House Spill Bill Amendments Coming

House lawmakers are currently debating the House oil spill response bill. Nine amendments will be considered on the floor.

Here’s a rundown some of the more interesting amendments:

• An amendment authored by Rep. Nick Rahall (D-Wa.), who also authored the CLEAR Act, a key component of the oil spill bill, would make a number of changes to the legislation. The amendment, among other things imposes civil penalties on CEOs who give false testimony about a companies ability to response to an oil spill; require that companies disclose the ingredients used in dispersants, rather than the chemical formula used; require oil companies to pay royalties on all oil that is spilled; and protects claimants from signing documents that would release a company from oil spill liability.
• An amendment authored by Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) would require that offshore wind permitting would not be delayed in the new Bureau of Energy and Resource Management, which was created as a replacement for the Minerals Management Service.
• Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-N.H.) authored an amendment that would require that oil companies certify every year that they are using the best available technologies for the prevention of and response to oil spills.
• Reps. Harry Teague (D-N.M.) and Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.) introduced an amendment that would allow oil companies to “pool” their insurance coverage in order to adequately protect against unlimited liability for spills.
• Reps. Charlie Melancon (D-La.) and Travis Childers (D-Miss.) introduced an amendment that would end the Obama administration’s moratorium on deepwater drilling.