Oil and gas companies must post a bond to appeal safety fines

The Interior Department now requires oil and gas companies to post a bond covering the full amount of a civil penalty before they can appeal a safety fine. This means companies cannot delay paying fines by simply filing an appeal without putting up the money first.

Before this change, companies could appeal fines without setting aside the money, which often meant long delays and sometimes avoided payment altogether. Now, the government has a better chance of collecting fines for safety violations. This shifts some of the financial risk of appeals from the government to the companies.