Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (TX-26) co-sponsored legislation that passed the House today that will allow the U.S. to increase the production of energy on the outer-continental shelf (OCS). H.R. 4761, the Deep Ocean Energy Resources (DOER) Act legislation seeks to decrease U.S dependence on foreign sources of energy.

“One of the best ways to decrease our dependence on foreign sources of oil is to make the most out of our domestic oil resources we do have,” said Rep. Michael Burgess. “Geopolitical uncertainties make foreign oil unpredictable and unaffordable. I believe we should allow, and in fact, encourage exploration and production here at home. A barrel of oil coming from the Gulf Coast or the oil shale in Utah is significantly safer than a barrel of oil coming from Iran.”

The DOER Act eliminates outdated federal regulations imposing a blanket prohibition on deep sea energy production. The bill gives decision-making power to the states, allowing them to choose whether or not to allow exploration off their coasts. Specifically, the bill gives states permanent authority to prohibit energy production within 100 miles of their coastline, while allowing the United States to authorize energy exploration between 100 and 200 miles off states’ coastlines. The bill prohibits any production within 50 miles of shore but gives states authority to allow energy production between 50 and 100 miles off their shores.

Texas and other states that may choose to produce energy in the deep seas off their coasts will benefit financially under the DOER Act. The bill allows producing states to split all revenues with the federal government. The states and local communities will be able to use these funds for a number of purposes, including: education, transportation, lower taxes, energy efficiency and conservation, or other purposes the state determine.

Any energy exploration resulting from this bill would be conducted under stringent environmental regulations to protect and enhance our natural resources. The bill would create hundreds of thousands of new jobs and preserve hundreds of thousands of others.