II
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 319
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 9, 2023
Ms. Lummis (for herself, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Braun, Mrs. Britt, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Cotton, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Hoeven, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Lee, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Risch, Mr. Tuberville, Mr. Wicker, and Mr. Mullin) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
A BILL
To prohibit the President from issuing moratoria on leasing and permitting energy and minerals on certain Federal land.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the Protecting Our Wealth of Energy Resources Act of 2023
or the POWER Act
.
Prohibition on moratoria of new energy leases on certain Federal land and on withdrawal of Federal land from energy development
Definitions
In this section:
Federal land
In general
The term Federal land means—
National Forest System land;
public lands (as defined in section 103 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702));
the outer Continental Shelf (as defined in section 2 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331)); and
land managed by the Secretary of Energy.
Inclusion
The term Federal land includes land described in clauses (i) through (iv) of subparagraph (A) for which the rights to the surface estate or subsurface estate are owned by a non-Federal entity.
Mineral
The term mineral means any mineral subject to sections 2319 through 2344 of the Revised Statutes (commonly known as the Mining Law of 1872
) (30 U.S.C. 22 et seq.), and minerals located on lands acquired by the United States
(as defined in section 2 of the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands (30 U.S.C. 351)).
President
The term President means the President or any designee, including—
the Secretary of Agriculture;
the Secretary of Energy; and
the Secretary of the Interior.
Prohibitions
In general
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the President shall not carry out any action that would prohibit or substantially delay the issuance of any of the following on Federal land, unless such an action has been authorized by an Act of Congress:
New oil and gas leases, drill permits, approvals, or authorizations.
New coal leases, permits, approvals, or authorizations.
New mineral patents, leases, permits, approvals, or authorizations.
Prohibition on withdrawal
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the President may not withdraw any Federal land from forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public land laws, location, entry, and patent under the mining laws, or disposition under laws pertaining to mineral and geothermal leasing or mineral materials unless the withdrawal has been authorized by an Act of Congress.