[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1520 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1520

To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to require that oil and 
 gas drilling and production operations on the outer Continental Shelf 
must have in place the best available technology for blowout preventers 
        and emergency shutoff equipment, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 13, 2011

   Mr. Inslee (for himself, Mr. Reichert, and Mr. Young of Florida) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
   Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
   each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to require that oil and 
 gas drilling and production operations on the outer Continental Shelf 
must have in place the best available technology for blowout preventers 
        and emergency shutoff equipment, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Offshore Drilling Safety Improvement 
Act''.

SEC. 2. EMERGENCY SHUTOFF SAFETY REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Requirements.--Section 21(b) of the Outer Continental Shelf 
Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1347(b)) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(b)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(2)(A) The Secretary shall issue regulations that require, 
notwithstanding paragraph (1)--
            ``(i) that all oil and gas drilling and production 
        operations on the outer Continental Shelf have safety and 
        environmental management systems in place including blowout 
        preventers and additional backup emergency shutoff equipment 
        such as acoustic shut-off technology; and
            ``(ii) that such equipment use the best available and 
        safest technologies.
    ``(B) In issuing regulations under this paragraph, the Secretary 
shall, based upon information provided by the Secretary of Energy 
pursuant to section 203(a)(12) of the Department of Energy Organization 
Act and other information available to the Secretary--
            ``(i) incorporate safety technology information from 
        independent scientists and experts, academic institutions, and 
        from technology used internationally; and
            ``(ii) consider the need for different technology 
        requirements in different environments and depths.
    ``(C) Regulations issued under this paragraph--
            ``(i) shall apply to all new oil and gas drilling and 
        production operations; and
            ``(ii) shall apply to all existing and gas drilling and 
        production operations upon the expiration of the 6-month period 
        beginning on the date of the issuance of the regulations.
    ``(D) Every 5 years after the date of the issuance of regulations 
under this paragraph, the Secretary shall--
            ``(i) review blowout preventer and emergency shutoff 
        equipment technology; and
            ``(ii) revise the regulations as necessary to require use 
        of the best available technology in accordance with this 
        paragraph.''.
    (b) Deadline.--The Secretary of the Interior shall issue 
regulations under the amendment made by subsection (a) by not later 
than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. BEST AVAILABLE AND SAFEST TECHNOLOGY.

    Section 203 of the Department of Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 
7133) is amended by adding at the end of subsection (a) the following 
new paragraph:
            ``(12) Offshore oil and gas exploration and production best 
        available and safest technology identification, including--
                    ``(A) surveying industry practices and regulatory 
                requirements both domestically and internationally;
                    ``(B) identifying technology currently in use as 
                well as technology that is not in widespread use, but 
                could be adopted for widespread use on a near-term 
                basis; and
                    ``(C) providing such information regarding the best 
                available and safest technology to the Secretary of 
                Interior in a timely fashion for use in the 
                implementation of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 
                Act.''.
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