Emergency Energy Cut the Red Tape Now Act of 2008 - Declares without force or effect all: (1) federal prohibitions against the leasing of federal lands or federal submerged lands for exploration, development, or production of oil, gas, or oil shale; (2) federal withdrawals of such lands from such leasing; or (3) federal prohibitions against the expenditure of federal funds for such leasing.
Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to waive the application of any federal law that requires a permit to engage in drilling for oil or gas under a lease of federal lands or federal submerged lands during any period in which the most recent spot market price for West Texas Intermediate crude oil at the domestic spot market at Cushing, Oklahoma, is less than $100 per barrel. Requires such a waiver during any period in which the most recent spot price is equal to or greater than $100 per barrel.
Requires the Department of Energy to act as the lead agency to coordinate all applicable federal refinery authorizations and related environmental reviews with respect to a designated refinery.
Requires each federal and state agency or official required to provide a federal refinery authorization to cooperate with the Secretary of Energy and comply with deadlines the Secretary establishes.
Requires the Secretary to establish a schedule for all federal refinery authorizations with respect to a designated refinery.
Requires the Secretary to approve an application for a federal refinery authorization within 30 days after any failure of a federal or state administrative agency or official to complete an approval proceeding in accordance with the schedule established by the Secretary.
[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
[H.R. 6463 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6463
To terminate or provide for suspension of the application of Federal
laws that restrict exploration, development, or production of oil, gas,
or oil shale, to facilitate the construction of new crude oil
refineries, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 10, 2008
Mrs. Bachmann (for herself, Mrs. Schmidt, Mrs. Musgrave, Mr. Lamborn,
Mr. Pitts, Mr. Doolittle, Mr. Kingston, Mr. Akin, Mr. Franks of
Arizona, Mr. McHenry, Mr. Shimkus, Mr. Broun of Georgia, Mr.
Westmoreland, Mr. Latta, and Mr. Burton of Indiana) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural
Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To terminate or provide for suspension of the application of Federal
laws that restrict exploration, development, or production of oil, gas,
or oil shale, to facilitate the construction of new crude oil
refineries, 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 ``Emergency Energy Cut the Red Tape
Now Act of 2008''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Gas prices have skyrocketed to record high levels and
are negatively impacting America's economy, consumers, and
businesses.
(2) In July 2006, the average price of gas in the United
States was $2.98 per gallon and the price of a barrel of oil
was $68.86.
(3) As of July 1, 2008, the average price of gasoline in
the United States was $4.07 per gallon and the price of a
barrel of oil was $142.00.
(4) The United States currently imports from foreign
nations over 60 percent of all crude oil, gasoline, and diesel
fuel consumed by Americans annually.
(5) The Minerals Management Service has estimated that
88.85 billion barrels of oil are available in the Outer
Continental Shelf (OCS) areas of the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic
Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Alaska, yet over 80 percent of the
OCS is under Federal leasing moratorium.
(6) The United States Geological Survey estimates that
there are 16 billion barrels of recoverable oil in the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
(7) The Bureau of Land Management estimates that the United
States holds the world's largest known unconventional oil
source, known as oil shale, and that more than 70 percent of
American oil shale lies on Federal land, primarily in Colorado,
Utah, and Wyoming.
(8) These Federal lands contain an estimated 1.23 trillion
barrels of oil, which is more than 50 times the Nation's proven
conventional oil reserves.
(9) There are currently no unconventional fuels leasing
programs operating in the United States that would allow oil
and gas companies to explore and drill for oil.
(10) The Federal Government could open land in Colorado,
Utah, and Wyoming for oil exploration and the United States
could offset all of its imports from Saudi Arabia according to
Bureau of Land Management statistics.
(11) There has not been a new oil refinery built in the
United States since 1981 and between 1980 and 2006 over half of
existing United States refineries closed.
(12) The current bureaucratic permitting process to drill
for oil and gas contributes to extensive delays in exploring
United States natural resources.
(13) It has been estimated that it takes seven years and an
average of $5,000,000,000 for one offshore platform to be built
and permitted before natural gas or oil is recovered.
SEC. 3. TERMINATION OR WAIVER OF RESTRICTIONS ON LEASING FOR
EXPLORATION, DEVELOPMENT, AND PRODUCTION OF OIL, GAS, AND
OIL SHALE DURING PERIOD OF HIGH OIL PRICES.
(a) Termination of Statutory Prohibitions.--Any Federal law that
prohibits the leasing of Federal lands or Federal submerged lands for
exploration, development, or production of oil, gas, or oil shale, that
withdraws such lands from such leasing, or that prohibits the
expenditure of Federal funds for such leasing, shall have no force or
effect.
(b) Waiver of Permit Requirements.-- The Secretary of the
Interior--
(1) may waive the application of any provision of Federal
law that requires a permit to engage in drilling for oil or gas
under a lease of Federal lands or Federal submerged lands for
exploration, development, or production of oil or gas, during
any period in which the most recent the spot market price for
West Texas Intermediate crude oil at the domestic spot market
at Cushing, Oklahoma, as published by the Energy Information
Administration, is less than $100 per barrel; and
(2) shall waive the application of such provisions during
any period in which the most recent such spot market price is
equal to or greater than $100 per barrel.
SEC. 4. REFINERY PROCESS AND PROCEDURES.
(a) Definitions.--In this section--
(1) the term ``designated refinery'' means a facility
designed and operated to receive, load, unload, store,
transport, process, and refine crude oil by any chemical or
physical process, including distillation, fluid catalytic
cracking, hydrocracking, coking, alkylation, etherification,
polymerization, catalytic reforming, isomerization,
hydrotreating, blending, and any combination thereof, in order
to produce gasoline or other fuel;
(2) the term ``Federal refinery authorization''--
(A) means any authorization required under Federal
law, whether administered by a Federal or State
administrative agency or official, with respect to
siting, construction, expansion, or operation of a
refinery; and
(B) includes any permits, special use
authorizations, certifications, opinions, or other
approvals required under Federal law with respect to
siting, construction, expansion, or operation of a
refinery;
(3) the term ``refinery'' means--
(A) a facility designed and operated to receive,
load, unload, store, transport, process, and refine
crude oil by any chemical or physical process,
including distillation, fluid catalytic cracking,
hydrocracking, coking, alkylation, etherification,
polymerization, catalytic reforming, isomerization,
hydrotreating, blending, and any combination thereof,
in order to produce gasoline or other fuel; or
(B) a facility designed and operated to receive,
load, unload, store, transport, process, and refine
coal by any chemical or physical process, including
liquefaction, in order to produce gasoline, diesel, or
other liquid fuel as its primary output;
(4) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Energy;
and
(5) the term ``State'' means a State, the District of
Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any other
territory or possession of the United States.
(b) Designation as Lead Agency.--
(1) In general.--The Department of Energy shall act as the
lead agency for the purposes of coordinating all applicable
Federal refinery authorizations and related environmental
reviews with respect to a designated refinery.
(2) Other agencies.--Each Federal and State agency or
official required to provide a Federal refinery authorization
shall cooperate with the Secretary and comply with the
deadlines established by the Secretary.
(c) Schedule.--
(1) Secretary's authority to set schedule.--The Secretary
shall establish a schedule for all Federal refinery
authorizations with respect to a designated refinery. In
establishing the schedule, the Secretary shall--
(A) ensure expeditious completion of all such
proceedings; and
(B) accommodate the applicable schedules
established by Federal law for such proceedings.
(2) Failure to meet schedule.-- If a Federal or State
administrative agency or official does not complete a
proceeding for an approval that is required for a Federal
refinery authorization in accordance with the schedule
established by the Secretary under this subsection, not later
than 30 days after such failure, the Secretary shall award the
approval of the application.
(d) Consolidated Record.--The Secretary shall, with the cooperation
of Federal and State administrative agencies and officials, maintain a
complete consolidated record of all decisions made or actions taken by
the Secretary or by a Federal administrative agency or officer (or
State administrative agency or officer acting under delegated Federal
authority) with respect to any Federal refinery authorization.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line