II
Calendar No. 120
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3646
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.
Short title
This Act may be cited as
the Drill Now Act of
2008
.
Definitions
In this Act:
Opened area
The term opened area means any area of the outer Continental shelf that—
before the date of enactment of this Act, was closed to oil or gas leasing; and
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.
Secretary
The term Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior.
Leasing on outer Continental Shelf
Opening new offshore areas to oil and gas development
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of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2008 (Public Law 110–161; 121 Stat. 2118) are repealed.
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:
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)).
.
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.
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.
Disposition of revenues from outer Continental Shelf areas opened under this section
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:
50 percent in the general fund of the Treasury.
50 in a special account in the Treasury, for allocation by the Secretary among the States in accordance with paragraph (2).
Allocation
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—
the point on the coastline of each State that is closest to the geographical center of the applicable leased tract; and
the geographical center of the leased tract.
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.
Administration
Amounts made available under paragraph (1)(B) shall—
be made available, without further appropriation, in accordance with this section;
remain available until expended; and
be in addition to any amounts appropriated under—
the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.);
the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l–4 et seq.); or
any other provision of law.
Judicial review
Filing of complaint
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—
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
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.
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.
Limitation on scope of certain review
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—
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
based upon the administrative record of that decision.
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.
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.
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.
November 18, 2008
Read the second time and placed on the calendar