International Law And Off Shore Oil Drilling
The offshore oil industry is a multi-billion dollar industry with companies and governments making huge investments in it. However, there are mining legislations on offshore petroleum exploitation. |
|
At present, discharge of oil and oil effluents into water bodies is governed by the Prevention of Oil Pollution Act 1971, which provides that it is an offense to discharge oil into the sea.
There has been a lot of legislative action on the proceedings of mining and oil drilling overseas. These have created certain checkpoints in the oil industry. These legislative laws came into action mainly due to the disputes over international waters, and the intervention by different organizations due to the disastrous effects of oil mining on the ocean, coastline and marine life.
Today, as per international law, all natural gas and oil drilling is prohibited along all the offshore regions along the north Atlantic coast, most of the Pacific Ocean, parts of the Alaskan coast, and most of the eastern parts of the Gulf of Mexico. Regarding American offshore regions, the OCSLA (Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act) is the primary governing legislative.
There have been many acts and laws passed regarding the cleanliness of the ocean and the seas. The Clean Water Act and the Coastal Zone Management Act are some of them.
The Oceans Act of 2000 created the US Commission on ocean policy. This is a committee appointed by the President to examine the most recent US ocean policies and offer findings and recommendations when needed.
The United Nations has also passed many international laws to inhibit some results of oil drilling which cause hazardous effects on the environment.
More Articles :
|
