The oil disaster legislation that passed the U.S. House of Representatives today will hold the oil industry accountable for disaster cleanup, strengthen oversight of the oil drilling industry, restore the Gulf Coast and eliminate the current $75 million limit on what an oil company can be required to pay small businesses and individuals for losses they incur as a result of an oil disaster. Castor pushed for many improvements to this bill, including creating a Citizen’s Advisory Committee and curtailing the revolving door between the industry and the regulators. Both were included in the final version passed today.

“The existing $75 million cap on economic damages is unreasonable and outdated,” Castor said. “A University of Central Florida economist has estimated the impact of the BP disaster on the state of Florida to reach approximately $10 billion. As the small businesses and tourism industry continue to struggle from the impacts of the BP oil disaster, this legislation will further help us ensure that BP, not taxpayers, will be on the hook for economic damages. A $75 million cap is nothing more than a drop in the bucket for Big Oil.”

The bill also includes a provision to establish a Citizen’s Advisory Committee, composed of non-energy industry representatives including home and business owners in states affected by the BP oil disaster. The committee will help ensure that folks who truly understand the issues facing our coastal communities can give input to the Gulf Coast Restoration Task Force. The task force will work to protect and improve the oceans and ecosystems impacted by the BP disaster.

Castor also has pushed to end the often-cozy relation between the regulators and the oil industry. The bill contains a measure that would abolish the Minerals Management Service and hand over its responsibilities to three separate entities, with an eye toward eliminating conflicts of interest. The bill also includes a revolving door provision that would create recusal provisions and a two-year ban on accepting employment with certain companies. The Government Accountability Office will determine the effectiveness of these changes.

“The too-cozy relationship between federal regulators and the oil companies must come to a quick end,” Castor said. “We must have a better separation between Big Oil and the government. We can no longer condone these cancerous revolving-door relationships. These relationships have put our taxpayers, our small businesses, our tourism and our environment at great risk. That must end.”

Castor today also criticized incoming BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley for saying now is the time to “scale back” the cleanup effort.

“The time to scale back the cleanup effort is not now. The time to scale back is when our Gulf Coast is restored to its original health and beauty. Unfortunately, we are still a long way away from that.”