The responsibility for regulating offshore renewable energy activities, including workplace safety and environmental compliance, was transferred to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).
Previously, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) oversaw those activities. This change has been a few years in the making, according to a Department of the Interior (DOI) news release issued Jan. 17.
“Over the past several months, BOEM and BSEE have taken steps to ensure a seamless transition of functions related to safety and environmental protections for the offshore renewable energy program,” Laura Daniel-Davis, principal deputy assistant secretary for Land and Minerals Management, said in the announcement. “This rule advances regulatory clarity and transparency for the offshore wind industry. It allows the bureaus to focus on ensuring that future clean energy development and operations continue to occur in a safe and environmentally responsible manner.”
The BOEM and BSEE were established on Oct. 1, 2011, to replace the former Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE), as part of efforts to reorganize the former Minerals Management Service (MMS), according to a September 2011 news release from the DOI. These changes were implemented following the Deepwater Horizon incident, when an oil drilling rig exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexicoin April 2010. The MMS was split into three organizations in May 2010 to further clarify the missions and duties of each organization. Those three organizations are the BSEE, BOEM, and the Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR).
The BSEE will now be responsible for, among other duties, key authorities transferred to BSEE including but are not limited to evaluating and overseeing facility design, fabrication, installation, safety management systems and oil spill response plans; enforcing safety regulations; and making sure that these installations comply with safety and environmental regulations as well as other laws. The BSEE will also be in charge of decommissioning activities when an offshore oil rig is no longer needed, according to a news release issued on Jan. 17.
The BOEM will be responsible for citing decisions; issuing rights-of-way, easements, and leases for energy production, transportation or transmission; plan review and application or denial for things like construction and operations plans, site assessment plans, and general activities plans that are required for authorizing offshore renewable energy development.
The BOEM will also conduct analyses under the National Environmental Policy Act and other environmental studies and incorporate mitigation measures into plan approvals to avoid or minimize harm to the marine, coastal, or human environments, the release reported.
The agency revealed a proposed rule to simplify requirements, create systems for public input, and reform BOEM’s renewable energy auction regulations, among other actions and rules, according to a news release issued on Jan. 12.
