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 estab-
lish 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safe Drill Act of 
2010’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
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(1) The April 20, 2010, explosion and sinking 
of the mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater Hori-
zon resulted in the largest discharge of petroleum in 
the history of the United States. 
(2) The disaster has cost the Nation tens of bil-
lions of dollars in economic damages and widespread 
devastation of natural resources. 
(3) For more than three months, tens of thou-
sands of barrels of oil have been discharged into the 
Gulf of Mexico by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. 
(4) Evidence shows that the use of acoustic 
switches and blowout preventers can greatly reduce 
the chance of an uncontrolled oil spill. 
(5) BP p.l.c. has already spent more than 
$4,000,000,000 in direct response to the Deepwater 
Horizon oil spill. 
(6) The total cost of the Deepwater Horizon oil 
spill will likely soar past the $20,000,000,000 claims 
fund established by BP p.l.c. for the Deepwater Ho-
rizon oil spill. 
(7) 
Acoustic 
switches 
cost 
approximately 
$500,000 per oil well. 
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SEC. 3. CONDITIONS FOR THE ISSUANCE OF NEW OFF-
SHORE OIL AND GAS LEASES. 
Section 8(d) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 
Act (43 U.S.C. 1337(d)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ 
after ‘‘(d)’’, and by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(2) The Secretary shall require, as a condition and 
term of any oil and gas lease under this section, that the 
lessee certify that the lessee will— 
‘‘(A) use the best available technology for all 
operations under the lease, including acoustic sen-
sors; and 
‘‘(B) adopt and implement a comprehensive 
plan to respond to and clean up any discharge of oil 
occurring in operation under the lease.’’. 
SEC. 4. REQUIREMENTS FOR EXISTING OFFSHORE OIL AND 
GAS LEASES. 
(a) BEST AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGY.— 
(1) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—The Sec-
retary of the Interior shall require that each person 
that on the date of the enactment of this Act holds 
an oil and gas lease issued under the Outer Conti-
nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) 
must certify, by not later than 6 months after the 
date of enactment of this Act, that they use the best 
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available technology in all operations under the 
lease. 
(2) TERMINATION OF OPERATIONS.—The Sec-
retary— 
(A) may order such a person to suspend 
operations if the person has not made the cer-
tification required under paragraph (1) by not 
later than 6 months after the date of enactment 
of this Act; and 
(B) shall cancel the lease if the person has 
not made the certification required under para-
graph (1) by not later than 18 months after the 
date of enactment of this Act. 
(b) COMPREHENSIVE RESPONSE PLAN.— 
(1) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—The Sec-
retary of the Interior shall require that each person 
that on the date of the enactment of this Act holds 
an oil and gas lease issued under the Outer Conti-
nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) 
must certify, by not later than 6 months after the 
date of enactment of this Act, that they have adopt-
ed and implemented a comprehensive plan to re-
spond to and clean up any discharge of oil occurring 
in operation under the lease. 
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(2) TERMINATION OF OPERATIONS.—The Sec-
retary— 
(A) may order such a person to suspend 
operations if the person has not made the cer-
tification required under paragraph (1) by not 
later than 6 months after the date of enactment 
of this Act; and 
(B) shall cancel the lease if the person has 
not made the certification required under para-
graph (1) by not later than 18 months after the 
date of enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 5. REVIEW OF BLOWOUT PREVENTERS, EMERGENCY 
SHUTOFF SYSTEMS, AND OTHER OIL DIS-
CHARGE PREVENTION TECHNOLOGY. 
Section 5(b) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 
Act (43 U.S.C. 1334(b)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ 
after ‘‘(b)’’, and by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(2) The Secretary of the Interior shall— 
‘‘(A) to review blowout preventers, emergency 
shutoff systems, and other oil discharge prevention 
technology (including emerging technology) that is 
or may be used for oil and gas drilling operations 
under leases under this Act; and 
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