United States 119th Congress Status: In Committee 2 R cosponsors

HR 1194 — Federal Lands and Waters Leasing Transparency Act

Last action — Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, 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.

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed House
  4. 4
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill is in committee in the House. Introduced February 11, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee vote, then a floor vote in the House.

Prognosis

Stalled 18% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

Low

How often bills like it became law.

  • In Committee

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 2 sponsors

    1 primary, 1 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (2 R).

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

Summary

Federal Lands and Waters Leasing Transparency ActThis bill directs the Department of the Interior to provide explanations to the highest bidders when it rejects their bids for certain offshore oil and gas leases. The bill also prohibits courts from invalidating or delaying certain onshore and offshore oil and gas leases.When Interior determines that the federal government will not receive the fair market value for offshore lease tracts on submerged lands of the Outer Continental Shelf from the highest bidder, then Interior must provide a report to the bidder that explains the basis for the determination. If the bid was subject to a resource and economic evaluation, the report must include information on how the bid compares to specified valuation metrics. These requirements apply to lease sales in which Interior received at least one bid and did not issue a lease to the highest bidder.Additionally, courts may not prevent Interior from issuing certain onshore oil and gas leases by a 60-day statutory deadline unless the lease would violate federal law.Further, the bill prohibits civil actions that challenge certain offshore oil and gas lease sales from (1) invalidating leases issued under such sales; and (2) delaying the consideration of plans, documents, or applications for a federal authorization or approval of activities for a lease. If a court finds that the sale was not carried out in compliance with federal law, the court must (1) remand the matter to Interior, and (2) direct Interior to correct the noncompliance.

Bill Text

How this bill changes current law

3 changes Share ↗

Compared against current U.S. Code AI-generated reading aid — verify against the official bill.

The bill adds requirements for reporting on bid evaluations and clarifies conditions under which leases can be issued without delay from court orders.

  • 43 U.S.C. 1344

    "(j) Report on the Determination of the Fair Market Value of Offshore Oil and Gas Lease Bids.--(1) Requirement.--If the Secretary determines pursuant to subsection (a)(4) that the Federal Government will not receive the fair market value from a bid for a covered lease tract, the Secretary shall provide to the bidder a report that explains the basis for such determination. If the bid was a qualified bid that was subject to a resource and economic evaluation, the report shall include information on how such qualified bid relates to the Mean Range of Values, Delay-adjusted Mean Range of Values, Adjusted Delayed Value, and Revised Arithmetic Average Measure for the covered lease tract. (2) Covered lease tract.--In this subsection, The term `covered lease tract' means a lease tract for which the Secretary--(A) held a lease sale; (B) received at least one bid; and (C) did not issue a lease to the highest responsible qualified bidder."

    This new requirement mandates the Secretary to provide an evaluation report to bidders when fair market value is not met.

  • 30 U.S.C. 226(b)(1)(A)

    No court order may prevent the Secretary from issuing a lease by such 60 day deadline unless the court finds that the issuance of the lease would violate a requirement of Federal law.

    This change ensures that court orders cannot delay lease issuance unless they find legal violations.

  • 43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a civil action challenging an offshore oil and gas lease sale conducted under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act shall not affect the validity of any lease issued under such an offshore lease sale; and shall not cause a delay in the timelines for the consideration of any exploration plan, development plan, development operations coordination document, applications for permit to drill, or other application for a Federal agency authorization or approval for activities on a lease issued under such an offshore lease sale.

    This provision protects the validity of leases from legal challenges and maintains timelines for subsequent approvals.

Action History

  1. Introduced in House

  2. Introduced in House

  3. Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, 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.

  4. Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, 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.

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 1 co-sponsors · 545 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (1)

Not signed on (545)

545 members have not signed on to this bill.

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"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

public-safety energy
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does HR 1194 do?
Federal Lands and Waters Leasing Transparency ActThis bill directs the Department of the Interior to provide explanations to the highest bidders when it rejects their bids for certain offshore oil and gas leases. The bill also prohibits courts from invalidating or delaying certain onshore and offshore oil and gas leases.When Interior determines that the federal government will not receive the fair market value for offshore lease tracts on submerged lands of the Outer Continental Shelf from the highest bidder, then Interior must provide a report to the bidder that explains the basis for the determination. If the bid was subject to a resource and economic evaluation, the report must include information on how the bid compares to specified valuation metrics. These requirements apply to lease sales in which Interior received at least one bid and did not issue a lease to the highest bidder.Additionally, courts may not prevent Interior from issuing certain onshore oil and gas leases by a 60-day statutory deadline unless the lease would violate federal law.Further, the bill prohibits civil actions that challenge certain offshore oil and gas lease sales from (1) invalidating leases issued under such sales; and (2) delaying the consideration of plans, documents, or applications for a federal authorization or approval of activities for a lease. If a court finds that the sale was not carried out in compliance with federal law, the court must (1) remand the matter to Interior, and (2) direct Interior to correct the noncompliance.
Who sponsors HR 1194?
HR 1194 is sponsored by Higgins, Clay (Republican) and Hageman, Harriet M. (Republican).
What is the current status of HR 1194?
This bill is in committee in the House. Introduced February 11, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track HR 1194?
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