I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5868 

To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to establish conditions 

for the issuance of oil and gas leases under that Act to prevent discharges 

of oil in operations under such leases, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 27, 2010 

Mr. HALL of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to establish conditions for the issuance of oil and gas leases 

under that Act to prevent discharges of oil in operations 

under such leases, 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 ‘‘Safe Drill Act of 

5 2010’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 


pwalker on DSK8KYBLC1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 5868 IH

1 (1) The April 20, 2010, explosion and sinking 

2 of the mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater Hori3 zon resulted in the largest discharge of petroleum in 

4 the history of the United States. 

5 (2) The disaster has cost the Nation tens of bil6 lions of dollars in economic damages and widespread 

7 devastation of natural resources. 

8 (3) For more than three months, tens of thou9 sands of barrels of oil have been discharged into the 

10 Gulf of Mexico by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. 

11 (4) Evidence shows that the use of acoustic 

12 switches and blowout preventers can greatly reduce 

13 the chance of an uncontrolled oil spill. 

14 (5) BP p.l.c. has already spent more than 

15 $4,000,000,000 in direct response to the Deepwater 

16 Horizon oil spill. 

17 (6) The total cost of the Deepwater Horizon oil 

18 spill will likely soar past the $20,000,000,000 claims 

19 fund established by BP p.l.c. for the Deepwater Ho20 rizon oil spill. 

21 (7) Acoustic switches cost approximately 

22 $500,000 per oil well. 


pwalker on DSK8KYBLC1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 5868 IH

1 SEC. 3. CONDITIONS FOR THE ISSUANCE OF NEW OFF2 SHORE OIL AND GAS LEASES. 

3 Section 8(d) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 

4 Act (43 U.S.C. 1337(d)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ 

5 after ‘‘(d)’’, and by adding at the end the following new 

6 paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall require, as a condition and 

8 term of any oil and gas lease under this section, that the 

9 lessee certify that the lessee will— 

10 ‘‘(A) use the best available technology for all 

11 operations under the lease, including acoustic sen12 sors; and 

13 ‘‘(B) adopt and implement a comprehensive 

14 plan to respond to and clean up any discharge of oil 

15 occurring in operation under the lease.’’. 

16 SEC. 4. REQUIREMENTS FOR EXISTING OFFSHORE OIL AND 

17 GAS LEASES. 

18 (a) BEST AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGY.— 

19 (1) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—The Sec20 retary of the Interior shall require that each person 

21 that on the date of the enactment of this Act holds 

22 an oil and gas lease issued under the Outer Conti23 nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) 

24 must certify, by not later than 6 months after the 

25 date of enactment of this Act, that they use the best 


pwalker on DSK8KYBLC1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 5868 IH

1 available technology in all operations under the 

2 lease. 

3 (2) TERMINATION OF OPERATIONS.—The Sec4 retary— 

5 (A) may order such a person to suspend 

6 operations if the person has not made the cer7 tification required under paragraph (1) by not 

8 later than 6 months after the date of enactment 

9 of this Act; and 

10 (B) shall cancel the lease if the person has 

11 not made the certification required under para12 graph (1) by not later than 18 months after the 

13 date of enactment of this Act. 

14 (b) COMPREHENSIVE RESPONSE PLAN.— 

15 (1) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—The Sec16 retary of the Interior shall require that each person 

17 that on the date of the enactment of this Act holds 

18 an oil and gas lease issued under the Outer Conti19 nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) 

20 must certify, by not later than 6 months after the 

21 date of enactment of this Act, that they have adopt22 ed and implemented a comprehensive plan to re23 spond to and clean up any discharge of oil occurring 

24 in operation under the lease. 


pwalker on DSK8KYBLC1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 5868 IH

1 (2) TERMINATION OF OPERATIONS.—The Sec2 retary— 

3 (A) may order such a person to suspend 

4 operations if the person has not made the cer5 tification required under paragraph (1) by not 

6 later than 6 months after the date of enactment 

7 of this Act; and 

8 (B) shall cancel the lease if the person has 

9 not made the certification required under para10 graph (1) by not later than 18 months after the 

11 date of enactment of this Act. 

12 SEC. 5. REVIEW OF BLOWOUT PREVENTERS, EMERGENCY 

13 SHUTOFF SYSTEMS, AND OTHER OIL DIS14 CHARGE PREVENTION TECHNOLOGY. 

15 Section 5(b) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 

16 Act (43 U.S.C. 1334(b)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ 

17 after ‘‘(b)’’, and by adding at the end the following new 

18 paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(2) The Secretary of the Interior shall— 

20 ‘‘(A) to review blowout preventers, emergency 

21 shutoff systems, and other oil discharge prevention 

22 technology (including emerging technology) that is 

23 or may be used for oil and gas drilling operations 

24 under leases under this Act; and 


pwalker on DSK8KYBLC1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 5868 IH

1 ‘‘(B) revise regulations under this Act gov2 erning the use of such technology as necessary based 

3 on that review.’’. 

Æ 


pwalker on DSK8KYBLC1PROD with BILLS