Offshore drilling reform bill squeaks through House

The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed a bill Friday to reform the offshore oil drilling industry. The measure now moves to the Senate, where its fate is uncertain.

The House vote was 209-193, with many oil state and some Blue Dog Democrats joining most Republicans in voting against the measure, which opponents accuse of overreaching and killing jobs.

Sponsored by Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.), the Consolidated Land and Aquatic Resources Act of 2009 (H.R. 3534) reorganizes the Interior Department by splitting up the agencies that permit and regulate offshore drilling, bans companies with poor safety records from getting new drilling permits and lifts the existing $75 million liability cap for future spills.

The measure also ends an exemption allowing oil companies to avoid paying royalties on deepwater leases when oil prices are low, gives the federal government oversight over every new oil well drilled in the U.S., allows new offshore drilling to take place only in waters where safety infrastructure is already in place, and revamps offshore oil leases issued in the 1990s by requiring companies to pay an additional $53 billion in new drilling royalties to the federal government over the next 25 years.

Only two Republicans voted in favor of the bill -- Timothy Johnson of Illinois and Vernon Ehlers of Michigan. But 39 Democrats voted against it, with 18 of them from the South and eight from the key oil state of Texas. Thirty members did not vote.

Politico reports that the main aim of this and other so-called "spill bills" will be "to provide Democrats with ammunition to attack Republicans as supporting the interests of Big Oil and BP-like polluters":

"These are the types of votes that make strong commercials," said a Democratic strategist, who said campaign committees are preparing to unleash a string of home-district ads aimed at Republicans who voted against the bill. "You can show this with Joe Barton apologizing to BP, over and over."

(Photo of Deepwater Horizon fire by U.S. Coast Guard.)