[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5868 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5868
To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to establish conditions
for the issuance of oil and gas leases under that Act to prevent
discharges of oil in operations under such leases, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 27, 2010
Mr. Hall of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to establish conditions
for the issuance of oil and gas leases under that Act to prevent
discharges of oil in operations under such leases, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Safe Drill Act of 2010''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) The April 20, 2010, explosion and sinking of the mobile
offshore drilling unit Deepwater Horizon resulted in the
largest discharge of petroleum in the history of the United
States.
(2) The disaster has cost the Nation tens of billions of
dollars in economic damages and widespread devastation of
natural resources.
(3) For more than three months, tens of thousands of
barrels of oil have been discharged into the Gulf of Mexico by
the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
(4) Evidence shows that the use of acoustic switches and
blowout preventers can greatly reduce the chance of an
uncontrolled oil spill.
(5) BP p.l.c. has already spent more than $4,000,000,000 in
direct response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
(6) The total cost of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill will
likely soar past the $20,000,000,000 claims fund established by
BP p.l.c. for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
(7) Acoustic switches cost approximately $500,000 per oil
well.
SEC. 3. CONDITIONS FOR THE ISSUANCE OF NEW OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASES.
Section 8(d) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C.
1337(d)) is amended by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(d)'', and by adding
at the end the following new paragraph:
``(2) The Secretary shall require, as a condition and term of any
oil and gas lease under this section, that the lessee certify that the
lessee will--
``(A) use the best available technology for all operations
under the lease, including acoustic sensors; and
``(B) adopt and implement a comprehensive plan to respond
to and clean up any discharge of oil occurring in operation
under the lease.''.
SEC. 4. REQUIREMENTS FOR EXISTING OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASES.
(a) Best Available Technology.--
(1) Certification requirement.--The Secretary of the
Interior shall require that each person that on the date of the
enactment of this Act holds an oil and gas lease issued under
the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.)
must certify, by not later than 6 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, that they use the best available
technology in all operations under the lease.
(2) Termination of operations.--The Secretary--
(A) may order such a person to suspend operations
if the person has not made the certification required
under paragraph (1) by not later than 6 months after
the date of enactment of this Act; and
(B) shall cancel the lease if the person has not
made the certification required under paragraph (1) by
not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of
this Act.
(b) Comprehensive Response Plan.--
(1) Certification requirement.--The Secretary of the
Interior shall require that each person that on the date of the
enactment of this Act holds an oil and gas lease issued under
the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.)
must certify, by not later than 6 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, that they have adopted and implemented a
comprehensive plan to respond to and clean up any discharge of
oil occurring in operation under the lease.
(2) Termination of operations.--The Secretary--
(A) may order such a person to suspend operations
if the person has not made the certification required
under paragraph (1) by not later than 6 months after
the date of enactment of this Act; and
(B) shall cancel the lease if the person has not
made the certification required under paragraph (1) by
not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of
this Act.
SEC. 5. REVIEW OF BLOWOUT PREVENTERS, EMERGENCY SHUTOFF SYSTEMS, AND
OTHER OIL DISCHARGE PREVENTION TECHNOLOGY.
Section 5(b) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C.
1334(b)) is amended by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(b)'', and by adding
at the end the following new paragraph:
``(2) The Secretary of the Interior shall--
``(A) to review blowout preventers, emergency shutoff
systems, and other oil discharge prevention technology
(including emerging technology) that is or may be used for oil
and gas drilling operations under leases under this Act; and
``(B) revise regulations under this Act governing the use
of such technology as necessary based on that review.''.
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