BSEE Has Opportunities To Help Industry Improve Oil Spill Preparedness

We completed an evaluation to determine if the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has fulfilled its responsibility to assist the oil industry’s preparation for oil spill response. Our evaluation focused on the Oil Spill Preparedness Division (OSPD).We found that while BSEE has made significant progress in its oversight role and has procedures in place to fulfill this responsibility, opportunities to improve exist. We identified issues that impact the effectiveness of the OSPD’s oil spill preparedness efforts. These issues include weaknesses in oil spill exercises, as well as outdated regulations and agreements that hamper response management.We made eight recommendations to help BSEE achieve its oil spill response mission through the OSPD. We also identify four practices that could improve certain functions of the OSPD and possibly other BSEE program areas. BSEE fully concurred with six recommendations and only partially concurred with two recommendations. We consider one recommendation resolved and implemented, and seven recommendations resolved but not implemented.