Feds propose new offshore drilling rules 5 yrs after BP

It took five years, but federal regulators took a major step in offshore drilling safety Monday by proposing new rules requiring improvements to blowout preventers and other key well-control functions that failed so spectacularly in the Deepwater Horizon blowout on April 20, 2010. The proposed rule, which now goes through a 60-day public comment process, was formulated through years of coordination with industry, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement Director Brian Salerno said implementing the rule could cost the whole industry approximately $883 million over 10 years, mostly for retrofitting and updating blowout preventers and instituting real-time monitoring of offshore operations from shore, another key part of the rule. The industry had already adopted much of the rule as best practices, and criticism of the Interior Department's deliberate pace came from both sides of the aisle Monday...more