Sec. 80171. Mandatory offshore oil and gas lease sales

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Notwithstanding the 2024–2029 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, the Secretary shall hold not fewer than 30 lease sales in the Gulf of America during the 15-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this section. For each lease sale held under this paragraph, the Secretary may offer for lease only an area identified as the Proposed Final Program Area in Figure S–1 of the 2017–2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Final Program referenced in the notice of availability published by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management titled Notice of Availability of the 2017–2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Final Program (81 Fed. Reg. 84612; published November 23, 2016).

For each lease sale held under this paragraph, the Secretary shall offer for lease— not fewer than 80,000,000 acres; or if there are fewer than 80,000,000 acres that are unleased, all such unleased acres. Of the not fewer than 30 lease sales required under this paragraph, the Secretary shall hold not fewer than 1 lease sale on or before each of the following dates: December 15, 2025. March 15, 2026. August 15, 2026. March 15, 2027. August 15, 2027. March 15, 2028. August 15, 2028.

March 15, 2029. August 15, 2029. March 15, 2030. August 15, 2030. March 15, 2031. August 15, 2031. March 15, 2032. August 15, 2032. March 15, 2033. August 15, 2033. March 15, 2034. August 15, 2034. March 15, 2035. August 15, 2035. March 15, 2036. August 15, 2036. March 15, 2037. August 15, 2037. March 15, 2038. August 15, 2038. March 15, 2039. August 15, 2039. March 15, 2040. For each lease sale held under this paragraph, the Secretary shall, except as provided in clause (iii), offer the same lease form, lease terms, economic conditions, and stipulations 4 through 10 as contained in the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management final notice of sale titled Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Region-Wide Oil and Gas Lease Sale 254 (85 Fed. Reg. 8010; published February 12, 2020).

The Secretary is authorized to update stipulations 1 through 3 of the final notice of sale titled Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Region-Wide Oil and Gas Lease Sale 254 (85 Fed. Reg. 8010; published February 12, 2020) to reflect current conditions for lease sales held under this paragraph. The primary term for a lease in water depths of 800 meters or deeper issued as a result of a sale held under this paragraph shall be 10 years. Notwithstanding the 2024–2029 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, the Secretary shall hold not fewer than 6 lease sales in the Cook Inlet Planning Area during the 10-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this section.

For each lease sale held under this paragraph, the Secretary may offer for lease only an area identified in Figure S–2 of the 2017–2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Final Program referenced in the notice of availability published by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management titled Notice of Availability of the 2017–2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Final Program (81 Fed. Reg. 84612; published November 23, 2016). For each lease sale held under this paragraph, the Secretary shall offer for lease— not fewer than 1,000,000 acres; or if there are fewer than 1,000,000 acres that are unleased, all such unleased acres.

Of the not fewer than 6 lease sales required under this paragraph, the Secretary shall hold not fewer than 1 lease sale on or before each of the following dates: March 15, 2026. March 15, 2027. August 15, 2028. March 15, 2030. August 15, 2031. March 15, 2032. For each lease sale held under this paragraph, the Secretary shall offer the same lease form, lease terms, economic conditions, and stipulations as contained in the final notice of sale titled Outer Continental Shelf Cook Inlet, Alaska, Oil and Gas Lease Sale 244 (82 Fed. Reg. 23163; published May 22, 2017).

Notwithstanding section 8(g) and 9 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act ( 43 U.S.C. 1337(g) and 1338), and beginning in fiscal year 2035, of the bonuses, rents, royalties, and other revenues derived from leases issued pursuant to this paragraph— 90 percent shall be paid to the State of Alaska; and 10 percent shall be deposited in the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts. The lease sales held under this section shall be in addition to the lease sales held under the Proposed Final Program for the 2024–2029 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program referenced in the notice of availability published by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management titled Notice of Availability of the 2024–2029 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Final Program and Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (88 Fed. Reg. 67798; published October 2, 2023).

During the period beginning on the date of the enactment of this section and ending on the date that is 2 years after the date on which the last lease sale required to be held under this section is held, with respect to each lease sale held, lease issued, and any activity that requires a Federal authorization and is associated with a lease issued pursuant to this title, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, or section 50264 of Public Law 117–169 in the Gulf of America— adherence with the Biological Opinion shall satisfy the Secretary’s obligations under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972; the final programmatic environmental impact statement referenced in the notice of availability titled Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the 2017–2022 Outer Continental Shelf

(OCS)Oil and Gas Leasing Program (81 Fed. Reg. 83870; published November 22, 2016), the Record of Decision related to such final programmatic environmental impact statement, and the final environmental impact statement referenced in the notice of availability titled Final Environmental Impact Statement for Outer Continental Shelf, Gulf of Mexico, 2017–2022 Oil and Gas Lease Sales 249, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254, 256, 257, 259, and 261 (82 Fed. Reg. 13363; published March 10, 2017) shall satisfy the Secretary’s obligations under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and division A of subtitle III of title 54, United States Code; and the consistency determinations prepared by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management under section 307 of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 ( 16 U.S.C. 1456 ) for Lease Sale 261 for the States of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida shall satisfy the Secretary’s obligations under that section ( 16 U.S.C. 1456 ). If the Secretary receives an acceptable bid for an area offered in a lease sale held under this section, the Secretary shall— in accordance with section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act ( 43 U.S.C. 1337 ), accept the highest acceptable bid for such area; and not later than 90 days after the date on which the applicable lease sale ends, issue a lease of the area to the highest responsible qualified bidder. The Secretary shall establish a process through which the Governor of a State may nominate for leasing under a lease sale held under this section an area of the outer Continental Shelf that is— adjacent to the waters of the State; and unleased and available for leasing. If under paragraph

(1)the Governor of a State nominates an area described in that paragraph for leasing under a lease sale held under this section, the Secretary shall include the area in the next scheduled lease sale under subsection (a)(1)(D). Not later than 30 days after the date on which the Secretary receives a complete application pursuant to section 551.5 of title 30, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on September 22, 2015), to conduct a geological or geophysical survey pursuant to oil and gas activities on the outer Continental Shelf, the Secretary shall approve such application. A lease awarded under Lease Sale 259 or Lease Sale 261, which has been fully executed by the Secretary, shall not be set aside, vacated, enjoined, suspended, or cancelled except in accordance with section 5 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act ( 43 U.S.C. 1334 ). The Secretary shall not impose any additional terms or conditions on a lease awarded under Lease Sale 259 or Lease Sale 261, which has been fully executed by the Secretary, that were not included in the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management final notice of sale titled Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Lease Sale 259 (88 Fed. Reg. 12404; published Feb. 27, 2023) or the final notice of sale titled Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Lease Sale 261 (88 Fed. Reg. 80750; published on Nov. 20, 2023). Section 23(c)(2) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act ( 43 U.S.C. 1349(c)(2) ) is amended to read as follows: Any action of the Secretary to approve, require modification of, or disapprove any exploration plan, development and production plan, bidding procedure, lease sale, lease issuance, or permit or authorization related to oil and gas exploration, development, or production under this Act, or any inaction by the Secretary resulting in the failure to hold a lease sale under any Federal law requiring oil and gas lease sales on the outer Continental Shelf, shall be subject to judicial review only in a United States court of appeals for a circuit in which an affected State is located. . In this section: The term acceptable bid means a bid that meets the requirements of the document published by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management titled Summary of Procedures for Determining Bid Adequacy at Offshore Oil and Gas Lease Sales Effective March 2016, with Central Gulf of Mexico Sale 241 and Eastern Gulf of Mexico Sale 226 . The term Biological Opinion — means the biological opinion issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service titled Biological Opinion on the Federally Regulated Oil and Gas Program Activities in the Gulf of Mexico and the incidental take statement associated with such biological opinion (published March 12, 2020, and updated April 26, 2021); and does not include sections 3.3.1 through 3.3.3 of such biological opinion. The term lease means an oil and gas lease. The term Lease Sale 259 means the lease sale held by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on March 29, 2023. The term Lease Sale 261 means the lease sale held by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on December 20, 2023. The term outer Continental Shelf has the meaning given such term in section 2 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act ( 43 U.S.C. 1331 ). The term Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior.

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