House passes GOP drilling proposal

WASHINGTON, May 5 (UPI) -- The U.S. House voted 266-149 Thursday to approve one of two Republican proposals for loosening restrictions on offshore oil drilling.

The legislation, the Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act, was one of two Republican initiatives slammed by the White House earlier Thursday. It would still have to pass the Democrat-dominated Senate to become law.

Both proposals were put forward by U.S. Rep. Richard "Doc" Hastings, R-Wash.

The Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act, H.R. 1230 with 67 sponsors, and the Putting the Gulf of Mexico Back to Work Act, H.R. 1229, with 70 sponsors, would hurt safety and environmental reforms "the administration implemented in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill" in the Gulf of Mexico, the Office of Management and Budget said in a statement of administration policy. "These reforms strengthen requirements for issues ranging from well design to workplace safety to corporate accountability, and they require operators to show that they can contain a subsea oil spill like the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The administration opposes H.R. 1230 and H.R. 1229 ... both of which would undercut these critical reforms."

In addition, the office said: "H.R. 1230 would undermine the administration's work to ensure that environmental analysis required by the National Environmental Policy Act is conducted in a rigorous manner. H.R. 1230 would hastily open areas of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic to leasing, including requiring the Department of the Interior to hold three lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico using outdated NEPA analysis that was conducted before the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The administration has strengthened NEPA analysis in light of lessons learned from the spill. (The Interior Department) intends to hold all three Gulf of Mexico lease sales referenced in the bill by mid-2012."

As for H.R. 1229, it "would constrain the ability of (the Interior Department) to ensure that permits meet safety standards by requiring permitting decisions to be made within 30 days of receiving an application -- thereby curtailing the review period. Two 15-day extensions would be possible, though (Interior) would be required to submit burdensome justifications. The bill would grant permits automatically at the end of this 60-day window, regardless of whether the applicant satisfied safety standards."