Date: 2010-07-30
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chair. I rise in support of the managers amendment to H.R. 3534. "The Consolidated Land. Energy and Aquatic Resources (CLEAR) Act." The managers amendment provides a number of provisions that will ensure that there is greater chance of preventing an incident such as the April 30. 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill. The Managers amendment includes my amendment which requires redundancy in accident and spill response plans as part of the permitting process under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. Specifically. my amendment will require that businesses applying for permits to drill and produce crude oil in the Gulf of Mexico submit detailed spill mitigation and recovery plans as part of the permitting process. Not only must they have recovery plans. but they will be required to have backup plans. in case their first response fails. Additionally. those plans must be vetted by impartial experts. rather than rubberstamped by insufficiently vigilant regulators. With this additional layer of response planning. there is a better chance that we will be better prepared to respond to future incidents like the Gulf oil spill. The Managers amendment also includes provisions that do the following: Clarifies that the Secretary of the Interior may enter into cooperative education and training agreements with safety training firms in establishing the National Oil and Gas Health and Safety Academy. Clarifies that the Secretary is permitted to consult with industry representatives regarding training program curricula. but is not authorized to utilize industry representatives as instructional personnel for the trainings. Imposes civil penalties on CEOs who certify to false information about a companys capability to prevent or contain an oil spill. Establishes a Citizens Advisory Committee composed of nonenergy industry individuals to assist the Gulf Coast Restoration Task Force in its work. Clarifies that the Regional Assessment and Regional Strategic Plan created by the Great Lakes Regional Coordination Council shall include only renewable and not nonrenewable energy resources. Ensures that Gulf residents would have the right of first refusal for processing the claims filed due to the oil spill. Replaces the requirement for dispersant manufacturers to disclose their products chemical formula with a requirement to disclose dispersant products ingredients. Provides that discharges resulting from salvage activities consistent with the National Contingency Plan or as directed by the President are exempt from liability under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Authorizes a study of the economic. safety. and environmental impacts of requiring a relief well be drilled in tandem with the drilling of some or all wells. Requires the GAO to complete a study to determine whether the reforms to the Department of the Interior mandated in this legislation have increased oversight and decreased conflicts of interest within the department. Includes in the Environmental Study an analysis of the cumulative impact of drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf. Requires oil and gas companies to pay royalties on all oil that is discharged from a well. including spilled oil. Directs GAO to study the impact of assessing a fee on the processing of oil and gas leases and using the proceeds to fund the gathering of baseline environmental data necessary for the permitting process. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to arrange with the National Academy of Engineering to study and report to the Secretary regarding whether the accuracy of collection of royalties on production of oil. condensate. and natural gas under leases of federal lands would be improved by implementing certain prescribed measures. and Amends the liability provisions in the Oil Pollution Act to protect claimants from signing broad liability releases. and to clarify that the new cause of action under OPA for damages to human health does not supersede remedies under other federal law. Mr. Chair. I support this managers amendment which includes my amendment that will require redundancy in accident and spill response plans as part of the permitting process under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.