Bromwich hits ‘powerful industry voices’ on drilling permits

“But the world has changed: Our agency’s employees have fresh in their minds the catastrophic consequences of deepwater blowout. Those who expect our agency to be a permitting mill — to rubber stamp applications to drill — misjudge the impact of Deepwater Horizon on the people responsible for regulating the industry and their collective commitment to safety and environmental protection,” Bromwich added.

Interior has in recent weeks and months toughened standards for well construction, certification of blowout preventers — the supposedly failsafe device that did not work in the BP blowout — and other areas. Bromwich also said that resource constraints will affect the pace of permits.

Interior lifted the deepwater freeze last week, well ahead of the planned late November expiration. But industry groups and administration critics in Congress quickly expressed concern about long delays in drilling approvals even though the formal moratorium is gone.

Separately Monday, Bromwich told an offshore regulatory conference in Vancouver, Canada, that Interior hopes to add new staff for a range of functions. 

“Over the coming year, BOEM anticipates adding scores of inspectors and engineers to its staff. My hope is that we can add as many as 200 new inspectors, engineers, environmental scientists, and other key staff to support our agency in carrying out its important oversight functions,” he said in remarks prepared for the International Regulators Forum conference.