The Department of the Interior is establishing a new Maritime Minerals Administration, combining functions of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, agencies that were separated in the aftermath of the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
The reunification to be phased in comes amid heightened U.S. interest in exploiting deep sea mining. The move “reflects the evolution of offshore energy development and the need for a more integrated approach to managing conventional and emerging resources such as critical minerals,” the Interior Department said in an April 3 announcement.
The new agency title recalls the old Minerals Management Service, which was the federal regulator of offshore drilling for decades. It was split in reaction to the Deepwater Horizon disaster, which killed 11 workers and led to the largest oil spill in U.S. history.
The Obama administration’s reordering of offshore regulation split energy planning and safety enforcement, in reaction to outrage over the spill’s damage to the Gulf of Mexico industry and environment.
Now the merger of agencies is “intended to improve coordination and increase efficiencies across offshore leasing, permitting, inspections and environmental oversight, while maintaining all existing regulatory protections and rigorous safety standards,” according to Interior officials.
The National Ocean Industries Association supports the move in the name of efficiency, association president Erik Milito said in an April 3 statement.
"Our industry supports an Interior management and oversight system that efficiently expands access to marine resources, streamlines the permitting and approval process, implements a reasonable regulatory framework for safety and environmental protection, and ensures effective oversight functions,” said Milito.
“Two separate-yet-overlapping government agencies responsible for administering the same statute – the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act – can understandably result in inconsistencies and delays in the implementation of the regulatory process” he said. “Bringing them back together should result in closer coordination and a more efficiently functioning government, for the benefit of American citizens who rely upon the energy produced from the U.S. outer continental shelf to fuel our economy and lift society.”
