Court rulings affirm OCSLA regulations do not apply to contractors

摘要

Following the conclusion of two recent court cases - USA v. Black Elk Energy Offshore, and Island Operating Co v. Jewell - the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) will no longer be able to hold contractors liable for violations of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA). "It's clear that, from both a criminal and civil context, the issue of contractor liability has been struck down," said Jonathan Waldron, Partner at Blank Rome LLP. "The courts in both of these cases made it very clear that BSEE was trying to make a policy change without going to rulemaking after 50 years of precedent."