III 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 608 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Secretary of the Interior should 

take immediate action to expedite the review and appropriate approval 

of applications for shallow water drilling permits in the Gulf of Mexico, 

the Beaufort Sea, and the Chukchi Sea. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 5, 2010 

Mrs. HUTCHISON (for herself, Ms. LANDRIEU, Mr. WICKER, Mr. COCHRAN, 

Mr. VITTER, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. BEGICH, Ms. MURKOWSKI, 

and Mr. SHELBY) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Secretary of 

the Interior should take immediate action to expedite 

the review and appropriate approval of applications for 

shallow water drilling permits in the Gulf of Mexico, 

the Beaufort Sea, and the Chukchi Sea. 

Whereas, on May 6, 2010, in response to the oil spill from 

the mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater Horizon, and 

without prior public review or notice, the Secretary of the 

Interior announced an immediate moratorium on the approval of all offshore oil and gas drilling permits until an 

offshore safety review was completed; 


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•SRES 608 IS 

Whereas, on May 28, 2010, following a Department of the 

Interior safety review, and with the support of many 

members of the Senate, the President lifted the offshore 

moratorium for shallow water drilling operations for 

those drilling rigs or platforms equipped with blowout 

prevention equipment located above the water surface; 

Whereas, on June 2, 2010, the Secretary of the Interior confirmed in a press release that the shallow water drilling 

moratorium was lifted, but that such drilling operations 

must ‘‘satisfy new safety and environmental requirements’’; 

Whereas, on June 3, 2010, the President publicly stated that 

‘‘the [offshore drilling] moratorium has not extended to 

the shallow waters’’; 

Whereas, on June 8 and June 18, 2010, the Secretary of the 

Interior issued documents entitled ‘‘Notice to Lessees 05 

and 06’’ (referred to in this preamble as ‘‘NTL–05’’ and 

‘‘NTL–06’’, respectively) imposing new safety and environmental requirements applicable to the filings for new 

drilling permits, exploration plans, or development plans; 

Whereas, as of July 14, 2010, the Secretary of the Interior 

has not provided adequate guidance and information for 

the shallow water drilling industry to comply with new 

drilling application requirements imposed by NTL–06; 

Whereas approximately 35 percent of the available shallow 

water drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico are now without 

work and idle, putting thousands of jobs at risk and affecting the orderly production of domestic natural gas resources in the Gulf Coast; 


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•SRES 608 IS 

Whereas more than 25,000 jobs are at risk if the Secretary 

of the Interior does not continue to issue any new shallow 

water permits and existing permits expire; 

Whereas every Gulf of Mexico shallow water operation provides approximately 500 direct and indirect jobs; 

Whereas the failure to approve the final Application for Permit to Drill for 3 exploration wells in the Beaufort and 

Chukchi Seas in 2010 represents a loss of 600 jobs and 

harms oil and natural gas exploration critical to the national energy infrastructure; and 

Whereas the lack of guidance from the Secretary of the Interior regarding new safety regulations has resulted in only 

1 new shallow water permit being granted since May 6, 

2010: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that— 

2 (1) national energy security and the regional 

3 Gulf Coast economy depend upon the full and imme4 diate restoration of shallow water drilling operations 

5 in the Gulf of Mexico; 

6 (2) the long-term economic health of the State 

7 of Alaska depends upon the responsible development 

8 of the oil and natural gas reserves of the Beaufort 

9 and Chukchi Seas; and 

10 (3) the Secretary of the Interior should— 

11 (A) provide written guidance and clarifica12 tion to applicants regarding new safety require13 ments; and 


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•SRES 608 IS 

1 (B) take immediate and effective action to 

2 expedite the review and appropriate approval of 

3 applications for shallow water drilling permits 

4 in the outer Continental Shelf. 

Æ 


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