S.Amdt. 5153

1. Adds SEC. __. MORATORIUM OF OIL AND GAS LEASING IN CERTAIN AREAS OF GULF OF MEXICO wherever appropriate

   Adds a section

   Inserted: SEC. __. MORATORIUM OF OIL AND GAS LEASING IN CERTAIN AREAS OF GULF OF MEXICO.

   Inserted: (a) In General.--Section 104(a) of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 (43 U.S.C. 1331 note; Public Law 109-432) is amended--

   Inserted: (1) by striking paragraph (1);

   Inserted: (2) in paragraph (2), by striking "125 miles" and inserting "50 miles";

   Inserted: (3) in paragraph (3), by striking "100 miles" each place it appears and inserting "50 miles"; and

   Inserted: (4) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively.

   Inserted: (b) Regulations.--

   Inserted: (1) In general.--The Secretary of the Interior shall promulgate regulations that establish appropriate environmental safeguards for the exploration and production of oil and natural gas on the outer Continental Shelf.

   Inserted: (2) Minimum requirements.--At a minimum, the regulations shall include--

   Inserted: (A) provisions requiring surety bonds of sufficient value to ensure the mitigation of any foreseeable incident;

   Inserted: (B) provisions assigning liability to the leaseholder in the event of an incident causing damage or loss, regardless of the negligence of the leaseholder or lack of negligence;

   Inserted: (C) provisions no less stringent than those contained in the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure regulations promulgated under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.);

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   Inserted: (D) provisions ensuring that--

   Inserted: (i) no facility for the exploration or production of resources is visible to the unassisted eye from any shore of any coastal State; and

   Inserted: (ii) the impact of offshore production facilities on coastal vistas is otherwise mitigated;

   Inserted: (E) provisions to ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that exploration and production activities will result in no significant adverse effect on fish or wildlife (including habitat), subsistence resources, or the environment; and

   Inserted: (F) provisions that will impose seasonal limitations on activity to protect breeding, spawning, and wildlife migration patterns.

   Inserted: (c) Conforming Amendment.--Section 105 of the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006 (Public Law 109-54; 119 Stat. 521) (as amended by section 103(d) of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 (43 U.S.C. 1331 note; Public Law 109-432)) is amended by inserting "and any other area that the Secretary of the Interior may offer for leasing, preleasing, or any related activity under section 104 of that Act" after "2006)".

   Inserted: SEC. __. DISPOSITION OF REVENUES FROM NEW PRODUCING AREAS OF THE EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO.

   Inserted: The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

   Inserted: "SEC. 32. DISPOSITION OF REVENUES FROM NEW PRODUCING AREAS OF THE EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO.

   Inserted: "(a) Definitions.--In this section:

   Inserted: "(1) Coastal political subdivision.--The term 'coastal political subdivision' means a political subdivision of an Eastern Gulf producing State any part of which political subdivision is--

   Inserted: "(A) within the coastal zone (as defined in section 304 of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1453)) of the Eastern Gulf producing State as of the date of enactment of this section; and

   Inserted: "(B) not more than 200 nautical miles from the geographic center of any leased tract.

   Inserted: "(2) Eastern gulf producing state.--The term 'Eastern Gulf producing State' means each of the States of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.

   Inserted: "(3) Moratorium area.--The term 'moratorium area' means an area covered by section 104(a) of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 (43 U.S.C. 1331 note; Public Law 109-432) (as in effect on the day before the date of enactment of this section).

   Inserted: "(4) New producing area.--The term 'new producing area' means any moratorium area beyond the submerged land of a State that is located greater than 50 miles from the coastline of the State of Florida.

   Inserted: "(5) Qualified outer continental shelf revenues.--The term 'qualified outer Continental Shelf revenues' means all rentals, royalties, bonus bids, and other sums due and payable to the United States from leases entered into on or after the date of enactment of this section for new producing areas.

   Inserted: "(b) Leasing New Producing Areas.--The Secretary shall make new producing areas available for leasing in accordance with this Act.

   Inserted: "(c) Disposition of Qualified Outer Continental Shelf Revenues From New Producing Areas.--

   Inserted: "(1) In general.--Notwithstanding section 9 and subject to the other provisions of this subsection, for each applicable fiscal year, the Secretary of the Treasury shall deposit--

   Inserted: "(A) 50 percent of qualified outer Continental Shelf revenues in the general fund of the Treasury; and

   Inserted: "(B) 50 percent of qualified outer Continental Shelf revenues in a special account in the Treasury from which the Secretary shall disburse--

   Inserted: "(i) 75 percent to Eastern Gulf producing States in accordance with paragraph (2); and

   Inserted: "(ii) 25 percent to provide financial assistance to States in accordance with section 6 of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l -8), which shall be considered income to the Land and Water Conservation Fund for purposes of section 2 of that Act (16 U.S.C. 460l-5).

   Inserted: "(2) Allocation to eastern gulf producing states and coastal political subdivisions.--

   Inserted: "(A) Allocation to eastern gulf producing states.--Effective for fiscal year 2009 and each fiscal year thereafter, the amount made available under paragraph (1)(B)(i) shall be allocated to each Eastern Gulf producing State in amounts (based on a formula established by the Secretary by regulation) that are inversely proportional to the respective distances between the point on the coastline of each Eastern Gulf producing State that is closest to the geographic center of the applicable leased tract and the geographic center of the leased tract.

   Inserted: "(B) Payments to coastal political subdivisions.--

   Inserted: "(i) In general.--The Secretary shall pay 20 percent of the allocable share of each Eastern Gulf producing State, as determined under subparagraph (A), to the coastal political subdivisions of the Eastern Gulf producing State.

   Inserted: "(ii) Allocation.--The amount paid by the Secretary to coastal political subdivisions shall be allocated to each coastal political subdivision in accordance with subparagraphs (B) and (C) of section 31(b)(4).

   Inserted: "(3) Minimum allocation.--The amount allocated to an Eastern Gulf producing State each fiscal year under paragraph (2)(A) shall be at least 10 percent of the amounts available under paragraph (1)(B)(i).

   Inserted: "(4) Timing.--The amounts required to be deposited under subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) for the applicable fiscal year shall be made available in accordance with that subparagraph during the fiscal year immediately following the applicable fiscal year.

   Inserted: "(5) Authorized uses.--

   Inserted: "(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), each Eastern Gulf producing State and coastal political subdivision shall use all amounts received under paragraph (2) in accordance with all applicable Federal and State laws, only for 1 or more of the following purposes:

   Inserted: "(i) Projects and activities for the purposes of coastal protection, including conservation, coastal restoration, hurricane protection, and infrastructure directly affected by coastal wetland losses.

   Inserted: "(ii) Mitigation of damage to fish, wildlife, or natural resources.

   Inserted: "(iii) Implementation of a federally approved marine, coastal, or comprehensive conservation management plan.

   Inserted: "(iv) Mitigation of the impact of outer Continental Shelf activities through the funding of onshore infrastructure projects.

   Inserted: "(v) Planning assistance and the administrative costs of complying with this section.

   Inserted: "(B) Limitation.--Not more than 3 percent of amounts received by an Eastern Gulf producing State or coastal political subdivision under paragraph (2) may be used for the purposes described in subparagraph (A)(v).

   Inserted: "(6) Administration.--Amounts made available under paragraph (1)(B) shall--

   Inserted: "(A) be made available, without further appropriation, in accordance with this subsection;

   Inserted: "(B) remain available until expended; and

   Inserted: "(C) be in addition to any amounts appropriated under--

   Inserted: "(i) other provisions of this Act;

   Inserted: "(ii) the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l-4 et seq.); or

   Inserted: "(iii) any other provision of law.".

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