Obama Earmarks $222M for BSEE in FY 2013

President Barack Obama Monday announced his budget request for $222.2 million to fund the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) in fiscal year 2013. While Congress provided a specific appropriation for BSEE for FY 2012, this is the first stand-alone budget request for the new organization. The bureau promotes safe, environmentally responsible energy development on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf through vigorous regulatory oversight and enforcement activities.

The request, a $25 million (13 percent) increase above FY 2012, provides the resources needed to carry out BSEE’s core functions, which include offshore regulatory programs; oil spill response planning; safety inspections, enforcement and investigations; environmental enforcement and compliance; well and production permitting; and production and development.

 

"Today's budget proposal provides the necessary resources for BSEE to firmly establish itself as a world class offshore safety regulator," said BSEE Director James A. Watson. "We are stepping up our efforts to efficiently process drilling permits, provide better training for our inspectors and engineers, and enforce current requirements while continuing to search for better ways to protect the offshore environment."

The President’s FY 2013 budget request for BSEE will be offset by $125.9 million in offsetting collections. This includes $65.0 million in inspection fees, $52.5 million in rental receipts and $8.4 million in cost recovery fees charged to industry. This is an increase in offsetting collections of $4.8 million above the FY 2012 enacted level.

This year's budget request continues to place a priority on operational safety programs. The request includes increases totaling $14.7 million to support BSEE's continued efforts to ensure that drilling permit applications are judiciously and efficiently processed, an appropriate number of offshore inspections are conducted, risk-based inspection protocols are developed, incidents are thoroughly investigated, and enforcement actions are quickly assessed. This includes $3.7 million for the newly-established National Offshore Training and Learning Center to support the creation of credible and up-to-date training programs to serve as the focal point for the continuous education and training of the bureau's safety inspectors, environmental enforcement officers, and engineers.

The budget includes an increase of $4.2 million for environmental enforcement, a new function that addresses recommendations resulting from various investigations following the Deepwater Horizon incident. BSEE will use the increase to hire, train, equip and support personnel to conduct environmental inspections, Safety and Environmental Management System (SEMS) audits, and other activities.

In order to minimize duplication of services as part of the reorganization of the former Minerals Management Service, BSEE continues to provide support services for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). An additional $5.0 million is requested to sustain administrative support functions for BSEE and BOEM operations as the level of activity for the two bureaus grows.

The budget request includes strategic investments in research and development for offshore safety and response programs, including oil spill response research. This work assists BSEE with finding improved responses to offshore oil discharges while addressing the many lessons learned from the Deepwater Horizon response. Research will focus on improving response tactics while also finding new and more efficient ways to remove oil from the water's surface.

To further ongoing research, BSEE operates Ohmsett, the only facility where full-scale oil spill response testing, research and training can be conducted in a marine environment with oil or other substances under controlled environmental conditions (waves and oil types). Located in New Jersey, the facility is utilized by Federal, state, local and private oil spill response organizations. The request includes $14.9 million for oil spill research, equal with the FY 2012 enacted level.

The FY 2013 request is a continuation of the Obama Administration's plan to complete the reorganization of the former Minerals Management Service and establish a base operating level consistent with the recommendations from the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling and the National Academy of Engineering's report on the Deepwater Horizon tragedy.



WHAT DO YOU THINK?


Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

David  |  February 14, 2012
Are you kidding me? Almost a quarter of a billion dollars? Give me a break... no wonder we are an economic mess.
JJM  |  February 14, 2012
Even with their current budget, Bromwich claims they are maxed out in their permitting process, despite being well below pre-Macondo levels. Perhaps if their budget was tied to Royalties received we could see more progress in re-establishing the level of offshore activity. But then the proposed LOST treaty would give away half our royalties to the UN for redistribution of $$ and technology.
Bobby Herren  |  February 14, 2012
the government is going to put us out of business if we dont do somthing fast
Ed  |  February 14, 2012
Noticed in the presidents State of the Union, he again to opportunity to slam oil and gas, saying in one instance he was tired of the government subsidizing the oil companies. (not sure what he meant by that). The oil companies have created more wealth for people and for governments than most industries. Good wages lead to more taxes collected. Environmentalists complain about oil and gas ruining the planet. Really? How many trees would we have in America if we were still using wood to heat our homes? We have thousands of miles of pipelines, yet you rarely here of an environmental problem caused by them. Provide clean power to run our electrical plants, our homes and businesses. Id like to hear someone speak up for oil companies. Too much money made by oil and gas? Really, who owns them. Read wheres 5% of stock typically is owned by oil execs. The rest is owned by you and I in our 401k etc. Lets get behind our oil and gas companies.

Most Popular Articles