S. 96: Rigs to Reefs Habitat Protection Act

Introduced:
Jan 23, 2013 (113th Congress, 2013–2015)
Sponsor:
Sen. David Vitter [R-LA]
Status:
Referred to Committee

The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. S. stands for Senate bill.

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Status

This bill was assigned to a congressional committee on January 23, 2013, which will consider it before possibly sending it on to the House or Senate as a whole.

Progress
Introduced Jan 23, 2013
Referred to Committee Jan 23, 2013
Reported by Committee ...
Passed Senate ...
Passed House ...
Signed by the President ...
Prognosis

5% chance of getting past committee.
1% chance of being enacted.

Only 12% of Senate bills made it past committee and only 2% were enacted in 2011–2013. [show factors | methodology]

Cosponsors
none
Committees

Senate Energy and Natural Resources

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.

Full Title

A bill to authorize the use of certain offshore oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico for artificial reefs, and for other purposes.

Summary

No summaries available.

Text

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Last updated Jan 23, 2013.
7 pages

Primary Source

View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)

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Citation

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GovTrack’s Bill Summary

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Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

1/23/2013--Introduced.
Rigs to Reefs Habitat Protection Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to assess each offshore oil and gas platform in the Gulf of Mexico that is no longer useful for operations, and has become critical for a marine fisheries habitat, to:
(1) determine whether there are coral populations or other protected species in the platform's vicinity, and
(2) identify any species in the vicinity that have recreational or commercial value.
Prohibits the removal of any such platforms until the Secretary has completed each assessment.
Requires suspension of the decommissioning of a platform if a substantial reef ecosystem is in the vicinity until the Secretary determines that decommissioning would not harm the ecosystem.
Exempts from certain platform removal deadlines any lessees who:
(1) commit to entering a particular platform in the artificial reef program under the National Fishing Enhancement Act of 1984, and
(2) initiate discussions with applicable states regarding potential artificial reef sites.
Allows a lessee to provide for reefing in place under the artificial reef program.
Permits states with a state rig-to-reef program to enter agreements with any appropriate entities to assume liability in federal water for a structure covered by the state program.
Establishes a Reef Maintenance Fund. Requires the owner of a rig enrolled in the artificial reef program to:
(1) maintain a rig anode system; and
(2) pay into the Fund 50% of the estimated platform removal costs for which the owner would have been responsible if it had not participated in the program.

House Republican Conference Summary

The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.

No summary available.

House Democratic Caucus Summary

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The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:

United States Code

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