GAO urges Interior to improve leadership, coordination
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommended that the Department of the Interior take steps to improve its coordination and leadership commitment following a recent study of the department’s offshore oil and gas safety and environmental oversight and internal management initiatives.
GAO made four specific recommendations, including that Interior leadership set up a mechanism for
Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) management to acquire and incorporate information from bureau personnel that could affect BSEE’s ability to accomplish its goals. GAO also
urged the Interior to address issues with leadership commitment within BSEE.
The explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010 brought up concerns about the Interior’s management of offshore oil and gas activities. In February 2011, GAO placed the management of federal oil and gas resources on its High-Risk List.
GAO conducted this study to evaluate BSEE’s progress related to offshore safety and environmental oversight and its internal management.
GAO cites several unsuccessful attempts by BSEE to create and implement performance measures. The initiatives were halted because of a lack of data to use the measures and missed deadlines to review the measures among other things.
