Current:Home > BackUS tightens some offshore oil rig safety rules that had been loosened under Trump-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
US tightens some offshore oil rig safety rules that had been loosened under Trump
View Date:2024-12-23 23:50:57
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Biden administration on Tuesday finalized tighter rules for complex devices meant to prevent catastrophic blowouts on offshore oil and gas drilling rigs, reversing some Trump administration policies and returning to a more stringent regulatory stance adopted after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Failure of blowout preventer equipment was a major cause of the April 2010 disaster that killed 11 workers and resulted in an estimated 130 million gallons of crude oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico over 87 days.
Tougher offshore safety rules had been adopted in 2016 but were revised in 2019 under then-President Donald Trump. The oil industry welcomed that move, but it was followed by an ongoing lawsuit filed by environmental organizations.
The new rules from the Interior Department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement address conditions and well pressures under which the automatic well control devices operate. They require that remotely operated underwater vehicles be capable of opening and closing key components of blowout preventers. They also include mandates and time limits for investigating failures and providing data on blowouts to regulators.
It’s a revision but not a complete reversal of the Trump-era changes. For instance, BSEE is maintaining an expansion of the interval between required blowout preventer inspections from 14 to 21 days.
Miyoko Sakashita, of the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit challenging the Trump administration revisions, said the new rules would likely resolve the lawsuit, which has been delayed several times since President Joe Biden took office.
“Importantly, the rule requires that those testing and reporting on blowout preventers be certified and meet federal standards. It also requires that blow-out preventer failure reports be sent to BSEE,” Sakashita said in an email exchange.
But, she said, the changes don’t go far enough.
“This new rule at least puts an end to industry self-policing, but that’s too low of a bar,” Sakashita said. “We can all see from this summer’s heat waves, wildfires, and severe storms that we’re in a climate crisis. Biden needs to declare a climate emergency and end offshore drilling.”
An official with the American Petroleum Institute criticized the latest regulatory changes.
“Regulatory clarity is critical for ensuring compliance and establishing safe operations, but this rule continues the rampant politicization of the rulemaking process and represents another policy swing from administration to administration, resulting in a policy that fails to meaningfully improve the safety of workers or protect the environment,” Holly Hopkins, an API vice president, said in an emailed statement.
veryGood! (2369)
Related
- NFL Week 11 picks straight up and against spread: Will Bills hand Chiefs first loss of season?
- Brussels Midi Station, once a stately gateway to Belgium, has turned into festering sore of nation
- Massachusetts investigates teen’s death as company pulls spicy One Chip Challenge from store shelves
- No charges against Maine authorities for death of handcuffed man who was hit in head with flashlight
- Jon Gruden joins Barstool Sports three years after email scandal with NFL
- What is the Blue Zones diet blowing up on Netflix? People who live to 100 eat this way.
- A magnitude 5 earthquake rattled a rural area of Northern California but no damage has been reported
- Say Yes to These 20 Secrets About My Big Fat Greek Wedding
- Fantasy football waiver wire: 10 players to add for NFL Week 11
- FAA looks to require cockpit technology to reduce close calls
Ranking
- Fate of Netflix Series America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Revealed
- Jessica Alba's Comments About Her Bond With Her Kids Are Sweet as Honey
- Cher reveals cover of first-ever Christmas album: 'Can we say Merry Chermas now?'
- New Mexico governor seeks federal agents to combat gun violence in Albuquerque
- Wheel of Fortune Contestant Goes Viral Over His Hilariously Wrong Answer
- Black churches in Florida buck DeSantis: 'Our churches will teach our own history.'
- US Open interrupted by climate change protesters
- Rail operator fined 6.7 million pounds in Scottish train crash that killed 3
Recommendation
-
DWTS' Sasha Farber Claps Back at Diss From Jenn Tran's Ex Devin Strader
-
Yosemite's popular Super Slide rock climbing area closed due to growing crack in cliff in Royal Arches
-
Black churches in Florida buck DeSantis: 'Our churches will teach our own history.'
-
'One Piece' on Netflix: What's next for popular pirate show? What we know about Season 2.
-
Taylor Swift drops Christmas merchandise collection, including for 'Tortured Poets' era
-
Is it India? Is it Bharat? Speculations abound as government pushes for the country’s Sanskrit name
-
Special grand jury report that aided Georgia probe leading to Trump’s indictment is set for release
-
Private Equity Giant KKR Is Funding Environmental Racism, New Report Finds