6:36 → 10:47(4m 11s)
Chair Stauber opened the subcommittee and described H.R. 5745 as a bipartisan effort to streamline and codify rigs-to-reef practices for converting decommissioned offshore platforms into artificial reefs, and said it would designate the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) as the lead federal agency for the process. He urged that standardized federal timelines and liability arrangements would reduce duplicative agency reviews.
The House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources heard bipartisan testimony for and against H.R. 5745, the Marine Fisheries Habitat Protection Act, which would codify and expand a federal rigs-to-reef program to allow conversion of eligible offshore oil and gas platforms and pipelines into artificial reefs. Supporters argued the bill protects marine habitat and coastal economies; opponents warned it could shift cleanup liability and obstruct coastal restoration and decommissioning jobs.
