In keeping with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s pledge to separate the functions of the agency overseeing activity in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), the department said Friday it has established the Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget.

The action is part of the implementation of Salazar’s May 19 order to separate the responsibilities previously performed by the former Minerals Management Service (MMS) and reassign the responsibility to three separate organizations: ONRR; the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE); and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (see Daily GPI, May 21). Salazar’s order came one month after the BP plc-leased Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank off the coast of Louisiana.

In June Salazar eliminated the MMS and replaced it with the BOEMRE.

The ONRR, which replaces the former Minerals Revenue Management Program, will be responsible for collecting and disbursing revenues from energy production on federal and American Indian lands and the OCS.

The ONRR’s duties will also include auditing and compliance; investigation and enforcement; and asset management for Indian and federal lands, both onshore and offshore.

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