Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that prohibits the Bureau of Land Management from administering an oil and gas leasing, development, production and transportation program in and from the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.

Highlights:

• Repeals the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Oil and Gas Program established under the Alaska National Interests Land Conservation Act (Sec. 2).

• Amends the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to collect, from the operators of facilities subject to inspection, non-refundable fees for inspections (Sec. 3):

• At an aggregate level equal to the amount necessary to offset the annual expenses of inspections of outer Continential Shelf facilities, including mobile offshore drilling units, by the Secretary of the Interior; and 

• Using a schedule that reflects the differences in complexity among the classes of facilities to be inspected. 

• Establishes the Ocean Energy Safety Fund within the Treasury, into which monies of all amounts, collected as the fees referred to in the previous highlight, will be deposited (Sec. 3).

• Requires all amounts deposited into the Fund to (Sec. 3):

• Be credited as offsetting collections;

• Be available for expenditure for purposes of carrying out inspections of outer Continential Shelf facilities, including mobile offshore drilling units, and the administration of the inspection under this act;

• Be available only to the extent provided for in advance in an appropriations bill; and

• Remain available until expended.

• Requires annual fees in place at the start of the fiscal year to be collected for facilities that are above the waterline, excluding drilling rigs, and specifies that fees for fiscal year 2020 will be as follows (Sec. 3):

• $25,300 for facilities with no wells, but with processing equipment or gathering lines;

• $40,700 for facilities with 1 to 10 wells, with any combination of active or inactive wells; and 

• $75,900 for facilities with more than 10 wells, with any combination of active or inactive wells. 

• Requires fees to be collected for drilling rigs on a per inspection basis, and fees for fiscal year 2020 to include (Sec. 3):

• $73,700 per inspection for rigs operating in water depths of 500 feet or more; and 

• $40,700 per inspection for rigs operating in water depths of less than 500 feet. 

• Requires fees to be collected for well operations conducted via non-rig units on a per inspection basis, and specifies that fees for fiscal year 2020 will include (Sec. 3):

• $29,172 per inspection for non-rig units operating in water depths of 2,500 feet or more; 

• $25,366 per inspection for non-rig units operating in water depths between 500 and 2,499 feet; and 

• $9,834 per inspection for non-rig units operating in water depths of less than 500 feet.

• Requires the Secretary to adjust each dollar amount specified above, for inflation based on the change in the Consumer Price Index from fiscal year 2020 (Sec. 3).

Full Bill Text

Full Bill Text