The Interior Department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management today announced the release of a proposed rule for public comment on revisions to regulations governing exploration drilling in U.S. Arctic waters. The proposed rule, which was formally published on Dec. 9 for comments due by Monday, Feb. 8, would revise 21 existing provisions and add 13 new ones.
In announcing the proposed rule, Deputy Interior Sec. Kate MacGregor said that “it is increasingly important to ensure that the United States has a strong presence in the Arctic OCS,” adding that “[t]he Beaufort and Chukchi Seas have a long legacy of oil and gas development – we believe these proposed revisions will better harness new technological innovation and best science to allow for responsible domestic energy development off the coast of Alaska.”
