the end of the sentence and inserting the
following: ``. Such extended lines are deemed to be as indicated on the
maps for each Outer Continental Shelf region entitled `Alaska OCS
Region State Adjacent Zone and OCS Planning Areas', `Pacific OCS Region
State Adjacent Zones and OCS Planning Areas', `Gulf of Mexico OCS
Region State Adjacent Zones and OCS Planning Areas', and `Atlantic OCS
Region State Adjacent Zones and OCS Planning Areas', all of which are
dated September 2005 and on file in the Office of the Director,
Minerals Management Service. The preceding sentence shall not apply
with respect to the treatment under section 105 of the Gulf of Mexico
Energy Security Act of 2006 (title I of division C of Public Law 109-
432) of qualified outer Continental Shelf revenues deposited and
disbursed under subsection (a)(2) of that section.''.
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