On Thursday, July 22, 2010, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing entitled, "Offshore Drilling: Will Interior's Reforms change Its History of Failed Oversight?" The hearing examined issues surrounding the Department of the Interior’s oversight of offshore oil drilling, including issues regarding the reorganization of the Minerals Management Service (MMS). The hearing also examined how the reorganization of MMS, now known as the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement, will improve the oversight of the offshore oil and gas industry. In May, Chairman Towns opened the committee’s investigation into the serious lapses in oversight and regulatory failures at MMS in the years leading up to the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
The hearing took place at 10:00 a.m. in room 2154 Rayburn House Office Building.
