WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) today joined her Senate colleagues to fight for the Responsible Ownership of Public Land Act (S. 3133), which would push oil companies to use the federal land already leased to them for oil and gas production, or pay a fine. Combined, oil and gas companies hold leases to 68 million acres of federal land and waters. But as hardworking American families struggle with record-high fuel costs, oil and gas companies have refused to open this land up to production.

“Instead of creating solutions to help struggling families, big oil companies come to Congress, asking for more land and more handouts. Enough is enough. The American public needs relief – real solutions to what we are going to do to help them as they struggle with rising fuel costs,” said Senator Mikulski. “This legislation sends a clear message to the oil and gas companies leasing federal lands that they need to use it or pay up.”

The Responsible Ownership of Public Land Act will make companies that lease federal land, but fail to produce on it, pay a fine. Revenues from these fees would be devoted to the development of wind and solar energy, energy efficient buildings, advanced electric vehicles, and programs that help low-income families and seniors struggling with high energy costs.

There are 44 million offshore acres that have been leased by oil companies, who have only put 10.5 million of those acres into production. Of the 47.5 million onshore acres under lease for oil and gas production, only 13 million are in production. Combined, oil and gas companies hold leases to 68 million acres of federal land and waters that they are not producing any oil and gas on, compared to just 1.5 million acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) that proponents of drilling want to open up. The vast majority of oil and natural gas resources on federal land are already open for drilling and are not being tapped.

This legislation would place a fee on land that is under lease, but not in production. This fee would increase with the number of years the land has been under lease, but unused. For the first three years of a lease, the fee would be $5 per acre per year. In the fourth year, it would rise to $25 per acre per year, and for the fifth year and beyond it would be $50 per acre per year.

Since President Bush came to office, gas prices have more than doubled, the Big Oil companies have made more than half a trillion dollars in profits and the United States is even more dependent on oil. Cosponsoring this legislation is one of many actions Senator Mikulski has taken in the U.S. Senate to provide relief to millions of Americans struggling with skyrocketing fuel prices. For more information, go to: http://mikulski.senate.gov/Newsroom/PressReleases.