Department of the Interior Finalizes Restructuring of the Former Minerals Management Service

On October 1, 2011, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI)completed the final stage of the regulatory reorganization of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement(BOEMRE), the former Minerals Management Service (MMS), which was initiated largely in response to the Deepwater Horizon explosion and resulting oil spill on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) in the Gulf of Mexico. The DOI asserts that the split was necessary to create independent agencies whose main functions include: ensuring the balanced and responsible development of energy resources on the OCS; monitoring and enforcing environmental rules and regulations applicable to drilling operations on the OCS; and providing unbiased enforcement of significant revenue collection and disbursement activities. The reorganization was designed to alleviate perceived internal conflicts of interest within the former MMS by separating the functions among three new agencies and providing clear jurisdictional boundaries for each new agency.

In October 2010, the revenue collection function was transferred out of BOEMRE to the Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR), which controls revenue collection and falls under the jurisdiction of DOI's Office of Policy, Management and Budget. The DOI's October 1, 2011, actions divide the remaining functions of BOEMRE between the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).