PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

Federal officials must enforce offshore safety and environmental rules for leases and permits. The Secretary, the head of the department that runs the Coast Guard, and the Secretary of the Army can use other federal agencies’ people or facilities to help, with or without payment. People who hold a lease or permit must keep work areas safe and follow health, safety, and environmental rules, keep operations from harming people or the environment, and let inspectors promptly enter sites and see relevant records. Those officials must inspect each covered offshore facility at least once a year, checking safety gear meant to stop blowouts, fires, spills, or other big accidents, and they can also make unannounced checks. They must investigate and publish reports on each major fire, each major oil spill (more than 200 barrels in one event during 30 days), and any death or serious injury (one that substantially harms a body part or function). They can review complaints about safety violations, summon witnesses, require documents, force attendance the same way U.S. district courts do, and give oaths to witnesses.

Title 43, §1348

Public Lands, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Utilization of Federal departments and agencies

The Secretary, the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating, and the Secretary of the Army shall enforce safety and environmental regulations promulgated pursuant to this subchapter. Each such Federal department may by agreement utilize, with or without reimbursement, the services, personnel, or facilities of other Federal departments and agencies for the enforcement of their respective regulations.

(b)Duties of holders of lease or permit

It shall be the duty of any holder of a lease or permit under this subchapter to—

(1)maintain all places of employment within the lease area or within the area covered by such permit in compliance with occupational safety and health standards and, in addition, free from recognized hazards to employees of the lease holder or permit holder or of any contractor or subcontractor operating within such lease area or within the area covered by such permit on the outer Continental Shelf;

(2)maintain all operations within such lease area or within the area covered by such permit in compliance with regulations intended to protect persons, property, and the environment on the outer Continental Shelf; and

(3)allow prompt access, at the site of any operation subject to safety regulations, to any inspector, and to provide such documents and records which are pertinent to occupational or public health, safety, or environmental protection, as may be requested.

(c)Onsite inspection of facilities

The Secretary and the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating shall individually, or jointly if they so agree, promulgate regulations to provide for— (1)

(2)periodic onsite inspection without advance notice to the operator of such facility to assure compliance with such environmental or safety regulations.

(d)Investigation and report on major fires, oil spills, death, or serious injury

(1)The Secretary or the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating shall make an investigation and public report on each major fire and each major oil spillage occurring as a result of operations conducted pursuant to this subchapter, and may, in his discretion, make an investigation and report of lesser oil spillages. For purposes of this subsection, a major oil spillage is any spillage in one instance of more than two hundred barrels of oil during a period of thirty days. All holders of leases or permits issued or maintained under this subchapter shall cooperate with the appropriate Secretary in the course of any such investigation.

(2)The Secretary or the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating shall make an investigation and public report on any death or serious injury occurring as a result of operations conducted pursuant to this subchapter, and may, in his discretion, make an investigation and report of any injury. For purposes of this subsection, a serious injury is one resulting in substantial impairment of any bodily unit or function. All holders of leases or permits issued or maintained under this subchapter shall cooperate with the appropriate Secretary in the course of any such investigation.

(e)Review of allegations of violations

The Secretary, or, in the case of occupational safety and health, the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating, may review any allegation from any person of the existence of a violation of a safety regulation issued under this subchapter.

(f)Summoning of witnesses and production of evidence

In any investigation conducted pursuant to this section, the Secretary or the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating shall have power to summon witnesses and to require the production of books, papers, documents, and any other evidence. Attendance of witnesses or the production of books, papers, documents, or any other evidence shall be compelled by a similar process, as in the district courts of the United States. Such Secretary, or his designee, shall administer all necessary oaths to any witnesses summoned before such investigation.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1998—Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 105–362 struck out subsec. (g) which read as follows: “The Secretary shall, after consultation with the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating, include in his annual report to the Congress required by section 1343 of this title the number of violations of safety

Regulations

reported or alleged, any investigations undertaken, the results of such investigations, and any administrative or judicial action taken as a result of such investigations, and the results of the diving studies conducted under section 1347(e) of this title.”

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Transfer of Functions

For transfer of authorities, functions, personnel, and assets of the Coast Guard, including the authorities and functions of the Secretary of Transportation relating thereto, to the Department of Homeland Security, and for treatment of related references, see section 468(b), 551(d), 552(d), and 557 of Title 6, Domestic Security, and the Department of Homeland Security Reorganization Plan of November 25, 2002, as modified, set out as a note under section 542 of Title 6. Report and Recommendations by Secretary to Congress for Training Program Pub. L. 95–372, title VI, § 607, Sept. 18, 1978, 92 Stat. 697, required the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating, not later than ninety days after Sept. 18, 1978, to prepare and submit to the Congress a training program report concerning individuals employed on any artificial island, installation, or other device located on the Outer Continental Shelf and who, as part of their employment, operate or supervise the operation of pollution-prevention equipment.

§1348 Enforcement of Safety and Environmental Regulations