Weekend Edition: New Rules!

upi.com: Deepwater Horizon

Update: In an imperfect world in which the United States has been called "the crookedest place on Earth" by novelist Gore Vidal, it was inevitable that the deep water drilling moratorium would be lifted. It lasted just six months after the largest environmental disaster in US history was unleashed by a careless international corporation accustomed to lenient treatment by its supposed regulators. Environmentalists wanted to see a longer ban until companies in the Gulf could demonstrate safe operations in a changed corporate culture, and the federal government got off dead center on passing climate legislation. Senator Landreau of Louisiana blocked Forty-four's nomination for for the Office of Management & Budget while the moratorium was in effect. With new rules in place, and 33 rigs sitting idle, the Secretary of the Interior suddenly became satisfied that deep water drilling could resume. When announcing the moratorium's end Tuesday, the Secretary said the country still needs Gulf of Mexico oil. There will be a delay to actual start of operations as the industry adjusts and Interior Department begins reviewing permit applications under the stricter regulatory scheme. Its interesting to note that the EU recently also decided not to ban deep water drilling for oil.

{2.10.10}No, not Bill Maher's comedy routine, but the new offshore drilling rules announced by Interior Secretary Salazar in a speech on Thursday. Citing an unacceptable gap between drilling technology and government regulation, he announced "the most aggressive and comprehensive reforms of regulation and oversight in US history." Salazar admitted that the Deepwater Horizon disaster "showed just how unprepared industry was for a deep water blowout". That may be all well and good. But new rules that are unenforced will not change the culture of an industry used to having its way on the OCS.* The Secretary told his audience that the lapdog Mineral Management Service is gone, and replaced by a Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement. Responsibility for collecting oil & gas royalties has been turned over a new Office of Natural Resource Revenue in order to separate that function from the offshore leasing and regulation programs of the enforcement agency.

Also eliminated is the Charlatan regime's loophole that exempted certain operators from worst-case discharge requirements in their exploration plans. The new director of BOEM, a former inspector general from the Department of Justice, has issued a directive limiting the use of categorical environmental impact exemptions like the one received by British Petroleum. Operators must now submit drilling plans signed by their CEO's indicating their company's compliance with safety and environmental rules, and the drilling process itself must be certified by professional engineers at various stages.

Two new rules are being implemented on an emergency basis. The Drilling Safety Rule establishes stronger standards for well design, casing, cementing, and blowout preventers. The Workplace Safety Rule aims to reduce human and organizational errors that cause accidents and spills. Under this rule, operators must development a comprehensive safety program that identifies potential drilling hazards, provides protocols for handling them, and risk reduction strategies for eliminating them. According to Salazar the industry objected to the workplace rule, but he intends to see it implemented anyway. He also said that his department is considering adopting requirements for blowout preventers to be equipped with redundant shut off mechanisms including remote actuators like those used on foreign platforms.

At the close of his remarks, Secretary Salazar recognized the need for domestic oil & gas production from the OCS. He also said the suspension of deep water drilling will continue until he is "comfortable that we have significantly reduced [deep water drilling] risks". The moratorium has allowed the implementation of a new regulatory environment in the OCS--one that places needed emphasis on safety and environmental protection. Regulatory reform and enforcement is part of the solution. Redoubling effort to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels by developing a clean energy America is the way to a sustainable future.

*BP chose a method of securing the Deepwater Horizon platform to the well that saved the company $7million instead of the safer and more common method.  It chose to use only 6 centralizers on board--down hole tools that keep the drilling pipe in the center of the well bore--instead of the recommended 21, again making a less safe choice in the interest of profit.  BP saved $128,000 by sending a Slumberger test crew home before a standard well log was made to insure a cement collar was pressure tight.  The well exploded 11 hours later.  All of these decisions were made by a company which profits hundreds of millions of dollars every year drilling in the public's domain.  Such deliberate choices, given the information and expertise available to the company, takes BP's action beyond the legal standard of negligence to the level of reckless disregard of the consequences to public safety and property.  Hence the proper characterization of BP's actions as "reckless" made by the former Chicago law school professor, Barack Obama.