Coast Guard, BSEE form new agreements

The U.S. Coast Guard and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement have signed four revised memorandums of agreement for collaboration over the regulation of the energy industry on the U.S. outer continental shelf, BSEE announced Jan. 10. Both the Coast Guard and BSEE perform regulatory roles on the outer continental shelf and in 2012 the two agencies signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at coordinating their responsibilities.

The revised agreements, which come as a result of that earlier MOU, consist of an MOA for civil penalties; an MOA for oil discharge planning, preparedness and response; an MOA for incident notifications and investigations; and an MOA for safety and environmental management systems and for safety management systems.

The idea is to improve collaboration, clarify responsibilities and streamline information sharing by leveraging each agency’s authorities and areas of expertise, BSEE said. The agreements address best practices for managing civil penalties, incident investigations, management systems and oil discharge preparedness.

For example, the agreement relating to oil discharges spells out which agency takes a lead position in the various functions involved in oil spill planning, preparedness and response for various types of offshore facility.

- ALAN BAILEY