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H.R. 1890 (112th): SAFER Drilling Act

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The text of the bill below is as of May 12, 2011 (Introduced).

I

112th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 1890

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

May 12, 2011

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

A BILL

To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to require, as a condition and term of any exploration plan or development and production plan submitted under that Act, that the applicant for the plan must submit an oil spill containment and clean-up plan capable of handling a worst-case scenario oil spill, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Save America from Environmentally Reckless Drilling Act or the SAFER Drilling Act .

2.

Offshore oil and gas oil spill containment and clean-up plans

The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

32.

oil spill containment and clean-up plans

(a)

In general

The Secretary shall require, as a condition and term of any exploration plan or any development and production plan submitted under this Act, that—

(1)

the applicant submit and implement an oil spill containment and clean-up plan capable of handling a worst-case scenario oil spill; and

(2)

the Secretary and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency must approve the plan.

(b)

Contents

The plan required under paragraph (1) shall—

(1)

address the factors of—

(A)

a continuous oil spill;

(B)

depth of an oil spill;

(C)

multiple events;

(D)

inclement weather;

(E)

changes in technology;

(F)

seafloor instability and processes; and

(G)

the formation of methane hydrates;

(2)

address such other factors as the Secretary considers appropriate;

(3)

address the contingency that early attempts to contain a spill may fail;

(4)

include specific redundancy mechanisms to contain a spill;

(5)

use best available control technology both to contain a spill and mitigate its environmental impacts; and

(6)

demonstrate adequate technology, organization, resources, and capacity to both contain and to prevent shoreline contamination by a significant proportion of a worst-case spill, and to provide for long-term clean-up and remediation of the marine and coastal environments.

(c)

Submission to EPA

The Secretary shall submit the oil spill containment and clean-up plan to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency for approval, denial, or approval conditional upon modification. The Administrator shall give approval only if the applicant has demonstrated adequate technology, organization, resources, and capacity both to contain and to prevent shoreline contamination by a significant proportion of a worst-case spill, and to provide for long-term clean-up and remediation of the marine and coastal environments.

(d)

Lease cancellation

(1)

In general

If the holder of a lease under this Act fails to submit an exploration plan or development and production plan in accordance with this section, or fails to implement an oil spill containment and clean-up plan approved by the Secretary and the Administrator for purposes of this section, the Secretary may cancel the lease.

(2)

Compensation not required

Cancellation of a lease under this subsection shall not entitle a lessee to any compensation.

(e)

Application

This section shall only apply with respect to exploration plans and development and production plans required under leases under this Act issued after the date of the enactment of the Save America from Environmentally Reckless Drilling Act.

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