3.0.0 1555 2023-01-11T13:22:17Z 2023-01-11T13:22:17Z Senate S S 2011-09-14 112 sseg00 Energy and Natural Resources Committee Senate Standing Referred to 2011-09-14T17:38:26Z Rigs to Reefs Habitat Protection Act 112 3429 HR 2011-11-29 Referred to the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans, and Insular Affairs. Identical bill CRS 2011-09-14 sseg00 Energy and Natural Resources Committee Senate Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. IntroReferral 2011-09-14 Introduced in Senate IntroReferral 10000 9 Library of Congress V000127 Sen. Vitter, David [R-LA] David Vitter R LA N W000437 Sen. Wicker, Roger F. [R-MS] Roger Wicker R MS F. 2011-11-01 False C000567 Sen. Cochran, Thad [R-MS] Thad Cochran R MS 2012-07-19 False Energy Aquatic ecology Endangered and threatened species Government trust funds Gulf of Mexico Marine and coastal resources, fisheries Oil and gas Energy 00 2011-09-14 Introduced in Senate 2011-12-13T22:27:21Z 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.

]]> Rigs to Reefs Habitat Protection Act Display Title Rigs to Reefs Habitat Protection Act Official Title as Introduced 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. Introduced in Senate IS Short Titles as Introduced Rigs to Reefs Habitat Protection Act Introduced in Senate 2011-09-14T04:00:00Z https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-112s1555is/xml/BILLS-112s1555is.xml 2011-09-14 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress This file contains bill summaries and statuses for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.