[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 405 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 405

To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to provide a requirement 
              for certain lessees, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 17, 2011

  Mr. Nelson of Florida introduced the following bill; which was read 
  twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to provide a requirement 
              for certain lessees, 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 ``Gulf Stream Protection Act of 
2011''.

SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT FOR CERTAIN DUAL LESSEES.

    Section 8(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 
1337(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(9) Requirement for Certain Lessees.--If a bidder for an oil or 
gas lease under this subsection is conducting oil and gas operations 
off the coast of Cuba, the Secretary shall not grant an oil or gas 
lease to the bidder unless the bidder submits to the Secretary--
            ``(A) a Cuban oil spill response plan, which shall include 
        1 or more worst-case-scenario oil discharge plans; and
            ``(B) evidence that the bidder has sufficient financial 
        resources and other resources necessary for a cleanup effort, 
        as determined by the Secretary, to respond to a worst case 
        scenario oil discharge in Cuba that occurs in, or would impact, 
        the waters of the United States.''.

SEC. 3. NONDOMESTIC GULF OIL SPILL RESPONSE PLAN.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior (referred to in 
this section as the ``Secretary'') shall carry out an oil spill risk 
analysis and planning process for the development and implementation of 
oil spill response plans for nondomestic oil spills in the Gulf of 
Mexico.
    (b) Requirements.--In developing plans under subsection (a), the 
Secretary shall--
            (1) consult with the heads of other Federal agencies with 
        relevant scientific and operational expertise to verify that 
        holders of oil and gas leases can conduct any response and 
        containment operations provided for in the plans;
            (2) ensure that all critical information and spill 
        scenarios are included in the plans, including oil spill 
        containment and control methods to ensure that holders of oil 
        and gas leased can conduct the operations provided for in the 
        plans;
            (3) ensure that the plans include shared international 
        standards for natural resource extraction activities;
            (4) in consultation with the Secretary of State, to the 
        maximum extent practicable, include recommendations for 
        Congress on a joint contingency plan with the countries of 
        Mexico, Cuba, and the Bahamas to ensure an adequate response to 
        oil spills located in the eastern Gulf of Mexico; and
            (5) to the maximum extent practicable, ensure that the 
        contingency plan described in paragraph (4) contains a 
        description of the organization and logistics of a response 
        team for each country described in that paragraph (including 
        each applicable Federal and State agency).
    (c) Modeling of Cuban Waters.--
            (1) In general.--As soon as practicable after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the National 
        Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall conduct modeling 
        of the Cuban waters.
            (2) Use of modeling.--For purposes of developing the plans 
        required under subsection (a), the Secretary shall take into 
        account any modeling data collected under paragraph (1).
    (d) Verification Process.--The Secretary may conduct a verification 
process to ensure that any companies operating in the United States 
that are conducting drilling operations off the coast of Cuba are 
subject to standards that are as stringent as the standards under the 
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.).
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