Offshore Accountability Act of 2021

IB Union Calendar No. 403 117TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 570 [Report No. 117–562] To require operators of offshore oil and gas facilities to report failures of critical systems to the Secretary of the Interior, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 28, 2021 Mr. MCEACHIN (for himself, Mr. BUCHANAN, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, and Mrs. LURIA) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources NOVEMBER 16, 2022 Additional sponsors: Mr. COHEN and Mr. LEVIN of California NOVEMBER 16, 2022 Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources; committed to the Com- mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:35 Nov 16, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H570.RH H570 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 570 RH A BILL To require operators of offshore oil and gas facilities to report failures of critical systems to the Secretary of the Interior, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:35 Nov 16, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H570.RH H570 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 570 RH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be referred to as the ‘‘Offshore Ac- 4 countability Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not more than 30 days after the 7 discovery of an equipment failure of a critical system oper- 8 ated at an offshore oil or gas facility, the operator of such 9 facility shall provide a written notice of such failure to 10 the Secretary and the manufacturer of such equipment. 11 (b) INVESTIGATION.— 12 (1) ANALYSIS REPORT.—Subject to subsection 13 (d), an operator required to provide notice to the 14 Secretary under subsection (a) shall ensure that an 15 investigation and an equipment failure analysis are 16 completed within 120 days of the failure to deter- 17 mine the cause of such failure. The operator shall 18 provide an analysis report to the Secretary and to 19 the manufacturer of such equipment documenting 20 such investigation and any corrective action taken. 21 (2) PUBLICATION.—Not more than 30 days 22 after receiving an analysis report submitted under 23 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall make such anal- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:35 Nov 16, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H570.RH H570 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 570 RH ysis report available to the public on the Department 1 of the Interior website. 2 (c) EXTENSION.—An operator required to provide an 3 analysis report under subsection (b) may request an exten- 4 sion of up to 60 days from the Secretary for such require- 5 ment by submitting a written request detailing how such 6 operator will complete the investigation and report re- 7 quired by subsection (b). The Secretary shall review and 8 respond to such request not later than 30 days after the 9 date on which such request is submitted, and may not 10 grant more than one such extension with respect to a sin- 11 gle investigation and report. 12 (d) NOTICE OF CHANGE IN EQUIPMENT OR PROCE- 13 DURES.—An operator required to provide a notice under 14 subsection (a) shall— 15 (1) not more than 30 days after receiving notice 16 from a manufacturer of any critical system that 17 made changes in the design of a critical system as 18 the result of the reported failure, report in writing 19 such notice to the Secretary; and 20 (2) not more than 30 days after a change in 21 such operator’s operating or repair procedures as a 22 result of the reported failure, report in writing such 23 change to the Secretary. 24 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:35 Nov 16, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H570.RH H570 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 570 RH (1) BLOWOUT PREVENTER SYSTEM.—The term 1 ‘‘blowout preventer system’’ means a wellhead device 2 or combination of devices that is specifically de- 3 signed to prevent the uncontrolled release of gas, oil, 4 or other fluids or hydrocarbons. 5 (2) CRITICAL SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘critical sys- 6 tem’’ means safety and pollution prevention equip- 7 ment or a blowout preventer system. 8 (3) EQUIPMENT FAILURE.—The term ‘‘equip- 9 ment failure’’ means any conditions that prevents 10 equipment from meeting its functional specifications 11 or purpose. 12 (4) OPERATOR.—The term ‘‘operator’’ means 13 the operator of an offshore oil or gas facility. 14 (5) SAFETY AND POLLUTION PREVENTION 15 EQUIPMENT.—The term ‘‘safety and pollution pre- 16 vention system’’ means any equipment that is spe- 17 cifically designed to prevent a malfunction or failure 18 of an offshore well, resulting in injury or loss of life, 19 damage to the environment, or serious damage to 20 the equipment, including— 21 (A) surface safety valves and actuators; 22 (B) boarding shutdown valves and the ac- 23 tuators of such valves; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:35 Nov 16, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H570.RH H570 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 570 RH (C) underwater safety valves and actu- 1 ators; 2 (D) subsurface safety valves and associated 3 safety valve locks and landing nipples; and 4 (E) gas lift shutdown valves and actuators 5 associated with such valves. 6 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 7 the Secretary of the Interior. 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:35 Nov 16, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H570.RH H570 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:35 Nov 16, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H570.RH H570 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB Union Calendar No. 403 117TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 570 [Report No. 117–562] A BILL To require operators of offshore oil and gas facili- ties to report failures of critical systems to the Secretary of the Interior, and for other purposes. NOVEMBER 16, 2022 Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:35 Nov 16, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H570.RH H570 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB