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United States Code (Last Updated: May 24, 2014) |
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Title 42. THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE |
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Chapter 78. NATIONAL PETROLEUM RESERVE IN ALASKA |
§ 6506a. Competitive leasing of oil and gas
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(a) In general The Secretary shall conduct an expeditious program of competitive leasing of oil and gas in the Reserve in accordance with this Act.
(b) Mitigation of adverse effects Activities undertaken pursuant to this Act shall include or provide for such conditions, restrictions, and prohibitions as the Secretary deems necessary or appropriate to mitigate reasonably foreseeable and significantly adverse effects on the surface resources of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska.
(c) Land use planning; BLM wilderness study The provisions of section 1712 and section 1782 of title 43 shall not be applicable to the Reserve.
(d) First lease sale The; of the National Environmental Policy Act (Public Law 91–190) [42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)], with regard to the first two oil and gas lease sales in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska: Provided, That not more than a total of 2,000,000 acres may be leased in these two sales: Provided further, That any exploration or production undertaken pursuant to this section shall be in accordance with section 6504(a) of this title.
(o) Regulations As soon as practicable after
August 8, 2005 , the Secretary shall issue regulations to implement this section.(p) Waiver of administration for conveyed lands (1) In general Notwithstanding section 1613(g) of title 43— (A) the Secretary of the Interior shall waive administration of any oil and gas lease to the extent that the lease covers any land in the Reserve in which all of the subsurface estate is conveyed to the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (referred to in this subsection as the “Corporation”); (B) (i) in a case in which a conveyance of a subsurface estate described in subparagraph (A) does not include all of the land covered by the oil and gas lease, the person that owns the subsurface estate in any particular portion of the land covered by the lease shall be entitled to all of the revenues reserved under the lease as to that portion, including, without limitation, all the royalty payable with respect to oil or gas produced from or allocated to that portion; (ii) in a case described in clause (i), the Secretary of the Interior shall— (I) segregate the lease into 2 leases, 1 of which shall cover only the subsurface estate conveyed to the Corporation; and (II) waive administration of the lease that covers the subsurface estate conveyed to the Corporation; and (iii) the segregation of the lease described in clause (ii)(I) has no effect on the obligations of the lessee under either of the resulting leases, including obligations relating to operations, production, or other circumstances (other than payment of rentals or royalties); and (C) nothing in this subsection limits the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to manage the federally-owned surface estate within the Reserve.
References In Text
This Act, referred to in subsecs. (a), (b), (i)(5), and (l) is Pub. L. 94–258,
The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, referred to in subsec. (d), is Pub. L. 91–190,
Section 205(a)(1)(A) through (H) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act Amendments of 1978, referred to in subsec. (f), probably should have been a reference to section 8(a)(1)(A) through (H) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (act Aug. 7, 1953, ch. 345), as amended by section 205(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act Amendments of 1978 (Pub. L. 95–372), which is classified to section 1337(a)(1)(A)–(H) of Title 43, Public Lands. Subpar. (H) of section 8(a)(1) of act
Section 1431(o) of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, referred to in subsec. (k)(1)(A), is section 1431(o) of title XIV of Pub. L. 96–487,
Codification
Section, which consisted of the matter under the heading “Exploration of National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska” in title I of Pub. L. 96–514, as amended, prior to being renumbered section 107 of Pub. L. 94–258, was formerly classified to section 6508 of this title.
Prior Provisions
A prior section 107 of Pub. L. 94–258 was renumbered 108 and is classified to section 6507 of this title.
Amendments
2005—Pub. L. 109–58 amended section catchline and revised and restructured text into subsecs. (a) to (p). Amendments by Pub. L. 109–58, § 347(b)(2) to (7), were executed by disregarding the second set of closed quotation marks in each such paragraph to reflect the probable intent of Congress. Prior to amendment, text related to competitive leasing of oil and gas and consisted of four undesignated pars.
1997—Pub. L. 105–83, in first par., substituted cls. (8) to (11) and two concluding provisos for “(8) each lease shall be issued for an initial period of up to ten years, and shall be extended for so long thereafter as oil or gas is produced from the lease in paying quantities, or as drilling or reworking operations, as approved by the Secretary, are conducted thereon; and (9) all receipts from sales, rentals, bonuses, and royalties on leases issued pursuant to this Act shall be paid into the Treasury of the United States: Provided, That 50 per centum thereof shall be paid by the Secretary of the Treasury semiannually, as soon as practicable after March 30 and September 30 each year, to the State of Alaska for (a) planning, (b) construction, maintenance, and operation of essential public facilities, and (c) other necessary provisions of public service: Provided further, That in the allocation of such funds, the State shall give priority to use by subdivisions of the State most directly or severely impacted by development of oil and gas leased under this Act.”
1984—Pub. L. 98–620 struck out provision in third par. that required that any proceeding on such action be assigned for hearing at the earliest possible date and be expedited by the Court.
Effective Date Of Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 98–620 not applicable to cases pending on