American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2018 - 14

IndustryDigest
BSEE Seeks Revisions
To Safety System Rules
For Offshore Facilities
WASHINGTON-In response to a
White House order to reduce burdens on
industry, the Bureau of Safety and
Environmental Enforcement says it
proposes to revise federal Outer
Continental Shelf production safety
systems regulations in 30 CFR part 250,
subpart H.
"This proposed rule would fortify the
administration's objective of facilitating
energy dominance through encouraging
increased domestic oil and gas
production, by reducing unnecessary
burdens on stakeholders while
maintaining or advancing the level of
safety and environmental protection,"
says the Dec. 29 Federal Register notice
announcing the revisions.
The changes follow the department's
Sept. 7, 2017, final rule addressing
production safety systems, subsurface
safety devices and testing. According to
BSEE, since that rule took effect in
November 2016, the bureau learned
some of its provisions created
potentially unduly burdensome
requirements to OCS oil and gas
operations without significantly
increasing workers' safety or
environmental protection. After its
reassessment, the bureau says, it
determined some of the safety
provisions could be revised to reduce or
eliminate operators' concerns while
providing the same level of safety and
environmental protection.
According to BSEE, the regulation
addresses safety and pollution prevention
equipment, subsea safety devices and
safety device testing for oil and gas
production on the Shelf. The bureau says
its regulatory impact analysis estimates
the proposed revisions will reduce
industry compliance costs by at least
$228 million over 10 years.
The proposal eases requirements that
offshore oil and gas facilities stream
real-time data to onshore facilities, and
store the data for regulatory review. The
proposed revisions also include:
* Adding gas lift shutdown valves
to the list of required safety and
pollution prevention equipment;
* Removing requirements for
operators to have an independent third
party certify that safety devices are
designed to function in the most
14 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

extreme conditions to which they will
be exposed and the devices will
function as designed; and
* Clarifying failure reporting
requirements.
Randall Luthi, president of the
National Ocean Industries Association,
says the proposed safety systems rule
revisions mark an integral step in the
regulatory reforms promised by
President Trump.
"Safety experts in the offshore oil and
gas industry now have the opportunity to
comment on this important regulation,"
he says. "This 'second bite at the apple'
provides an opportunity for further
dialogue, discussion and debate to assure
the nation's offshore energy resources
are developed safely and expeditiously-
as required by the Outer Continental
Shelf Lands Act."
The public comment period closes
Jan. 29. The proposed rule is available at
http://www.federalregister.gov/documen
ts/2017/12/29/2017-27309/oil-and-gasproduction-safety-systems-revisions-oiland-gas-and-sulphur-operations-on-theouter. r

States To Have More
Input Into ESA Listings
WASHINGTON-The U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service has formalized a policy
requiring state input into species listing
decisions, according to a report from the
Independent Petroleum Association of
America.
IPAA says that USFWS now requires
that a member from the appropriate
state fish and wildlife management
agency as well as one designated by the
governor's office be included in all
species status assessment (SSA) teams.
SSAs, IPAA explains, are biological
risk assessments by which government
scientists determine how a species is
fairing and what it needs to survive prior
to USFWS making a listing decision
under the Endangered Species Act.
IPAA says the new policy is outlined
in an October memo from USFWS
Principal Deputy Director Greg
Sheehan that surfaced in published
reports in early December. The memo
states that USFWS "will formally
request at least two representatives from
the state government on all SSA teams"
effective Nov. 1, 2017.
The Western Governors' Association

praised the new policy, IPAA reports,
saying, "Early coordination between
governors and USFWS through the SSA
framework will increase clarity and lead
to a more informed decision process."
r

DOI Opinion Overhauls
Its Legal Interpretation
Of Migratory Bird Act
WASHINGTON-The U.S.
Department of the Interior has clarified
that incidental takings of migratory
birds as a result of otherwise legal
activities are not criminal acts under the
Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
According to a Dec. 22
memorandum from the Department of
the Interior solicitor, the act's text,
history and purpose affirm its
prohibitions on pursuing, hunting,
taking, capturing, killing or attempting
those activities criminalize only
affirmative actions that have as their
purpose the taking or killing of
migratory birds, their nests or their eggs.
When Congress established the
treaty in 1916, it intended to reduce the
number of bird species wiped out by
overhunting, largely for commercial
purposes, DOI's legal opinion says. The
legislation followed several attempts to
enact protections for birds that were
overturned by courts, with many rulings
declaring such measures were the
responsibility of the states.
According to DOI, the MBTA relies
on a novel constitutional theory: that
under its treaty power, the federal
government can act with the authority
of the United States in a way that
Congress may not, which places treaties
and accompanying implementation
legislation on a different constitutional
footing than traditional laws.
According to the DOI legal opinion,
the act is limited to affirmative and
purposeful actions, such as hunting or
poaching. "Interpreting the MBTA to
criminalize incidental takings raises
serious due process concerns, and is
contrary to the fundamental principle
that ambiguity in criminal statutes must
be resolved in favor or defendants," the
memo asserts.
"The MBTA has been in the spotlight
over recent years as the law's language
has been expanded beyond its original
intent over disputes of incidental or
intentional take of protected bird

http://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/12/29/2017-27309/oil-and-gas-production-safety-systems-revisions-oil-and-gas-and-sulphur-operations-on-the-outer http://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/12/29/2017-27309/oil-and-gas-production-safety-systems-revisions-oil-and-gas-and-sulphur-operations-on-the-outer

American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2018

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