43 U.S.C. § 1351 — Oil and gas development and production

(a) Plans and submission. (1) Before developing or producing under an oil and gas lease^* issued after September 18, 1978, outside the Gulf of Mexico, or under an earlier lease in an area where no oil or gas had been found in paying quantities before that date, the lessee must submit a development^* and production^* plan to the Secretary^* for approval. This section calls it a “plan.” This section does not define “paying quantities.” (2) The plan must include a statement describing all proposed or known facilities and operations outside the outer Continental Shelf^* that will be built or used to develop and produce oil or gas from the lease area, whether or not the lessee owns or operates them. It must state^* their locations, and their land, labor, material, and energy needs, and all environmental and safety safeguards. (3) Within 10 days after receiving the plan and statement, the Secretary must, except for privileged or proprietary information as defined by the Secretary’s regulations, send them to each affected State^* governor^* and, on request, the executive of each affected local government, and make them available to an appropriate interstate regional entity and the public. (b) Lease requirement. After September 18, 1978, a lease outside the Gulf of Mexico may be issued only if it requires development and production under a plan meeting this section. (c) Contents. A plan may cover more than one lease. To the detail required by regulation, it must state (1) the specific work; (2) each proposed or known outer-Continental-Shelf facility and operation directly related to development, whether or not owned or operated by the lessee, including its location, size, and land, labor, material, and energy needs; (3) environmental safeguards on the Shelf and how they will be implemented; (4) safety standards and how they will be met; (5) expected development and production rates and a performance schedule; and (6) other relevant information required by regulation. (d) State concurrence. The Secretary may not issue a license or permit for an activity detailed in a plan that affects land or water use in the coastal zone^* of a State with an approved coastal-zone program unless the State concurs, or is conclusively presumed to concur, with the plan’s consistency certification under section 307(c)(3)(B)(i) or (ii) of the Coastal Zone Management Act, or the Commerce Secretary makes the finding allowed by clause (iii). (e) Major action and NEPA. (1) At least once, the Secretary must declare approval of a plan in an area or region outside the Gulf of Mexico to be a major Federal action^*. (2) The Secretary may require lessees whose plans are not approved to submit preliminary or final plans before, or immediately after, deciding that National Environmental Policy Act procedures will begin. (f) Major actions. If approval is found to be a major Federal action, the Secretary must send the draft environmental impact statement to each affected governor and, on request, each affected local executive, and make it available to an appropriate interstate regional entity and the public. (g) Nonmajor actions. If approval is not a major action, affected governors and local executives have 60 days after receiving the plan from the Secretary to submit comments and recommendations. Before a local executive submits recommendations, the executive must send them to the State governor. The comments and recommendations must be made public on request. Any interested person^* may also submit them. (h) Decision and review. (1) After reviewing any NEPA hearing record or subsection (g) comments, the Secretary must, within 60 days after release of the final environmental impact statement prepared under subsection (e), or within 60 days after the subsection (g) comment period, approve, disapprove, or require changes to the plan. The Secretary must require changes if the plan does not adequately provide for safe lease-area operations or protection of the human, marine, or coastal environment^*, including compliance with section 1334(a)(8) regulations. A change involving a federally licensed or permitted activity affecting coastal land or water use must receive the State concurrence required by subsection (d), unless the Commerce Secretary makes the clause (iii) finding. The Secretary must disapprove a plan (A) if the lessee does not show compliance with this subchapter or applicable federal law, including section 1334(a)(8) regulations; (B) if a covered coastal activity lacks the required State concurrence and the Commerce Secretary has not made the clause (iii) finding; (C) if operations threaten national security or defense; or (D) if, because of exceptional geological conditions, exceptional marine or coastal resource values, or other exceptional circumstances, the Secretary finds that implementation would probably seriously harm life, including aquatic life, property, mineral deposits whether leased or not, national security or defense, or the marine, coastal, or human environment^*; that the harm would not disappear or decrease to an acceptable level within a reasonable time; and that disapproval’s advantages outweigh development and production’s advantages. (2) (A) If disapproval is under (1)(A), or under (1)(B) for a lease issued after coastal-zone-program approval, the lessee receives no compensation. (B) If disapproval is under (1)(C) or (D), or under (1)(B) for a lease issued before program approval when approval came after plan submission, the lease term must be extended. Within five years, the lessee may reapply with the same or a changed plan, and the Secretary must decide under this subsection. (C) After five years, or earlier at the lessee’s request, if no plan has been approved, the Secretary must cancel the lease and pay compensation under section 1334(a)(2)(C). During the five years the Secretary may require a plan. If the lessee does not submit it promptly and in good faith, the Secretary must find that the lessee was not duly diligent and immediately begin cancellation without compensation under section 1334(c). (3) The Secretary must periodically review each approved plan using changed information and changed onshore or offshore conditions. If revision is needed to meet this subsection, the Secretary must require it. (i) Revision. The Secretary may approve a lessee’s revision if it would increase oil or natural-gas recovery, improve recovery efficiency, safety, or environmental protection, is the only available way to avoid substantial economic hardship, or is otherwise consistent with this subchapter, so far as it protects human, marine, and coastal environments. A significant revision must be reviewed under subsections (d)–(f). (j) Cancellation. If a lease owner fails to submit a required plan or comply with an approved plan, the lease may be canceled under section 1334(c) and (d). Cancellation for failure to comply, including with required changes, does not entitle the lessee to compensation. (k) Natural gas. If a plan covers natural-gas production and transportation, the lessee must at the same time send the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission the part about production and transportation facilities. The Secretary and Commission must agree which will prepare the NEPA statement or conduct environmental studies for that part. The other agency must adopt the findings and recommendations and may not duplicate the work. The Commission may, while reviewing a section 717f certificate application, study or prepare a statement about transportation-facility issues not covered by the Secretary’s work. The Secretary, consulting the Commission, must issue implementing rules, but the Commission keeps sole authority over its application-filing rules and procedures and all parts of its application review and action. (l) Gulf of Mexico. The Secretary may apply this section to a lease in the Gulf area adjacent to Florida, as determined under section 1333(a)(2).