II 

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. 

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 cited as the ‘‘Gulf Stream Protection 

5 Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT FOR CERTAIN DUAL LESSEES. 

7 Section 8(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 

8 Act (43 U.S.C. 1337(a)) is amended by adding at the end 

9 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(9) REQUIREMENT FOR CERTAIN LESSEES.—If a 

2 bidder for an oil or gas lease under this subsection is con3 ducting oil and gas operations off the coast of Cuba, the 

4 Secretary shall not grant an oil or gas lease to the bidder 

5 unless the bidder submits to the Secretary— 

6 ‘‘(A) a Cuban oil spill response plan, which 

7 shall include 1 or more worst-case-scenario oil dis8 charge plans; and 

9 ‘‘(B) evidence that the bidder has sufficient fi10 nancial resources and other resources necessary for 

11 a cleanup effort, as determined by the Secretary, to 

12 respond to a worst case scenario oil discharge in 

13 Cuba that occurs in, or would impact, the waters of 

14 the United States.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. NONDOMESTIC GULF OIL SPILL RESPONSE PLAN. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

17 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior 

18 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall carry 

19 out an oil spill risk analysis and planning process for the 

20 development and implementation of oil spill response plans 

21 for nondomestic oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico. 

22 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—In developing plans under sub23 section (a), the Secretary shall— 

24 (1) consult with the heads of other Federal 

25 agencies with relevant scientific and operational exVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:28 Feb 19, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S405.IS S405

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1 pertise to verify that holders of oil and gas leases 

2 can conduct any response and containment oper3 ations provided for in the plans; 

4 (2) ensure that all critical information and spill 

5 scenarios are included in the plans, including oil spill 

6 containment and control methods to ensure that 

7 holders of oil and gas leased can conduct the oper8 ations provided for in the plans; 

9 (3) ensure that the plans include shared inter10 national standards for natural resource extraction 

11 activities; 

12 (4) in consultation with the Secretary of State, 

13 to the maximum extent practicable, include rec14 ommendations for Congress on a joint contingency 

15 plan with the countries of Mexico, Cuba, and the 

16 Bahamas to ensure an adequate response to oil spills 

17 located in the eastern Gulf of Mexico; and 

18 (5) to the maximum extent practicable, ensure 

19 that the contingency plan described in paragraph (4) 

20 contains a description of the organization and logis21 tics of a response team for each country described 

22 in that paragraph (including each applicable Federal 

23 and State agency). 

24 (c) MODELING OF CUBAN WATERS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after 

2 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

3 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis4 tration shall conduct modeling of the Cuban waters. 

5 (2) USE OF MODELING.—For purposes of devel6 oping the plans required under subsection (a), the 

7 Secretary shall take into account any modeling data 

8 collected under paragraph (1). 

9 (d) VERIFICATION PROCESS.—The Secretary may 

10 conduct a verification process to ensure that any compa11 nies operating in the United States that are conducting 

12 drilling operations off the coast of Cuba are subject to 

13 standards that are as stringent as the standards under 

14 the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 

15 et seq.). 

Æ 


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