Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that amends onshore energy permitting procedures for projects on federal lands, requires lease sales in the Alaska National Petroleum Reserve, and establishes a fee for official protests of Bureau of Land Management decisions.

Highlights:

• Requires the Secretary of the Interior to issue a determination on any drilling permit application within 30 days of receiving the application (Sec. 1111).

• Specifies that applications will automatically be approved if a determination is not issued within 60 days after the application is received (Sec. 1111).

• Authorizes a drilling permit application review period to be extended by up to 2 periods of 15 days each if the applicant is notified in writing of the extension and provided with the names and titles of the individuals processing the application, the reason for the delay, and an expected date of the final determination (Sec. 1111).

• Requires the Secretary of the Interior to provide any applicant whose drilling permit application is rejected with a written explanation of any deficiencies, an opportunity to remedy the deficiencies, and an opportunity to reapply within 10 days (Sec. 1111).

• Establishes an application fee of $6,500 per drilling permit which is due at the time a final determination is issued (Sec. 1111).

• Establishes a documentation fee of $5,000 for any individual wishing to protest a lease, right of way, or drilling application for an oil or gas drilling project on federal land (Sec. 1121).

• Requires the Secretary of the Interior to offer annual on-shore lease sales for at least 25 percent of federal land not previously made available for lease for the development of oil or gas drilling projects (Sec. 1202).

• Requires the Secretary of the Interior to meet certain requirements for lease sales of federal lands for the development of oil or gas drilling projects including, but not limited to, the following (Sec. 1203):
• Prohibits the withdrawal of a covered energy project without a violation of the lease terms by the lessee;
• Prohibits the indefinite delay of project approvals, drilling and seismic permits, and rights of way;
• Requires all sold leases to be issued within 60 days of the final payment for the lease; and
• Requires a lease protest to be adjudicated within 60 days of the lease sale or the protest will automatically be denied.

• Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to conduct onshore lease sales through online auctions (Sec. 4002).

• Requires the Secretary of the Interior to hold lease sales for at least 10 parcels of land for research, development, and demonstration of oil shale resources within 180 days of the enactment of this bill (Sec. 1303).

• Requires the Secretary of the Interior to hold at least 5 commercial lease sales for multiple parcels of land that are at least 25,000 acres each and are nominated by public comment to have the most potential for oil shale development, by January 1, 2016 (Sec. 1303).

• Requires the Secretary of the Interior to conduct at least 1 lease sale per year between 2013 and 2023 of plots within the Alaskan National Petroleum Reserve considered to have the most potential for production of commercial quantities of oil and natural gas (Sec. 3003).

• Requires the Secretary of the Interior to submit a right of way plan to Congress within 270 days of the enactment of this bill for pipeline, road, or other surface infrastructure necessary to ensure that all leasable tracts in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska are within 25 miles of an approved road and pipeline right-of-way (Sec. 3004).

• Requires the Secretary of the Interior to issue an environmental impact statement for the issuance of oil and gas leases in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska within 180 days of the enactment of this bill (Sec. 3005).

• Requires the Secretary of the Interior to establish “clear” requirements within 180 days of the enactment of this bill to ensure that the Department of the Interior supports development of oil and gas leases in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (Sec. 3006).

• Requires the Secretary of the Interior to publish a “Quadrennial Federal Onshore Energy Production Strategy” every 4 years that establishes production objectives for the development of energy resources on federal lands and specifies the measures that will be taken to meet those objectives (Sec. 2002).

• Expresses the sense of Congress that federally recognized Indian tribes are authorized to set energy production objectives as part of the Quadrennial Federal Onshore Energy Production Strategy (Sec. 2002).

• Requires civil lawsuits related to the leasing of federal lands for energy exploration, development, production, processing, and transmission to meet certain requirements including, but not limited to, the following (Secs. 1141, 1143, 1146 & 1147):
• Requires a civil action to be filed no later than 90 days after the final agency action;
• Limits an initial injunction of an energy project to no more than 60 days;
• Requires a court to explicitly renew an injunction every 30-days; and
• Prohibits federal payment of a plaintiff’s attorneys’ fees, expenses, and court costs.

• Limits comments and reviews of environmental impact statements regarding “major federal action” on Native American lands to members of the Indian tribe that owns the land and any other individuals residing within the affected area (Sec. 5004).

• Requires the Secretary of the Interior to enter into stewardship contracts to provide woody biomass from federal land for at least 4 new demonstration projects for each fiscal year 2014 through 2018 to promote biomass energy production on Native American forest land and in nearby communities (Sec. 5006).

• Prohibits Department of the Interior regulations on hydraulic fracturing used in the development or production of oil or gas resources from applying to Indian land that is held in trust or restricted status (Sec. 5009).

• Appropriates no more than $5 million per year from wind and solar energy right-of-way authorization fees as follows (Sec. 1112):
• At least 25 percent of the funds for the Department of the Interior field offices for solar and wind permitting and management activities;
• At least 25 percent of the funds for Bureau of Land Management solar and wind permit approval activities; and
• At least 25 percent of the funds for the Secretary of the Interior for department-wide solar and wind permitting activities.

Full Bill Text

Full Bill Text