Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Jun 29, 2010
Offshore Drilling Safety Improvement Act - Amends the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to direct the Secretary of the Interior to issue regulations requiring: (1) that all oil and gas drilling and production operations on the outer Continental Shelf have safety and environmental management systems in place, including blowout preventers and additional backup emergency shutoff equipment such as acoustic shut-off technology; and (2) that such equipment use the best available and safest technologies. Requires consideration of the need for different technology requirements in different environments and depths.
Applies such regulations to: (1) all new oil and gas drilling and production operations, and (2) all existing drilling and production operations six months after the issuance of the regulations.
Requires the Secretary, every five years thereafter, to review blowout preventer and emergency shutoff equipment technology and revise the regulations as necessary to require use of the best available technology.
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Amends the Department of Energy Organization Act to require the Department of Energy (DOE) Assistant Secretaries to identify the best available and safest technology for offshore oil and gas exploration and production.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.
Referred to House Energy and Commerce
Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to House Natural Resources
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
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Source last updated: Aug 14, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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