WASHINGTON – The Biden-Harris administration today released the President’s proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2025, which includes $252.6 million to support the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement’s mission of promoting safe and environmentally responsible development of the nation’s offshore energy resources.
Among the priorities outlined in BSEE’s FY 2025 budget request are: continuing to strengthen oversight, regulatory, and research capabilities; building and sustaining staffing capabilities to support BSEE’s mission; improving Tribal engagement by further strengthening the National Tribal Engagement Program; decommissioning offshore orphaned oil and gas wells and infrastructure; facilitating protective strategies for managing carbon sequestration offshore; and supporting the development of a safe, robust, and sustainable offshore renewable energy industry.
“The President’s Budget commits much-needed resources for BSEE’s multi-mission portfolio on the Outer Continental Shelf,” said BSEE Director Kevin Sligh. “These critical investments will enable BSEE to continue to ensure safe and responsible exploration, development, and production of America’s offshore energy resources, both traditional and renewable.”
At BSEE, the budget will:
Create Good-Paying Jobs and Restore Ecosystems: To reduce the risk of pollution from orphaned infrastructure, BSEE’s Budget request includes $12.0 million to address the immediate and urgent need to properly plug and abandon orphaned wells on the OCS and remove orphaned pipelines and other infrastructure from the seabed.
Deploy Clean Energy and Advance Science: BSEE’s FY 2025 Budget request fully supports the administration’s priority to advance renewable energy through the development of a safe, robust, and environmentally responsible offshore wind industry in the United States. The Budget includes $12.6 million to enable timely and rigorous industry plan reviews, a robust compliance assurance program, and science-based renewable energy research, and will demonstrate BSEE’s commitment and leadership in driving safety performance in the offshore wind industry to support the administration’s vision for a clean energy future.
Enhance Oil Spill Research: Recognizing the importance of research in the prevention and response to oil pollution, the Budget request includes $15.1 million for oil spill research. This request will enable BSEE to sponsor the testing of advanced technologies for detecting oil spills and determining oil slick thickness using remote sensing tools, integrating remote sensing data to support operational decision making, and developing “smart” skimming technologies to improve recovery rates.
Broaden the Environmental Compliance Program: Building on BSEE’s work to integrate renewable energy program needs into environmental compliance, the Budget request will support monitoring, verifying, improving, and enforcing the offshore wind industry’s compliance with environmental standards.
Promote Equity and Diversity: BSEE is committed to promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) across the Bureau. In FY 2025, BSEE will continue to work in partnership with DOI to develop and execute a plan that ensures that DOI and BSEE are models for DEIA.
Expand Tribal Engagement: The President’s Budget requests $800,000 to strengthen a National Tribal Engagement Program that ensures timely and meaningful coordination and consultation with Tribes.
Develop a Programmatic Framework for Carbon Sequestration – BSEE is partnering with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to develop regulations to implement new offshore carbon sequestration authority, as directed by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The 2025 Budget request includes $1.5 million to hire additional personnel to establish a programmatic framework for offshore carbon sequestration, develop safety and environmental standards, and establish applied research needs and requirements to inform safe operations. The regulations are intended to facilitate an effective and environmentally protective strategy for managing carbon sequestration on the OCS.
For more information on the President’s FY 2025 Budget, please visit: https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/