Obama administration expresses support of U.S. House passage of CLEAR Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) — The Obama administration on Thursday expressed complete support of the U.S. House passage of H.R. 3534, the Consolidated Land, Energy, and Aquatic Resources Act (CLEAR), as the bill proceeds through the legislative process.

With CLEAR, President Barack Obama is calling for both administrative and legislative action to improve the safety of offshore drilling and making sure those responsible for damages from an oil spill as a result of offshore drilling fully compensate the affected entities.

CLEAR, or H.R. 3534, also eliminates the conflicts of interest that have put industry profits ahead of the safety of workers and the natural environment, as was recently demonstrated in the Gulf of Mexico. 

The Presidential administration said that CLEAR would provide additional authorities to promote enhanced health and environmental safety standards for offshore operations, strengthen environmental reviews of offshore drilling plans, reform revenue collection, and implement a more extensive system of inspections of offshore energy activities. 

“These standards will improve safety, and removing the arbitrary limit on liability for damages caused by offshore drilling will create the incentive for the oil and gas industry to comply with new standards and seek out and implement best practices for safety,” the President’s office said, strongly supporting the repeal of the limit on economic damages liability for offshore drilling, “which has served as an implicit subsidy for the oil and gas industry for two decades.” 

In addition, the Administration expressed concern with provisions relating to the Exclusive Economic Zone with respect to U.S. obligations under international trade and investment agreements, stating it “strongly supports funding for land and water conservation and historic preservation projects that prioritize the needs of the Nation based on competitive processes.” 

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