Marine Oil Spill Prevention Act would ban future drilling operations on Florida coast
This year’s Earth Day saw the introduction of the Marine Oil Spill Prevention Act to the House of Representatives — an effort to ban oil and gas drilling around Florida’s coast and increase preventative and cleanup measures linked to spills.
The bill was introduced by U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) on the ninth anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon spill, when an oil rig burst, sank and spilled out the world’s largest oil leak. The effects of that disaster are still being felt today, and Wasserman Schultz and her colleagues want to guarantee it doesn’t have any potential to happen again, at least around Florida.
The bill would permanently ban such drilling around Florida coasts, have the U.S. Coast Guard designate and work to protect areas in danger of oil spills, and establish an advisory council of local stakeholders to advise on facilities and tank vessels. It would also order owners of leaking facilities to clean up their mess and require the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to begin a review of its response capabilities, as well as carry out long-term monitoring and research operations in the Gulf of Mexico.
“Protecting Florida’s shores from another Deepwater Horizon is vital for our state’s ecosystems and economy,” Wasserman Schultz said. “The Sunshine State’s coasts provide abundant marine life habitat and a destination for beach-lovers worldwide. They are an irreplaceable treasure and ecological necessity – risking our coasts for dangerous oil and gas drilling is unacceptable.”
The bill was released ahead of anticipated updates to the nation’s offshore drilling plan by the Trump Administration. The Administration has been largely anti-regulation of such matters, and supporters of the bill fear it means to re-open drilling on Florida’s coasts and undo a variety of regulatory protections. Environmental organizations like Oceana, the National Parks Conservation Association, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club are backing the bill.
