Office of Offshore Regulatory Programs
BSEE’s regulatory programs evaluate emerging technologies, safety improvements, offshore training, and the development and maintenance of up-to-date regulations, policies, standards and guidelines. Additionally, branches of the Office of Offshore Regulatory Programs (OORP) manage compliance programs governing oil, gas, and mineral operations on the Outer Continental Shelf.
The OORP is responsible for:
- OCS regulations and the associated policy documents
- Safety management programs
- Safety and pollution prevention research
- Technology assessments
- Inspection policies
- Development and execution of the Bureau’s technical training
Since OORPS’s technical staff manage BSEE’s operational and safety programs, they regularly coordinate and partner with the U.S. Coast Guard, other Federal and State agencies, industry groups, and international regulatory agencies to ensure common goals and objectives are achieved and lessons-learned are shared during safety, environmental and regulatory projects.
- The Emerging Technologies Branch identifies, develops and incorporates those new or emerging technologies with the potential to address offshore safety issues. These technologies may then be used to support the Bureau's regulatory programs.
- The Engineering Technology Assessment Center provides BSEE’s headquarters, regional and district offices with consulting expertise, value-added solutions, and the comprehensive review of new, unused, innovative and unusual technologies.
- The National Offshore Training Branch provides a broad spectrum of technical and engineering training courses. The technical training opportunities range from fundamental safety to highly-specialized curriculum.
- The Offshore Safety Improvement Branch is responsible for oversight of the Bureau's programs for inspection, aviation management and systems reliability and supports incident investigations when appropriate.
- The Regulations and Standards Branch updates existing, and develops new regulations, while also regularly issuing guidance and assessing industry and international standards. Since, the Bureau ensures compliance of these rules. The Branch periodically updates the regulations, standards and policies to reflect technological advancements.
- The Risk Assessment and Analysis Branch works with government and industry to capitalize on the best risk-management approaches to inform stakeholders, and strengthen worker and environmental safety protections on the Outer Continental Shelf