Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that prohibits the Department of the Interior from offering oil and gas leasing in the Atlantic or Pacific Outer Continental Shelf planning areas.

Highlights:

• Requires the Secretary of the Interior to not include any leasing program within the Atlantic Region planning areas or the Pacific Region planning areas (Sec. 3).

• Prohibits any US agency or person from conducting or authorizing geological or geophysical activities in support of oil, gas, or methane hydrate exploration and development in any area located in the North Atlantic, Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic, and Straits of Florida Planning Areas of the outer Continential Shelf (Sec. 8).

• Amends the Outer Continential Shelf Lands Act by requiring the Secretary to collect non-refundable inspection fees from the operators of facilities (Sec. 4): 

• At an aggregate level equal to the amount necessary to offset the annual expenses of inspection of outer Continential Shelf facilities, including mobile offshore drilling units, by the Secretary; and 

• Using a schedule that reflects the differences in complexity among the classes of facilities to be inspected. 

• Establishes the Ocean Energy Safety Fund within the Treasury, into which monies of all amounts collected as fees mentioned in the previous highlight will be deposited (Sec. 4).

• Requires all amounts deposited into the Fund to (Sec. 4):

• Be credited as offsetting collections;

• Be available for expenditure for purposes of carrying out inspections of outer Continential Shelf facilities, including mobile offshore drilling units, and the administration of the inspection program;

• Be available only to the extent provided for in advance in an appropriations act; and 

• Remain available until expended.

• Requires annual fees to be collected for facilities that are above the waterline, excluding drilling rigs, and are in place at the start of the fiscal year, and specifies that fees for fiscal year 2020 to include (Sec. 4):

• $11,500 for facilities with no wells but with processing equipment or gathering lines;

• $18,500 for facilities with 1 to 10 wells, with any combination of active or inactive wells; and 

• $34,500 for facilities with more than 10 wells, with any combination of active or inactive wells.

• Requires fees to be collected for drilling rigs on a per inspection basis, and fees for fiscal year 2020 to include (Sec. 4):

• $33,500 per inspection for rigs operating in water depths of 500 feet or more; and 

• $18,500 per inspection for rigs operating in water depths of less than 500 feet.

• Requires fees to be collected for well operations conducted via non-rig units on a per inspection basis, and specifies that fees for fiscal year 2020 will include (Sec. 4):

• $13,260 per inspection for non-rig units operating in water depths of 2,500 feet or more; 

• $11,530 per inspection for non-rig units operating in water depths between 500 and 2,499 feet; and 

• $4,470 for inspection for non-rig units operating in water depths of less than 500 feet. 

• Requires the Secretary to adjust each dollar amount specified above for inflation based on the change in the Consumer Price Index from fiscal year 2020 (Sec. 4).

• Requires the Secretary of the Interior, after consulting with the Secretary of Defense, to report to Congress on whether this act poses a risk to national security from the potential increase in dependence on foreign oil (Sec. 6).

• Requires the Comptroller General, no later than 1 year after the enactment of this act, to submit a report on the impacts of offshore drilling on coastal communities and coastal economies, to the House Natural Resources Committee and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (Sec. 7).

• Specifies that the contents of the above-mentioned report must (Sec. 7):

• Address how oil and gas companies interact with local stakeholders in advance of a sitting decision, including their meetings with fishermen;

• Investigate the impacts of offshore drilling on tourism, including trade-offs during normal operations and economic impacts after a spill;

• Describe how the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management works with other agencies, including the National Marine Fisheries Service, to include stakeholder input in advance of a sitting decision;

• Address how quickly response teams can mitigate environmental damage after a spill, and how long regional ecosystems take to recover following a spill;

• Describe any limitations on the quantity of comparative data available on impacts to regions of the Outer Continential Shelf that have not been approved for drilling; and

• Address the economic impacts of oil spills on the food supply of a region, including those food sources that are distinctive to a region’s culture.

Full Bill Text

Full Bill Text