1.This Act may be cited as the
Department of the Interior Research
and Technologies for Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act of
2010
.
2.The purpose of this Act is to maintain and
enhance the world-class research and facilities of the Department of the
Interior and to ensure that there is adequate knowledge, practices, and
technologies to detect, respond to, contain, and clean up oil spills occurring
on Federal land managed by the Department of the Interior, whether onshore or
on the outer Continental Shelf.
3.In this Act:
(1)The term Board means the
Science and Technology Advisory Board established under section 5(a).
(2)The term Fund
means the Oil
Spill Technology and Research Fund established by section 13(a).
(3)The term program means the
program established under section 4(a).
4.Authorization of Department of the Interior
oil spill research and development program
(a)The Secretary shall carry out a program of
research, development, technology demonstration, and risk assessment to address
issues associated with the detection of, response to, and mitigation and
cleanup of oil spills occurring on Federal land managed by the Department of
the Interior, whether onshore or on the outer Continental Shelf.
(b)The program shall include research,
development, demonstration, validation, personnel training, and other
activities relating to—
(1)technologies, materials, methods, and
practices—
(A)to detect the release of hydrocarbons from
leaking exploration or production equipment;
(B)to characterize the rates of flow from
leaking exploration and production equipment in locations that are remote or
difficult to access;
(C)to protect the safety of workers addressing
hydrocarbon releases from exploration and production equipment;
(D)to contain, respond to, and clean up oil
spills, including with the use of dispersants, containment vessels, booms, and
skimmers, particularly under worst-case release scenarios;
(E)to contain, respond to, and clean up an oil
spill in extreme or harsh conditions on the outer Continental Shelf; and
(F)for environmental assessment, restoration,
and long-term monitoring;
(2)fundamental scientific characterization of
the behavior of oil and natural gas in and on soil and water, including
miscibility, plume behavior, emulsification, physical separation, and chemical
and biological degradation;
(3)behavior and effects of emulsified,
dispersed, and submerged oil in water; and
(4)modeling, simulation, and prediction of oil
flows from releases and the trajectories of releases on the surface, the
subsurface, and in water.
5.Science and Technology Advisory
Board
(a)The Secretary shall enter into appropriate
arrangements with the National Academy of Sciences to establish an independent
committee, to be known as the Science and Technology Advisory
Board, to provide scientific and technical advice to the program,
including—
(1)the identification of knowledge gaps that
the program should address;
(2)the establishment of scientific and
technical priorities; and
(3)an annual review of the results and
effectiveness of the program, including successful technology
development.
(b)Reports and recommendations of the Board
shall promptly be made available to Congress and the public.
6.Research and Technology Plan
(a)Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary, in
consultation with the Board, shall develop and publish a research and
technology plan for the program.
(b)The plan under this section shall—
(1)identify research needs and
opportunities;
(2)propose areas of focus for the
program;
(3)establish program priorities, including
priorities for the research centers of excellence under section 7,
demonstration projects under section 8, and research grants under section 9;
and
(4)estimate—
(A)the extent of resources needed to conduct
the program; and
(B)timetables for completing research tasks
under the program.
(c)The Secretary shall timely publish—
(1)the plan under this section; and
(2)a review of the plan by the Board.
7.Research Centers of Excellence
(a)Response technologies for deepwater, ultra
deepwater, and other extreme environment oil spills
(1)The Secretary shall establish at 1 or more
institutions of higher education a research center of excellence for the
research, development, and demonstration of technologies necessary to respond
to, contain, mitigate, and clean up deepwater, ultra deepwater, and other
extreme environment oil spills.
(2)The Secretary shall provide grants to the
research center of excellence established under paragraph (1) to conduct and
oversee basic and applied research in the technologies described in that
paragraph.
(b)Oil spill response and restoration
(1)The Secretary, in coordination with the
Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, shall establish at 1 or
more institutions of higher education a research center of excellence for
research and innovation in oil spill fate, behavior and effects, and damage
assessment and restoration.
(2)The Secretary shall provide grants to the
research center of excellence established under paragraph (1) to conduct and
oversee basic and applied research in the areas described in that
paragraph.
(c)Other research centers of
excellenceThe Secretary may
establish such other research centers of excellence as the Secretary determines
to be necessary for the research, development, and demonstration of
technologies necessary to carry out this Act.
8.
(a)In carrying out the program, the Secretary
shall conduct deepwater, ultra deepwater, and other extreme environment oil
spill response demonstration projects for the purpose of developing and
demonstrating new integrated deepwater oil spill mitigation and response
systems that use the information and implement the improved practices and
technologies developed from the program.
(b)The mitigation and response systems
developed under subsection (a) shall use technologies and management practices
for improving the response capabilities to deepwater oil spills,
including—
(1)improved oil flow monitoring and
calculation;
(2)improved oil spill response
capability;
(3)improved subsurface mitigation
technologies;
(4)improved capability to track and predict
the flow and effects of oil discharges in both subsurface and surface areas for
the purposes of making oil mitigation and response decisions; and
(5)any other activities necessary to achieve
the purposes of the program.
9.In carrying out the program, the Secretary
may award competitive grants in coordination with research centers of
excellence under section 7 and consistent with the research and technology plan
under section 6 to institutions of higher education or other research
institutions—
(1)to carry out projects that are relevant to
the goals and priorities of the research and technology plan; and—
(2)(A)to advance research and development;
or
(B)to demonstrate technologies.
10.Pilot programs for field testing
technologies
(a)The Secretary, in coordination with the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall conduct a pilot
program to conduct field tests on new oil spill response, mitigation, and
cleanup technologies developed under the program in the waters of the United
States.
(b)The results of the field tests conducted
under subsection (a) shall be used—
(1)to refine oil spill technology research and
development; and
(2)to assist the Secretary and the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in the development of
safety and environmental regulations under this Act and other applicable
laws.
11.Peer review of proposals and
research
(a)Any award of funds under the program shall
be made only after the Secretary has carried out an impartial peer review of
the scientific and technical merit of the proposals for the award.
(b)The Secretary shall ensure that any
research conducted under the program shall be peer-reviewed, transparent, and
made available to the public.
12.Coordination with other agencies
(a)In carrying out this Act, the Secretary
shall consult and coordinate, as appropriate, with other Federal agencies and
programs, including the Interagency Coordinating Committee on Oil Pollution
Research established under section 7001 of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33
U.S.C. 2761).
(b)Responsibility of the
SecretaryNotwithstanding any
requirements to consult or coordinate, the Secretary shall maintain authority,
direction, and control of the program.
13.Oil Spill Technology and Research
Fund
(a)There is established in the Treasury of the
United States a revolving fund, to be known as the Oil Spill Technology
and Research Fund
, consisting of such amounts as are transferred to the
Fund under subsection (b), to be administered by the Secretary, to be available
without fiscal year limitation and not subject to appropriation, to carry out
the program.
(b)From any Federal royalties, rents, and
bonuses derived from Federal onshore and offshore oil and gas leases issued the
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) or the Mineral
Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) that are deposited in the Treasury, and
after distribution of any funds described in subsection (c), there shall be
transferred to the Fund $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2020,
to remain available until expended.
(c)The distributions referred to in subsection
(b) are those required by law—
(1)to States and to the Reclamation Fund under
section 35(a) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 191(a)); and
(2)to other funds receiving amounts from
Federal oil and gas leasing programs, including—
(A)any recipients pursuant to section 8(g) of
the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337(g));
(B)the land and water conservation fund,
pursuant to section 2(c) of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965
(16 U.S.C. 460l–5(c));
(C)the Historic Preservation Fund, pursuant to
section 108 of the National Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470h);
and
(D)the coastal impact assistance program
established under section 31 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43
U.S.C. 1356a).
(d)Amounts in the Fund may not be made
available for any purpose other than a purpose described in subsection
(a).
(e)
(1)Not later than 60 days after the end of
each fiscal year beginning with fiscal year 2010, the Secretary shall submit to
the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives, the Committee
on Appropriations of the Senate, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
of the Senate, and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of
Representatives a report on the operation of the Fund during the fiscal
year.
(2)Each report shall include, for the fiscal
year covered by the report, the following:
(A)A statement of the amounts deposited into
the Fund.
(B)A description of the expenditures made from
the Fund for the fiscal year, including the purpose of the expenditures.
(C)Recommendations for additional authorities
to fulfill the purpose of the Fund.
(D)A statement of the balance remaining in the
Fund at the end of the fiscal year.
1.This Act may be cited as the
Federal Research and Technologies for
Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act of 2010
.
2.The purposes of this Act are—
(1)to maintain and enhance the world-class
research and facilities of the Federal Government; and
(2)to ensure that there are adequate
knowledge, practices, and technologies to detect, respond to, contain, and
clean up oil spills, whether onshore or on the outer Continental Shelf.
3.Science and technology
advice and guidanceSection
7001(b) of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2761(b)) is amended—
(1)in the matter following paragraph (2), by
striking The National Institute of Standards and Technology
and
all that follows through this section.
; and
(2)by adding at the end the
following:
(3)Science and Technology
Advisory Board
(A)The Chairman shall enter into appropriate arrangements
with the National Academy of Sciences to establish an independent committee, to
be known as the Science and Technology Advisory Board
, to
provide scientific and technical advice to the Interagency Committee relating
to research carried out pursuant to the program established under subsection
(c), including—
(i)the identification of
knowledge gaps that the program should address;
(ii)the establishment of
scientific and technical priorities; and
(iii)an annual review of the
results and effectiveness of the program, including successful technology
development.
(B)Reports
and recommendations of the Board shall promptly be made available to Congress
and the public.
(C)National Institute of
Standards and TechnologyThe National Institute of Standards and
Technology shall provide the Interagency Committee with advice and guidance on
issues relating to quality assurance and standards measurements relating to
activities of the Interagency Committee under this
section.
.
4.Oil pollution research
and development program
(a)Section 7001(c) of
the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2761(c)) is amended—
(1)in paragraph (2)—
(A)in subparagraph (C), by striking and
bioremediation
and inserting bioremediation, containment
vessels, booms, and skimmers, particularly under worst-case release
scenarios
;
(B)in subparagraph (I), by striking
and
at the end;
(C)by redesignating
subparagraph (J) as subparagraph (L); and
(D)by inserting after
subparagraph (I) the following:
(J)research, development,
and demonstration of new or improved technologies and systems to contain,
respond to, and clean up a discharge of oil in extreme or harsh conditions on
the outer Continental Shelf;
(K)research to evaluate the
relative effectiveness and environmental impacts (including human and
environmental toxicity) of dispersants;
and
;
(2)by redesignating subparagraphs (3) through
(7) and (8) through (11) as paragraphs (4) through (8) and (11) through (14),
respectively;
(3)by inserting after paragraph (2) the
following:
(3)Authorization of agency
oil discharge research and development programs
(A)The Secretary of the Interior, in coordination with the
program established under this subsection, the Interagency Committee, and such
other agencies as the President may designate, shall carry out a program of
research, development, technology demonstration, and risk assessment to address
issues associated with the detection of, response to, and mitigation and
cleanup of discharges of oil occurring on Federal land managed by the
Department of the Interior, whether onshore or on the outer Continental
Shelf.
(B)The program established under this paragraph shall provide
for research, development, demonstration, validation, personnel training, and
other activities relating to new and improved technologies that are effective
at preventing or mitigating oil discharges and that protect the environment,
including technologies, materials, methods, and practices—
(i)to detect the release of
hydrocarbons from leaking exploration or production equipment;
(ii)to characterize the
rates of flow from leaking exploration and production equipment in locations
that are remote or difficult to access;
(iii)to protect the safety
of workers addressing hydrocarbon releases from exploration and production
equipment;
(iv)to control or contain
the release of hydrocarbons from a blowout or other loss of well control;
and
(v)in coordination with the
Administrator and the Secretary of Commerce, for environmental assessment,
restoration, and long-term monitoring.
;
(4)in paragraph (5)(A)(i)
(as redesignated by paragraph (2)), by striking the period at the end and
inserting the following: “, including—
(I)fundamental scientific
characterization of the behavior of oil and natural gas in and on soil and
water, including miscibility, plume behavior, emulsification, physical
separation, and chemical and biological degradation;
(II)behavior and effects of
emulsified, dispersed, and submerged oil in water; and
(III)modeling, simulation,
and prediction of oil flows from releases and the trajectories of releases on
the surface, the subsurface, and in
water.
;
(5)in paragraph (7) (as
redesignated by paragraph (2))—
(A)by redesignating
subparagraphs (A) through (D) as clauses (i) through (iv), respectively;
(B)by striking The
United States Coast Guard
and inserting the following:
(A)The United States Coast
Guard
;
and
(C)by adding at the end the
following:
(B)Extreme environmental
condition demonstration projects
(i)The Secretary of the Interior, in conjunction with the
heads of such other agencies as the President may designate, shall conduct
deepwater, ultra deepwater, and other extreme environment oil discharge
response demonstration projects for the purpose of developing and demonstrating
new integrated deepwater oil discharge mitigation and response systems that use
the information and implement the improved practices and technologies developed
through the program under this subsection.
(ii)The
mitigation and response systems developed under clause (i) shall use
technologies and management practices for improving the response capabilities
to deepwater oil discharges, including—
(I)improved oil flow
monitoring and calculation;
(II)improved oil discharge
response capability;
(III)improved subsurface
mitigation technologies;
(IV)improved capability to
track and predict the flow and effects of oil discharges in both subsurface and
surface areas for the purposes of making oil mitigation and response decisions;
and
(V)any other activities
necessary to achieve the purposes of the
program.
;
(6)by inserting after
paragraph (8) (as redesignated by paragraph (2)) the following:
(9)Research Centers of
Excellence
(A)Response Technologies
for Deepwater, Ultra Deepwater, and Other Extreme Environment Oil
Discharges
(i)The
Secretary of the Interior shall establish at 1 or more institutions of higher
education a research center of excellence for the research, development, and
demonstration of technologies necessary to respond to, contain, mitigate, and
clean up deepwater, ultra deepwater, and other extreme-environment discharges
of oil.
(ii)The
Secretary shall provide grants to the research center of excellence established
under clause (i) to conduct and oversee basic and applied research in the
technologies described in that clause.
(B)Oil Discharge Response
and Restoration
(i)The
Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, in coordination with the
Administrator and the Secretary of the Interior, shall establish at 1 or more
institutions of higher education a research center of excellence for research
and innovation in the fate of, behavior and effects of, and damage assessment
and restoration relating to discharges of oil.
(ii)The
Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere shall provide grants to
the research center of excellence established under clause (i) to conduct and
oversee basic and applied research in the areas described in that
clause.
(C)Other Research Centers
of ExcellenceAny agency that is a member of the Interagency
Committee may establish such other research centers of excellence as the agency
determines to be necessary for the research, development, and demonstration of
technologies necessary to carry out the program established under this
subsection.
(10)
(A)The Secretary of the Interior and the Administrator shall
jointly conduct a pilot program to conduct field tests, in the waters of the
United States, of new oil discharge response, mitigation, and cleanup
technologies developed under the program established under this
subsection.
(B)The
results of the field tests conducted under subparagraph (A) shall be
used—
(i)to refine oil discharge
technology research and development; and
(ii)to assist the Secretary
of the Interior and the Administrator in the development of safety and
environmental regulations under this Act and other applicable
laws.
;
(7)in paragraph (12) (as
redesignated by paragraph (2)), in the first sentence—
(A)by striking
paragraph (8)
and inserting paragraph (11)
;
and
(B)by striking
paragraph (10)
and inserting paragraph (13)
;
and
(8)by adding at the end the
following:
(15)Research and
Technology Plan
(A)Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this
paragraph, and every 2 years thereafter, the Chairman, in consultation with the
Board, shall develop and publish a research and technology plan for the program
established under this subsection.
(B)The
plan under this paragraph shall—
(i)identify research needs
and opportunities;
(ii)propose areas of focus
for the program;
(iii)establish program
priorities, including priorities for demonstration projects under paragraph
(7), the research centers of excellence under paragraph (9), and research
funding provided under paragraphs (11) and (12); and
(iv)estimate—
(I)the extent of resources
needed to conduct the program; and
(II)timetables for
completing research tasks under the program.
(C)The
Chairman shall timely publish—
(i)the plan under this
paragraph; and
(ii)a review of the plan by
the Board.
(16)Peer Review of
Proposals and Research
(A)Any provision of funds under the program established
under this subsection shall be made only after the agency providing the funding
has carried out an impartial peer review of the scientific and technical merit
of the proposals for the funding.
(B)The
agency providing funding shall ensure that any research conducted under the
program shall be peer-reviewed, transparent, and made available to the
public.
(17)Oil Discharge
Technology and Research Fund
(A)There
is established in the Treasury of the United States a revolving fund, to be
known as the Oil Spill Technology and Research Fund
(referred to
in this paragraph as the Fund), consisting of such amounts as are
transferred to the Fund under subparagraph (B), to be administered by the
Chairman, to be available without fiscal year limitation and not subject to
appropriation, to carry out the program established under this
subsection.
(B)From any Federal royalties, rents, and bonuses derived from
Federal onshore and offshore oil and gas leases issued the Outer Continental
Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) or the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C.
181 et seq.) that are deposited in the Treasury, and after distribution of any
funds described in subparagraph (C), there shall be transferred to the Fund
$25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2020, to remain available
until expended.
(C)The distributions referred to in subparagraph (B)
are those required by law—
(i)to States and to the
Reclamation Fund under section 35(a) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C.
191(a)); and
(ii)to other funds receiving
amounts from Federal oil and gas leasing programs, including—
(I)any recipients pursuant
to section 8(g) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C.
1337(g));
(II)the land and water
conservation fund, pursuant to section 2(c) of the Land and Water Conservation
Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l–5(c));
(III)the Historic
Preservation Fund, pursuant to section 108 of the National Historic
Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470h); and
(IV)the coastal impact
assistance program established under section 31 of the Outer Continental Shelf
Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1356a).
(D)Amounts
in the Fund may not be made available for any purpose other than a purpose
described in subparagraph (A).
(E)
(i)Not later than 60 days after the end of each fiscal year
beginning with fiscal year 2010, the Chairman shall submit to the Committees on
Appropriations, Energy and Natural Resources, and Environment and Public Works
of the Senate and the Committees on Appropriations, Natural Resources, and
Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives a report on
the operation of the Fund during the fiscal year.
(ii)Each
report shall include, for the fiscal year covered by the report, the
following:
(I)A statement of the
amounts deposited in the Fund.
(II)A description of the
expenditures made from the Fund for the fiscal year, including the purpose of
the expenditures.
(III)Recommendations for
additional authorities to fulfill the purpose of the Fund.
(IV)A statement of the
balance remaining in the Fund at the end of the fiscal
year.
.
(b)Section 7001(f) of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33
U.S.C. 2761(f)) is amended—
(1)in the matter preceding
paragraph (1), by striking (c)(8)
and inserting
(c)(11)
;
(2)in paragraph (1), by
striking (c)(4)
and inserting (c)(5)
;
(3)in paragraph (2), by
striking (c)(6)
and inserting (c)(7)
; and
(4)in the matter following
paragraph (2), by striking (c)(8)
and inserting
(c)(11)
.
(c)Section 7001(a)(4) of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33
U.S.C. 2761(a)(4)) is amended by inserting of the Interagency Committee
(referred to in this section as the Chairman)
before the
period at the end.
Amend the title so as to read:
A bill to authorize and enhance Federal programs relating to research on
the detection of, response to, and mitigation and cleanup of oil spills, and
for other purposes.
.
August 2, 2010
Reported with an amendment and an amendment to the
title