RELEASE: SEEC passes amendments to ensure Big Oil will be held accountable
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today the Congressional Sustainable Energy & Environment Coalition (SEEC) claimed victory on the passage of two amendments to the Consolidated Land, Energy, and Aquatic Resources (CLEAR) Act designed to strengthen oil spill accountability for the oil and gas industry.
The CLEAR ACT, which was supported by the 55-member House caucus, passed the House of Representatives today by a vote of 209 to 193. The bill is designed to strengthen regulation and oversight of the oil and gas industry, hold BP accountable for the economic and natural resources costs of its Deepwater Horizon oil spill, enact stronger safeguards for oil rig safety, spill prevention and response, and provide better protections for American coasts, lands, and waters.
“The CLEAR Act is an important step forward to protect the safety of American workers and the environment and to put strong regulations in place to make sure an event like the Deepwater Horizon does not happen again,“ said SEEC co-chair Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA). “This is common sense legislation that will force oil and gas companies to put safety ahead of profits.”
One of the amendments successfully passed by SEEC was sponsored by Reps. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ)- vice chairs for the caucus- and Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT), and would close a legal loophole that would allow BP or another parent company to escape the costs for which a subsidiary company was liable as a result of an oil spill.
The second amendment, sponsored by SEEC vice chair Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Holt, and Reps. Mike Quigley (D-IL) and Mazie Hirono (D-HI), would force companies to pay royalty costs on all the American oil that is lost in a spill. Under current law, companies are made to pay only for the oil that they produce for consumption.
“BP should be liable for every last cent of the natural resource and economic damage it caused - not the small business owner, not the restaurateur, not the vacation home renter, not the fishermen, not the American taxpayer,” said Holt. “Raising the (legal economic damages liability) cap is about ensuring that BP is on the hook – by law and by fact. This bill is about fairness and ensuring that the buck stops with the oil companies and it won’t spill over to taxpayers.”
"I am pleased that a number of SEEC priorities were included in the CLEAR Act, and I look forward to continuing to work with my fellow SEEC members on transitioning to a clean energy economy and protecting America's precious natural resources," said SEEC Vice Chair Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME).
The members of SEEC, who called for a robust legislative response in the face of the worst environmental disaster in American history, were integral in shaping many aspects of the legislation while working within the Committees on Natural Resources, Transportation & Infrastructure, and Energy & Commerce. More recently, SEEC worked with House leaders to ensure that its top priorities- embodied in a letter sent by the caucus on July 22, 2010- were addressed in the CLEAR Act.
Other SEEC priorities which the caucus supported and its members successfully fought for inclusion in the CLEAR Act were:
• Requiring more thorough environmental analysis at all stages of the offshore oil and gas leasing process.
• Requiring offshore oil rigs to use best available safety technologies, including blowout preventers and emergency shut-off systems.
• Removing the statutory limitation on companies’ financial liability for offshore oil spills to ensure that responsible companies are held fully accountable for their disastrous spill.
• Providing for oil & gas royalty payments to fund the Land & Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and the Historic Preservation Fund, and creating of the Ocean Resources Conservation and Assistance Fund (ORCA).
• Restructuring the agency responsible for oversight, leasing, and regulation of offshore oil and gas activities.
• Requiring offshore rigs to comply with the highest safety standards by mandating that they are flagged American vessels.
• Barring companies from obtaining federal oil and gas leases if they have a significant history of violating worker safety or environmental law.
• Providing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) with a role in offshore oil and gas exploration and leasing plans.
• Increasing royalty rates for offshore oil and gas production, and repealing deepwater royalty relief.
• Repealing Clean Water Act exemptions for the oil and gas industry.
• Requiring the Secretary to consider the availability of oil spill response infrastructure when developing a 5 year offshore leasing plan.
The legislation will now be sent to the Senate, where Senate Democrats are working on their own legislation to address the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster.
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The Sustainable Energy & Environment Coalition (SEEC) is a caucus of fifty-five Democratic members of the House of Representatives that was founded in January, 2009. SEEC is co-chaired by Reps. Jay Inslee (D-WA.) and Steve Israel (D-NY) and supports “policies that promote clean energy technology innovation and domestic manufacturing, develop renewable energy resources, and create green collar jobs throughout the product supply-chain, (and) polices to help arrest global warming and protect our nation’s clean air, water and natural environment.”