Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act

It is also interesting that in 1970 Chevron pleaded "no contest" to charges of "knowingly and willfully" failing to install safety devices on 90 oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico. Three other oil companies were similarly charged with the same offense (Shell, Conoco and Humble). At the time Chevron was fined 1 million U S. dollars for 500 violations under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. The violations involved failure to install safety chokes at the wells - i.e., a method to cut off the flow of oil automatically in the event of incident. 

Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) 1953 Authorizes Secretary of the Interior to grant mineral leases and to regulate oil and gas activities on outer continental shelf lands by maintaining an oil and gas leasing program... 

At the core of this framework is the law that authorizes the conduct of OCS oil and gas operations, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA). This law, amended several times since its enactment in 1953, asserts federal authority over... 

Section 4(a) states that the provisions of the OSH Act shall apply with respect to employment performed in a workplace in a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, Wake Island, Outer Continental Shelf Lands defined in the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, Johnston Island, and the Canal Zone. The Secretary of the Interior shall, by regulation, provide for judicial enforcement of this Act by the courts established for areas in which there are no United States district courts having jurisdiction. ... 

An incident involving a major fire, an oil spill, or any injury occurring as a result of operations conducted pursuant to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), including allegations of unsafe working conditions or violations of safety regulations. 

Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953 as amended in 1978, Public L. 95-572, 92 Stat. 629 (1978) Public L. 212, Gh. 345, 67 Stat. 462 (1953) National Gommis-sion on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, Deep Water 60-62 (2011). 

---