§ 15922. Consultation regarding oil and gas leasing on public land

• (a) Not later than 180 days after August 8, 2005 , the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall enter into a memorandum of understanding regarding oil and gas leasing on—
  • (1) public land under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior; and
  • (2) National Forest System land under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Agriculture.
• (b) The memorandum of understanding shall include provisions that—
  • (1) establish administrative procedures and lines of authority that ensure timely processing of—
    • (A) oil and gas lease applications;
    • (B) surface use plans of operation, including steps for processing surface use plans; and
    • (C) applications for permits to drill consistent with applicable timelines;
  • (2) eliminate duplication of effort by providing for coordination of planning and environmental compliance efforts;
  • (3) ensure that lease stipulations are—
    • (A) applied consistently;
    • (B) coordinated between agencies; and
    • (C) only as restrictive as necessary to protect the resource for which the stipulations are applied;
  • (4) establish a joint data retrieval system that is capable of—
    • (A) tracking applications and formal requests made in accordance with procedures of the Federal onshore oil and gas leasing program; and
    • (B) providing information regarding the status of the applications and requests within the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture; and
  • (5) establish a joint geographic information system mapping system for use in—
    • (A) tracking surface resource values to aid in resource management; and
    • (B) processing surface use plans of operation and applications for permits to drill.