Safe Drill Act of 2010
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Energy and Mineral Resources.
Safe Drill Act of 2010 - Amends the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) to direct the Secretary of the Interior to precondition a new oil or gas lease upon the lessee's certification that the lessee will: (1) use the best available technology for all operations under the lease, including acoustic sensors; and (2) adopt and implement a comprehensive plan to respond to and clean up any discharge of oil occurring in lease operations.
Directs the Secretary to require each person holding an existing oil or gas lease to make such a certification within six months after enactment of this Act.
Empowers the Secretary to order suspension of operations and cancel the lease if such a certification is not forthcoming within the deadline.
Requires the Secretary to: (1) review blowout preventers, emergency shutoff systems, and other oil discharge prevention technology (including emerging technology) used for oil and gas drilling operations; and (2) revise as necessary regulations governing the use of such technology based upon such review.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on July 27, 2010. 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 August 3, 2010: Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.
- 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 111th Congress (2009-10), 383 of the 10,778 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.6 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?
John Hall (D-NY) introduced it on July 27, 2010. 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 July 27, 2010, 5889 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 5882 days ago, on August 3, 2010.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 111th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2011 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