119th Congress Energy
H.R. 513: Offshore Lands Authorities Act of 2025
Introduced
- Introduced (completed)
- Passed House (not reached)
- Passed Senate (not reached)
- To the President (not reached)
- Became law (not reached)
Summary
This bill limits the withdrawal of unleased lands of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) from areas that may be leased for mineral development and nullifies certain past withdrawals. The OCS includes the federally managed ocean area extending from the outer boundaries of state-controlled waters (generally 3 nautical miles [nmi] from shore) to 200 nmi from shore, with some exceptions.
Specifically, the bill limits the President's authority to restrict offshore development of minerals, such as oil and gas, on the OCS. For example, the bill (1) caps the number of acres of OCS lands that a President may withdraw from areas that may be leased; (2) prohibits withdrawals from being made for a period longer than 20 years; (3) prohibits the President from making withdrawals of unleased land that conflict with areas included in lease sales scheduled under approved oil and gas leasing programs; and (4) prohibits the President from withdrawing unleased lands unless the Department of the Interior has completed assessments addressing issues such as mineral resources and the national security, economic, and energy value of the identified mineral deposits.
The President must also obtain congressional approval before withdrawing more than 500,000 acres cumulatively. Further, the bill gives Congress the authority to review and disapprove withdrawals by enacting a joint resolution.
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In addition, the bill nullifies certain presidential memoranda and executive orders related to withdrawing unleased land from areas that may be leased for the development of oil, gas, or other minerals on the OCS.
Written by the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.
Roll calls
No roll call votes have been held on this bill.
Amendments
No amendments were offered to this bill.
Cosponsors
- Jodey Arrington R-TXOriginal
- Andy Biggs R-AZOriginal
- Tim Burchett R-TNOriginal
- Eric Burlison R-MOOriginal
- Josh Brecheen R-OKOriginal
- Andrew Clyde R-GAOriginal
- Dan Crenshaw R-TXOriginal
- Andy Harris R-MDOriginal
- Wesley Hunt R-TXOriginal
- Daniel Meuser R-PAOriginal
- Carol Miller R-WVOriginal
- Mary Miller R-ILOriginal
- Barry Moore R-ALOriginal
- Andrew Ogles R-TNOriginal
- Scott Perry R-PAOriginal
- Jefferson Shreve R-INOriginal
- Thomas Tiffany R-WIOriginal
- Beth Van Duyne R-TXOriginal
- Randy Weber R-TXOriginal
- Troy Balderson R-OH
- James Baird R-IN
- Dan Newhouse R-WA
- Pete Stauber R-MN
- Dusty Johnson R-SD
- Harriet Hageman R-WY
Who scored on this bill
- 1Clay Higgins SponsorIntroduced, reached a cosponsor milestone2 events+6
See all scorers and every scoring event
Introductions and cosponsorships count toward weekly caps and show no points.
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History
- Introduced in the House by Clay Higgins.
Show the full action history (4 actions)
- Subcommittee Hearings Held
- Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.
- Introduced in House
- Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.