Watching Government: Bromwich in the spotlight

Oct. 24, 2011
The Oct. 13 US House Natural Resources Committee hearing nominally was about the Joint Investigation Team's final report on the 2010 Macondo well accident and spill.

The Oct. 13 US House Natural Resources Committee hearing nominally was about the Joint Investigation Team's final report on the 2010 Macondo well accident and spill. But the focus kept coming back to Michael R. Bromwich, currently interim director of the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) and previously the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement's (BOEMRE) director.

Bromwich seems more comfortable leading an agency with a more narrowly defined role. The final contradictory missions of what formerly was the US Minerals Management Service were resolved Oct. 1 when BOEMRE split into BSEE and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which handles US Outer Continental Shelf planning and leasing. MMS's royalty and revenue collection responsibilities moved to the new Office of Natural Resources Revenue in another part of the US Department of the Interior in 2010.

Bromwich appeared as the top official of one of the agency's involved in the JIT. Some committee members used the hearing to ask him about other matters.

Two Republicans from Louisiana decided to grill him—again—about what they felt was an unnecessarily slow offshore permit approval pace. Bromwich responded that it takes an average 34 days—not 100, as Rep. John Fleming alleged—from the time an exploration plan is turned in to when it is deemed complete and submitted.

"Pre-Macondo, it took 37 days," he added. "During the crisis, it took 83 days."

Swung for fences

Other GOP members of the committee questioned the size of requested budget increases for offshore energy regulation enforcement, noting that they were significantly higher than previous years. It was an over-the-plate pitch that Bromwich hit hard.

"Over the 28 years of its existence, this agency was starved for resources," he said. "It had approximately 58 inspectors covering more than 3,000 facilities and rigs just in the Gulf of Mexico. Compared to countries like Norway and the UK, which have substantial offshore operations, it was laughable. We're grateful for the president's support and Congress's interest in giving us more money, but we're nowhere near where we need to be."

Bromwich agreed with committee Democrats that fines for offshore environmental and safety violations should be increased—"well into six figures." But he disagreed with Ranking Minority Member Edward J. Markey's (Mass.) suggestion that BP PLC should be barred from bidding in the next federal offshore lease sale.

"We have examined the question and decided not to," Bromwich said. "I would point out that BP has taken it upon itself to go beyond our requirements. We also looked at the company's record not just in the gulf but everywhere it operates and decided it wouldn't be appropriate.

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