STATUS:

• June 5, 2014.--Introduced.
• June 10, 2014.--Mr. Tester added as cosponsor.
• June 18, 2014.--Mr. Hatch added as cosponsor.
• July 17, 2014.--Mr. Bennet added as cosponsor.
• July 29, 2014.--Full committee hearing held.
• September 16, 2014.--Passed Senate with amendments by Unanimous Consent.  S.AMDT.3822

BLM Permit Processing Improvement Act of 2014 (Introduced in Senate - IS)

S 2440 IS

To expand and extend the program to improve permit coordination by the Bureau of Land Management, and for other purposes.

Mr. UDALL of New Mexico (for himself, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. HOEVEN, Mr. ENZI, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. HELLER, Mr. WALSH, Mr. INHOFE, and Ms. HEITKAMP) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

To expand and extend the program to improve permit coordination by the Bureau of Land Management, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `BLM Permit Processing Improvement Act of 2014'.

SEC. 2. PROGRAM TO IMPROVE FEDERAL PERMIT COORDINATION.

Section 365 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15924) is amended--

(1) in the section heading, by striking `pilot';

(2) by striking `Pilot Project' each place it appears and inserting `Project';

(3) in subsection (b)(2), by striking `Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico' and inserting `the States in which Project offices are located';

(4) in subsection (d)--

(A) in the subsection heading, by striking `Pilot'; and

(B) by adding at the end the following:

`(8) Any other State, district, or field office of the Bureau of Land Management determined by the Secretary.';

(5) by striking subsection (e) and inserting the following:

`(e) Report to Congress- Not later than February 1 of the first fiscal year beginning after the date of enactment of the BLM Permit Processing Improvement Act of 2014 and each February 1 thereafter, the Secretary shall report to the Chairman and ranking minority Member of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives, which shall include--

`(1) the allocation of funds to each Project office for the previous fiscal year; and

`(2) the accomplishments of each Project office relating to the coordination and processing of oil and gas use authorizations during that fiscal year.';

(6) in subsection (h), by striking paragraph (6) and inserting the following:

`(6) the States in which Project offices are located.';

(7) by striking subsection (i); and

(8) by redesignating subsection (j) as subsection (i).

SEC. 3. BLM OIL AND GAS PERMIT PROCESSING FEE.

Section 35 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 191) is amended by adding at the end the following:

`(d) BLM Oil and Gas Permit Processing Fee-

`(1) IN GENERAL- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for each of fiscal years 2016 through 2026, the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, shall collect a fee for each new application for a permit to drill that is submitted to the Secretary.

`(2) AMOUNT- The amount of the fee shall be $9,500 for each new application, as indexed for United States dollar inflation from October 1, 2015 (as measured by the Consumer Price Index).

`(3) USE- Of the fees collected under this subsection for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall transfer--

`(A) for each of fiscal years 2016 through 2019--

`(i) 15 percent to the field offices that collected the fees and used to process protests, leases, and permits under this Act, subject to appropriation; and

`(ii) 85 percent to the BLM Permit Processing Improvement Fund established under subsection (c)(2)(B) (referred to in this subsection as the `Fund'); and

`(B) for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2026, all of the fees to the Fund.

`(4) ADDITIONAL COSTS- During each of fiscal years of 2016 through 2026, the Secretary shall not implement a rulemaking that would enable an increase in fees to recover additional costs related to processing applications for permits to drill.'.

SEC. 4. BLM PERMIT PROCESSING IMPROVEMENT FUND.

(a) In General- Section 35(c) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 191(c)) is amended by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following:

`(3) USE OF FUND-

`(A) IN GENERAL- The Fund shall be available to the Secretary of the Interior for expenditure, without further appropriation and without fiscal year limitation, for the coordination and processing of oil and gas use authorizations on onshore Federal land.

`(B) ACCOUNTS- The Secretary shall divide the Fund into--

`(i) a Rental Account (referred to in this subsection as the `Rental Account') comprised of rental receipts collected under this section; and

`(ii) a Fee Account (referred to in this subsection as the `Fee Account') comprised of fees collected under subsection (d).

`(4) RENTAL ACCOUNT-

`(A) IN GENERAL- The Secretary shall use the Rental Account for--

`(i) the coordination and processing of oil and gas use authorizations on onshore Federal land under the jurisdiction of the Project offices identified under section 365(d) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15924(d)); and

`(ii) training programs for development of expertise related to coordinating and processing oil and gas use authorizations.

`(B) ALLOCATION- In determining the allocation of the Rental Account among Project offices for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall consider--

`(i) the number of applications for permit to drill received in a Project office during the previous fiscal year;

`(ii) the backlog of applications described in clause (i) in a Project office;

`(iii) publicly available industry forecasts for development of oil and gas resources under the jurisdiction of a Project office; and

`(iv) any opportunities for partnership with local industry organizations and educational institutions in developing training programs to facilitate the coordination and processing of oil and gas use authorizations.

`(5) FEE ACCOUNT-

`(A) IN GENERAL- The Secretary shall use the Fee Account for the coordination and processing of oil and gas use authorizations on onshore Federal land.

`(B) ALLOCATION- The Secretary shall transfer not less than 75 percent of the revenues collected by an office for the processing of applications for permits to the State office of the State in which the fees were collected.'.

(b) Interest on Overpayment Adjustment- Section 111(h) of the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982 (30 U.S.C. 1721(h)) is amended in the first sentence by striking `the rate' and all that follows through the period at the end of the sentence and inserting `a rate equal to the sum of the Federal short-term rate determined under section 6621(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 plus 1 percentage point.'.

SEC. 5. BUDGETARY EFFECTS.

The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go-Act of 2010, shall be determined by reference to the latest statement titled `Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation' for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, provided that such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.