Environmental Compliance

The mission of the Environmental Compliance Program (ECP) is to ensure lessees/operators subject to BSEE jurisdiction and active on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) comply with:

• all required environmental laws and regulations;
• environmental standards established by science and found in leases, plans, and permits; and
• applied mitigations and terms/conditions of approval.

The ECP advances this mission through the dedicated work of qualified and trained personnel who work collaboratively across regions and programs.

ECP Responsibilities

The ECP is responsible for ensuring that BSEE complies with all applicable environmental protection statutory and regulatory requirements and that industry complies with all applicable environmental protection requirements. The ECP is the bureau’s national program comprised of four (4) locations that work together to support BSEE’s overall environmental compliance mission. These offices are in BSEE’s Alaska Outer Continental Shelf Region (AKOCSR), Pacific Outer Continental Shelf Region (POCSR), Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Region (GOMR – Office of Environmental Compliance), and Headquarters (Environmental Compliance Division).

The program has six (6) broad areas of responsibility: (1) Regulatory Program Coordination; (2) National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Compliance; (3) Office Compliance Verification; (4) Field Compliance Verification; (5) Enforcement; and (6) Communication and Engagement.

Environmental Programs and Resource Areas

The ECP scientists and engineers conduct compliance verification and enforcement for oversight responsibilities tied to:

• Air Quality
• Historic Preservation
• Marine Ecology
• Marine Debris
• NEPA Compliance
• Protected Species
• Rigs-to-Reefs (R2R) - Artificial Reef Program
• Seafloor Compliance, Assessment, and Monitoring Program (SCAMP)
• Water Quality