House leaders are pushing forward new legislation to reform how agencies manage oil and natural gas exploration in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster.

The House Natural Resources Committee is scheduled to vote July 14 on legislation that would:

• Require offshore drilling companies to meet tougher safety and environmental protection standards before being allowed to drill.

• End the scandal-ridden royalty-in-kind program, through which industry provided oil and natural gas directly to the Interior Department in lieu of making cash royalty payments for drilling on federal land or water.

• Abolish the Minerals Management Service and create three new agencies within the Interior Department that would oversee leasing and permitting requests, enforcement of safety and environmental rules, and revenue collection. The proposal is similar to a reorganization announced last month by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, although the legislation goes beyond offshore oil and natural gas operations to also cover onshore drilling and renewable energy exploration.

• Establish a long-term program for monitoring, researching and mitigating the environmental impacts of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The new bill builds on similar legislation the committee's chairman, Nick Rahall (D-W. Va.) introduced in September, before the Deepwater Horizon oil spill put renewed focus on how the government is regulating the oil and natural gas industry.

"The disaster which struck the Gulf of Mexico beginning on April 20 was a game changer," Rahall said Wednesday at a hearing to discuss the overhauled bill.

Republicans charged that Rahall was exploiting the crisis to push through the bill, even as officials are just beginning to investigate what caused the disaster.

"Congress should not get ahead of the facts in a rush to write new laws," said ranking member Doc Hastings, R-Wash.

But Salazar said the reforms outlined in the legislation would put the department in a better position to move forward with offshore oil and natural gas exploration in a safe and environmentally responsible manner as quickly as possible.

"There is a need to move forward and to move forward with urgency," he said.