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Regulatory Reforms

Regulatory Reforms

BSEE uses industry innovation, sound science, and best practices to improve reliability, safety, and environmental stewardship when developing new regulations and when making updates to existing regulations.

BSEE’s team of career engineers, scientists, and regulatory specialists continue to review and propose revisions to Federal Regulations to ensure that activity on the Outer Continental Shelf is conducted in a safe and environmentally responsible manner. 

The following table (below or to the right) provides the proposed and completed regulatory reform efforts since BSEE was established on October 1, 2011.

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) today announced that offshore oil and gas lessees and owners of operating rights are now required to submit summaries of their actual expenditures for the decommissioning of wells, platforms and other facilities on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) as part of the final Decommissioning Costs Rule.

Today, U.S. Department of the Interior’s Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Janice Schneider announced final regulations to ensure that any future exploratory drilling activities on the U.S. Arctic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) are conducted under the highest safety and environmental standards and subject to strong and proven operational requirements.