119-s109

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 109 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 109

 To require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct certain offshore 
lease sales under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, and for other 
 purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 January 16, 2025

Mr. Cassidy (for himself, Mrs. Hyde-Smith, Mr. Wicker, Mrs. Britt, and 
Mr. Tuberville) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
 referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct certain offshore 
lease sales under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, 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 ``Offshore Energy Security Act of 
2025''.

SEC. 2. OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASE SALES.

    (a) 

=== Definitions. ===
-In this section:

    (1) Offshore lease sale.--The term ``offshore lease sale'' 
 means an oil and gas lease sale--
        (A) that is held by the Secretary in accordance 
 with the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 
 1331 et seq.), notwithstanding the requirements of 
 

section 18 of that Act (43 U.S.C. 1344);
        (B) offers the same lease form, lease terms, 
 economic conditions, and stipulations as contained in 
 the final notice of sale entitled ``Gulf of Mexico 
 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Lease Sale 261'' 
 (88 Fed. Reg. 80750 (November 20, 2023)); and
            (C) that, if any acceptable bids have been received 
 for any tract offered in the lease sale, results in the 
 issuance of leases within 90 days of the sale to the 
 highest bids on the tracts offered, subject to the 
 procedures for determining bid adequacy of the Bureau 
 of Ocean Energy Management, effective March 8, 2016, 
 with respect to--
            (i) Central Gulf of Mexico Sale 241; and
            (ii) Eastern Gulf of Mexico Sale 226.

    (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
 of the Interior.

    (b) Waiver.--The Secretary may waive any other requirements under 

section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344) 
that would delay final approval of an offshore lease sale under 
subsection
            (c) .
            (c) Requirement.--Notwithstanding the 2024-2029 National Outer 
Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, the Secretary shall--

    (1) conduct not fewer than 20 offshore lease sales, as 
 described under subsection
            (d) , during the 10-year period 
 beginning on the date of enactment of this Act; and

    (2) to the maximum extent practicable, carry out a lease 
 sale under this subsection in accordance with the Record of 
 Decision approved by the Secretary on January 17, 2017, and 
 described in the notice of availability of the Bureau of Ocean 
 Energy Management entitled ``Record of Decision for the 2017-
 2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program Final 
 Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement; MMAA104000'' (82 
 Fed. Reg. 6643 (January 19, 2017)).
            (d) Timing.--In conducting the offshore lease sales under 
subsection
            (c) , the Secretary shall conduct a lease sale under this 
section not later than each of the following dates:

    (1) March 31, 2026.

    (2) August 31, 2026.

    (3) March 31, 2027.

    (4) August 31, 2027.

    (5) March 31, 2028.

    (6) August 31, 2028.

    (7) March 31, 2029.

    (8) August 31, 2029.

    (9) March 31, 2030.

    (10) August 31, 2030.

    (11) March 31, 2031.

    (12) August 31, 2031.

    (13) March 31, 2032.

    (14) August 31, 2032.

    (15) March 31, 2033.

    (16) August 31, 2033.

    (17) March 31, 2034.

    (18) August 31, 2034.

    (19) March 31, 2035.

    (20) August 31, 2035.

    (e) Area Offered for Lease.--

    (1) Acreage.--The Secretary shall offer not fewer than 
 74,000,000 acres for each offshore lease sale conducted under 
 subsection
            (c) .

    (2) Location.--An offshore lease sale conducted under 
 subsection
            (c) shall be in the Gulf of Mexico Region Program 
 Area as identified in Figure S-1 of the 2017-2022 Outer 
 Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Final Program 
 published on November 18, 2016 by the Bureau of Ocean Energy 
 Management (as announced in the notice of availability of the 
 Bureau of Ocean Energy Management entitled ``Notice of 
 Availability of the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and 
 Gas Leasing Proposed Final Program (81 Fed. Reg. 84612 
 (November 23, 2016)))''.

    (f) Effect of Litigation.--

    (1) In general.--A civil action relating to an 
 environmental review under the National Environmental Policy 
 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) with respect to an 
 offshore lease sale conducted under this section shall not--
        (A) affect the validity of a lease issued under the 
 offshore lease sale that is the subject of the civil 
 action; or
        (B) except as provided in paragraph

    (3)
        (B) , cause a 
 delay in the timelines for the consideration of an 
 application for permit to drill with respect to a lease 
 issued under the offshore lease sale that is the 
 subject of the civil action.

    (2) Remand; processing of applications for permit to 
 drill.--If, in a civil action described in paragraph

    (1) , the 
 environmental review for an offshore lease sale is found by the 
 applicable court to violate the National Environmental Policy 
 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.)--
        (A) notwithstanding subchapter II of chapter 5, and 
 chapter 7, of title 5, United States Code (commonly 
 known as the ``Administrative Procedures Act''), the 
 applicable court shall not set aside the offshore lease 
 sale and vacate the leases issued pursuant to the sale 
 but instead remand the matter to the Secretary to 
 resolve the violation; and
        (B) the Secretary shall continue to process all 
 applicable applications for permit to drill in 
 accordance with the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 
 (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.).

    (3) Notice.--
        (A) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the 
 date on which a civil action described in paragraph

    (1) is filed, the Secretary shall notify the holder of any 
 lease issued under the lease sale that is the subject 
 of the civil action of the filing of the civil action.
        (B) Timeline.--Not later than 90 days after the 
 date of receipt of a notice under subparagraph
        (A) , the 
 holder of the lease may file with the Secretary, and 
 the Secretary may approve, a request to pause the 
 timeline with respect to the term of the lease during 
 any period in which the civil action is pending.

    (g) Moratorium on Oil and Gas Leasing in the Eastern Gulf of 
Mexico.--

Section 104 of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 
(43 U.S.C. 1331 note; Public Law 109-432) is amended--

    (1) in subsection

    (a) --
        (A) in the matter preceding paragraph

    (1) , by 
 striking ``June 30, 2022'' and inserting ``December 31, 
 2035'';
        (B) in paragraph

    (2) , by striking ``or'' after the 
 semicolon;
            (C) in paragraph

    (3)
        (B)
            (iii) , by striking the 
 period at the end and inserting a semicolon; and
            (D) by adding at the end the following:
 ``

    (4) any area in the South Atlantic Planning Area (as 
 designated by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management as of the 
 date of enactment of this paragraph); or
 ``

    (5) any area in the Straits of Florida Planning Area (as 
 designated by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management as of the 
 date of enactment of this paragraph).''; and

    (2) by adding at the end the following:
 ``
            (d) Effect on Certain Leases.--The moratoria under subsection

    (a) shall not affect valid existing leases in effect on the date of 
enactment of this subsection.
 ``

    (e) Environmental Exceptions.--Notwithstanding subsection

    (a) , 
the Secretary may issue leases in areas described in that subsection 
for environmental conservation purposes, including the purposes of 
shore protection, beach nourishment and restoration, wetlands 
restoration, and habitat protection.''.
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