But ahead of Monday's 10-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe, some commissioners and experts say the United States is not prepared for what could be next.
"Are we safer today than we were 10 years ago? The answer would be 'no,'" said Terry Garcia, one of the commissioners and a former assistant secretary of Commerce for oceans and atmosphere at NOAA. "I think you could even argue we are much less safe and the conditions for a similar occurrence or of even greater magnitude is possible."