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The U.S. House of Representatives approved two bipartisan pieces of legislation yesterday with the support of Congressman Bill Posey to conduct research into improving oil spill response technologies and developing safer oil and natural gas production technologies.
 
“Clearly we need to have more accountability, better standards of practice and a more realistic emergency response plan ready to go in case of future disasters,” said Congressman Posey. “A lot of precious time can be wasted trying to figure out what to do and who’s in charge. Having a more robust plan can prevent disasters and eliminate delays in the response.”
 
Rep Posey supported The Oil Pollution Research and Development Program Reauthorization Act (H.R. 2693) which amends the Oil Pollution Act to establish an interagency committee under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This committee will coordinate a federal oil spill research program and report back to Congress within a year to identify newly developed programs and technologies to improve the response to and clean up of oil spills.
 
The Safer Oil and Natural Gas Drilling Technology Research and Development Act (H.R. 5716), also supported by Rep. Posey, amends the drilling technologies research and development program originally established under the Energy Policy Act of 2005 so that it focuses on developing new technologies to improve the safety of exploration and production activities. H.R. 5716 also requires the Department of Energy to establish a policy advisory committee to publish an annual update of the program’s work and outline recommendations for implementing its research findings.

“These are bipartisan steps that enhance safety and improve cleanup,” said Posey.