Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said they share the concerns of a report this week that criticizes Congress for failing to respond to the Macondo spill in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico.

They said the Senate stands ready to act on a comprehensive oil-spill response package as long as it provides a "fair share" of revenue for the states that bear the burden of oil and gas development off their shores.

The senators were responding to a report by Oil Spill Commission Action, which includes the seven members of the presidential oil spill commission established to probe the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The report gave Congress a D grade, noting that it has failed to pass any bills to strengthen the safety of offshore drilling (Greenwire, April 17).

The Obama administration and industry fared better, receiving a B and C+, respectively.

"A bipartisan majority in the Energy [and Natural Resources] Committee and the full Senate would be happy to pass commonsense legislation addressing new production, safety and a fair share of revenue for the affected states," the lawmakers said in a statement yesterday. "Unfortunately, a small number of senators are opposed to engaging in a debate that includes revenue sharing."

Landrieu and Murkowski last summer offered an amendment to S. 917 that would direct a hefty portion of federal revenues from offshore energy development to coastal states.

The underlying bill, which resembles a proposal the committee passed unanimously in the 111th Congress, would codify organizational changes at Interior, increase safety requirements for drilling wells, increase penalties on bad offshore operators and lengthen environmental reviews, among other provisions. But disagreement over the revenue-sharing provision ultimately sunk the bill (Greenwire, July 21, 2011).

Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) remains opposed to revenue sharing for offshore energy development, said spokesman Bill Wicker. The issue is irrelevant to drilling safety, he said.

"Senator Bingaman has a long-held, principled opposition to diverting revenues that belong to all Americans to a few spending programs in a few states -- particularly when our nation is just starting to recover from a painful fiscal crisis, and at a time when a huge debate is raging over how to close an already yawning gap between revenue and spending," he said in an email. "That position is unchanged."

Murkowski and Landrieu this week said states must provide the airfields, docks, roads, navigation channels and other infrastructure that make offshore production possible.

"We feel new production and revenue sharing are integral to coastal states' ability to develop and maintain emergency response capabilities and critical infrastructure while also protecting the environment," they said.

A Murkowski spokesman said the senator believes legislation could be quickly passed if an open markup is held.

Under a 2006 deal, Gulf states will receive a 37.5 percent cut from certain offshore leasing areas, but the bulk of those payments won't phase in until 2016. Landrieu wants to see the revenue-sharing process sped up and expanded. There is no revenue sharing in Alaska, where companies hold billions of dollars in federal leases but are yet to begin commercial production.

The federal government already shares 50 percent of revenues from onshore drilling with the states where those activities occur.