I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5519 

To terminate the moratorium on deepwater drilling and to require the 

Secretary of the Interior to ensure the safety of deepwater drilling operations. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 14, 2010 

Mr. CASSIDY (for himself, Mr. CAO, Mr. BOUSTANY, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. 

SCALISE, Mr. FLEMING, Mr. MELANCON, Mr. GRIFFITH, Mr. ROGERS of 

Alabama, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. COLE, Mr. BOREN, Mr. SHADEGG, Mr. 

PENCE, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. CHAFFETZ, Mr. MARCHANT, Mr. 

CULBERSON, Mr. LUCAS, Mr. CUELLAR, Mr. GUTHRIE, Mr. MCCAUL, 

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. HARPER, Mr. 

OLSON, Mr. HENSARLING, Mr. PRICE of Georgia, Mr. THOMPSON of 

Pennsylvania, Mr. POE of Texas, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, and Mr. HALL

of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To terminate the moratorium on deepwater drilling and to 

require the Secretary of the Interior to ensure the safety 

of deepwater drilling operations. 

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 Coast Jobs Pres5 ervation Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Approximately one-third of the oil produced 

4 by the United States, and 10 percent of the natural 

5 gas, comes from the Gulf of Mexico. 

6 (2) Eighty percent of the oil from the Gulf of 

7 Mexico, and 45 percent of the natural gas, comes 

8 from deepwater drilling operations in more than 

9 1,000 feet of water. 

10 (3) As a result of the Six-Month Deepwater 

11 Moratorium placed by the Secretary of the Interior 

12 on deepwater drilling, 33 floating drilling rigs will be 

13 idled or removed from the Gulf of Mexico for six 

14 months or longer, at a cost of between $250,000 and 

15 $500,000 per day for each idled rig. 

16 (4) The moratorium puts tens of thousands of 

17 jobs at risk, as each drilling rig employs an average 

18 of 180 to 280 employees, and each exploration and 

19 production job supports four other jobs. 

20 (5) The total amount of wages lost due to the 

21 moratorium could equal between $165,000,000 and 

22 $330,000,000 per month for all 33 drilling rigs. 

23 (6) The moratorium will impact numerous sup24 pliers and others providing support services, includ25 ing welders, pipefitters, divers, and transportation 

26 providers. 


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1 (7) As a result of the moratorium, the Federal 

2 Government and State and local governments will 

3 experience a loss of revenue from oil production, in4 cluding a loss of oil revenue dedicated to the restora5 tion and protection of coastline. 

6 (8) According to independent estimates, the 

7 drilling moratorium will cause the amount of oil and 

8 gas production from deepwater drilling in the Gulf 

9 of Mexico to be reduced by 46,000 barrels per day 

10 in 2010 and 193,000 barrels per day in 2011. 

11 (9) The Energy Information Administration has 

12 estimated that the ‘‘total cumulative reductions in 

13 the output of crude oil from the deepwater Gulf of 

14 Mexico [will equal] 2.4 million barrels in 2010 and 

15 25 million barrels in 2011 because of the recently16 imposed 6-month drilling moratorium.’’ 

17 SEC. 3. TERMINATION OF MORATORIUM ON DEEPWATER 

18 DRILLING. 

19 The moratorium set forth in the Minerals Manage20 ment Service Notice to Lessees No. 2010–N04, dated May 

21 30, 2010, and any suspension of operations issued in con22 nection with the moratorium, shall have no force or effect. 


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1 SEC. 4. SAFETY MEASURES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior shall 

3 expeditiously act to ensure that all deepwater drilling oper4 ations are conducted in compliance with Federal law. 

5 (b) IDENTIFICATION OF ADDITIONAL SAFETY MEAS6 URES.—The Secretary of the Interior shall identify addi7 tional measures to ensure the safety of deepwater drilling, 

8 based on the most accurate information available about 

9 the Deepwater Horizon oil spill incident. 

Æ 


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