On Monday, the Obama administration proposed stricter regulations for offshore oil and natural gas drilling equipment.
The Interior Department hopes its draft rules will prevent another spill like the deadly BP Deepwater Horizon explosion that occurred five years ago.
The proposal would impose new standards on equipment used to maintain control of a well, such as blowout preventers, according to The Wall Street Journal. The rules would also establish schedules for maintenance and repairs, require real-time onshore monitoring for heat and well pressure, and mandate independent audits of equipment, reported Bloomberg.
A failed blowout preventer was largely blamed for the 2010 BP Deepwater spill in the Gulf of Mexico which lasted for three months, resulting in the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history. The blowout preventer is supposed to seal off wells in the case of an emergency, but inferior design prevented it from functioning properly.
"Both industry and government have taken important strides to better protect human lives and the environment from oil spills, and these proposed measures are designed to further build on critical lessons learned from the Deepwater Horizon tragedy and to ensure that offshore operations are safe," Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said on a conference call Monday, according to the WSJ.
The new rule is estimated to cost the oil industry $883 million over 10 years, but it does include $656 million in monetized benefits such as time savings and potential reduction in costs associated with oil spills, the WSJ reported.
Starting April 15, drillers and other outside groups will be allowed a 60-day comment period in which industry officials are expected to closely review the proposal and offer suggestions. The final rule is expected to be issued by the Interior Department later this year.
"We are reviewing the proposed rules and hope they will complement industry's own efforts to enhance safety," said Erik Milito, upstream director for the American Petroleum Institute, the nation's largest trade group representing all parts of the oil and gas industry, reported the WSJ. "Improved standards for blowout preventers are one of the many ways industry has led the charge to make offshore operations even safer."
The rule could help to ease concerns of environmental groups worried about the impending expansion of offshore drilling for the first time into federal waters from Virginia to Georgia, though Jackie Savitz, vice president of U.S. Oceans at environmental group Oceana, told the WSJ, "Are we really strengthening safety or are we just making these [provisions] official?"
The Interior Department is currently looking to establish contracts for offshore Atlantic drilling but said the drilling won't likely start until at least six years, according to the International Business Times.
