Michael Bromwich, who now leads the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE), has been tapped to take over the newly formed Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) until a permanent director is named, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Friday.

Bromwich’s top assistant, BOEMRE Senior Adviser Tommy P. Beaudreau, will lead the new Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).

Bromwich and Beaudreau have been involved in the creation of the two new bureaus, as well as the Interior’s efforts to strengthen the oversight of offshore oil and gas exploration and development. BSEE and BOEM will be officially established on Oct. 1. Bromwich agreed to serve as the BSEE chief, and Interior said it has launched “an aggressive, nationwide recruitment effort to find a permanent director.” Beaudreau would be the permanent BOEM director.

“We have moved quickly and thoughtfully to create strong and separate agencies to manage offshore energy development, collect energy revenues, and to oversee safety and environmental protection on the Outer Continental Shelf,” said Salazar.

Salazar’s Secretarial Order in 2010 divided the former Minerals Management Service into the BSEE, BOEM and the Office of Natural Resources Revenue. MMS was renamed BOEMRE, and ONRR now operates under Interior’s Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget. ONRR manages revenues associated with federal offshore and federal and American Indian onshore mineral leases, as well as revenues received as a result of offshore renewable energy efforts.

BSEE would handle inspections, enforcement and safety of offshore oil and gas operations. BOEM is to be responsible for energy leasing and planning on the Outer Continental Shelf.

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