RIGED Act of 2025

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3041 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3041

   To direct the executive agencies to ensure continuity of certain
  federal permits that are required to develop the nation's offshore
                           energy resources.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 28, 2025

   Mr. Hunt introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
  Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on
  Transportation and Infrastructure, 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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

   To direct the executive agencies to ensure continuity of certain
  federal permits that are required to develop the nation's offshore
                           energy resources.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This bill may be cited as the ``Regulatory Integrity for Gulf
Energy Development Act of 2025'' or the ``RIGED Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purposes of this Act:
     (a) Offshore Energy Resource Development refers to oil and gas
leasing, exploration, and production activities conducted on the Outer
Continental Shelf, as defined in Section 2 of the Outer Continental
Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331).
    (b) Secretary refers to the Secretaries of the Interior and/or
Commerce.
    (c) Administrator refers to the Administrator or Acting
Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA).

SEC. 3. CONTINUITY OF PERMITS FOR OFFSHORE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT.

    (a) Federal Permits for Oil and Gas Leasing.--Section 8 of the
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337) is amended by adding
at the end the following:
    ``(q) Continuity of Federal Permits.--If a previously issued permit
under this Act is required for offshore oil and gas production and has
expired, the Secretary shall, to the extent of his or her authority,
ensure that all terms, conditions, and requirements of the expired
permit remain in effect for any permittee previously covered under the
permit, as well as any similarly situated new or prospective permittee,
until a new permit is finalized and issued. In determining the
equivalence of, or applicability to, new or prospective permittees, the
Secretary shall consider consistency with applicable federal laws,
federal regulations, and the protection of human life and the
environment.
            ``(1) In carrying out subsection (q), the Secretary is
        authorized and directed to coordinate with any other Federal
        agency having jurisdiction over an expiring or expired permit
        to ensure that the terms, conditions, and requirements of such
        permit remain in effect, consistent with applicable laws and
        regulations.
                    ``(A) To facilitate the coordination required under
                paragraph (1), the Secretary may establish joint agency
                working groups composed of representatives from
                relevant Federal agencies. These working groups shall
                be responsible for ensuring interagency collaboration,
                streamlining permit continuity processes, and
                maintaining compliance with applicable environmental
                and regulatory requirements.
                    ``(B) Establishment of joint agency working groups
                pursuant to this subsection shall be notified to
                Congress and the President no later than 15 days
                following establishment of the working group's
                creation. Notification shall include:
                            ``(i) The names and titles of the Federal
                        officials serving on the working group;
                            ``(ii) The scope, objectives, and intended
                        outcomes of the working group; and
                            ``(iii) An estimated duration of the
                        working group's activities, expressed in
                        days.''.
    (b) Federal Permits for Oil and Gas Production.--Section 402(a) of
the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1342(a)) is amended
by inserting before the period at the end the following:
            ``(6) If the Administrator is in the process of issuing a
        new permit under this subsection that covers multiple
        permittees with similar operations and types of discharges, and
        the new permit is reasonably similar to an expired permit
        covering such permittees, the Administrator shall continue to
        apply the same terms, conditions, and requirements as the
        expired permit to both existing and prospective permittees,
        until the new permit is issued.''.
    (c) Continuity of Federal Biological Opinions.--For purposes of the
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's National Outer Continental Shelf
Oil and Gas Leasing Program, compliance with the Biological Opinion on
Federally Regulated Oil and Gas Program Activities in the Gulf of
Mexico, issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service on March 13,
2020, and amended on April 24, 2021, shall be deemed compliance with
all applicable requirements of the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq.) and the Marine Mammal Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1361 et
seq.), until the Secretary of the Interior or Secretary of Commerce
approves a new biological opinion under their respective authorities
pursuant to those Acts or any other applicable federal law, superseding
the existing opinion and establishing new compliance obligations.
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