Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) today said she opposes a proposal by Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M) to implement a suite of offshore drilling safety reforms, arguing the proposal could stifle production and should include a revenue-sharing provision for coastal states.

Murkowski, who is ranking member on the committee, said this morning that she does not believe S. 917 will make it to the president's desk if it does not simultaneously address safety, production and a fair return for coastal states.

"I mention those priorities in the same sentence because I believe they can -- and must -- be part of the same policy," Murkowski said during a committee hearing this morning. "We need to address them together, and if we don't, I doubt it will succeed in reaching the president's desk."

Murkowski said she opposes efforts to amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act that prioritize environmental safety at the expense of energy production, calling such changes "unnecessary" because drilling is already governed by the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, and marine mammal and fisheries laws. In addition, Bingaman's bill contains a number of provisions that go beyond what the Obama administration has requested, she said.

"Our goal should be to ensure our offshore industry is working safely, but that requires that it be working," Murkowski said.

Bingaman's bill, which is identical to a provision his committee passed last summer with Murkowski's support, would codify organizational changes at Interior, increase safety requirements for drilling wells, establish new research programs, launch an independent advisory board for the department, create a fee for inspections, increase penalties on bad offshore operators and lengthen the time for department reviews before deciding on exploration plans.

"This bill will need some updating," Bingaman said this morning. "Senator Murkowski and I have already spent considerable time working together to do that. Our work will continue."

He added that he intends to keep his oil spill response bill separate from his proposal to phase out an Interior Department royalty relief program and boost support for an Alaska natural gas pipeline, a Murkowski idea to help facilitate production on Alaska's North Slope.

S. 916 would also set up a permit processing office in Alaska to coordinate both onshore and offshore leasing and permitting and would enable a comprehensive inventory of oil and gas resources in the Atlantic, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and Arctic waters.

"I will note that I have introduced these bills as separate bills for a reason," Bingaman said. "I want to give our work the best possible chance of being enacted into law. I believe we do that by dealing with these issues in parallel."

He added that he was hopeful that last year's progress on an oil spill response bill could be replicated and said he hopes to mark up the bills by the Memorial Day recess.

As it did last year, the Obama administration is supportive of Bingaman's oil spill response bill but said it would like to work with the committee on details related to the appointment and confirmation of new bureau and office directors in the restructured Minerals Management Service.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said his agency is also "in complete agreement" on a the principal components of S. 916.

"We agree that a better understanding of the oil and gas resources of the OCS is critical to ensuring that development takes place in the right way in the right places," Salazar said, adding that such a proposal was in line with the president's announcement last weekend that he is expediting the evaluation of resource potential in the mid- and south Atlantic.

Legislative principles

Salazar also introduced today a set of legislative principles he would like Congress to adopt to provide a framework for efficient and responsible development of domestic oil and gas.

A chief recommendation was to amend the 1920 Mineral Leasing Act to shorten the statutory 10-year timeline for onshore oil and gas leases and to establish incentives to encourage leaseholders to begin production earlier.

"We ask the support and help of Congress with respect to incentivizing more prompt development of oil and gas," Salazar said, adding that Interior had found that 70 percent of oil and gas leases remain undeveloped or explored.

Salazar also asked Congress to codify a suite of environmental safety reforms his agency has implemented since BP PLC's oil spill a year ago in the Gulf, as well as pass organic legislation recognizing the formation of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement and formalizing the creation of an Ocean Energy Safety Institute.

A separate request seeks hiring authorities to address the hiring of critical positions during times of need and at competitive salaries.

Salazar also asked Congress to repeal portions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that expanded a royalty relief program, raise the per-incident limit on access to the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund and increase civil and criminal penalties for companies that violate safety regulations.

Salazar also reiterated earlier proposals for Congress to lengthen the time BOEMRE has to review exploration plans, a deadline that is currently 30 days.

"Part of the reality of lessons we should have learned from Deepwater Horizon is the agency did not have the capacity, resources or effective time to do the job it should have been doing," he said, adding that the extended reviews would not pose "inordinate" delays on production.

The proposal comes less than a week after the House passed a proposal to set 60-day deadlines for permitting individual oil and gas wells. Similar legislation by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is expected to be taken up in the Senate as early as tomorrow.

BOEMRE Director Michael Bromwich called the proposed deadline on permit approvals "arbitrary" and a threat to human and environmental safety.

"It would be a profoundly bad idea to set an arbitrary timeline on permitting," Bromwich said. "We'd all be at greater risk if we had that kind of system."