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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Research Support Section (RSS)

Research Support Section (RSS)

Research Programs

The Office of Offshore Regulatory Programs (OORP) Emerging Technologies Branch (ETB) Research Support Section (RSS) administers research through 2 programs: The Technology Assessment Program (TAP) and the Technology Collaborations Program (TCP). These research programs underpin and support mission-specific areas across the Bureau such as policy development, critical safety elements, decision-making tools, and process safety events and risks.

The TAP has four primary objectives:

  • Technical Support - Provides BSEE’s decision makers with engineering support as they evaluate operational proposals from industry on a variety of topics and related technical issues, such as systems reliability issues. The Technical Support staff ensures these proposals comply with applicable regulations, rules, operational guidelines, and standards.
  • Technology Assessment - Investigates and assesses industry applications of technological innovations to promote the use of the Best Available and Safest Technologies (BAST) in Bureau regulations, rules and operational guidelines.
  • Research Catalyst - Promotes operational safety, pollution prevention, and supports leadership during offshore energy development activities.
  • International Regulatory Cooperation - Provides international cooperation for Research and Development initiatives, enhances the safety of offshore energy development activities and the development of appropriate regulatory program elements worldwide. For more information about international research coordination efforts, see the BSEE ICRARD page or visit ICRARD.org.

The TCP differs from TAP in that it involves joint research efforts with other federal partners through Interagency and cooperative agreements. The Technology Assessment and Technology Collaboration programs explore the advancement of new technologies or operational practices for the offshore environment and can include funding through Joint Industry Partnerships (JIPs).

 


What is RSS?

The non-oil spill related research support arm of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement looks to our country’s energy future. Harnessing our natural resources safely through new applications of technology is the frontier. We consider research proposals related to oil and gas, carbon capture, and renewables and aim to address the entire research lifecycle through our 4-step process:

  1. Solicitation: We solicit research ideas from within the Department of the Interior, other agencies, and from the public
  2. Prioritization: We rank the proposals according to mission-based criteria
  3. Execution: We assign resources that identify research partners, verify work quality, and communicate findings
  4. Feedback: We share the research findings with the public as well as with other the Department of the Interior branches so regulations, standards, and processes can be improved.

The success of our section depends on collaboration with our partners inside and outside of the government. Come join us in this partnership and mission!

  • Submitting Unsolicited Research Proposals

    It is the policy of the Government to encourage the submission of new and innovative ideas in response to Broad Agency Announcements, Small Business Innovation Research topics, Small Business Technology Transfer Research topics, Program Research and Development Announcements, or any other Government initiated solicitation or program.

    When the new and innovative ideas do not fall under topic areas publicized under these programs or techniques, the ideas may be submitted as unsolicited proposals and can only be accepted if it is aligned with the Agency’s mission and meets the requirements stipulated in Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), Part 15.6.

    Unsolicited Proposals should be submitted to Chrischanda Smith directly via email at chrischanda.smith@bsee.gov, or by mail to:

    Chrischanda Smith
    Chief, Acquisition Policy & Financial Assistance Branch
    U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI)
    Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE)
    Acquisition Management Division, VAE-AMD
    45600 Woodland Road, VA-AMD
    Sterling, VA 20166

  • Proposal Prioritization

    All research proposals submitted to RSS for consideration a ranking process based on the following criteria:

    - Alignment with BSEE’s mission
    - Assessment of geographical impact
    - Clarity of value proposition or potential end use
    - Evaluation of operational and enterprise risk
    - External factors

    While proposals can be submitted and evaluated at anytime throughout the year, submissions will typically be collected for ranking at the end of the 3rd Quarter during the government fiscal year to ensure funding can be requested. Project selection is finalized following the release of the operating budget.

  • Project Execution

    RSS funds and administers as Contracting Officer Representatives (CORs) contracts to assess technologies and perform applied research in support of BSEE’s offshore program. For quality assurance purposes, research scope content is developed and endorsed by subject matter experts qualified with years of experience in the subject matter being explored.

    Once research has been funded, basic information about the research is shared with the public through our list of ongoing research projects. 1

    Research cannot be released to the public for use until it has been quality reviewed through the peer review process assuming the research is considered influential or highly influential. 2a

    Influential: Scientific information the agency reasonably can determine will have or does have a clear and substantial impact on important public policies or private sector decisions.

    Highly influential: Could have a potential impact of more than $500 million in any year, or
    Is novel, controversial, or precedent-setting or has significant interagency interest

    If research is not considered to be influential or is exempt from the peer review process, it will be released with the appropriate disclaimers to the research database and disseminated to identified stakeholders. 2b

    When the peer review scoping process has begun for a project, a peer review plan as well as the corresponding research is released on the website for public commenting through our peer review agenda . In some cases, public meetings may be held to collect public feedback.

    When a peer review is performed, 3 mechanisms are considered: internal review, external letter review (ex. Journal article), and external panel review. 

    Significant scientific issues raised by the public through the public commenting window are incorporated into the charge questions provided to the peer reviewers and addressed in the peer review final report.

    Once the peer review has been funded, basic information about the peer review is shared with the public through our list of peer reviews. 3

    Once the public commenting period has ended, the peer review agenda will continue listing ongoing peer reviews until the entire research lifecycle has been completed. When a research project has been completed, the project information will be relocated from the list of ongoing research projects and peer review agenda to the research database for further viewing . The complete peer review record of research documentation will be located in the research database. 4

  • Dissemination

    The peer review record of research documentation includes the following documents at a minimum:​

    Original Research Report – This document summarizes the research done and conclusions​

    Peer Review Plan – This document summarizes the plan for completing a peer review on the research completed​

    Peer Review Summary Report – This document summarizes the peer review done and peer review findings​

    Agency Comment Response – This document summarizes the actions that BSEE will take because of the peer review findings​

    Revised Research Report – This document combines a summary of the peer review and its findings with the original research report

    ​Data – Any data provided to one of the contractors and any data generated by the contractor(s)

    Findings from the peer review are shared within BSEE’s headquarters and operating regional offices to ensure dissemination to the appropriate stakeholders for integration into policies, process, procedures, and standards where appropriate​