Offshore Accountability Act of 2020

Bill: 116-hr-5695
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. McEachin, A. Donald [D-VA-4]
Introduced: 2020-01-28
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures

Business records

Department of the Interior

Government information and archives

Government studies and investigations

Manufacturing

Marine and coastal resources, fisheries

Oil and gas
Latest action: action_date: 2020-01-31
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.

Summaries:
action_date: 2020-01-28
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><b>Offshore Accountability Act of 2020</b></p> <p>This bill establishes disclosure and reporting requirements for operators of offshore oil or gas facilities after equipment failures of critical systems.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>Finally, operators must report to Interior on (1) changes made by such manufacturers to the design of critical systems as the result of reported failures, and (2) changes in the operators' procedures as a result of reported failures.</p>

tv_txt: I 116th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 5695 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 28, 2020 Mr. McEachin (for himself, Mr. Grijalva , Mr. Lowenthal , Mr. Huffman , Mr. Gaetz , Mr. Carbajal , and Mr. Buchanan ) 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 Interior, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be referred to as the Offshore Accountability Act of 2020 . 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 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.