S.Amdt. 471

SA 471. Mr. LANKFORD submitted an amendment intended to be proposed
by him to the bill S. 2226, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2024 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place in title XXVIII, insert the
following:

SEC. ___. PRODUCTION AND USE OF NATURAL GAS AT DEPARTMENT OF
DEFENSE INSTALLATIONS.

(a) Authority.--
(1) In general.--Notwithstanding section 3 of the Mineral
Leasing Act for Acquired Lands (30 U.S.C. 352), the Secretary
of Defense may--
(A) produce any natural gas located within land under the
geographic footprint of any installation of the Department of
Defense within the United States, including within any
territory of the United States; and
(B) treat, manage, and use the natural gas produced
pursuant to subparagraph (A).
(2) Contract authority.--To carry out any authority
described in paragraph (1), the Secretary of the Army may
enter into a contract with an entity determined appropriate
by the Secretary.
(b) Royalties to States or Territories.--
(1) Value of royalties.--Beginning after the date of the
enactment of this Act, as soon as practicable after the end
of each calendar year, the Secretary of the Interior shall
provide to the Secretary of Defense, for natural gas produced
at any installation of the Department pursuant to subsection
(a) during that calendar year, information on the amount of
royalty payments that the State or territory where each such
installation is location would have received under the
Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands (30 U.S.C. 351 et
seq.) if the natural gas had been produced pursuant to a
lease issued under that Act.
(2) Access to information.--On request of the Secretary of
the Interior, the Secretary of Defense shall promptly provide
all information, documents, and other materials the Secretary
of the Interior considers necessary to calculate the amount
of royalty payments under paragraph (1).
(3) Payments; disbursements.--
(A) Payments to treasury.--On receipt of the information
from the Secretary of the Interior under paragraph (1) each
calendar year, the Secretary of Defense shall, for each State
or territory, as applicable, deposit in the Treasury of the
United States an amount equal to the amount of the royalty
payments calculated under that paragraph.
(B) Disbursements.--The Secretary of the Interior shall
disburse to each State or territory an amount equal to the
amount deposited in the Treasury of the United States by the
Secretary of Defense for such State or territory pursuant to
subparagraph (A) as though the amounts were being disbursed
to the State or territory under section 6 of the Mineral
Leasing Act for Acquired Lands (30 U.S.C. 355).
(4) Waiver authority.--On receipt of written notice from
the governor of a State or territory consenting to the waiver
of any of the requirements of paragraph (1), the Secretary of
the Interior shall waive that requirement.
(c) Ownership of Facilities.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of Defense may take
ownership of any gas production and treatment equipment and
facilities and associated infrastructure from an entity with
which the Secretary has entered into a contract under
subsection (a)(2) in accordance with the terms of such
contract.
(2) Responsibility.--With respect to a natural gas well
installed on an installation of the Department and subject to
this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall have no
responsibility for--
(A) the plugging, abandonment, or reclamation of such well;
or
(B) any environmental damage caused by or associated with
the production of such well.
(d) Limitation on Uses.--Natural gas produced pursuant to
subsection (a) may be used only to support activities and
operations at the installation at which such gas was
produced.
(e) Safety Standards for Gas Wells.--
(1) In general.--A natural gas well installed on any
installation of the Department and subject to this Act shall
meet the same technical installation and operating standards
required for a natural gas well installed under a lease
issued pursuant to the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands
(30 U.S.C. 351 et seq.), including--
(A) the gas measurement requirements under the Federal Oil
and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982 (30 U.S.C. 1701 et
seq.); and
(B) the operational standards required by the Bureau of
Land Management pursuant to part 3160 of title 43, Code of
Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation).
(2) Compliance.--With respect to a natural gas well
installed on any installation of the Department and subject
to this Act--
(A) the Bureau of Land Management shall--
(i) ensure compliance by the Secretary of Defense with the
standards described in paragraph (1); and
(ii) report any violations of the standards to the
Secretary of Defense; and
(B) the Secretary of Defense shall take such actions as are
necessary to bring the well into compliance with such
standards.
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