Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement
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| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | January 19, 1982 |
| Dissolved | October 1, 2011 |
| Superseding agency | |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C. |
| Employees | 1,614 (2009) |
| Annual budget | US$310 million (2009) |
| Parent agency | Department of the Interior |
| Footnotes | |
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).
Due to perceived conflict of interest and poor regulatory oversight following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and Inspector General investigations, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar issued a secretarial order on May 19, 2010 splitting MMS into three new federal agencies: the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, and the Office of Natural Resources Revenue. MMS was temporarily renamed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) during this reorganization before being formally dissolved on October 1, 2011.
Headquartered in Washington, DC, the Agency received most of its revenue from leasing federal lands and waters to oil and natural gas companies with a profit margin of 98%. It was among the top five revenue sources to the federal government, the IRS being number one. As the MMS (before transition to BOEMRE), the Agency's signature feature according to an informational trifold was that it had "become our Nation’s leader in offshore energy development and the collection of royalties on behalf of the American Public." With respect to enforcement of regulations and safety, this same publication indicated that the "MMS also funds advanced scientific studies and enforces the highest safety and environmental standards." The Agency's mission statement was put more formally in its 2010 Budget Proposal:
MMS’s mission is to manage the energy and mineral resources on the Outer Continental Shelf and Federal and American Indian mineral revenues to enhance public and trust benefits, promote responsible use, and realize fair value.
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