Lawmakers seek broader support for revenue-sharing plan

A Louisiana Democrat and Alaska Republican are looking to use the lure of guaranteed federal funding for state restoration programs as a way to draw support for a new plan to give coastal states a share of offshore drilling revenue, The Houston Chronicle reports. The promise would be embedded in new royalty sharing legislation being drafted by U.S. Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-Louisiana, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. The pair are using a bill that faltered last year as the framework for a new approach, and are poised to introduce the bill soon, Murkowski says. Although inland states generally claim 50% of the revenue from oil and gas production on federal lands within their borders, coastal states don’t have the same deal when it comes to royalties from development in federal waters near their shores. There is one exception under existing federal law, which guarantees four coastal states—Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas—will be able to collect 37.5% of oil and gas royalty revenue on some leases beginning in 2017, capped at $500 million annually. Landrieu and Murkowski’s plan, which is still being developed, would move that timeline up for the Gulf, while extending similar revenue-sharing deals to every other coastal state. Under the working plan, other coastal states could claim 27.5% of offshore drilling revenues, with the option to collect an additional 10% for funding conservation and restoration programs. The move could help attract senators from coastal states in the Northeast, where residents may be skeptical of offshore drilling. The full story is here.