FIFTH CIRCUIT UPHOLDS DISTRICT COURT'S OCSLA INTERPRETATION

United States v. Moss, No. 16-30561, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 18665 (5th Cir. Sep. 27, 2017).

Ainsley Fagan

Editor-in-Chief

A new decision interpreting the application of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act was released Wednesday morning by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.In this case, an explosion on a Black Elk platform killed three employees and injured several others. In addition to the injuries, the explosion also caused pollutants to enter Gulf of Mexico. Within three years, the government issued criminal indictments against the owner and operator and many platform contractors, bringing charges under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), the Clean Water Act, and additional charges of involuntary manslaughter.After the defendants filed a motion to dismiss, the district court dropped the OCSLA charges against the contractor defendants and the government appealed. The issue on appeal was whether the term “You” under OCSLA regulation applied to contractors, service providers, and subcontractors. The Fifth Circuit ultimately affirmed the district court decision because it found that OCSLA regulations did not apply to the contractor defendants-appellees in this case.A full case summary will soon follow. The case can be found here: http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/16/16-30561-CR0.pdf