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capitalreport RESTORE Act Signed into Law The Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourism Op- portunities and Revived Economies (RESTORE) Act was signed into law in July. The act will require 80 percent of penalties paid by BP plc (London, England) under the Clean Water Act to go to gulf states for ecological and economic restoration after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The Clean Water Act allows EPA to collect $1,100 per bar- rel of oil spilled, or $4,300 per barrel if there is a finding of gross negligence, from parties found responsible for an oil spill in federal waters. Based on the estimated 4.9 million bar- rels of oil spilled in the Gulf of Mexico, BP could face fines between $5.4 billion and $21.1 billion. Under current law, this money would have gone to the U.S. Treasury, and the Gulf Coast states would not receive any funding. Under the RESTORE Act, 35 percent of the funds will be allocated equally among the five Gulf Coast states, Texas, Al- abama, Mississippi, Florida and Louisiana, which was hit hardest by the 2010 oil spill. Another 60 percent of funds will be spent at the approval of the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restora- tion Council, which will comprise state and federal represen- tatives—30 percent as determined solely by the council and 30 percent as determined by the states, with the approval of the council. The remaining 5 percent of funds will go to Gulf Coast re- search, science and technology, including fisheries manage- ment and ecosystem monitoring and the establishment of a Gulf Coast Center of Excellence in each state. Committee Aims to Rewrite Administration's US Offshore Drilling Plan The House Natural Resources Committee in July approved legislation to replace the Obama administration's proposed five-year offshore drilling plan in a 24-17 vote. The legislation was introduced in early July by Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), who chairs the committee. Under the Outer Continental Shelf Leasing Act, President Obama's proposed plan does not become final and in effect until it undergoes a mandatory 60-day congressional review. Rep. Hastings criticized the plan for prohibiting offshore drilling in new areas and only allowing lease sales to occur in areas that are already open, as well as canceling and de- laying multiple lease sales, such as the Virginia lease sale scheduled for 2011. Under the present plan, the soonest that a lease sale could occur off Virginia would be in 2017. At the hearing, eight amendments were offered, with one being accepted by the committee. Rep. John Jeff Duncan (R- S.C.) received approval for his amendment to add a lease sale (no. 255) for the South Atlantic-South Carolina Coast in 2015. Amendments that did not pass include Rep. Ed Markey's (D- Mass.) proposal to prohibit new leases until large oil compa- nies relinquish federal tax breaks on production and Rep. Frank Pallone's call for striking Mid-Atlantic Ocean leases from the plan altogether. The bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) and Rep. Jeff Landry (R-La.). www.sea-technology.com AUGUST 2012 / st 51