Interior will restructure Minerals Management Service
Reorganization would create an independent safety and environmental enforcement entity.
Three weeks after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, unleashing the most serious environmental disaster in decades, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Tuesday announced a major shake-up of the Minerals Management Service.
The agency's inspection, investigation and enforcement operations will be separated from its leasing, revenue collection and permitting functions to form an independent agency. In addition, Interior is asking Congress to eliminate the 30-day deadline for MMS to act on exploration plans that the oil and gas industry submitted. Interior wants the congressionally mandated deadline lengthened to 90 days, with the possibility for extension to complete environmental and safety reviews as needed.
"We will be moving significant resources into [the new] office," Salazar said. The new organization will have at least 300 people, he said, but noted the agency's top priority right now is coping with the catastrophe unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico.
"How exactly we ultimately do it is something we will work on in the days ahead. These reorganizations are never easy," Salazar said. "What I don't want to do in this reorganization is [have MMS employees] take their eyes off the ball."
Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, praised the reorganization but said, "leasing must be separated from all oversight functions to ensure that taxpayers' interests are also protected in royalty collections."
POGO has called for the separation of auditing and leasing functions for years, as well as for independent regulatory and enforcement functions.
The Obama administration is seeking $29 million in additional funds for Interior to carry out inspections, enhance enforcement, conduct studies and other spill-response activities. The requested funds and regulatory changes will be included in oil-spill-response legislation that administration officials intend to submit soon to Congress.
The funding request includes $20 million for more inspections of offshore platforms, engineering studies and the enforcement of safety regulations; $7 million for more comprehensive evaluations of policies and procedures in the wake of the ongoing spill, and $2 million for general environmental studies by the Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Geological Survey.
The administration also has asked the National Academy of Engineering to conduct an independent technical investigation to determine the root causes of the Deepwater Horizon explosion. It will complement an ongoing joint investigation the Coast Guard and MMS are conducting, Salazar said.