BOEMRE improves permit review process

In the interest of improving the efficiency with which the agency is able to process oil and gas permit applications, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement has made some improvements to its procedures for permit review, BOEMRE Director Michael Bromwich said June 3.

“We are constantly looking for ways to create a smarter, more efficient, and more transparent permit review process,” Bromwich said. “Our goal is to make the process of submitting permit applications easier, reduce the time it takes to review permits and improve BOEMRE’s communication with operators during the permit review process. We will continue to search for additional ways to improve our processes without in any way modifying or relaxing the more stringent safety and environmental rules we have implemented over the past year.”

As part of the new improvements BOEMRE has published a checklist that clarifies what is needed in an application, thus helping operators ensure that applications are complete and that they meet BOEMRE requirements. And BOEMRE will now conduct completeness checks before reviewing applications, focusing on finding significant omissions, to quickly identify applications that are not ready for review. The agency will inform an operator of any deficiencies and omissions that require correction, thus enabling any major application deficiencies to be dealt with early in the permitting process.

BOEMRE is also implementing a procedure which will give priority to applications found to be complete, with permits for ongoing operations such as sidetracks or the deeper drilling of existing wells also having high priority. Agency staff will deal only as time allows with incomplete applications and applications without approved exploration or development plans, BOEMRE said.

—Alan Bailey