Agency overview | |
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Formed | October 1, 2011 |
Preceding agency | |
Headquarters | Main Interior Building Washington, D.C. |
Employees | N/A |
Annual budget | N/A |
Agency executive |
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Parent agency | Department of the Interior |
Website | www.boem.gov |
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior, established in 2010 by Secretarial Order.
On May 19, 2010, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar signed a Secretarial Order dividing the Minerals Management Service (MMS) into three independent entities: BOEM, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, and the Office of Natural Resources Revenue. [1] The most important legislation for BOEM is the Outer continental shelf (OCS) Lands Act to facilitate the federal government’s leasing of its offshore mineral resources and energy resources.
In addition to the OCS Lands Act, the Submerged Lands Act (SLA) of 1953 grants individual states rights to the natural resources of submerged lands from the coastline to no more than 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) into the Atlantic, Pacific, the Arctic Oceans, and the Gulf of Mexico. The only exceptions are Texas and the west coast of Florida, where state jurisdiction extends from the coastline to no more than 3 marine leagues (16.2 km) into the Gulf of Mexico.
BOEM’s stated mission is to “manage development of U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) energy, mineral, and geological resources in an environmentally and economically responsible way.” [2]
The Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) is a significant source of oil and gas for the Nation’s energy supply. As of May 1, 2021, BOEM manages about 2,287 active oil and gas leases on approximately 12.1 million OCS acres. [3]
In 2009, the Department of the Interior announced the final regulations for the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Renewable Energy Program, which was authorized by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct). These regulations provide a framework for issuing leases, easements and rights-of-way for OCS activities that support production and transmission of energy from sources other than oil and natural gas.
BOEM is the only federal agency with the authority to lease marine minerals from the OCS, including responding to commercial requests for OCS minerals such as gold, manganese, or other hard minerals. [4]
Carbon sequestration (CS) refers to a process of storing captured carbon dioxide (CO2) that leads to a reduction of CO2 in the atmosphere. Carbon sequestration activities can take many forms. One form of long-term storage is injection of captured CO2 into suitable underground geologic formations. [5]
On November 15, 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was signed into law and gave the Department of the Interior the authority to grant a lease, easement, or right-of-way on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) for long-term sequestration of carbon dioxide that would otherwise go into the atmosphere and contribute to further climate change. BOEM is working with the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) on a draft rule to implement this authority over the OCS CS projects.
BOEM’s environmental program ensures that environmental protection is a foremost and indispensable consideration in BOEM's decision-making. [6]
BOEM uses science and law to inform our environmental analyses, conduct consultations, and design and conduct research. The environmental program informs three major areas that BOEM regulates on the outer continental shelf: oil and gas, renewable energy, and non-energy minerals such as sand and gravel or hard minerals.
The agency's first director, serving from June 2010 to May 2014, was Tommy Beaudreau. [7] The second director was Abigail Ross Hopper, serving from January 2015 to January 2017. [8] From 2017 to 2021, deputy director Walter Cruickshank served as the acting director.
From February 2021 to January 2023, the director was Amanda Lefton. [9] In an announcement with United States Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm on April 27, 2022, Lefton said that her agency would focus on efforts to promote offshore wind projects, saying that BOEM would work to "inspire confidence and demonstrate commitment" for lease planning and calling it her "number-one priority," National Fisherman reported. [10] In January 2023, Lefton announced her resignation, effective January 19. [11]
As of January 19,2023 [update] , the director is Elizabeth Klein. [11]
Order | Picture | Name | Start date | End date | President(s) served under |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tommy Beaudreau | June 2010 | May 2014 | Barack Obama | |
— | Walter Cruickshank (acting) | May 2014 | January 6, 2015 | Barack Obama | |
2 | Abigail Ross Hopper | January 6, 2015 | January 6, 2017 | Barack Obama | |
— | Walter Cruickshank (acting) | January 6, 2017 | February 2, 2021 | Barack Obama Donald Trump Joe Biden | |
3 | Amanda Lefton | February 2, 2021 | January 19, 2023 | Joe Biden | |
4 | Elizabeth Klein | January 19, 2023 | Incumbent | Joe Biden |
BOEM keeps records of shipwrecks, to ensure the Nation's important historical sites are protected when offshore activities take place on the OCS. These shipwrecks, particularly when over fifty years old, may be eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, [12] and any new wells or pipelines have to be studied for their potential effect on archaeological sites on the outer continental shelf. [13]
The BOEM maintains a list of shipwrecks and the location.
There were over 100 attacks on ships in the Gulf of Mexico by German U-boats. Several were listed by the MMS and maintained by the BOEM.
The only known German U-boat to be sunk in the Gulf is U-166. After sinking the SS Robert E. Lee the United States Navy patrol craft PC-566 reported hitting and sinking the submarine. This was questioned and the sinking was attributed to a United States Coast Guard Grumman G-44 Widgeon, that reported an attack over 100 miles away, thought to be the U-166. In 2001 the wreckage of U-166 was identified near the wreckage of the Robert E. Lee and in 2014 the record was set straight that PC-566 actually sunk U-166. In 2014 the position, 28°37′N90°45′W / 28.617°N 90.750°W was designated a war grave. [21]
German submarine U-166 was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 6 December 1940 at the Seebeckwerft at Wesermünde as yard number 705, launched on 1 November 1941, and commissioned on 23 March 1942 under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Hans-Günther Kuhlmann. After training with the 4th U-boat Flotilla, U-166 was transferred to the 10th U-boat Flotilla for front-line service on 1 June 1942. The U-boat sailed on only two war patrols and sank four ships totalling 7,593 gross register tons (GRT). She was sunk on 30 July 1942 in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Minerals Management Service (MMS) was an agency of the United States Department of the Interior that managed the nation's natural gas, oil and other mineral resources on the outer continental shelf (OCS).
The New York/New Jersey Bight is the geological identification applied to a roughly triangular indentation, regarded as a bight, along the Atlantic coast of the United States that extends northeasterly from Cape May Inlet in New Jersey to Montauk Point on the eastern tip of Long Island. As the result of direct contact with the Gulf Stream along the coast of North America, the coastal climate of the bight area is temperate.
SS Alcoa Puritan was a cargo ship in the service of Alcoa Steamship Company that was torpedoed and sunk in the Gulf of Mexico during World War II.
The Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) is a legally defined geographic feature of the United States. The OCS is the part of the internationally recognized continental shelf of the United States which does not fall under the jurisdictions of the individual U.S. states.
Rigs-to-Reefs (RTR) is the practice of converting decommissioned offshore oil and petroleum rigs into artificial reefs. Such biotic reefs have been created from oil rigs in the United States, Brunei and Malaysia. In the United States, where the practice started and is most common, Rigs-to-Reefs is a nationwide program developed by the former Minerals Management Service (MMS), now Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
New York has 2,192 MW of installed wind power capacity as of 2022. Most of New York's wind power is located in upstate New York as onshore wind farms. New York has set a goal of developing 9,000 MW of offshore installed wind power capacity by 2035 that will power an estimated 6 million homes. As of October 2022, New York has five offshore wind farms in development with approximately 4,300 MW installed capacity.
Offshore oil and gas in the United States provides a large portion of the nation’s oil and gas supply. Large oil and gas reservoirs are found under the sea offshore from Louisiana, Texas, California, and Alaska. Environmental concerns have prevented or restricted offshore drilling in some areas, and the issue has been hotly debated at the local and national levels.
Offshore drilling for oil and gas on the Atlantic coast of the United States took place from 1947 to the early 1980s. Oil companies drilled five wells in Atlantic Florida state waters and 51 exploratory wells on federal leases on the outer continental shelf of the Atlantic coast. None of the wells were completed as producing wells. All the leases have now reverted to the government.
Chris Craig Oynes was an American lawyer and federal government administrator.
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement is an agency under the United States Department of the Interior. Established in 2011, BSEE is the lead agency in charge of improving safety and ensuring environmental protection relating to the offshore energy industry, mainly natural gas and oil, on the United States Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The agency exercises the safety and environmental enforcement functions formerly under the Minerals Management Service, including the authority to inspect; investigate; summon witnesses and produce evidence; levy penalties; cancel or suspend activities; and oversee safety, response, and removal preparedness.
Kelly Jemison is an American academic geologist specializing in Antarctic diatoms. She studied at Florida State University, participated in the ANDRILL Project, and in 2011 was awarded the Antarctica Service Medal. She currently works as a Geologist for Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in Anchorage, Alaska.
Cynthia L. Quarterman is an American lawyer and engineer, former Director of the Minerals Management Service and Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration from 2009 until her resignation on October 4, 2014.
The Offshore Energy and Jobs Act is a bill that was introduced into the United States House of Representatives during the 113th United States Congress. The Offshore Energy and Jobs Act would revise existing law governing the leasing, operation, and development of oil and natural gas resources available in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The bill is primarily supported by Republicans and is opposed by President Barack Obama.
The Lowering Gasoline Prices to Fuel an America That Works Act of 2014 is a bill that would revise existing laws and policies regarding the development of oil and gas resources on the Outer Continental Shelf. The bill is intended to increase domestic energy production and lower gas prices.
Barrow Canyon is a submarine canyon that straddles the boundary between the Beaufort and Chukchi seas. Compared to other nearby areas and the Canada Basin, the highly productive Barrow Canyon supports a diversity of marine animals and invertebrates.
SS Robert E. Lee was a steam passenger ship built for the Eastern Steamship Lines in 1924. It was sunk on 30 July 1942 after being torpedoed by the German submarine U-166 on its return to New Orleans.
South Fork Wind Farm is a utility-scale offshore wind farm on the Outer Continental Shelf Offshore Rhode Island, providing energy to New York state.
Empire Wind is a proposed utility-scale offshore wind farm on the Outer Continental Shelf Offshore New York. It will be located in Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) lease area OCS-A 0512 in the New York Bight about 15 miles (24 km) south of Jones Beach, Long Island.