federal lands freedom act

https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/866/all-info

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Summary (1)

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Introduced in House (02/11/2015)

Federal Land Freedom Act of 2015

This bill permits a state that has an established leasing, permitting, and regulatory program to: (1) declare to the Secretaries of the Interior, of Agriculture, and of Energy that it has either established or amended the program; and (2) seek to transfer to itself, and to implement, existing federal responsibilities for leasing, permitting, and regulating oil and natural gas development.

Any state action to lease, permit, or regulate oil and gas exploration and development shall not be subject to, or considered, a federal action, a federal permit, or a federal license with respect to specified administrative and environmental laws and is therefore exempt from them.

State-issued leases or permits must provide for: (1) the collection of royalties or other revenues in an amount equal to what would have been collected if the lease or permit had been federally issued, and (2) their deposit into the same federal account in which they would have been deposited if the lease or permit had been federally issued.

A state may collect and retain lease or permit application processing fees.

Actions Overview (1)

All Actions (3)

Titles (2)

Short Titles:

Short Titles - House of Representatives

Short Titles as Introduced:

Federal Land Freedom Act of 2015

Official Titles:

Official Titles - House of Representatives

Official Title as Introduced:

To achieve domestic energy independence by empowering States to control the development and production of all forms of energy on all available Federal land.

Subjects (9)

Subject — Policy Area:

• Energy

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• Administrative law and regulatory procedures
• Endangered and threatened species
• Energy
• Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
• Historic sites and heritage areas

• Intergovernmental relations
• Licensing and registrations
• Oil and gas
• State and local government operations

Cosponsors (23)

* = Original cosponsor

Committees (1)

Committees, subcommittees and links to reports associated with this bill are listed here, as well as the nature and date of committee activity and Congressional report number.

Related Bills (1)

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http://www.inhofe.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/inhofe-introduces-the-federal-lands-freedom-act-flfa-of-2015

Inhofe Introduces the Federal Lands Freedom Act (FLFA) of 2015

Friday, February 13, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) today introduced the Federal Lands Freedom Act (FLFA) of 2015 (S.490), legislation that would give states the authority to develop all forms of energy resources on federal lands located within their borders, excluding only those areas specifically designated as off-limits. At the time of introduction, the bill included the following co-sponsors:  Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas),  Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.),  Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) , David Vitter (R-La.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark).

“While we have seen an energy revolution in the United States the past year, this is in spite of the president’s policies that are intended to stifle the development of our domestic resources,” said Inhofe. “One of the leading ways he can control our energy resources is by dictating what can take place on federal land across the states. The states, not the federal government, are the ones best equipped to tend to the extensive unused and unprotected lands across the nation that the federal government has staked a claim to. Currently about 60 percent of federal land is off limits to energy production. It also takes 700 times longer to get a drilling permit on federal lands compared to private lands in Oklahoma, which is why we have seen energy production on these lands drop by 6 percent for oil and 28 percent for natural gas on since 2009. The Federal Lands Freedom Act takes a necessary step toward restoring the Constitution’s trust in the states while also ensuring an ongoing energy revolution across the United States.”

The bill empowers states to establish programs to lease, permit, and regulate the development of all forms of energy resources on federal lands, including renewables. Once a state makes a declaration that such a program has been established, the state would receive the rights to develop the energy resources located on the federal lands within its borders.

The bill does not affect the ownership of the resources or change the royalty structure, and states will continue to receive half of the value of royalties earned from production on federal lands within their state.

Domestic oil production is now 9.2 million barrels per day, 77 percent higher than in 2009.  Natural gas production is now 22 percent higher than in 2009.  All of this increase has occurred on state and private lands. According to the Congressional Research Service, oil production on federal lands fell by 6 percent and natural gas production fell by 28 percent between 2009 and 2013.

The legislation has the support of Heritage Action, Western Energy Alliance, the R Street Institute, and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

Inhofe first introduced the legislation in the 113th Congress.