BSEE to fund spill response research

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement is inviting proposals for oil spill response research projects relating to operations on the U.S. outer continental shelf. The agency says that it will invest up to $5 million in appropriate projects in 2014. The deadline for proposal submission is April 10. A previous solicitation for research proposals, with potential funding of $7 million, closed in January.

In the latest round of research funding BSEE is seeking projects that fit within the following topic areas:

• Best practices for emergency response exercises.

• The comparison and ranking of worst-case oil discharge scenarios.

• Technology and methods for separating oil from slush or frazil ice.

• The effectiveness of dispersants in slush and broken ice conditions.

• The geo-referenced identification tagging of response equipment to enable inventory management and for locating equipment.

• The in-situ disposal of the decanted oil-water mix from oil skimmer operations in the Arctic.

• The use of remote controlled equipment to minimize risks to spill response personnel when marking and tracking the location and movement of oil under ice.

Further information about the types of project that BSEE is looking for can be found on the FedBizOps website at www.fbo.gov.

—Alan Bailey