Inside the Interior—A periodic update from Steptoe & Johnson LLP featuring important policy changes at the Department of the Interior and related developments on Capitol Hill and throughout the Obama Administration.

If you would like to speak with a Steptoe attorney about our Interior practice, please reply to this email or contact Tom Collier (202.429.6242 or tcollier@steptoe.com) or Jody Cummings (202.429.8096 or jcummings@steptoe.com).

 Next Steps for Offshore Regulation Overhaul Announced

Secretary Salazar and BOEMRE Director Bromwich recently announced the structures and responsibilities for two new, independent agencies that will carry out the offshore energy management and enforcement functions that were once assigned to the former Minerals Management Service (MMS). This announcement follows after the agency—now BOEMRE—was re-organized into three separate entities, with the first of those identified last fall in the creation of the Office of Natural Resources Revenue, which handles BOEMRE’s revenue collection.

As for these two new agencies, Salazar and Bromwichset forth tasks for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE). BOEM will handle the resource development and energy management functions of BOEMRE. It will be responsible for managing development of the nation’s offshore resources, including: leasing, plan administration, environmental studies, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis, resource evaluation, economic analysis and the renewable energy program.

BSEE will handle the safety and enforcement functions of BOEMRE. It will enforce safety and environmental regulations, with responsibilities that include: all field operations including permitting and research, inspections, offshore regulatory programs, oil spill response, and newly formed training and environmental compliance functions.

Along with these two new bureaus, BOEMRE is looking to strengthen the role of environmental review and analysis in both BSEE and BOEM through various structural and organizational mechanisms, including:

• creation of a first-ever Chief Environmental Officer in BOEM;
• separating environmental reviews from leasing in the regions in BOEM;
• development of a new environmental compliance and enforcement function in BSEE; and
• more prominent Oil Spill Response Plan review and enforcement in BSEE.

The re-organization is to be fully implemented by October 1, 2011.

Salazar and Bromwich also announced that they are establishing a permanent advisory body through which the nation’s leading scientific, engineering, and technical experts can provide input on improving offshore drilling safety, well containment, and spill response. Former Sandia National Laboratory Director Tom Hunter will lead the body, which will be called the Offshore Energy Safety Advisory Committee.

The Safety Committee will advise the BOEMRE Director and the Secretary on a variety of issues related to offshore energy safety, including drilling and workplace safety, well intervention and containment, and oil spill response. The Safety Committee also will facilitate collaborative research and development, training and execution in these and other areas relating to offshore energy safety. The Committee will have 13 members representing federal agencies, industry, academia, national labs, and various research organizations. A federal register notice soliciting nominations will be published soon.

Salazar Will Work with Congress on Hydraulic Fracturing Oversight

Responding to a request from new House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-WA) regarding the Department’s recent forum on hydraulic fracturing on public lands, Secretary Salazar told Chairman Hastings in a January 10, 2011 letter that the Department would work closely with Congress as well as other Federal and state agencies and the public to ensure that natural gas is developed in an effective and environmentally sound manner on public lands. Salazar indicated that if the Department moves forward with hydraulic fracturing disclosure requirements, the Department will do so in a manner that fully considers public and Congressional concerns.

Interior Establishes New Scientific Integrity Policy

Interior issued in early February a new policy to ensure and maintain the integrity of scientific and scholarly activities used in the Department’s decision making. The policy follows on the Memorandum to the Heads of Departments and Agencies on Scientific Integrity issued by the Administration in December and includes the designation of a Departmental Science Integrity Officer. Dr. Ralph Morgenweck, US Fish and Wildlife Service Senior Science Advisor, has been tapped to serve in this new position at Interior.

Under this new policy, the Department will:

• Use clear and unambiguous codes of conduct for scientific and scholarly activities to define expectations.
• Facilitate the free flow of scientific and scholarly information, consistent with privacy and classification standards, and in keeping with the Department’s Open Government Plan.
• Document the scientific and scholarly findings considered in decision making and ensure public access to that information and supporting data through established Departmental and Bureau procedures—except for information and data that are lawfully restricted from disclosure.
• Ensure that the selection and retention of employees in scientific and scholarly positions are based on the candidate’s integrity, knowledge, credentials, and experience relevant to the responsibility of the position.
• Ensure that public communications policies provide procedures by which scientists and scholars may speak to the media and the public about scientific and scholarly matters based on their official work and areas of expertise. In no circumstance may public affairs officers ask or direct Federal scientists to alter scientific findings.
• Provide information to employees on whistleblower protections.
• Examine, track, and resolve all reasonable allegations of scientific and scholarly misconduct while ensuring the rights and privacy of those covered by this policy and ensuring that unwarranted allegations do not result in slander, libel, or other damage to them.
• Facilitate the sharing of best administrative and management practices that promote the integrity of the Department’s scientific and scholarly activities.

Personnel Changes

Several noteworthy personnel changes have been announced at the Department in recent weeks:

Tom Strickland Departing

Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks and Interior Chief of Staff Tom Strickland will leave Interior this month. Among his accomplishments over the last two years, Strickland helped develop President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors Initiative; led efforts to protect national parks, wildlife refuges and coastlines during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill; and oversaw Interior’s responsibilities to protect and recover threatened and endangered species.

Laura Daniel Davis Named Chief of Staff

Laura Daniel Davis will replace Strickland as Interior Chief of Staff. Davis has been serving as Deputy Chief of Staff and Associate Deputy Secretary. Before joining Interior in January 2009, Davis worked as Deputy Chief of Staff for then-Representative Mark Udall. She also served in the Interior Department under Bruce Babbitt, and worked closely with Steptoe attorneys Tom Collier (former Interior Chief of Staff) and John Duffy (former Counselor to Secretary Babbitt).

To deal with other vacancies created by Strickland’s departure, Will Shafroth, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, will serve as Acting Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks until a new Assistant Secretary is confirmed. Matt Lee-Ashley, the Director of Communications for the Office of the Secretary will assume the duties of Deputy Chief of Staff.

Dan Ashe Nominated as FWS Director

Dan Ashe has been nominated by President Obama as the new Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service. Ashe will require Senate confirmation before assuming this new role. He has served as FWS Deputy Director since September 2009. Before becoming FWS Deputy Director, Ashe was Science Advisor to the FWS Director. He has also served as Chief of the National Wildlife Refuge System. Ashe was also at FWS during the Clinton Administration, serving as Assistant Director for External Affairs. He was hired into that position by Steptoe’s Tom Collier, who was then Interior Chief of Staff.

Carol Browner to Leave White House

Carol Browner, the Obama Administration’s energy and environmental czar, will be leaving the White House. While not an Interior official, Browner’s take on energy and environmental issues has heavily shaped Interior’s policy on such matters since President Obama took office. The White House has been fairly quiet on the fate of its Office of Energy and Climate Change, although many speculate that energy issues will remain a top priority for the President.