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Allen: Cleanup entering new phase

NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- Cleanup operations in the Gulf of Mexico are being downsized, retired U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said Friday.

Protective booms are being picked up in areas where they are no longer needed, Allen told reporters in a telephone conference call.

"In general, as we get to a point where boom is not needed in a certain location, we will pick that boom up, get it ready for redeployment and stage it but not deploy it unless it's absolutely necessary," he said. "We'll work that locally with the states and the parishes as we move forward."

Allen also described further work that needs to be done to ensure BP's Macondo well is capped top and bottom. He said a layer of fluid has been put on top of the cement capping the well to help cure it and pressure testing will start during the weekend.

Drilling to connect the well to the relief will continue into mid-August, Allen said.

The damaged well began spewing oil into the gulf after an explosion and fire April 20 on the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform and a failure of the blowout preventer.

Allen said he had no information on reports that BP plans to ask for permission to recover oil from the reservoir through one of the relief wells.

BP announced Friday that Mike Utsler is replacing Doug Suttles as the executive in charge of overall spill response. Utsler had been heading BP operations in Houma, La.

Senate Dems eye healthcare tax rollback

WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- U.S. Senate Democrats say they want to roll back a part of the healthcare reform measure that critics say would put new tax burdens on small businesses.

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., introduced the proposal with the support of Democratic Party leaders to remove a new tax-filing requirement that many in the business community have characterized as a "job killer." The Hill reported Friday.

At issue is a provision in the healthcare reform bill requiring businesses to file 1099 forms with the Internal Revenue Service when goods purchased from another business exceed $600 in a year. Under previous law, the reporting requirement pertained only to services exceeding that amount, not goods.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., denounced the tax provision this week, saying it would create "an enormous amount of paperwork and complexity" for the country's small businesses.

Republicans weren't alone in criticizing the new tax requirement.

Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas Thursday became the first Democrat to call for removing the filing requirement.

"No piece of legislation is ever perfect, and it's important we take steps to make improvements where we can," Lincoln said.

Flooding could spread to south Pakistan

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- U.N. officials Friday warned flooding in Pakistan that already has killed an estimated 1,400 people could spread to the south.

The U.N. estimate of the death toll from flooding in northern Pakistan is 200 below the number Pakistani officials estimate. The flood has affected millions of people and at least 1.5 million have lost their homes, Martin Mogwania, U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Pakistan, said.

The monsoon season is likely to last four more weeks and U.N. officials said aid needs are massive.

"As we're hearing, the scale of the needs is absolutely daunting," said Melissa Fleming, a spokesperson for the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

Every day another 300,000 people are affected by continuing monsoons, officials said.

"The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates globally that 4.5 million people have been affected by the flooding," spokeswoman Elena Ponomareva said.

Arguments filed in Prop 8 case

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- Same-sex marriage backers filed court motions Friday urging a judge to allow such marriages in California immediately while his ruling in the case is appealed.

U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker has said he would issue a ruling on the matter after he reviews written arguments submitted by proponents and opponents of same-sex marriage, the Los Angeles Times reported.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown submitted arguments urging the judge to authorize same-sex marriages during the appeal process. Schwarzenegger noted the state performed about 18,000 same-sex marriages before the practice was banned with the November 2008 voter approval of Proposition 8.

"Government officials can resume issuing such licenses without administrative delay or difficulty," the governor's office said in its submission to the court.

Brown, the Democratic nominee for governor in the November election, argued in writing there is "the potential for limited administrative burdens should future marriages of same-sex couples be later declared invalid" but he said "these potential burdens are outweighed" by the constitutional rights Walker spoke of in his ruling that Proposition 8 violated the U.S. Constitution.

Lawyers for Proposition 8 backers argued same-sex marriages performed in California before the case is heard by the U.S. Supreme Court would be at risk of instability.