Senate Democrats, Sanders offer bill to codify post-Macondo rules

US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Ranking Minority Member Maria E. Cantwell (D-Wash.), joined by 15 other Democrats and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), introduced legislation to codify two offshore safety and environmental rules the US Department of the Interior finalized in 2016 following the 2010 Macondo deepwater well blowout and subsequent crude oil spill.

They filed their Apr. 19 bill a day before the 8th anniversary of the explosion and fire at a BP PLC deepwater well that killed 11 workers and caused the Deepwater Horizon semisubmersible drilling rig to sink, rupturing a connection line and leading to a discharge of about 5 million bbl of crude into the Gulf of Mexico.

“President Trump has ordered the rollback of commonsense solutions to improve safety and prevent oil spills,” Cantwell said in a Senate floor speech.

Executive Order 13795, which the president signed in April 2017, directed the US Department of the Interior to reconsider the Blowout Preventer Systems and Well Control Rule and the Arctic Drilling Rule in order to encourage and prioritize energy exploration and production, she noted. The bill would make the requirements law, Cantwell noted.

Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].