[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 53 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 53
To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to authorize the Secretary of the
Interior to issue separately, for the same area, a lease for tar sand
and a lease for oil and gas, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 24, 2005
Mr. Hatch introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to authorize the Secretary of the
Interior to issue separately, for the same area, a lease for tar sand
and a lease for oil and 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. COMBINED HYDROCARBON LEASING.
(a) Special Provisions Regarding Leasing.--Section 17(b)(2) of the
Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(b)(2)) is amended--
(1) by inserting ``(A)'' after ``(2)''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(B) The Secretary may issue under this Act for the same area,
separately--
``(i) a lease for exploration for and extraction of tar
sand; and
``(ii) a lease for exploration for and development of oil
and gas.
``(C) A lease issued under subparagraph (B)(ii) shall not be
further subject to the Combined Hydrocarbon Leasing Act of 1981 (30
U.S.C. 181 et seq.).
``(D) A lease issued for tar sand shall be issued using the same
bidding process, annual rental, and posting period as a lease issued
for oil and gas, except that the minimum acceptable bid required for a
lease issued for tar sand shall be $2 per acre.
``(E) The Secretary may waive, suspend, or alter any requirement
under section 26 that a permittee under a permit authorizing
prospecting for tar sand must exercise due diligence, to promote any
resource covered by a combined hydrocarbon lease.''.
(b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 17(b)(1)(B) of the Mineral
Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226(b)(1)(B)) is amended in the second sentence
by inserting ``, subject to paragraph (2)(B),'' after ``the
Secretary''.
(c) Regulations.--Within 45 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall issue final regulations
to implement this section.
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