Opinion ID: 496724
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The OCSLA

Text: 5 Bartholomew was injured on an offshore fixed platform located on the outer Continental Shelf off the coast of Louisiana. The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) provides that federal jurisdiction extends to 6 the subsoil and seabed of the outer Continental Shelf and to all artificial islands, and all installations and other devices permanently or temporarily attached to the seabed, which may be erected thereon for the purpose of exploring for, developing, or producing resources therefrom, ..., to the same extent as if the outer Continental Shelf were an area of exclusive Federal jurisdiction located within a State: .... 7 43 U.S.C. Sec. 1333(a)(1) (emphasis added). Both parties in the instant case attempt to characterize the jurisdictional basis of this lawsuit as one premised on diversity of citizenship pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1332. This characterization is incorrect. Since the accident occurred on an offshore platform located on the outer Continental Shelf, the appropriate basis of jurisdiction for this claim is the OCSLA; therefore, the applicable law in the instant case is defined by the OCSLA as follows: 8 To the extent that they are applicable and not inconsistent with this subchapter or with other Federal laws and regulations of the Secretary now in effect or hereafter adopted, the civil and criminal laws of each adjacent state, ... are hereby declared to be the law of the United States for that portion of the subsoil and seabed of the outer Continental Shelf, and artificial islands and fixed structures erected thereon, which would be within the area of the State if its boundaries were extended seaward to the outer margin of the outer Continental Shelf,.... 9 43 U.S.C. Sec. 1333(a)(2)(A). Interpreting the above provision, the Supreme Court, in Rodrigue v. Aetna Casualty Co., 395 U.S. 352, 89 S.Ct. 1835, 23 L.Ed.2d 360 (1969), stated that the law to be applied in actions governed by the OCSLA is federal law, supplemented by state law of the adjacent state,.... Id. at 355, 89 S.Ct. at 1837. Thus, the Act mandates that we technically apply federal law to the instant case, but also apply the law of the adjacent state, Louisiana, as surrogate federal law to the extent that it is not inconsistent with federal laws and regulations. Having determined the applicable law, we next turn to the merits of the parties' contentions on appeal.