Salazar, Bromwich pledge real, but careful, changes at BOE

July 5, 2010
Changes at what used to be the US Minerals Management Service will be more than cosmetic, the agency's new director and Interior Sec. Ken Salazar told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Changes at what used to be the US Minerals Management Service will be more than cosmetic, the agency's new director and Interior Sec. Ken Salazar told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. But reforms, while aggressive, won't be rash, they said.

Emphasizing that he has only been director of what is now the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOE) since June 21, Michael R. Bromwich said he nevertheless expects to proceed on three fronts initially. He said he plans to examine the agency's proposed reorganization, increase its ability to police itself (including conducting internal audits), and increase its capacity to respond quickly to allegations.

"Just because there have been problems with this agency doesn't mean I'm going to order collective beheadings," Bromwich said. "There are many employees within BOE who are working hard with a high sense of ethics."

He and Salazar testified as the committee considered S. 3516, a bill cosponsored by chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and ranking minority member Lisa Murkowski (R-Alas.), which would reform US Outer Continental Shelf management and leasing policies; authorize periodic reviews of minimum bond amounts, royalty rates, and fiscal systems; and enact employee training and other additional requirements for deepwater wells.

The bill also would increase sanctions on poor operators, including higher civil and criminal penalties, and impose an inspection fee on industry participants to pay more the hiring and training of more inspectors. It also would provide funding for high-priority research, including well control and spill response, and an independent science advisory board outside the agency to provide oversight.

Resources, principles

"Congress should create organizational resources and a set of principles and requirements that will have safety, environmental protection, and innovation at its core," Bingaman said in his opening statement.

Salazar said, "This legislation should have come long ago. An agency with this level of responsibility deserves a higher standing." But two other members of the committee and one nonmember, Scott Brown (R-Mass.), offered their own bills addressing other issues in more detail which the committee also plans to consider at an expected markup.

Similar legislation emerged on the other side of the Capitol as US House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick J. Rahall (D-W.Va.) announced that he is reintroducing his bill to reform DOI's federal offshore resources management agency with additional provisions in response to the gulf well blowout and spill. He said the committee and its subcommittees have held five hearings on the matter, and plans to hold a hearing on his revised bill on June 30.

"Just as the disaster at the Massey Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia does not signal the end of coal mining in the United States, the Deepwater Horizon incident does not signal the end of oil and gas drilling off America's coasts," said Rahall.

Within the Senate committee, meanwhile, members said they would demand other reforms. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) said that so-called revolving door provisions for agency directors are weak. Ronald L. Wyden (D-Ore.) agreed. "I want to see strict limits on employees going to work for organizations they used to regulate," he said.

Salazar replied, "We need a revolving door ban, probably for 2 years. It may need to be a lifetime ban, depending on an employee's level at the agency." Changes at BOE will be genuine, he said. "I have no interest in cosmetic changes. The people I have brought in will help me get this done," he said.

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