Civil actions challenging offshore lease sales

(a) In general 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 (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) shall not— (1) affect the validity of any lease issued under such an offshore lease sale; and (2) 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. (b) Remand; processing of approvals and applications Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if, in a civil action described in subsection (a), a court finds that the offshore lease sale was not carried out in compliance with Federal law— (1) the court shall not— (A) set aside, vacate, or enjoin the offshore lease sale; (B) set aside, vacate, or enjoin the leases issued pursuant to the offshore lease sale; or (C) enjoin the Secretary of the Interior from issuing leases to the highest bidders in the challenged offshore lease sale; (2) the court shall remand the matter to the Secretary of the Interior and require the Secretary of the Interior to correct the noncompliance; and (3) the Secretary of the Interior shall continue to process all exploration plans, development and production plans, development operations coordination documents, applications for permit to drill, and other applications for a Federal agency authorization or other approval for activities requested under any lease issued under the challenged offshore lease sale in accordance with the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.).