SJRES-11 — A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management relating to "Protection of Marine Archaeological Resources".

This bill became law on 2025-03-14 as Public Law No. 119-3.

The summary below describes the bill at the version we last reviewed; the enacted text may differ.

YourVoice.Now Summary

Corporate BenefitsEnvironment

Offshore drillers no longer have to check for shipwrecks with each drilling plan — most people see no change.

Corporate Benefits

Savings for offshore oil companies — shipwreck surveys no longer automatic

Before the 2024 rule, a company checked the seabed only when the agency asked. Canceling the rule brings that back. The agency figured the rule would add about $5.9 million in survey costs over 20 years.

Environment

Protection for shipwrecks near offshore drilling — agency must suspect first

The canceled rule treated any plan that disturbs the seabed as a reason to check for wrecks and old sites. Now the agency must first have reason to think a site is in the lease area.

Agency's power to restore shipwreck surveys — Congress must act first

Under the law Congress used, an agency cannot bring back a rule in nearly the same form. Restoring the survey requirement would take a new act of Congress.

More about this bill

Most people see no change in daily life. The law affects offshore oil and gas companies. They now hand in less paperwork before they drill. A 2024 federal rule made those companies look for shipwrecks and other historic sites on the seabed. They had to file a report with every drilling plan that would disturb the ocean floor. That rule had been in force since October 2024. Congress canceled it in March 2025, using a law that lets it undo new agency rules. The older rules are back. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management handles offshore drilling leases. It now asks for a survey only when it suspects a site is there. The same law also blocks the agency from writing a similar rule unless Congress approves it.

Congressional Summary

This joint resolution rescinds a requirement for lessees and operators to submit an archaeological report with any oil and gas exploration or development plan they submit to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) for approval of activities proposed on the Outer Continental Shelf. (An archaeological report identifies material remains of human life or activities that are at least 50 years old and that are of archaeological interest.) Specifically, the joint resolution nullifies BOEM's final rule titled Protection of Marine Archaeological Resources and published on September 3, 2024. Nullifying this rule requires BOEM to reinstate regulations that were previously in effect and authorized BOEM to require an archaeological report only if a BOEM regional director has reason to believe that an archaeological resource may be present in the lease area.

Legislative Subjects

Administrative law and regulatory proceduresArchaeology and anthropologyHistorical and cultural resourcesMarine and coastal resources, fisheriesOil and gas

Details

Congress: 119th
Chamber: Senate
Status: summarized
Action: Public Law
Action Date: 2025-03-14
Date Added: 2026-06-24
Source: Congress.gov →

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