Sec. 104. Surface disturbance and reclamation
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Section 17(g) of the Mineral Leasing Act ( 30 U.S.C. 226(g) ) is amended to read as follows: In this subsection: The term Interim Reclamation Plan means an ongoing plan specifying reclamation steps to be taken on all disturbed areas covered by any lease issued under this Act that are not needed for active operations. Such Interim Reclamation Plans shall be reviewed by the relevant Secretary at regular intervals and shall be amended as warranted, subject to the approval of the relevant Secretary.
The term Final Reclamation Plan includes a detailed description of all reclamation activity to be conducted for all disturbed areas covered by a lease issued under this Act prior to final abandonment. Final Reclamation Plans shall include reclamation of all locations, facilities, trenches, rights-of-way, roads and any other surface disturbance on lands covered by the lease. The Secretary of the Interior, or for National Forest lands, the Secretary of Agriculture, shall regulate all surface-disturbing activities conducted pursuant to any lease issued under this Act, and shall determine reclamation and other actions as required in the interest of conservation of surface resources.
Each application for a permit to drill submitted to the Secretary pursuant to this Act shall include both an Interim Reclamation Plan and a Final Reclamation Plan. No permit to drill on an oil and gas lease issued under this Act may be granted without the analysis and approval by the Secretary concerned of both an interim reclamation plan and a final reclamation plan covering proposed surface-disturbing activities within the lease area. All Plans of Operations submitted and approved pursuant to this Act shall include an Interim Reclamation Plan.
The Secretary concerned shall, by regulation, require that an adequate bond, surety, or other financial arrangement will be established prior to the commencement of surface-disturbing activities on any lease, to ensure the complete and timely reclamation of the lease tract, and the restoration of any lands or surface waters adversely affected by lease operations after the abandonment or cessation of oil and gas operations on the lease. The Secretary shall not issue a lease or leases or approve the assignment of any lease or leases under the terms of this section to any person, association, corporation, or any subsidiary, affiliate, or person controlled by or under common control with such person, association, or corporation, during any period in which, as determined by the Secretary of the Interior or Secretary of Agriculture, such entity has failed or refused to comply in any material respect with the reclamation requirements and other standards established under this section for any prior lease to which such requirements and standards applied.
Prior to making such determination with respect to any such entity the concerned Secretary shall provide such entity with adequate notification and an opportunity to comply with such reclamation requirements and other standards and shall consider whether any administrative or judicial appeal is pending. Once the entity has complied with the reclamation requirement or other standard concerned an oil or gas lease may be issued to such entity under this Act. A bond, surety, or other financial arrangement described in subparagraph
(A)shall not be adequate if it is less than— $50,000, in the case of an arrangement for an individual surface-disturbing activity of an entity; $250,000, in the case of an arrangement for all surface-disturbing activities of an entity in a State; or $1,000,000, in the case of an arrangement for all surface-disturbing activities of an entity in the United States. In the application of subparagraph (B), the Secretaries concerned shall jointly at least once every three years adjust the dollar amounts in subparagraph
(B)to account for inflation. The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall, by regulation, establish uniform standards for all Interim and Final Reclamation Plans. The goal of such plans shall be the restoration of the affected ecosystem to a condition approximating or equal to that which existed prior to the surface disturbance. Such standards shall include, but are not limited to, restoration of natural vegetation and hydrology, habitat restoration, salvage, storage and reuse of topsoils, erosion control, control of invasive species and noxious weeds and natural contouring. The Secretary concerned shall not approve final abandonment and shall not release any bond required by this Act until the standards and requirement for final reclamation established pursuant to this Act have been met. .
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Sec. 104
Surface disturbance and reclamation
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