Bill Nelson Will Try to Block Trump from Changing Offshore Drilling Rules

Democratic Senator from Florida, Bill Nelson, plans to use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to block President Donald Trump from overturning safety rules put in place after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster in 2010, The Hill reports.

The senator announced that he plans to use the act to block the rule changes that the administration has proposed. The Republicans have used CRA to dismantle many Obama-era regulations right after Trump got into the office. The act allows for an expedited review to overturn a regulation by resolution.

“The BP spill devastated my state’s economy and 11 people lost their lives. That’s why I plan to subject this misguided rule to the Congressional Review Act,” Nelson said.

He cannot introduce the resolution until the administration finalizes its proposed changes to the offshore drilling rules which were created while Barack Obama was president of the U.S. The proposed changes were issued by the Interior Department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and a 30-day public comment period was opened.

One of the proposed changes says that BSEE would reduce the authority of third-party safety inspectors to review documents related to oil rig operations and reduce the requirement that certified engineers review safety equipment plans to only the “most critical documents.”

About 4/9 million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. The disaster was caused by equipment failure at BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig. The consequences were devastating and 17 people were injured. One year later, the U.S. government faulted BP and rig operator TransOcean and contractor Halliburton for the disaster and in 2015 BP paid out an 18.7 billion dollar fine. That is the biggest corporate settlement in history.

If Nelson does not get wide public support, he will probably not succeed because it would require Trump’s signature to overturn the new rules.

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