Interior Department, Ocean Energy Management Bureau
The Department of the Interior (the Department or DOI), acting through the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), is amending its risk management and financial assurance regulations. This final rule revises criteria for determining whether oil, gas, and sulfur lessees, right-of-use and easement (RUE) grant holders, and pipeline right-of- way (ROW) grant holders are required to provide financial assurance above the current minimum bonding levels to ensure compliance with their Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) obligations. This final rule streamlines the criteria for evaluating the financial health of lessees and grantees, codifies the use of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement's (BSEE) probabilistic estimates of decommissioning costs in setting the level of demands for supplemental financial assurance, removes restrictive provisions for third-party guarantees and decommissioning accounts, adds new criteria for cancelling supplemental financial assurance, and clarifies bonding requirements for RUEs serving Federal leases. BOEM estimates that a total of $6.9 billion in new supplemental financial assurance will be required from lessees and grant holders under this final rule to cover potential costs of decommissioning activities. This final rule significantly increases the amount of financial assurance available to the U.S. Government in the case of a lessee default and meaningfully reduces the risk to the government and consequently to the U.S. taxpayer. This final rulemaking does not apply to renewable energy activities.
Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 30 CFR Parts 550, 556, and 590 [Docket No. BOEM-2023-0027] RIN 1010-AE14 ( printed page 31544) AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Interior. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: The Department of the Interior (the Department or DOI), acting through the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), is amending its risk management and financial assurance regulations. This final rule revises criteria for determining whether oil, gas, and sulfur lessees, right-of-use and easement (RUE) grant holders, and pipeline right-of-way (ROW) grant holders are required to provide financial assurance above the current minimum bonding levels to ensure compliance with their Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) obligations. This final rule streamlines the criteria for evaluating the financial health of lessees and grantees, codifies the use of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement's (BSEE) probabilistic estimates of decommissioning costs in setting the level of demands for supplemental financial assurance, removes restrictive provisions for third-party guarantees and decommissioning accounts, adds new criteria for cancelling supplemental financial assurance, and clarifies bonding requirements for RUEs serving Federal leases. BOEM estimates that a total of $6.9 billion in new supplemental financial assurance will be required from lessees and grant holders under this final rule to cover potential costs of decommissioning ac…
Other Federal Register documents from the same docket.
Risk Management and Financial Assurance for OCS Lease and Grant Obligations; Correction
Risk Management and Financial Assurance for OCS Lease and Grant Obligations; Extension of Public Comment Period
Risk Management and Financial Assurance for OCS Lease and Grant Obligations
Citation: 89 FR 31544
