1.This Act may be cited as
the Faster Action Safety Team
Emergency Response Act of 2010
.
2.In this Act:
(1)The
term completion means the date on which the well involved is
properly equipped for the production of oil or gas, goes into production or, if
the well is dry, the date on which the well is abandoned.
(2)The
term drilling includes the drilling or redrilling of any well or
the deepening or expansion of any existing well.
(3)The
term exploration means a drilling effort to obtain information
relating to oil or gas extraction without the intent of immediate
production.
(4)The
term operator means any individual or entity that locates, drills,
operates, alters, directs, controls, supervises, maintains, plugs, or abandons
any well or reconditions any well with the purpose of production.
(5)The
term production means the retrieval of oil or gas from a
well.
(6)The term response team means a team of
individuals established by an operator in accordance with this Act, the members
of which, at a minimum—
(A)are familiar with
the operations and equipment of a well;
(B)participate at
least annually in response training at a minimum of 1 well that is operated by
the operator and covered by the response team;
(C)are trained in
basic first aid and CPR training on an annual basis; and
(D)will be available
with respect to the well involved not later than 3 hours by ground travel time
after requested.
(7)The
term Secretary means the Secretary of Labor.
(8)The
term well means a bore hole drilled or being drilled onshore for
the purpose of, or to be used for, producing, extracting or injecting any gas,
petroleum or other liquid related to oil or gas production or storage,
including holes drilled or being drilled for exploration and excluding holes
that have been plugged and abandoned.
3.Response team
regulations
(a)Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Secretary shall promulgate regulations, in accordance with this
section, relating to response teams.
(b)Regulations
promulgated under subsection (a) shall provide for the following:
(1)Such regulations
shall not be construed to waive operator training requirements applicable to
existing response teams.
(2)Such regulations
shall require that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration establish,
and update every 5 years thereafter, criteria to certify the qualifications of
response teams.
(3)(A)Such
regulations shall require that the operator of a well—
(i)during the exploration or drilling
phase, or before the completion phase—
(I)have an employee knowledgeable in
responding to emergency situations that may arise at the well (as defined in
regulations promulgated by the Secretary, in consultation with the
Administrator of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) who is
employed and present at the well at all times; and
(II)make available a certified response
team; and
(ii)make available a certified
response team during the production phase (as defined in section 2(5)).
(B)Such regulations shall ensure that the
following options may be used by an operator to achieve compliance with the
requirements of subparagraph (A) relating to the availability of a response
team:
(i)Making available a well response
team.
(ii)Making available a multi-employer
composite response team that is made up of team members who are knowledgeable
about the operations of the well and who train on an annual basis at the
well—
(I)which provides coverage for multiple
operators that have team members which include at least 2 active employees from
each of such operators;
(II)which provides coverage for multiple
wells owned by the same operator; and
(III)which is a State-sponsored response
team that is composed of at least 2 active employees from each of the
operators.
(iii)Making available a commercial
response team that is provided for through contract with a third-party vendor
or a response team provided by another operator, if such team—
(I)trains on a quarterly basis at a minimum
of 1 well operated by the operator who contracted for the services of the
commercial response team;
(II)is knowledgeable about the operations of
the wells that are covered under the contract for services; and
(III)is composed of individuals with a
minimum of 1 year well experience that has occurred within the 5-year period
preceding their employment on the contract response team.
(iv)Making available a State-sponsored
response team made up of State employees.
(4)Such regulations
shall require that an operator of a well—
(A)within 30 minutes
of the commencement of an emergency situation, contact local first responders
to inform them of the emergency situation;
(B)within 1 hour of
the commencement of an emergency situation, contact the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration to inform such Administration of the emergency
situation;
(C)within 1 hour of
the commencement of an emergency situation, contact the appropriate State
environmental agency to inform such agency of the emergency situation;
(D)within 1 hour of
the commencement of an emergency situation, contact the National Response
Center; and
(E)provide
communication technology, within a reasonable distance of the well (as defined
in regulations promulgated by the Secretary, in consultation with the
Administrator of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration), that
enables the operator to comply with the regulations under this
paragraph.
(5)Such regulations
shall require that an operator provide annual training to local first
responders responsible for serving the area of each well operated by the
operator, who may be required to respond to an emergency situation, on the
hazards of a well and proper emergency response techniques.
(6)Such regulations
shall require that an operator file a report, on an annual basis, with the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, that provides detailed
information on the response team assigned to each well of the operator and
affirmatively states that the operator is in compliance with the Act and all
regulations promulgated under this Act.