Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said today that the Minerals Management Service (MMS) would be divided into three offices.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will be in charge of developing energy resources on the outer continental shelf. The Office of Natural Resources Revenue will be responsible for collecting royalties from oil and gas produced on federal property (estimated at $13 billion annually). The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement will impose safety and environmental regulations on all offshore energy activity.
The MMS shake up comes after increased scrutiny of offshore activities after the April 20 sinking of the BP-operated Deepwater Horizon into the Gulf of Mexico and subsequent oil spill. A deeper look into the agency brought up concerns of a perceived conflict of interest between the agency charged with collecting royalties of an industry it also regulates.
“We will responsibly and thoughtfully move to establish independence and separation for this critical mission so that the American people know they have a strong and independent organization holding energy companies accountable and in compliance with the law of the land.”