Offshore oil and gas leasing

(a) Lease or permit cancellation (1) In general Section 5(a)(2) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1334(a)(2)) is amended— (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking any lease or permit— and all that follows through the end of subparagraph (B) and inserting the following: “any lease or permit— (A) that the lease or permit shall be considered to be valid and not subject to cancellation by the Secretary for any reason, except for— (i) the express written agreement to the cancellation by the lessee or permittee; or (ii) a determination by the Secretary that cancellation is appropriate (including cancellation under subsection (c), section 8(o), section 11(c)(1), and subsections (h)(2)(C) and (j) of section 25), in accordance with the regulations prescribed under this section, subject to the limitation that a lease or permit may not be cancelled by the Secretary based on a finding by a Federal court that the environmental review for the lease sale pursuant to which the lease was issued was in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); and; and (B) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as subparagraph (B). (2) Conforming amendments (A) Section 11(c)(1) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1340(c)(1)) is amended— (i) in the fourth sentence, by striking result in any condition described in section 5(a)(2)(A)(i) of this Act and inserting probably cause serious harm or damage to life (including fish and other aquatic life), to property, to any mineral (in areas leased or not leased), to the national security or defense, or to the marine, coastal, or human environment; and (ii) in the fifth sentence— (I) by striking, subject to section 5(a)(2)(B) of this Act,; and (II) by striking section 5(a)(2)(C) (i) or (ii) of this Act and inserting section 5(a)(2)(B). (B) Section 25(h)(2)(C) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1351(h)(2)(C)) is amended, in the first sentence, by striking section 5(a)(2)(C) of this Act and inserting section 5(a)(2)(B). (b) Effect of litigation Section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337) is amended by adding at the end the following: (q) Effect of litigation (1) In general A civil action relating to an environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) with respect to a lease sale conducted under this section shall not— (A) affect the validity of a lease issued under the lease sale that is the subject of the civil action; or (B) except as provided in paragraph (3)(B), cause a delay in the timelines for the consideration of an application for permit to drill with respect to a lease issued under the lease sale that is the subject of the civil action. (2) Remand; processing of applications for permit to drill If, in a civil action described in paragraph (1), the environmental review for a lease sale is found by the applicable court to violate the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.)— (A) notwithstanding chapter 5 or 7 of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Administrative Procedure Act), the applicable court shall not set aside the lease sale and vacate the leases issued pursuant to the sale but instead remand the matter to the Secretary to resolve the violation; and (B) the Secretary shall continue to process all applicable applications for permit to drill in accordance with this Act. (3) Notice (A) In general Not later than 60 days after the date on which a civil action described in paragraph (1) is filed, the Secretary shall notify the holder of any lease issued under the lease sale that is the subject of the civil action of the filing of the civil action. (B) Timeline Not later than 90 days after the date of receipt of a notice under subparagraph (A), the leaseholder may file with the Secretary a request to pause the timeline with respect to the term of the lease during any period in which the civil action is pending..