Congressman Rick Larsen's Online Office

Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02), voted to respond to the crisis in the Gulf and increase safety regulations to help prevent future spills. The CLEAR Act will create new safety measures, hold the oil industry full responsible for the cleanup costs of the BP spill, and strengthen oversight of the oil drilling industry.

“The Deepwater Horizon oil spill revealed many shortcomings in our oil spill pollution and response laws.  

“Today’s vote on the CLEAR Act is an important step towards strengthening our nation’s oil spill response and prevention laws.  The CLEAR Act contains three critical provisions for which I have advocated.   

“This legislation will hold oil companies accountable for 100% of the cost of cleaning up their mess, and every penny of the economic damages they cause to Americans. The current liability cap of $75 million has proven to be grossly inadequate to cover the damage caused by a major offshore oil spill.  

“Immediately following the spill, President Obama and Secretary Salazar took immediate steps to reform the troubled Minerals Management Service (MMS).  This legislation codifies those changes to prevent conflicts of interest.  

“The CLEAR Act increases safety regulations for offshore drilling.  It imposes stronger oversight on well designs, including blowout preventers and requires a third party to certify safety plans.  These safety measures will reduce the risk of a catastrophic spill.

“As a representative from the Puget Sound, I understand how devastating an oil spill would be to a coastal region.  I want to do everything possible to prevent an oil spill from occurring in Puget Sound and other areas of the country.

"I am committed to continuing to investigate the impacts of this massive environmental disaster and examine the best ways to ensure any future offshore drilling will live up to oil companies’ claims of safety and reliability.  

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