I
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1890
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 12, 2011
Ms. Tsongas 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.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the
Save America from Environmentally
Reckless Drilling Act
or the SAFER Drilling Act
.
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:
oil spill containment and clean-up plans
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—
the applicant submit and implement an oil spill containment and clean-up plan capable of handling a worst-case scenario oil spill; and
the Secretary and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency must approve the plan.
Contents
The plan required under paragraph (1) shall—
address the factors of—
a continuous oil spill;
depth of an oil spill;
multiple events;
inclement weather;
changes in technology;
seafloor instability and processes; and
the formation of methane hydrates;
address such other factors as the Secretary considers appropriate;
address the contingency that early attempts to contain a spill may fail;
include specific redundancy mechanisms to contain a spill;
use best available control technology both to contain a spill and mitigate its environmental impacts; and
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.
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.
Lease cancellation
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.
Compensation not required
Cancellation of a lease under this subsection shall not entitle a lessee to any compensation.
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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