I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5695 

To require operators of offshore oil and gas facilities to report failures 

of critical systems to the Secretary of Interior, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 28, 2020 

Mr. MCEACHIN (for himself, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. HUFFMAN, 

Mr. GAETZ, Mr. CARBAJAL, and Mr. BUCHANAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To require operators of offshore oil and gas facilities to 

report failures of critical systems to the Secretary of 

Interior, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be referred to as the ‘‘Offshore Ac5 countability Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not more than 30 days after the 

8 discovery of an equipment failure of a critical system oper9 ated at an offshore oil or gas facility, the operator of such 


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1 facility shall provide a written notice of such failure to 

2 the Secretary and the manufacturer of such equipment. 

3 (b) INVESTIGATION.— 

4 (1) ANALYSIS REPORT.—Subject to subsection 

5 (d), an operator required to provide notice to the 

6 Secretary under subsection (a) shall ensure that an 

7 investigation and an equipment failure analysis are 

8 completed within 120 days of the failure to deter9 mine the cause of such failure. The operator shall 

10 provide an analysis report to the Secretary and to 

11 the manufacturer of such equipment documenting 

12 such investigation and any corrective action taken. 

13 (2) PUBLICATION.—Not more than 30 days 

14 after receiving an analysis report submitted under 

15 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall make such anal16 ysis report available to the public on the Department 

17 of Interior website. 

18 (c) EXTENSION.—An operator required to provide an 

19 analysis report under subsection (b) may request an exten20 sion of up to 60 days from the Secretary for such require21 ment by submitting a written request detailing how such 

22 operator will complete the investigation and report re23 quired by subsection (b). The Secretary shall review and 

24 respond to such request not later than 30 days after the 

25 date on which such request is submitted, and may not 


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1 grant more than one such extension with respect to a sin2 gle investigation and report. 

3 (d) NOTICE OF CHANGE IN EQUIPMENT OR PROCE4 DURES.—An operator required to provide a notice under 

5 subsection (a) shall— 

6 (1) not more than 30 days after receiving notice 

7 from a manufacturer of any critical system that 

8 made changes in the design of a critical system as 

9 the result of the reported failure, report in writing 

10 such notice to the Secretary; and 

11 (2) not more than 30 days after a change in 

12 such operator’s operating or repair procedures as a 

13 result of the reported failure, report in writing such 

14 change to the Secretary. 

15 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

16 (1) BLOWOUT PREVENTER SYSTEM.—The term 

17 ‘‘blowout preventer system’’ means a wellhead device 

18 or combination of devices that is specifically de19 signed to prevent the uncontrolled release of gas, oil, 

20 or other fluids or hydrocarbons. 

21 (2) CRITICAL SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘critical sys22 tem’’ means safety and pollution prevention equip23 ment or a blowout preventer system. 

24 (3) EQUIPMENT FAILURE.—The term ‘‘equip25 ment failure’’ means any conditions that prevents 


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1 equipment from meeting its functional specifications 

2 or purpose. 

3 (4) OPERATOR.—The term ‘‘operator’’ means 

4 the operator of an offshore oil or gas facility. 

5 (5) SAFETY AND POLLUTION PREVENTION

6 EQUIPMENT.—The term ‘‘safety and pollution pre7 vention system’’ means any equipment that is spe8 cifically designed to prevent a malfunction or failure 

9 of an offshore well, resulting in injury or loss of life, 

10 damage to the environment, or serious damage to 

11 the equipment, including— 

12 (A) surface safety valves and actuators; 

13 (B) boarding shutdown valves and the ac14 tuators of such valves; 

15 (C) underwater safety valves and actu16 ators; 

17 (D) subsurface safety valves and associated 

18 safety valve locks and landing nipples; and 

19 (E) gas lift shutdown valves and actuators 

20 associated with such valves. 

21 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

22 the Secretary of the Interior. 

Æ 


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