II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3515 

To authorize and enhance the programs of the Department of the Interior 

relating to the detection of, response to, and mitigation and cleanup 

of oil spills on Federal land managed by the Department, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 21, 2010 

Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, and Mr. BINGAMAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To authorize and enhance the programs of the Department 

of the Interior relating to the detection of, response 

to, and mitigation and cleanup of oil spills on Federal 

land managed by the Department, 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 ‘‘Department of the In5 terior Research and Technologies for Oil Spill Prevention 

6 and Response Act of 2010’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

2 The purpose of this Act is to maintain and enhance 

3 the world-class research and facilities of the Department 

4 of the Interior and to ensure that there is adequate knowl5 edge, practices, and technologies to detect, respond to, 

6 contain, and clean up oil spills occurring on Federal land 

7 managed by the Department of the Interior, whether on8 shore or on the outer Continental Shelf. 

9 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this Act: 

11 (1) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the 

12 Science and Technology Advisory Board established 

13 under section 5(a). 

14 (2) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Oil 

15 Spill Technology and Research Fund established by 

16 section 13(a). 

17 (3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

18 the program established under section 4(a). 

19 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF DEPARTMENT OF THE INTE20 RIOR OIL SPILL RESEARCH AND DEVELOP21 MENT PROGRAM. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out a 

23 program of research, development, technology demonstra24 tion, and risk assessment to address issues associated with 

25 the detection of, response to, and mitigation and cleanup 

26 of oil spills occurring on Federal land managed by the DeVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:03 Jun 22, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3515.IS S3515

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1 partment of the Interior, whether onshore or on the outer 

2 Continental Shelf. 

3 (b) SPECIFIC AREAS OF FOCUS.—The program shall 

4 include research, development, demonstration, validation, 

5 personnel training, and other activities relating to— 

6 (1) technologies, materials, methods, and prac7 tices— 

8 (A) to detect the release of hydrocarbons 

9 from leaking exploration or production equip10 ment; 

11 (B) to characterize the rates of flow from 

12 leaking exploration and production equipment 

13 in locations that are remote or difficult to ac14 cess; 

15 (C) to protect the safety of workers ad16 dressing hydrocarbon releases from exploration 

17 and production equipment; 

18 (D) to contain, respond to, and clean up 

19 oil spills, including with the use of dispersants, 

20 containment vessels, booms, and skimmers, par21 ticularly under worst-case release scenarios; 

22 (E) to contain, respond to, and clean up 

23 an oil spill in extreme or harsh conditions on 

24 the outer Continental Shelf; and 


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1 (F) for environmental assessment, restora2 tion, and long-term monitoring; 

3 (2) fundamental scientific characterization of 

4 the behavior of oil and natural gas in and on soil 

5 and water, including miscibility, plume behavior, 

6 emulsification, physical separation, and chemical and 

7 biological degradation; 

8 (3) behavior and effects of emulsified, dis9 persed, and submerged oil in water; and 

10 (4) modeling, simulation, and prediction of oil 

11 flows from releases and the trajectories of releases 

12 on the surface, the subsurface, and in water. 

13 SEC. 5. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY BOARD. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall enter into ap15 propriate arrangements with the National Academy of 

16 Sciences to establish an independent committee, to be 

17 known as the ‘‘Science and Technology Advisory Board’’, 

18 to provide scientific and technical advice to the program, 

19 including— 

20 (1) the identification of knowledge gaps that 

21 the program should address; 

22 (2) the establishment of scientific and technical 

23 priorities; and 


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1 (3) an annual review of the results and effec2 tiveness of the program, including successful tech3 nology development. 

4 (b) REPORTS.—Reports and recommendations of the 

5 Board shall promptly be made available to Congress and 

6 the public. 

7 SEC. 6. RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY PLAN. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

9 date of enactment of this Act, and every 2 years there10 after, the Secretary, in consultation with the Board, shall 

11 develop and publish a research and technology plan for 

12 the program. 

13 (b) CONTENTS.—The plan under this section shall— 

14 (1) identify research needs and opportunities; 

15 (2) propose areas of focus for the program; 

16 (3) establish program priorities, including prior17 ities for the research centers of excellence under sec18 tion 7, demonstration projects under section 8, and 

19 research grants under section 9; and 

20 (4) estimate— 

21 (A) the extent of resources needed to con22 duct the program; and 

23 (B) timetables for completing research 

24 tasks under the program. 


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1 (c) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall timely pub2 lish— 

3 (1) the plan under this section; and 

4 (2) a review of the plan by the Board. 

5 SEC. 7. RESEARCH CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE. 

6 (a) RESPONSE TECHNOLOGIES FOR DEEPWATER, 

7 ULTRA DEEPWATER, AND OTHER EXTREME ENVIRON8 MENT OIL SPILLS.— 

9 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es10 tablish at 1 or more institutions of higher education 

11 a research center of excellence for the research, de12 velopment, and demonstration of technologies nec13 essary to respond to, contain, mitigate, and clean up 

14 deepwater, ultra deepwater, and other extreme envi15 ronment oil spills. 

16 (2) GRANTS.—The Secretary shall provide 

17 grants to the research center of excellence estab18 lished under paragraph (1) to conduct and oversee 

19 basic and applied research in the technologies de20 scribed in that paragraph. 

21 (b) OIL SPILL RESPONSE AND RESTORATION.— 

22 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, in co23 ordination with the Undersecretary of Commerce for 

24 Oceans and Atmosphere, shall establish at 1 or more 

25 institutions of higher education a research center of 


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1 excellence for research and innovation in oil spill 

2 fate, behavior and effects, and damage assessment 

3 and restoration. 

4 (2) GRANTS.—The Secretary shall provide 

5 grants to the research center of excellence estab6 lished under paragraph (1) to conduct and oversee 

7 basic and applied research in the areas described in 

8 that paragraph. 

9 (c) OTHER RESEARCH CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE.— 

10 The Secretary may establish such other research centers 

11 of excellence as the Secretary determines to be necessary 

12 for the research, development, and demonstration of tech13 nologies necessary to carry out this Act. 

14 SEC. 8. DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the program, the 

16 Secretary shall conduct deepwater, ultra deepwater, and 

17 other extreme environment oil spill response demonstra18 tion projects for the purpose of developing and dem19 onstrating new integrated deepwater oil spill mitigation 

20 and response systems that use the information and imple21 ment the improved practices and technologies developed 

22 from the program. 

23 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The mitigation and response 

24 systems developed under subsection (a) shall use techVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:03 Jun 22, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3515.IS S3515

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1 nologies and management practices for improving the re2 sponse capabilities to deepwater oil spills, including— 

3 (1) improved oil flow monitoring and calcula4 tion; 

5 (2) improved oil spill response capability; 

6 (3) improved subsurface mitigation tech7 nologies; 

8 (4) improved capability to track and predict the 

9 flow and effects of oil discharges in both subsurface 

10 and surface areas for the purposes of making oil 

11 mitigation and response decisions; and 

12 (5) any other activities necessary to achieve the 

13 purposes of the program. 

14 SEC. 9. RESEARCH GRANTS. 

15 In carrying out the program, the Secretary may 

16 award competitive grants in coordination with research 

17 centers of excellence under section 7 and consistent with 

18 the research and technology plan under section 6 to insti19 tutions of higher education or other research institu20 tions— 

21 (1) to carry out projects that are relevant to the 

22 goals and priorities of the research and technology 

23 plan; and— 

24 (2)(A) to advance research and development; or 

25 (B) to demonstrate technologies. 


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1 SEC. 10. PILOT PROGRAMS FOR FIELD TESTING TECH2 NOLOGIES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coordination 

4 with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

5 Agency, shall conduct a pilot program to conduct field 

6 tests on new oil spill response, mitigation, and cleanup 

7 technologies developed under the program in the waters 

8 of the United States. 

9 (b) RESULTS.—The results of the field tests con10 ducted under subsection (a) shall be used— 

11 (1) to refine oil spill technology research and 

12 development; and 

13 (2) to assist the Secretary and the Adminis14 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency in 

15 the development of safety and environmental regula16 tions under this Act and other applicable laws. 

17 SEC. 11. PEER REVIEW OF PROPOSALS AND RESEARCH. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any award of funds under the 

19 program shall be made only after the Secretary has car20 ried out an impartial peer review of the scientific and tech21 nical merit of the proposals for the award. 

22 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall ensure 

23 that any research conducted under the program shall be 

24 peer-reviewed, transparent, and made available to the pub25 lic. 


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1 SEC. 12. COORDINATION WITH OTHER AGENCIES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this Act, the Sec3 retary shall consult and coordinate, as appropriate, with 

4 other Federal agencies and programs, including the Inter5 agency Coordinating Committee on Oil Pollution Research 

6 established under section 7001 of the Oil Pollution Act 

7 of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2761). 

8 (b) RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SECRETARY.—Notwith9 standing any requirements to consult or coordinate, the 

10 Secretary shall maintain authority, direction, and control 

11 of the program. 

12 SEC. 13. OIL SPILL TECHNOLOGY AND RESEARCH FUND. 

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

14 Treasury of the United States a revolving fund, to be 

15 known as the ‘‘Oil Spill Technology and Research Fund’’, 

16 consisting of such amounts as are transferred to the Fund 

17 under subsection (b), to be administered by the Secretary, 

18 to be available without fiscal year limitation and not sub19 ject to appropriation, to carry out the program. 

20 (b) TRANSFERS TO FUND.—From any Federal royal21 ties, rents, and bonuses derived from Federal onshore and 

22 offshore oil and gas leases issued the Outer Continental 

23 Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) or the Mineral 

24 Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) that are deposited 

25 in the Treasury, and after distribution of any funds de26 scribed in subsection (c), there shall be transferred to the 


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1 Fund $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 

2 2020, to remain available until expended. 

3 (c) PRIOR DISTRIBUTIONS.—The distributions re4 ferred to in subsection (b) are those required by law— 

5 (1) to States and to the Reclamation Fund 

6 under section 35(a) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 

7 U.S.C. 191(a)); and 

8 (2) to other funds receiving amounts from Fed9 eral oil and gas leasing programs, including— 

10 (A) any recipients pursuant to section 8(g) 

11 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 

12 U.S.C. 1337(g)); 

13 (B) the land and water conservation fund, 

14 pursuant to section 2(c) of the Land and Water 

15 Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 

16 460l–5(c)); 

17 (C) the Historic Preservation Fund, pursu18 ant to section 108 of the National Historic 

19 Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470h); and 

20 (D) the coastal impact assistance program 

21 established under section 31 of the Outer Conti22 nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1356a). 

23 (d) PROHIBITION.—Amounts in the Fund may not 

24 be made available for any purpose other than a purpose 

25 described in subsection (a). 


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1 (e) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 

3 the end of each fiscal year beginning with fiscal year 

4 2010, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee 

5 on Appropriations of the House of Representatives, 

6 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate, the 

7 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 

8 Senate, and the Committee on Natural Resources of 

9 the House of Representatives a report on the oper10 ation of the Fund during the fiscal year. 

11 (2) CONTENTS.—Each report shall include, for 

12 the fiscal year covered by the report, the following: 

13 (A) A statement of the amounts deposited 

14 into the Fund. 

15 (B) A description of the expenditures made 

16 from the Fund for the fiscal year, including the 

17 purpose of the expenditures. 

18 (C) Recommendations for additional au19 thorities to fulfill the purpose of the Fund. 

20 (D) A statement of the balance remaining 

21 in the Fund at the end of the fiscal year. 

Æ 


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