Fixing America’s Inequities with Revenues (FAIR) Act

Mary Landrieu

Lisa Murkowski

Senators Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) announced legislation Wednesday that would give a portion of federal energy revenues to coastal states.  Currently, coastal states don’t get any federal energy revenues.

States in the interior of the country, on the other hand, get half of the revenues from energy produced on federal lands within their borders. The senators said their bill would remedy that inequity.

The Landrieu-Murkowski bill would divert 27.5 percent of federal revenues from energy — fossil fuel and renewable — produced offshore to most coastal states.  Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, however, would get 37.5 percent. The bill also gradually phases out a $500 million annual cap on the revenues those states can collect.

The bill also would award an additional 10 percent of offshore revenues to coastal states that invest in clean-energy projects. Additionally, it would give coastal states 50 percent of revenues from renewable energy on federal land, whether onshore or offshore.

Murkowski is the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and Ron Wyden is chairman. (The Hill, 3/20/2013, Senate Energy &Natural Resources Committee)