Energy Production and Project Delivery Act of 2013
Key claim: If enacted, the Interior Department would have to treat a 2010–2015 offshore drilling plan as final, decide drill permits within 20 days, open Alaska’s Arctic Refuge coastal plain to oil and gas leasing, and share more offshore royalty money with coastal states.
Abstract
(S17 · 113th Congress) Energy Production and Project Delivery Act of 2013 - Considers that the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) has approved the Draft Proposed Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program 2010-2015 as a final oil and gas leasing program under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. Deems the Secretary to have issued a final environmental impact statement for such Program under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). Directs the Secretary to: (1) conduct a lease sale in each outer Continental Shelf (OCS) planning area for which there is a commercial interest in purchasing federal oil and gas production leases, (2) approve or disapprove a drill permit application within 20 days after submission, and (3) hold Lease Sale 220 for an area offshore of Virginia. Revises requirements for the distribution of revenues from OCS planning areas and for their allocation among coastal states for FY2024 and ensuing fiscal years. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), to implement a competitive leasing program for the exploration, development, and production of the oil and gas resources on the Coastal Plain of Alaska. Amends the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 to repeal the prohibition against leasing or other development leading to production of oil and gas from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Deems any oil and gas leasing programs and activities authorized by this Act to be in compliance with the purposes of ANWR, so that no further findings or decisions are required to implement this determination. Authorizes the Secretary to designate up to 45,000 acres of the Coastal Plain as a special area for special management and preservation of its unique and diverse character. Permits directional drilling in the Special Area. States that the Secretary’s sole authority to close lands within the Coastal Plain to oil and gas leasing, exploration, development, and production is that set f Latest action (2013-02-27): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Why this matters
The bill is an early template for later ‘energy dominance’ legislation: statutorily locking in offshore lease schedules, imposing hard deadlines on drilling permit decisions, opening ANWR, and redirecting royalty flows to coastal states. Even though it stalled at introduction, the same design elements — deemed-approved leasing plans, short permit-decision clocks, and ANWR access — have reappeared in subsequent Congresses and in executive actions. Tracking it helps show which levers keep recurring across administrations.