Title: Offshore Accountability Act of 2021
Policy area: Energy

Summary:
Offshore Accountability Act of 2021
This bill establishes disclosure and reporting requirements for operators of offshore oil or gas facilities after equipment failures of critical systems.
Such operators must notify the Department of the Interior and the manufacturers of the equipment of such failures. In addition, the operators must provide equipment failure analyses to Interior and the manufacturers. Interior must post the analyses on its website.
Finally, operators must report to Interior on changes made by such manufacturers to the design of critical systems as the result of reported failures and changes in the operators' procedures as a result of reported failures.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 570 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 570

   To require operators of offshore oil and gas facilities to report 
failures of critical systems to the Secretary of the Interior, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 28, 2021

 Mr. McEachin (for himself, Mr. Buchanan, Mr. Carbajal, Mr. Gaetz, Mr. 
 Grijalva, Mr. Huffman, Mr. Lowenthal, and Mrs. Luria) introduced the 
    following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 
                               Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To require operators of offshore oil and gas facilities to report 
failures of critical systems to the Secretary of the Interior, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be referred to as the ``Offshore Accountability Act of 
2021''.

SEC. 2. REPORTING REQUIREMENT.

    (a) In General.--Not more than 30 days after the discovery of an 
equipment failure of a critical system operated at an offshore oil or 
gas facility, the operator of such facility shall provide a written 
notice of such failure to the Secretary and the manufacturer of such 
equipment.
    (b) Investigation.--
            (1) Analysis report.--Subject to subsection (d), an 
        operator required to provide notice to the Secretary under 
        subsection (a) shall ensure that an investigation and an 
        equipment failure analysis are completed within 120 days of the 
        failure to determine the cause of such failure. The operator 
        shall provide an analysis report to the Secretary and to the 
        manufacturer of such equipment documenting such investigation 
        and any corrective action taken.
            (2) Publication.--Not more than 30 days after receiving an 
        analysis report submitted under paragraph (1), the Secretary 
        shall make such analysis report available to the public on the 
        Department of the Interior website.
    (c) Extension.--An operator required to provide an analysis report 
under subsection (b) may request an extension of up to 60 days from the 
Secretary for such requirement by submitting a written request 
detailing how such operator will complete the investigation and report 
required by subsection (b). The Secretary shall review and respond to 
such request not later than 30 days after the date on which such 
request is submitted, and may not grant more than one such extension 
with respect to a single investigation and report.
    (d) Notice of Change in Equipment or Procedures.--An operator 
required to provide a notice under subsection (a) shall--
            (1) not more than 30 days after receiving notice from a 
        manufacturer of any critical system that made changes in the 
        design of a critical system as the result of the reported 
        failure, report in writing such notice to the Secretary; and
            (2) not more than 30 days after a change in such operator's 
        operating or repair procedures as a result of the reported 
        failure, report in writing such change to the Secretary.
    (e) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Blowout preventer system.--The term ``blowout preventer 
        system'' means a wellhead device or combination of devices that 
        is specifically designed to prevent the uncontrolled release of 
        gas, oil, or other fluids or hydrocarbons.
            (2) Critical system.--The term ``critical system'' means 
        safety and pollution prevention equipment or a blowout 
        preventer system.
            (3) Equipment failure.--The term ``equipment failure'' 
        means any conditions that prevents equipment from meeting its 
        functional specifications or purpose.
            (4) Operator.--The term ``operator'' means the operator of 
        an offshore oil or gas facility.
            (5) Safety and pollution prevention equipment.--The term 
        ``safety and pollution prevention system'' means any equipment 
        that is specifically designed to prevent a malfunction or 
        failure of an offshore well, resulting in injury or loss of 
        life, damage to the environment, or serious damage to the 
        equipment, including--
                    (A) surface safety valves and actuators;
                    (B) boarding shutdown valves and the actuators of 
                such valves;
                    (C) underwater safety valves and actuators;
                    (D) subsurface safety valves and associated safety 
                valve locks and landing nipples; and
                    (E) gas lift shutdown valves and actuators 
                associated with such valves.
            (6) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.
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