H.R. 3041 — RIGED Act of 2025

This section establishes definitions for terms used in the Act, including (1) "Offshore Energy Resource Development," which refers to oil and gas leasing, exploration, and production activities on the Outer Continental Shelf as defined in 43 U.S.C. 1331; (2) "Secretary," which refers to the Secretaries of the Interior and/or Commerce; and (3) "Administrator," which refers to the Administrator or Acting Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

This section requires continuity of expired federal permits and a specific biological opinion for offshore oil and gas leasing, development, and production activities. (1) Amends the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) to direct the Secretary of the Interior, upon expiration of an OCSLA permit required for offshore oil and gas production, to ensure that all terms, conditions, and requirements of the expired permit remain in effect for prior permittees and similarly situated new or prospective permittees until a new permit is issued (considering consistency with federal laws, regulations, and protections for human life and the environment). Authorizes and directs the Secretary to coordinate with other federal agencies on expiring or expired permits, including through joint agency working groups notified to Congress and the President within 15 days of establishment (including members, scope, objectives, outcomes, and estimated duration). (2) Amends the Clean Water Act to require the EPA Administrator, when issuing a new National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit covering multiple permittees with similar operations and discharge types that is reasonably similar to an expired permit, to continue applying the expired permit's terms, conditions, and requirements to both existing and prospective permittees until the new permit is issued. (As background, NPDES permits under CWA section 402 authorize pollutant discharges into U.S. waters subject to technology-based and water quality-based limits.) (3) Deems compliance with the National Marine Fisheries Service's March 13, 2020, biological opinion on oil and gas activities in the Gulf of Mexico (as amended April 24, 2021)—issued under the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act—as satisfying requirements under those acts for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, until a superseding biological opinion is approved by the Secretary of the Interior or Commerce.