text: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
  
      This Act may be referred to as the ``Department of the Interior 
  Reform and Savings Act of 1993''.
  
                TITLE I--IMPROVE THE FEDERAL HELIUM PROGRAM
  
  SEC. 101. AMENDMENTS TO HELIUM ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1960.
  
      (a) Section 4 of the Helium Act Amendments of 1960 (74 Stat. 920, 
  50 U.S.C. 167b) is amended to insert after ``lands acquired, leased, or 
  reserved;'' the following: ``reduce costs and increase operational 
  efficiencies, especially in operations that do not produce revenue; 
  establish and adjust fees charged private industry for storage, 
  transmission, and withdrawal of privately-owned helium from Government 
  storage facilities to compensate fully for all costs incurred;''.
      (b) Section 6 of the Helium Act Amendments of 1960 (74 Stat. 921, 
  50 U.S.C. 167d) is amended--
              (1) by amending subsection (b) to read:
      ``(b) The Secretary is authorized to sell helium for Federal, 
  medical, scientific, and commercial uses in such quantities and under 
  such terms and conditions as the Secretary determines. Sales shall be 
  made in quantities and a manner to avoid undue disruption of the usual 
  markets of producers, processors, and consumers of helium and to 
  protect the United States against avoidable loss.''; and
              (2) by amending subsection (c) to read:
      ``(c) Sales of helium by the Secretary shall be at prices, as 
  established by the Secretary, that are adequate to cover all costs 
  incurred in carrying out the provisions of this Act. Helium shall be 
  sold at prices comparable to helium sold by private industry. An annual 
  review of price comparability shall be made and adjustments shall be 
  made accordingly.''.
  
  SEC. 102. LONG-TERM COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.
  
      The Secretary of the Interior shall prepare and develop a long-
  term, comprehensive plan to (1) cancel the outstanding debt owed to the 
  Treasury by the Department of the Interior related to the Federal 
  helium program; and (2) improve Federal helium program operations over 
  a multi-year period. The plan should analyze various options to 
  accomplish (1) and (2) above, with emphasis on ways to minimize adverse 
  impacts on Federal employment, Federal helium purchasers, and U.S. 
  private sector helium markets. The plan, with the Secretary's preferred 
  options, shall be presented to the President within 4 months of 
  enactment of this Act. The President may adopt the plan, in whole or in 
  part, and is authorized to cancel the out-standing debt upon a finding 
  that such debt cancellation is in the national interest.
  
      TITLE II--IMPROVE MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE ROYALTY COLLECTION
  
  SEC. 201. IMPROVEMENT OF MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE ROYALTY 
                COLLECTION.
  
      (a) The Secretary of the Interior shall, by fiscal year 1995, 
  direct the Minerals Management Service, Royalty Management Program, to 
  develop and implement (1) an automated business information system to 
  provide to its auditors a lease history that includes reference, 
  royalty, production, financial, compliance history, pricing and 
  valuation, and other information; (2) the optimum methods to identify 
  and resolve anomalies and to verify that royalties are paid correctly; 
  (3) a more efficient and cost-effective royalty collection process by 
  instituting new compliance and enforcement measures, including 
  assessments and penalties for erroneous reporting and underreporting; 
  and (4) such other actions as may be necessary to reduce royalty 
  underpayment and increase revenue to the U.S. Treasury by an estimated 
  total of $28 million by fiscal year 1999.
      (b) The Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982 (Public 
  Law No. 97-451), (30 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) is amended by adding a new 
  subsection 111(h) as follows:
  
                    ``penalty assessment for substantial
  
                        underreporting of royalty''
  
      ``Sec. 111. (h)(1) If there is any underreporting of royalty owned 
  on production from any lease issued or administered by the Secretary 
  for the production of oil, gas, coal, any other mineral, or geothermal 
  steam, from any Federal or Indian lands or the Outer Continental Shelf, 
  for any production month, by any person who is responsible for paying 
  royalty, the Secretary may assess a penalty of 10 percent of the amount 
  of that underreporting.
      ``(2) If there is a substantial underreporting of royalty owed on 
  production from any lease issued or administered by the Secretary for 
  the production of oil, gas, coal, any other mineral, or geothermal 
  steam, from any Federal or Indian lands or the Outer Continental Shelf, 
  for any production month, by any person who is responsible for paying 
  royalty, the Secretary may access a penalty of 20 percent of the amount 
  of that substantial underreporting.
      ``(3) For purposes of this section, the term `undereporting' means 
  the difference between the royalty on the value of the production which 
  should have been reported and the royalty on the value of the 
  production which was reported, if the value of the production which 
  should have been reported is greater than the value of the production 
  which was reported. An underreporting constitutes a `substantial 
  underreporting' if such difference exceeds 10 percent of the royalty on 
  the value of the production which should have been reported.
      ``(4) The Secretary shall not impose the assessment provided in 
  paragraphs (1) or (2) if the person corrects the underreporting before 
  the date the person receives notice from the Secretary that an 
  underreporting may have occurred, or before 90 days after the date of 
  enactment of this section, whichever is later.
      ``(5) The Secretary shall waive any portion of an assessment 
  provided in paragraphs (1) or (2) attributable to that portion of the 
  underreporting for which the person demonstrates that--
              ``(i) the person had written authorization from the 
          Secretary to report royalty on the value of the production on 
          the basis on which it was reported, or
              ``(ii) the person had substantial authority for reporting 
          royalty on the value of the production on the basis on which it 
          was reported, or
              ``(iii) the person previously had notified the Secretary, 
          in such manner as the Secretary may by rule prescribe, of 
          relevant reasons or facts affecting the royalty treatment of 
          specific production which led to the underreporting, or
              ``(iv) the person meets any other exception which the 
          Secretary may, by rule, establish.
      ``(6) All penalties collected under this subsection shall be 
  deposited to the same accounts in the Treasury or paid to the same 
  recipients in the same manner as the royalty with respect to which such 
  penalty is paid.''.
  
             TITLE III--PHASE OUT THE MINERAL INSTITUTE PROGRAM
  
  SEC. 301. PHASE OUT OF MINERAL INSTITUTE PROGRAM.
  
      The Secretary of the Interior, beginning in fiscal year 1995, shall 
  take action to phase out the Mining and Mineral Resources Research 
  Institute Act of 1984, Public Law 98-409, as amended (98 Stat. 1536 
  through 1541 and 102 Stat. 2339 through 2341, 30 U.S.C. 1221 through 
  1230). There are hereby authorized to be appropriated under the Act the 
  following amounts: fiscal year 1995--$6.5 million; fiscal year 1996--$5 
  million; fiscal year 1997--$3 million; and fiscal year 1998--$1.5 
  million. No further appropriations for this Act are authorized after 
  September 30, 1998.
target: TABLE OF CONTENTS: 
       Title I:  Improve the Federal Helium Program 
       Title II:  Improve Minerals Management Service Royalty 
            Collection 
       Title III:  Phase Out the Mineral Institute Program 
  Department of the Interior Reform and Savings Act of 1993 - 
  Title I:  Improve the Federal Helium Program
   - Amends the Helium Act Amendments of 1960 to authorize the Secretary of the Interior (the Secretary) to:  (1) reduce costs and increase operational efficiencies; and (2) set fees charged private industry for storage, transmission, and withdrawal of privately-owned helium from Federal storage facilities to compensate fully for all costs incurred. 
  Directs the Secretary to:  (1) make helium sales in a manner that avoids undue disruption of the usual helium market and protects the United States against avoidable loss; (2) sell helium at prices comparable to those set by private industry; and (3) develop a long-term comprehensive plan to cancel the outstanding debt owed to the Treasury related to the Federal helium program, and to improve Federal helium program operations. 
  Title II:  Improve Minerals Management Service Royalty Collection
   - Requires the Secretary to direct the Minerals Management Service, Royalty Management Program, to develop and implement:  (1) an automated business information system to provide its auditors a lease history; (2) optimum methods to identify and resolve anomalies and to verify royalty payments; (3) new royalty compliance and enforcement measures; and (4) other actions necessary to reduce royalty underpayment and increase revenues by a specified amount. 
  Amends the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act  of 1982 to authorize the Secretary to assess a penalty of ten percent of the amount of underreported royalty, and 20 percent of the amount of substantially underreported royalty. 
  Title III:  Phase Out the Mineral Institute Program
   - Directs the Secretary to phase out the Mining and Mineral Resources Research Institute Act of 1984 by the end of FY 1998.
feat_title: Department of the Interior Reform and Savings Act of 1993