[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3646 Placed on Calendar Senate (PCS)]
Calendar No. 120
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3646
To authorize and expedite lease sales within the outer Continental
Shelf, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 27 (legislative day, September 17), 2008
Mr. DeMint introduced the following bill; which was read the first time
November 18, 2008
Read the second time and placed on the calendar under authority of the
order of the Senate of November 17 (legislative day, September 17),
2008
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize and expedite lease sales within the outer Continental
Shelf, 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 ``Drill Now Act of 2008''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Opened area.--The term ``opened area'' means any area
of the outer Continental shelf that--
(A) before the date of enactment of this Act, was
closed to oil or gas leasing; and
(B) as of the date of enactment of this Act, is
made available for leasing pursuant to section 3(a) and
the amendments made by that section.
(2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior.
SEC. 3. LEASING ON OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF.
(a) Opening New Offshore Areas to Oil and Gas Development.--
(1) In general.--Sections 104 and 105 of the Department of
the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations
Act, 2008 (Public Law 110-161; 121 Stat. 2118) are repealed.
(2) Eastern gulf of mexico.--Section 104 of the Gulf of
Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 (43 U.S.C. 1331 note; Public
Law 109-432) is amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 104. DESIGNATION OF NATIONAL DEFENSE AREAS.
``The United States reserves the right to designate by and through
the Secretary of Defense, with the approval of the President, national
defense areas on the outer Continental Shelf pursuant to section 12(d)
of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1341(d)).''.
(b) Expedited Leasing.--The Secretary may conduct leasing,
preleasing, and related activities for any opened area before June 30,
2012, notwithstanding the omission of the opened area from the Outer
Continental Shelf leasing program developed pursuant to section 18 of
the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344) for the period
ending June 30, 2012.
(c) No Surface Occupancy.--Any lease issued by the Secretary
pursuant to section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43
U.S.C. 1337) for any submerged land of the outer Continental Shelf in
any opened area lying within 25 miles of the coastline of any State
shall include a provision prohibiting permanent surface occupancy under
that lease within that 25-mile area.
(d) Disposition of Revenues From Outer Continental Shelf Areas
Opened Under This Section.--
(1) In general.--Notwithstanding section 9 of the Outer
Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1338) and subject to the
other provisions of this section, the Secretary of the Treasury
shall deposit rentals, royalties, bonus bids, and other sums
due and payable from any leased tract within an opened area,
and from all other leased tracts in any other area for which
leases are entered into after the date of enactment of this
Act, as follows:
(A) 50 percent in the general fund of the Treasury.
(B) 50 in a special account in the Treasury, for
allocation by the Secretary among the States in
accordance with paragraph (2).
(2) Allocation.--
(A) In general.--For fiscal year 2009 and each
fiscal year thereafter, the amount made available under
paragraph (1)(B) shall be allocated among States in
amounts (based on a formula established by the
Secretary by regulation) that are inversely
proportional to the respective distances between--
(i) the point on the coastline of each
State that is closest to the geographical
center of the applicable leased tract; and
(ii) the geographical center of the leased
tract.
(B) Prohibition on receipt of amounts.--No State
shall receive any amount under this paragraph from a
leased tract if the geographical center of that leased
tract is more than 200 nautical miles from the
coastline of that State.
(3) Administration.--Amounts made available under paragraph
(1)(B) shall--
(A) be made available, without further
appropriation, in accordance with this section;
(B) remain available until expended; and
(C) be in addition to any amounts appropriated
under--
(i) the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act
(43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.);
(ii) the Land and Water Conservation Fund
Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l-4 et seq.); or
(iii) any other provision of law.
(e) Judicial Review.--
(1) Filing of complaint.--
(A) Deadline.--Subject to subparagraph (B), any
complaint seeking judicial review of any provision of
this section or any action of the Secretary under this
section or relating to areas opened under the
amendments made by subsection (a) shall be filed in any
appropriate United States district court--
(i) except as provided in clause (ii), not
later than the end of the 90-day period
beginning on the date of the action being
challenged; or
(ii) in the case of a complaint based
solely on grounds arising after that period,
not later than 90 days after the date on which
the complainant knew or reasonably should have
known of the grounds for the complaint.
(B) Venue.--Any complaint seeking judicial review
of an action of the Secretary under this section or
relating to areas opened under subsection (a) may be
filed only in the United States Court of Appeals for
the District of Columbia.
(C) Limitation on scope of certain review.--
(i) In general.--Judicial review of a
decision of the Secretary to conduct a lease
sale for areas opened under the amendments made
by subsection (a), including the environmental
analysis relating to such a decision, shall
be--
(I) limited to whether the
Secretary has complied with the terms
of this section and the Outer
Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C.
1331 et seq.); and
(II) based upon the administrative
record of that decision.
(ii) Presumption.--In any judicial review
described in clause (i), the identification by
the Secretary of a preferred course of action
to enable leasing to proceed, and the analysis
of the Secretary of any environmental effects
of that course of action, shall be presumed to
be correct unless shown otherwise by clear and
convincing evidence to the contrary.
(2) Limitation on other review.--Actions of the Secretary
with respect to which review could have been obtained under
this section shall not be subject to judicial review in any
civil or criminal proceeding for enforcement.
(f) Repeal of Restriction on Oil Shale Leasing.--Section 433 of the
Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
Appropriations Act, 2008 (Public Law 110-161; 121 Stat. 2152) is
repealed.
Calendar No. 120
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3646
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize and expedite lease sales within the outer Continental
Shelf, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
November 18, 2008
Read the second time and placed on the calendar