Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017

Floor Speech

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Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Chairman, my amendment ensures that we keep the appropriate safety regulations in place for offshore oil drilling to reduce the risk of an offshore oil disaster and the devastating impacts on our economy and environment.

The Deepwater Horizon blowout of 2010 is still very fresh in our minds. I represent a Gulf Coast district in Florida, in Tampa Bay, and I remember very well the 87 days that oil spewed out of that Deepwater well, the 11 lives lost, and the huge economic losses.

One study said that, in Florida, we lost 50,000 jobs because of that blowout, not to mention the environmental catastrophe that it was, that we are still trying to determine the long-term impacts.

For 87 days, the well continued to pump 134 million gallons of toxic oil before it could be stopped. This tarred fisheries, wildlife, and fragile ecosystems. I will always remember the motel owner from Pinellas County who cried because all of her business had evaporated. We didn't even have oil on the Gulf Coast beaches around Tampa Bay, but all of the tourists left. Our lifeblood in Florida is the tourism industry and the fishing industry.

This is really inexplicable after years of working with industry, after congressional hearings to determine the causes of that disaster, after numerous investigative reports, including the bipartisan National Oil Spill Commission, led by former Florida Governor and Senator Bob Graham, and Republican and former EPA Administrator William Riley, where they zeroed in on the fact that it was the well casing and the blow-out preventer that was the source of the problem. Based upon all of those findings and investigations, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement developed its final Well Control Rule, which focuses on the blow-out preventer and well control requirements, because this is America, and we can develop state-of-the-art technology for risky oil drilling no matter where it is occurring.

The final rule was developed after unprecedented outreach and consultation with industry and other stakeholders. It addresses the full range of systems and equipment that are related to well control operations, with a focus on blow-out preventer requirements, well design, well control casings, cementing, real-time monitoring, and subsea containment. These measures are designed to improve equipment reliability, especially for blow-out preventers. The most important thing is they protect our communities. They protect us from a disaster like the BP Deepwater Horizon from ever happening again.

It is really inexplicable that the Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee zeroed in on this safety rule in this appropriations bill and said we are not going to support it, that we are not going to fund it for this year. What is that going to do? Industry already supports most of these things. They don't want to be on the hook for billions and billions of dollars. It is just, clearly, inexplicable to put our communities at risk again for another disaster like that.

The Castor amendment eliminates this harmful provision, and it maintains the Department of the Interior's critical safety standards to prevent offshore oil disasters. The Gulf Coast is still reeling from the disaster of 2010, and local economies across the country cannot afford another catastrophe like BP's. I urge the adoption of the Castor amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum), the ranking member.

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Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Chairman, if you support the tourism industry, if you support the jobs in the fishing industry, if you support just saving lives, and being able to prevent disasters like the BP Deepwater Horizon from ever happening again, it is important that you stand up for these very basic, industry supported safety standards. The well rule was developed after months and years of investigations and study with stakeholder help.

The bottom line is we have to do everything we can to prevent this from ever happening again in order to protect our economy, to protect our jobs, to protect our natural environment; so I urge the adoption of the Castor amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

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