By Ben Geman - 06/19/10
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) plans to unveil legislation next week that would overhaul federal oversight of offshore oil-and-gas drilling and impose new safety standards.
Bingaman is readying the bill ahead of plans by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to bring wide-ranging energy legislation to the floor as soon as July.
Bingaman spokesman Bill Wicker declined Friday to provide details about Bingaman’s bill, but suggested it will be expansive. “It will address all the things which are in the scope of our committee's jurisdiction,” Wicker said.
He said it would be released some time ahead of a Thursday hearing that will explore several pieces of legislation in response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Various lawmakers are exploring plans that would require stronger blowout prevention safeguards, improve response to spills and ensure that Interior Department regulators maintain an arm's-length relationship with oil company officials.
At least two other bills will be discussed at the Thursday Senate hearing. Sens. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) introduced a bill June 16 that requires companies drilling offshore to have peer-reviewed response plans in their leases that describe the “means and timeline” to contain and end oil spills, among other provisions.
The committee will also review a bill by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) that would codify several ethics requirements for federal drilling regulators.
It bars them from accepting gifts from energy companies developing federal resources and holding stock in the companies. The bill also aims to close the “revolving door” by preventing regulators from working for these companies for two years after leaving their jobs.
The plan is co-sponsored by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.). It applies to employees of the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service or successor agencies.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar recently announced plans to carve up MMS into three separate agencies, citing “conflicting missions” at the agency that currently fosters offshore development, collects billions of dollars in royalty revenues and oversees safety and environmental rules.
Bingaman, at a June 9 hearing on offshore safety, said the fatal April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig laid bare the need for major reforms.
“The challenge for regulators, and for Congress in enacting statutory responsibilities and authorities to those regulators, is to put appropriate requirements in place ensuring that this horrible price is not paid again,” he said.
Bills in response to the oil spill are under construction on both sides of Capitol Hill.
Top members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee allege BP used risky procedures in designing and crafting its ill-fated Macondo well to save money, such as use of well casing methods with insufficient barriers to gas flow.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) outlined various House plans at a Thursday press conference.
“BP has represented that they had the capacity to drill safely, that they had the capacity to stop a blowout should one occur, and that they had the adequacy for cleanup. In all three cases, they really betrayed the American people with their comments,” Pelosi said.
“We cannot leave it to taking their word for it. So you will see some legislation come forth from the hearings that are happening in the Energy and Commerce Committee,” she said.
She noted that several committees are working on plans that change rules governing industry liability and damages from spills, clamp down on industry royalty holidays, improve the response to oil spills and safeguard the health of cleanup workers.
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) plans to unveil legislation next week that would overhaul federal oversight of offshore oil-and-gas drilling and impose new safety standards.
Bingaman is readying the bill ahead of plans by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to bring wide-ranging energy legislation to the floor as soon as July.
Bingaman spokesman Bill Wicker declined Friday to provide details about Bingaman’s bill, but suggested it will be expansive. “It will address all the things which are in the scope of our committee's jurisdiction,” Wicker said.
He said it would be released some time ahead of a Thursday hearing that will explore several pieces of legislation in response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Various lawmakers are exploring plans that would require stronger blowout prevention safeguards, improve response to spills and ensure that Interior Department regulators maintain an arm's-length relationship with oil company officials.
At least two other bills will be discussed at the Thursday Senate hearing. Sens. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) introduced a bill June 16 that requires companies drilling offshore to have peer-reviewed response plans in their leases that describe the “means and timeline” to contain and end oil spills, among other provisions.
The committee will also review a bill by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) that would codify several ethics requirements for federal drilling regulators.
It bars them from accepting gifts from energy companies developing federal resources and holding stock in the companies. The bill also aims to close the “revolving door” by preventing regulators from working for these companies for two years after leaving their jobs.
The plan is co-sponsored by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.). It applies to employees of the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service or successor agencies.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar recently announced plans to carve up MMS into three separate agencies, citing “conflicting missions” at the agency that currently fosters offshore development, collects billions of dollars in royalty revenues and oversees safety and environmental rules.
Bingaman, at a June 9 hearing on offshore safety, said the fatal April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig laid bare the need for major reforms.
“The challenge for regulators, and for Congress in enacting statutory responsibilities and authorities to those regulators, is to put appropriate requirements in place ensuring that this horrible price is not paid again,” he said.
Bills in response to the oil spill are under construction on both sides of Capitol Hill.
Top members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee allege BP used risky procedures in designing and crafting its ill-fated Macondo well to save money, such as use of well casing methods with insufficient barriers to gas flow.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) outlined various House plans at a Thursday press conference.
“BP has represented that they had the capacity to drill safely, that they had the capacity to stop a blowout should one occur, and that they had the adequacy for cleanup. In all three cases, they really betrayed the American people with their comments,” Pelosi said.
“We cannot leave it to taking their word for it. So you will see some legislation come forth from the hearings that are happening in the Energy and Commerce Committee,” she said.
She noted that several committees are working on plans that change rules governing industry liability and damages from spills, clamp down on industry royalty holidays, improve the response to oil spills and safeguard the health of cleanup workers.
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