Distribution of Revenues From the Extraction of Marine Resources Act of 1985

Summary

Distribution of Revenues From the Extraction of Marine Resources Act of 1985 - Amends the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to add certain findings and purposes and revise certain definitions. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to distribute specified sums to specified coastal States (including Texas, Louisiana, California, Alaska, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida) in full satisfaction, upon such States' acceptance of such payment, of each State's claims arising from Federal leasing of submerged lands within each State's contiguous coastal area (the area within three nautical miles of the coastal State). Directs the Secretary to place 27 percent of the bonuses and rents from specified leasing off the coast of Alaska in escrow until such time as the dispute over Alaska's seaward boundary is resolved. Provides that Alaska shall then receive that portion of this amount attributable to its contiguous coastal area. Repeals a specified subsection of the Act which provides for the leasing of lands within three miles of the seaward boundaries of coastal States. Requires that after April 1, 1985, 27 percent of all bonuses and rents from leases executed by the Secretary after September 18, 1978, for contiguous coastal tracts shall be paid to the adjacent coastal State. Provides that such percentage of the bonuses and rents for each leased acre lying within the contiguous coastal area of two States shall be divided between the two States. Provides that when a State's seaward boundary or the lateral seaward boundary between two States is in dispute the Secretary shall place 27 percent of the bonuses and rents garnered from the disputed contiguous coastal area in escrow until the dispute is resolved. Directs that, absent an existing State-Federal royalty-sharing agreement, the adjacent coastal State's share of all royalties paid to the Secretary after April 1, 1985, from leases executed by the Secretary after September 18, 1978, shall constitute: (1) 27 percent of Federal royalties; or (2) compensation for lost State production attributable to the Federal lessee's drainage of marine resources underlying State lands from common reservoirs. Directs the Secretary to prescribe rules for determining whether reservoirs are common and for allocating royalties when they are common. Requires the rule to provide for binding resolution by an impartial decisionmaker with respect to any reservoir. Sets forth the procedure for challenging the Secretary's rules or the decision of the impartial decisionmaker. Directs that royalties not disposed of are to be deposited in the Marine Resources Protection, Mitigation, and Enhancement Fund (Fund) established in the Treasury. Makes Fund resources available when appropriated for marine enhancement, conservation, or research. Directs the Secretary to report annually to the Congress and the General Accounting Office, accounting for all funds collected, paid out, or being held in escrow under this Act. Directs the Secretary and coastal States to cooperate in the exchange of required geological, geophysical, and reservoir engineering information. Authorizes the Secretary to agree that the United States shall hold the States harmless from the unauthorized disclosure of such information. Provides that a leasing program approved by the Secretary shall become final after the close of a review period of 60 days of continuous session of the Congress unless the program is disapproved by a joint resolution of disapproval. Directs that no lease shall be issued that is inconsistent with the final leasing program. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to accept the recommendations of the Governor of an affected State regarding a proposed lease sale or development and production plan unless substantial evidence supports the determination that such recommendations would significantly impair the national interest. Requires the Secretary to inform the Governor of his stance on a recommendation and provide the findings upon which any rejection of a recommendation is based. Authorizes the Secretary to accept the recommendations of the executive of any affected local government if such would provide a reasonable balance between the local and national interest. Insists that any determination of the national interest equally balance the need for oil and gas production and marine conservation.

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1 official file

• Introduced in House

  summary · EN · 20 September 1985

  Open at official source

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