Offshore Lease Buyback Act of 1991 - Amends the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to change from discretionary to mandatory the Secretary of the Interior's authority to cancel leases or permits in specified circumstances.
Prohibits the cancellation of a lease or permit unless operations under it have been suspended or temporarily prohibited by the Secretary or pursuant to an Act of the Congress. (Present law provides for suspension by the Secretary alone.) Decreases the extension of such suspended lease from five years to one.
Allows the compensation for a cancelled lease to be made in the form of a credit against bonus, rent, royalty, or permit fee payments.
Requires the national interest of lands within the Outer Continental Shelf to be determined by application of a balancing process that gives weight to obtaining oil and gas supplies and protection of the environment, while allowing for consideration of other factors.
Requires completion (subject to peer review) and publication within 180 days before an oil and gas lease sale of any environmental impact study of any area or region included in the lease sale.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs.
Referred to the House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries.
Executive Comment Requested from Interior.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Oceanography, Great Lakes, and the Outer Continental Shelf.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Water, Power and Offshore Energy Resources.
See H.R.776.
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