[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 589 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 589

 To provide for an expedited response to emergencies related to oil or 
                       gas production or storage.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 15, 2011

   Mr. Casey introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for an expedited response to emergencies related to oil or 
                       gas production or storage.

    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 ``Faster Action Safety Team Emergency 
Response Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Completion.--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) Drilling.--The term ``drilling'' includes the drilling 
        or redrilling of any well or the deepening or expansion of any 
        existing well.
            (3) Exploration.--The term ``exploration'' means a drilling 
        effort to obtain information relating to oil or gas extraction 
        without the intent of immediate production.
            (4) Operator.--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) Production.--The term ``production'' means the 
        retrieval of oil or gas from a well.
            (6) Response team.--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) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Labor.
            (8) Well.--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.

SEC. 3. RESPONSE TEAM REGULATIONS.

    (a) In General.--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) Requirements.--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.
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