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Obama appoints new MMS director The president wants to see ‘far-reaching change’ in the agency that oversees oil development on the U.S. outer continental shelf Alan Bailey Petroleum News
On June 15 President Obama announced the appointment of Michael Bromwich as the new director of the U.S. Minerals Management Service. And the president left no doubt about the reasoning behind his choice of Bromwich, a man with extensive experience in investigating government and industry malpractice, as leader of the federal agency that oversees U.S. outer continental shelf oil development.
“For a decade or more, the cozy relationship between the oil companies and the federal agency was allowed to go unchecked,” Obama said. “That allowed drilling permits to be issued in exchange not for safety plans, but assurances of safety from oil companies. That cannot and will not happen anymore.”
Bromwich replaces Bob Abbey, director of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, who had temporarily led MMS since the abrupt departure in May of Elizabeth Birnbaum as MMS director in the fallout from the escalating Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster.
Birnbaum and MMS had come under withering criticism from lawmakers over allegedly lax oversight of offshore drilling. Criticism has included alleged lack of adequate regulations and a lack of regulatory enforcement to ensure the proper operation of well blowout preventers, the type of device that spectacularly failed in BP’s out-of-control Gulf of Mexico well.
MMS re-organization With a possible conflict of interests between the regulatory enforcement and resource development functions within MMS as a potential contributory factor in the drilling oversight issue, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced in May that he was separating MMS into three parts: the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, responsible for offshore energy leasing and development; the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement; and the Office of Natural Resources Revenue, responsible for royalty collection.
A June 15 press release from the White House made it clear that Obama expects Bromwich to bring this MMS re-organization to a successful conclusion.
“Specifically, Bromwich will oversee the reorganization of the MMS to eliminate conflicts among the different missions of the agency which include establishing safety standards, regulating industry compliance, and collecting royalties,” the release said. “These actions will ensure that there is no conflict of interest, real or perceived, in oil industry oversight.”
And in a June 15 press release Interior Secretary Ken Salazar emphasized Bromwich’s qualifications for his new MMS role.
“Michael Bromwich has vast experience improving the way organizations work, both within the government and in the private sector,” Salazar said. “He is an ideal choice to change how the agency does business, to lead the reforms that will raise the bar for offshore oil and gas operations, and to help our nation transition to a clean energy future.”
DOJ Inspector General According to the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bromwich served as Inspector General for the Department of Justice from 1994 to 1999, overseeing “numerous high-profile investigations,” including investigations of misconduct in the Federal Bureau of Investigation. From 1983 to 1987 Bromwich was a U.S. attorney in the southern district of New York and from 1987 to 1989 he was an associated counsel in the Office of the Independent Counsel during the Iran-Contra investigation.
As a practicing lawyer since 1999 Bromwich has “specialized in conducting internal investigations for private companies and other organizations; providing monitoring and oversight services in connection with public and private litigation and government enforcement actions; and representing institutions and individuals in white-collar criminal and regulatory matters,” Interior said.
Between 2002 and 2008, Bromwich served as the independent monitor for the District of Columbia’s Metropolitan Police Department, and in 2007 the City of Houston appointed Bromwich to investigate the Houston Police Department Crime Lab.
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