Bill > HR1782

This bill, known as the Virginia Jobs and Energy Act, mandates that the Secretary of the Interior conduct offshore oil and gas Lease Sale 220, a specific sale defined in a 2009 federal register notice, as soon as possible but within one year of the bill's enactment, and also requires that at least one lease sale in the Virginia lease sale planning area be included in all future five-year oil and gas leasing programs. The bill prohibits oil and natural gas exploration, development, or production off the coast of Virginia if it conflicts with military operations, as outlined in a 1983 agreement between the Department of Defense and the Department of the Interior, and requires these departments to periodically review and update this agreement to account for new energy technologies. Furthermore, the bill directs that 37.5 percent of new leasing revenues generated from leases issued under this act be distributed to Mid-Atlantic States (Delaware, North Carolina, Maryland, and Virginia) that are within 200 miles of the leased tract, with specific minimum and maximum allocation percentages for the nearest and other affected states, and these funds can be used by the states for any purpose except as matching funds for other federal programs. Finally, the bill establishes a streamlined permitting process for offshore meteorological site testing and monitoring projects, which involve temporary infrastructure to test weather conditions, requiring a decision within 30 days and exempting these projects from certain environmental review requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).