Offshore Oil and Gas Worker Whistleblower Protection Act
Latest action. Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Offshore Oil and Gas Worker Whistleblower Protection Act
This bill provides whistle-blower protections for certain employees who work in the offshore oil and gas industry.
Specifically, the bill prohibits an employer from discharging or discriminating against an employee working in waters above the Outer Continental Shelf because the employee (1) reported or testified about violations of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), unsafe conditions, or the adequacy of any oil spill response plan required by law; or (2) refused to work based on a reasonable belief that the work could violate the OCSLA, cause an injury or impairment to the health of an employee, or cause an oil spill.
The bill establishes procedures for the filing, investigation, and adjudication of a whistle-blower complaint.
Additionally, employers are required to
post a workplace notice approved by the Department of Labor explaining employee rights and remedies;
provide training to employees about their rights within 30 days of employment, and annually thereafter; and
provide employees with a card containing a toll-free telephone number for obtaining information or for filing a complaint.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on September 28, 2023. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on September 28, 2023: Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 118th Congress (2023-24), 274 of the 16,565 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 1.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA) introduced it on September 28, 2023. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on September 28, 2023, 1078 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 1078 days ago, on September 28, 2023.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 118th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2025 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers