The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement’s Decommissioning Program

We reviewed the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) to determine if it was overseeing and enforcing offshore oil and gas decommissioning requirements for idle infrastructure on the Outer Continental Shelf. Overall, we learned that BSEE has not yet implemented decommissioning policies and procedures at the national level.BSEE senior management told us the policies have not been implemented because there are concerns that requiring operators to decommission infrastructure will force many into bankruptcy. This happened, in part, because of (1) insufficient headquarters and regional management oversight; (2) BSEE staff’s need for training on enforcement procedures; and (3) regional management’s concern that enforcing the Federal regulations, by forcing operators to decommission, will push additional operators into bankruptcy.We plan to initiate a review within the next 2 years, which will allow BSEE the opportunity to develop and implement a bureauwide decommissioning policy.