# 119-hr-9034: Offshore Leasing Standards and Accountability Act of 2026

119-hr-9034, Offshore Leasing Standards and Accountability Act of 2026, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Min, Dave [D-CA-47] (D-CA); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-11-01).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9034
- As of: 2026-11-01
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-9034
- Congress: 119
- Title: Offshore Leasing Standards and Accountability Act of 2026
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-05-26
- Sponsor: Rep. Min, Dave [D-CA-47] (D-CA)
- Cosponsors: 18
- Policy area: Energy
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-11-01

## Summary

**A new fitness-to-operate certification regime** would block issuance, transfers, or extensions of offshore oil and gas leases unless operators meet strict safety, environmental, and financial standards. The proposal also would require leaseholders to fully fund decommissioning in an interest-bearing escrow and would limit temporary well abandonment to three years, with a one-time five-year extension allowed with validated economic justification. - Operators and parent companies would need to demonstrate no environmental or safety violations in the prior 10 years, an investment-grade credit rating, no recent bankruptcies, and enough financial capacity to cover decommissioning, staffing, and risk-mitigation. - Leaseholders would fund an interest-bearing escrow that must reach the estimated total decommissioning costs within five years. Initial payments must equal at least 25% of a typical-lease estimate or 25% of the proposed facility costs, and cost estimates must be reevaluated at least every two years. - The Secretary would gain enforcement tools to suspend certifications and leases, raise royalty rates to recover delinquent escrow payments after 60 days, and provide annual reports to Congress on compliance, enforcement, and decommissioning cost estimates. *Authorizes $30.0 million per year for fiscal years 2027–2031 to implement the fitness regime, increasing federal spending by that amount over those years.*

## Cosponsors (18)

- Rep. Huffman, Jared [D-CA-2] (D-CA), 2026-05-26T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Ansari, Yassamin [D-AZ-3] (D-AZ), 2026-05-26T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Grijalva, Adelita S. [D-AZ-7] (D-AZ), 2026-05-26T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Dexter, Maxine [D-OR-3] (D-OR), 2026-05-26T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Brownley, Julia [D-CA-26] (D-CA), 2026-06-02T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Lieu, Ted [D-CA-36] (D-CA), 2026-06-02T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Carbajal, Salud O. [D-CA-24] (D-CA), 2026-06-02T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Tlaib, Rashida [D-MI-12] (D-MI), 2026-06-02T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Levin, Mike [D-CA-49] (D-CA), 2026-06-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Mullin, Kevin [D-CA-15] (D-CA), 2026-06-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Garcia, Robert [D-CA-42] (D-CA), 2026-06-25T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Lofgren, Zoe [D-CA-18] (D-CA), 2026-06-25T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Carson, André [D-IN-7] (D-IN), 2026-07-13T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Chu, Judy [D-CA-28] (D-CA), 2026-07-13T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Bonamici, Suzanne [D-OR-1] (D-OR), 2026-07-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Vargas, Juan [D-CA-52] (D-CA), 2026-07-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Casten, Sean [D-IL-6] (D-IL), 2026-07-27T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Pallone, Frank [D-NJ-6] (D-NJ), 2026-09-03T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Funding for fitness program setup: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would authorize $30 million per year for fiscal years 2027 through 2031 to set up and run the Interior Department's fitness-to-operate certification program. The money would help the agency write rules, process applications, and do oversight related to the new certification req…
- Mandatory decommissioning escrow payments: cost, high. If enacted, leaseholders would have to put money into interest-bearing escrow accounts to pay full decommissioning costs. Before a new lease or plan approval, the first payment would be the larger of 25% of the average decommissioning cost for similar-depth leases or 25% of the total decommissionin…
- New fitness-to-operate certification rules: mixed, medium. If enacted, the Interior Secretary would have one year to write rules for a fitness-to-operate certificate for anyone getting, extending, or transferring an offshore lease, easement, or right-of-way. Applicants would have to disclose decommissioning liabilities (domestic and global), past inspectio…
- Shorter limits on idle offshore wells: mixed, medium. If enacted, temporary abandonment of an offshore well would generally be limited to three years unless the operator submits an economic analysis that the Secretary validates. The Secretary could allow one one-time extension per well to a maximum of five years if a validated analysis shows the exten…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act
- 119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026
- 119-hr-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act
- 119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act
- 119-hr-20: Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2025
- 119-hr-5390: FAMILY Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-9034 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/9034)

## Related
- [119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7977)
- [119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9877)
- [119-hr-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-51)
- [119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7973)
- [119-hr-20: Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-20)
- [119-hr-5390: FAMILY Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-5390)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9034 (as of 2026-11-01).