Empower Energy Exporting Communities Act

9512. Oil and Gas Community Trust Fund

(a) In general. There is established in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund to be known as the Oil and Gas Community Trust Fund consisting of such amounts as may be appropriated to such Trust Fund as provided in this section and section 9602(b).

(b) Transfers to trust fund

(1) In general. There are hereby appropriated to the Oil and Gas Community Trust Fund amounts equivalent to 3 percent of the net revenues received in the Treasury under section 11 from specified oil or gas companies for taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment of this section.

(2) Specified oil or gas company. The term specified oil or gas company means any corporation if a significant portion of the gross receipts of such corporation are attributable to the production, refining, processing, transportation, or distribution of oil, gas, or any primary product thereof.

(c) Expenditures from trust fund

(1) In general. Amounts in the Oil and Gas Community Trust Fund shall be available to the Secretary, without need of further appropriation and without fiscal year limitation, for purposes of making payments to eligible oil and gas communities for infrastructure and public service investments.

(2) Eligible oil and gas community. For purposes of this subsection, the term eligible oil and gas community means any county, parish, municipality, or Tribal community if the Secretary determines that such county, parish, municipality, or Tribal community is located within 50 miles of a major port for the export of oil, gas, or any primary product thereof.

(3) Limitation based on export share

(A) In general. For any fiscal year, payments made under paragraph (1) during such year to eligible oil and gas communities in a port region shall not exceed, in the aggregate, the amount which bears the same ratio to the total amounts available in the Oil and Gas Community Trust Fund as the port region’s total amount of exports of oil, gas, or any primary product thereof bears to the total amount of such exports of all major ports nationwide (as determined by the Secretary based on the most recent year for which data is available).

(B) Port region. For purposes of this paragraph, the term port region means any region within 50 miles of a major port for the export of oil, gas, or any primary product thereof.

Sec. 9512. Oil and Gas Community Trust Fund.