FAIR Act of 2013
Key claim: The bill would send nearby non-Gulf coastal states a share of federal outer-continental-shelf energy revenues (including a slice for state clean-energy funds), give host states half of federal onshore renewable-energy receipts, and rewrite Gulf of Mexico revenue-sharing rules.
Abstract
(S630 · 113th Congress) Fixing America’s Inequities with Revenues Act of 2013 or FAIR Act of 2013 - Amends the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to require the Secretary of the Treasury to deposit in the Treasury 37.5% of all revenues derived from all rentals, royalties, bonus bids, and other sums payable to the United States from energy development on the outer Continental Shelf (OCS) areas of coastal states (those within 200 nautical miles of a leased tract in the OCS which are not, however, in a Gulf producing state). Excludes from deposit under these terms any revenues generated from the leasing of lands within three miles of seaward boundaries of coastal states. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to disperse: (1) 27.5% of these revenues to coastal states and their political subdivisions; and (2) 10% of such revenues to coastal states that establish funds in their treasuries to support projects relating to alternative and renewable energy, energy research and development, energy efficiency, or conservation. Prescribes requirements for allocating such revenues to coastal states and their coastal subdivisions, with a special rule for Alaska. Limits the allocable share of each coastal state to the revenues collected from a leased tract located no more than 200 nautical miles from the coastline of the state. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to disburse 50% of all revenues derived from all rentals, royalties, bonus bids, rights-of-way, and other amounts payable to the United States from the development of alternative and renewable onshore energy sources to the state within the boundaries of which the energy source is located. Amends the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 by: (1) redefining the term “qualified outer Continental Shelf revenues,” and (2) revising the cap on the amount of such qualified revenues that may be made available to Gulf producing states. Latest action (2013-03-20): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Why this matters
Federal energy revenue sharing determines whether coastal and public-lands states see direct fiscal benefits from offshore drilling and onshore renewables sited within their borders, which in turn shapes state political support for leasing. The FAIR Act is an early example of proposals to extend Gulf-style OCS sharing to Atlantic and Pacific states and to create a parallel onshore renewables share, a framing that has recurred in later Congresses.