Offshore Fairness Act
Latest action · Jan 7, 2015 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedJan 7, 2015
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Offshore Fairness Act
This bill amends the Submerged Lands Act to change the seaward boundaries of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia from a distance of three geographic miles from the coast line to a distance of three marine leagues. This change expands the offshore jurisdictions of those states.
The Department of the Interior must convey the submerged land in the Outer Continental Shelf that is within this expanded area to a state upon request. After a conveyance, states are prohibited from imposing on that land: (1) burdens or requirements on an interest owner that would be stricter than federal burdens or requirements, or (2) administrative or judicial penalties or sanctions on an interest owner that are more severe than the federal penalties or sanctions.
The submerged land within the seaward boundaries of those states are subject to federal oil and gas mineral rights and are considered to be part of the federal Outer Continental Shelf for purposes of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006, and other laws applicable to the leasing of the oil and gas resources.
Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas are given exclusive fishery management authority to manage and conserve the Gulf of Mexico red snapper in adjacent coastal waters of the applicable state and through the exclusive economic zone. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration must provide financial assistance to those states for stock assessments and data collection relating to the Gulf of Mexico red snapper.
Cosponsors 1
Members who signed on, in the order they did. All signed on Jan 12, 2015.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-LA | Bill Cassidy | Jan 12, 2015 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jan 7, 2015Introduced in Senate
- Jan 7, 2015Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources.
- Alabama
- Atlantic Ocean
- Fishes
- Florida
- Georgia
- Gulf of Mexico
- Intergovernmental relations
- Land transfers
- Louisiana
- Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
- Mining
- Mississippi
- North Carolina
- Oil and gas
- Public Lands and Natural Resources
- South Carolina
- State and local government operations
- Texas
- Virginia
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Jan 7, 2015Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.