"The latest probe into last year's Gulf of Mexico blowout and oil spill -- a federal report that blames much of the disaster on poor management decisions by BP PLC -- has elicited strong but varied responses on Capitol Hill, but its chances of prompting immediate legislative action remain slim."
"The highly anticipated report from the Coast Guard and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement is the latest in a string of investigations that probed the causes of the April 2010 blowout that killed 11 rig workers and sparked the nation's worst oil spill. Only a handful of other investigations are still ongoing. Those include probes by the U.S. Chemical and Hazard Investigation Board, the National Academy of Engineering and the Justice Department.
The report released yesterday was expected to be less politically volatile than a report released in January by the independent commission that President Obama appointed to investigate the disaster. Indeed, some lawmakers on Capitol Hill -- including Doc Hastings, the Washington Republican chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee -- had refused to work on oil spill-response legislation until the new report was released.
But now, with an already-crowded fall legislative calendar and an election year looming, political will to advance spill-response legislation appears to have waned."
Katie Howell reports for Greenwire September 15, 2011.
SEE ALSO:
"Interior Proposes New Offshore Drilling Safety Rules" (Politico)
"Dead Polar Bears And Political Storms" (Alaska Dispatch)
"Interior Beefs Up Rig Safety Rules Again" (E2 Wire/The Hill)
"API: Industry Continues To Lead Offshore Safety Enhancements" (Oil and Gas Online)
"Salazar, Bromwich Announce Proposed Rule to Further Strengthen Workplace Safety in Offshore Oil and Gas Operations" (KATC-3 Lafayette)
"BOEMRE Splitting into Two Entities" (Alaska Public Radio)
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