What’s new are the recommendations. All are sound, and most will require Congressional help.
SAFETY The commission recommended much tougher rules governing basic drilling issues like well design and vital equipment like blowout preventers. Some of these have already been put in place by the Interior Department. More broadly, it urged Congress to create an independent safety agency within the department free of any political influence and with enforcement authority to oversee all aspects of offshore drilling.
FINANCING Though it did not specify a figure, the commission implored Congress to provide “adequate and predictable” financing for regulatory oversight. It noted that money for federal regulators had remained static for 20 years while the risks associated with drilling increased dramatically as rigs moved into deeper and deeper waters.
LIABILITY The commission noted that the present $75 million liability cap for individual accidents is hardly enough to deter sloppy behavior. It recommended a much higher figure, without identifying one.
SCIENCE The Deepwater Horizon explosion revealed that both industry and federal regulators had given environmental reviews short shrift. The commission recommends that Congress amend the various laws governing offshore drilling to make sure that government scientists and fish and wildlife experts are consulted at every step of the process — from the leasing of areas for exploration to the actual drilling of individual wells.
RESTORATION Congress is urged to dedicate 80 percent of the penalties assessed under the Clean Water Act — they could be as high as $20 billion — to restoring the fragile Mississippi Delta ecosystem. The commission’s other co-chairman, William Reilly, noted that the delta had been badly degraded over the years and “is likely to continue silently washing away unless decisive action is taken.”
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