Michael Bromwich warns against dividing regulatory work between cases in which a lease has been issued and those without a lease
The Obama administration's top oil and gas regulator said Thursday that a proposed Republican regulatory bill would create "bureaucratic paralysis" for new drilling, turning the tables on GOP critics who accuse the administration of slow-walking offshore oil and gas permits. Michael Bromwich, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, said he supports some key provisions in the House GOP regulatory bill. But he said the Republican plan would divide regulatory work into two categories: those in which a lease has been issued and those without a lease, causing delays and duplication.
View full sizeThis oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico was photographed in April 2009. Bromwich spoke at a hearing by the House Energy and Mineral Resources subcommittee as his agency neared implementation of its own regulatory overhaul started after last year's BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. That plan will divide BOEMRE into two agencies: the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. Bromwich didn't say whether he would oversee one of the new bureaus, or leave the federal government when the reorganization takes place in two weeks.
During his testimony, Bromwich cited a Wall Street Journal article Thursday that suggested permitting activity in the Gulf is approaching pre-BP spill levels.
But Reps Jeff Landry, R-New Iberia, and John Fleming, R-Minden, expressed skepticism, saying they are hearing a much different story from Louisiana industry representatives.
Still, the hearing had few of the hostile confrontations, particularly between Landry and Bromwich, that have marked previous energy hearings conducted by the new GOP majority.
Landry told Bromwich that it should come as no surprise to him that he wants to fulfill President Barack Obama's goal of more hiring and that, in his view, a key to accomplishing that would be for Bromwich's agency to issue more permits.
Bromwich said he was happy to save Landry some time from his five-minute questioning block and "stipulate" that Landry advocates for a more robust permitting regime.
But in an interview after his questioning of Bromwich, the freshman Republican accused BOEMRE of acting "like the CIA and Gestapo" as he recounted how he was recently blocked from visiting the bureau's New Orleans office.
Landry said he had to wait 20 minutes in the lobby for an agency official to come down and inform him that the top officials in the office weren't in the office and that he would have to return another time. Landry said he wanted to learn about some stalled permits brought to his attention by a constituent.
He said he wasn't given access to the employee overseeing the permits. Landry said he eventually received a copy of the agency's staff telephone directory, but only after he threatened to file a Freedom of Information Act request.
BOEMRE spokeswoman Melissa Schwartz said the agency has arranged for Landry to tour the New Orleans office and meet with the agency's leadership team Sept. 30.
Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., said the GOP draft regulatory legislation is deficient because it doesn't include a provision recommended by the White House commission that investigated the BP spill to impose fees on industry permit applications to ensure that the agency has sufficient staffing to examine permits for safety and environmental issues.
Bromwich said he would like a regular financing stream, but in the end it matters little how the money is provided, only that there's enough to oversee offshore oil and gas development.
Chevron CEO John Watson said last week that the federal government is still taking too long to approve new offshore drilling applications, not because of animosity toward the oil and gas industry but because of staffing shortages. Bromwich, in a speech, placed some blame on the oil and gas industry for submitting what he said were incomplete applications.
Gregory Rusovich, chairman of the Business Council of Greater New Orleans and the River Region, disputed Bromwich's assessment.
"We do not need more regulations and bureaucrats strangling our energy sector," Rusovich said. "We need honest, appropriate oversight which is guided by clear and understandable rules to ensure safe energy production."
Bruce Alpert can be reached at balpert@timespicayune.com or 202.450.1406.