To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to require the drilling of emergency relief wells, and for other purposes.

Summary: Emergency Relief Well Act - Amends the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, with respect to geological and geophysical explorations as well as oil and gas development and production, to require an exploration plan submitted for approval to include a plan for drilling at least one emergency relief well concurrently with the drilling of the proposed well.

Requires any exploratory drilling in submerged lands of the outer Continental Shelf conducted under a lease (including drilling for oil and gas development and production) to be accompanied by the concurrent drilling of at least one emergency relief well, subject to any applicable requirements established by the Secretary of the Interior.

 Authorizes the Secretary to require, as an alternative to such emergency relief well requirement, measures that would be at least as effective at stopping a major release from a proposed well.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Emergency Relief Well Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the April 20, 2010, explosion and sinking of the mobile 
        offshore drilling unit Deepwater Horizon resulted in the 
        largest release of petroleum in the history of the United 
        States, causing tens of billions of dollars in economic damages 
        and widespread devastation of natural resources;
            (2) numerous attempts over several months failed to stem 
        the flow of oil from the Deepwater Horizon incident, including 
        the use of--
                    (A) a containment dome to cover the leak;
                    (B) a top kill procedure to plug the well with 
                viscous drilling fluid;
                    (C) a junk shot to clog the well with various waste 
                materials; and
                    (D) a cut and cap procedure to excise a damaged 
                riser pipe and apply an oil collection device;
            (3) all of the attempts described in paragraph (2) failed 
        to permanently stop the flow of oil;
            (4) drilling emergency relief wells is the most effective 
        procedure to permanently stop the flow of oil from a damaged 
        well;
            (5) the success of relief wells in stopping oil spills has 
        been demonstrated in the Ixtoc Spill in Mexico in 1979 and the 
        Montara Spill in Australia in 2009, which were 2 of the largest 
        oil spills in recent history;
            (6) although emergency relief wells successfully stopped 
        the Ixtoc and Montara spills, the emergency relief wells--
                    (A) took several months to complete; and
                    (B) required multiple successive attempts before 
                finally stopping the flow of oil;
            (7) other governments have maintained emergency relief well 
        policies to ensure that preparations are made for emergency 
        relief wells before an emergency blowout;
            (8) although no measure can prevent a spill or leak or make 
        drilling safe, relief wells are the most proven way of stopping 
        a spill or leak after a spill or leak has occurred; and
            (9) if emergency wells had been prepared at the mobile 
        offshore drilling unit Deepwater Horizon at the initiation of 
        drilling, months of disaster relief measures could have been 
        eliminated, and tens of millions of gallons of oil could have 
        been prevented from entering the Gulf of Mexico and damaging 
        the surrounding economies and natural resources.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF LANDS ACT.

    (a) Geological and Geophysical Explorations.--Section 11 of the 
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1340) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (c)(3)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``and'';
                    (B) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as 
                subparagraph (E); and
                    (C) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the 
                following:
                    ``(D) a plan for drilling at least 1 emergency 
                relief well concurrently with the drilling of the 
                proposed well; and''; and
            (2) in subsection (e), by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Emergency relief well.--Any exploratory drilling 
        conducted under a lease shall be accompanied by the concurrent 
        drilling of at least 1 emergency relief well, subject to any 
        applicable requirements established by the Secretary.
            ``(4) Alternative measures.--The Secretary, in consultation 
        with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 
        and the Secretary of Commerce, may require, as an alternative 
        to the emergency relief well requirement under paragraph (3), 
        measures that the Secretary, after a period of notice and 
        public comment, determines would be at least as effective at 
        stopping a major release from a proposed well as the measures 
        required under that paragraph.''.
    (b) Oil and Gas Development and Production.--Section 25 of the 
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1351) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and (6) as 
                paragraphs (6) and (7), respectively; and
                    (B) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following:
            ``(5) a plan for drilling at least 1 emergency relief well 
        concurrently with the proposed well;''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(m) Emergency Relief Wells.--
            ``(1) In general.--Any development and production drilling 
        conducted under a lease granted under this Act shall be 
        accompanied by the concurrent drilling of at least 1 emergency 
        relief well, subject to any applicable requirements established 
        by the Secretary.
            ``(2) Alternative measures.--The Secretary, in consultation 
        with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 
        and the Secretary of Commerce, may require, as an alternative 
        to the emergency relief well requirement under paragraph (1), 
        measures that the Secretary, after a period of notice and 
        public comment, determines would be at least as effective at 
        stopping a major release from a proposed well as the measures 
        required under that paragraph.''.