H.R. 7304 — Introduced in House

I 117th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 7304 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 30, 2022Mr. Rosendale (for himself, Mr. Carl, Mr. Newhouse, Mr. Stauber, Mrs. Boebert, Mr. Westerman, Mr. Wittman, Ms. Herrell, Mr. McClintock, Mr. Stewart, Ms. Van Duyne, Mr. Moore of Alabama, Mr. Tiffany, Mr. Graves of Louisiana, Ms. Cheney, Mr. Lamborn, Mr. Balderson, Ms. Stefanik, Mrs. Hinson, and Mr. Gohmert) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To require the Secretary of the Interior to immediately resume onshore oil and gas lease sales, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Restore Onshore Energy Production Act. 2. Onshore oil and gas leasing (a) Requirement To immediately resume onshore oil and gas lease sales (1) In general The Secretary of the Interior shall immediately resume onshore oil and gas lease sales in compliance with the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.). (2) Requirement The Secretary of the Interior shall ensure that any oil and gas lease sale pursuant to paragraph (1) is conducted immediately on completion of all applicable scoping, public comment, and environmental analysis requirements under the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). (b) Annual lease sales (1) In general In accordance with the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.), beginning in fiscal year 2022, the Secretary of the Interior shall annually conduct a minimum of four oil and gas lease sales in each of the following States: (A) Wyoming. (B) New Mexico. (C) Colorado. (D) Utah. (E) Montana. (F) North Dakota. (G) Oklahoma. (H) Nevada. (I) Any other State in which there is land available for oil and gas leasing under the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) or any other mineral leasing law. (2) Requirement In conducting a lease sale under paragraph (1) in a State described in that paragraph, the Secretary of the Interior shall offer all parcels eligible for oil and gas exploration, development, and production under the resource management plan in effect for the State. (3) Replacement sales If, for any reason, a lease sale under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year is canceled, delayed, or deferred, including for a lack of eligible parcels, the Secretary of the Interior shall conduct a replacement sale during the same fiscal year. (c) Onshore oil and gas leasing delays Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226) is amended by adding at the end the following: (q) Unreasonable delays (1) In general The President shall not, through Executive order or any other administrative procedure, unreasonably pause, cancel, delay, defer, or otherwise impede or circumvent any Federal energy mineral leasing processes under this Act, or a related rulemaking process required by subchapter II of chapter 5, and chapter 7, of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the Administrative Procedure Act), without congressional approval. (2) Rebuttable presumption There shall be a rebuttable presumption that any attempt by the President to pause, cancel, delay, defer, or otherwise impede or circumvent any Federal energy mineral leasing process, or a related rulemaking process, described in paragraph (1), without congressional approval, is considered unreasonable for purposes of paragraph (1). .