National Petroleum Reserve Alaska Access Act
Latest action. Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 165.
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)
National Petroleum Reserve Alaska Access Act - (Sec. 2) Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the National Petroleum Reserve (NPR) in Alaska remains explicitly designated to provide oil and natural gas resources to the United States, and (2) it is national policy to actively advance oil and gas development within the NPR.
(Sec. 3) Amends the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976 to require the mandatory program of competitive leasing of oil and gas in the NPR to include at least one lease sale annually in those areas of the NPR most likely to produce commercial quantities of oil and natural gas each year in the period 2011-2021.
(Sec. 4) Directs the Secretary of the Interior to ensure permits, according to a specified timeline, for all surface development activities, including pipelines and roads construction to: (1) develop and bring into production any areas within the NPR that are subject to oil and gas leases; and (2) transport oil and gas from and through the NPR to existing transportation or processing infrastructure on the North Slope of Alaska.
(Sec. 5) Instructs the Secretary to issue regulations establishing clear requirements to ensure that the Department of the Interior is supporting development of oil and gas leases in the NPR.
(Sec. 6) Requires the Secretary to assess all technically recoverable fossil fuel resources within the NPR, including all conventional and unconventional oil and natural gas.
Requires the resource assessment to be implemented by the U.S. Geological Survey, which is authorized to use resources and funds provided by the state of Alaska.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Reported to House without amendment" stage on October 14, 2011. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on October 14, 2011: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 165.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 112th Congress (2011-12), 283 of the 10,618 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
DOC HASTINGS (R-WA) introduced it on June 13, 2011, and 14 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 14 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on June 13, 2011, 5568 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 5445 days ago, on October 14, 2011.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 112th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2013 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers