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Archive for the ‘Regulation’ Category

Important reading for offshore safety leaders

Posted in accidents, California, Gulf of Mexico, Regulation, tagged , , , , , on January 11, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Yesterday, BSEE issued investigation reports for 2 of the fatal 2020 incidents. Both of these incidents involved falls, a chronic and preventable cause of offshore worker casualties. Not enough industry and trade association attention is given to such incidents, which have been trivialized in the past by categorizing them as “slips, trips, and falls.” The reports are linked below:

The reports describe how the incidents occurred and what we can do better to prevent similar events in the future. Despite the advance in safety management programs over the past 30 years, there has been no discernible improvement in preventing these incidents. We need to rethink training programs, planning, and methods. Deadly falls are not inevitable.

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Dept. of Transportation seemingly expands Integrity Management Program requirements to all offshore liquids pipelines

Posted in energy policy, pipelines, Regulation, tagged , , , on December 21, 2021| Leave a Comment »

New PHMSA (DOT) regulation

At the behest of Congress, coastal areas and beaches are now designated as Unusually Sensitive Areas (USAs). Given that any offshore liquids pipeline has the potential to affect coastal waters or beaches, the rule would seem to require that all such pipelines be included in Integrity Management Programs, which are mandatory for pipelines that could affect USAs. (The IMP requirements would almost certainly apply to all DOT regulated offshore pipelines. Their applicability to DOI/producer pipelines is less certain. Of course, very little is clear and consistent in US offshore pipeline regulation.)

As one would expect, the recent Huntington Beach pipeline spill is among the incidents cited in the justification for this regulation. More surprisingly, the Santa Barbara well blowout was also cited. This incident occurred 53 years ago, was the result of a reckless drilling program, and had nothing to do with production operations or pipelines.

As noted in a recent BOE post, the regulatory regime for offshore pipelines is badly in need of overhaul. DOT and DOI, with inconsistent jurisdictional boundaries, regulations, and approaches, have primary responsibility and multiple regulatory entities have roles.

Lastly, PHMSA seems to have inadvertently posted a highlighted copy of the new regulation. Nothing at all scandalous (looks like someone was highlighting potential talking points), but possibly amusing to other regulation nerds. 😃

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Appeals court reinstates vaccine mandate. Supreme Court next. Will the mandate cause oilfield workers to quit?

Posted in energy, Health, Regulation, tagged , , on December 18, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Vaccine mandate revived.

WSJ story on oilfield workers. Highlights:

  • Many oil workers are skeptical of the mandate and have warned they will quit
  • Ann Fox, chief executive of Nine Energy Service estimates that <15% of the company’s field workers are vaccinated.
  • Justin Clark, a field services manager understands why workers resist:

“I don’t like to be forced to do anything. I almost want to just do the opposite when someone tells me, in that manner, you’ve got to do this.”

WSJ

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New York City and other cities ban natural gas in new buildings while 20+ states now bar such bans

Posted in climate, energy policy, natural gas, Regulation, tagged , on December 17, 2021| Leave a Comment »

It’s a great country! 😃

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What did OSHA do when the 5th Circuit stayed implementation of their mandatory vaccine standard?

Posted in Health, Regulation, tagged , on December 10, 2021| Leave a Comment »

They extended the comment period. (Only an old regulator would find this amusing. Love OSHA’s panache 😃)

The ETS on Vaccination and Testing was published in the Federal Register on November 5, 2021. The ETS also acts as a proposal for a permanent standard and OSHA has decided to extend the comment period for that rule by 45 days. Written comments on any aspect of the ETS must now be submitted by January 19, 2022

OSHA

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DOI Report on the Federal Oil and Gas Leasing Program (11/26/2021)

Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged , , , , , on November 29, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Observations and comments on the offshore findings and recommendations in the Dept. of the Interior’s report:

  • From an offshore perspective, this report is more moderate than expected. No major complaints.
  • The report was issued the Friday after Thanksgiving. Was there a desire to minimize attention?
  • The report does not include a recommendation on raising royalty rates. DOI will continue to study such actions (prudent decision).
  • BSEE estimates current liability for “orphaned infrastructure” at only $65 million. They must be using a very narrow definition of orphaned infrastructure.
  • “Financial assurance coverage should be strengthened.” (Few would argue with that statement.)
  • “BSEE and BOEM will carefully consider comments on the 2020 proposed financial assurance rule.” (Deja vu? Expect a long, slow process.)
  • BOEM will establish a “fitness to operate standard.” Comments: (1) This is an old concept that has proven to be difficult to execute. Hold companies accountable, make them demonstrate financial assurance, and don’t pander to bad actors (see the case of Hogan and Houchin) (2) Why is BOEM establishing this standard and not BSEE, the safety bureau? (The division of responsibilities between BOEM and BSEE has created serious overlap, inefficiency, and confusion and needs to be addressed.)
  • “BOEM should consider advancing alternatives to the practice of area-wide leasing.” Tract selection makes sense in frontier areas with little operational history. It would have been perfect for the Mid- or South Atlantic or the EGoM, all of which were cynically removed from future leasing consideration by the previous President just before the 2020 election. The Central and Western Gulf of Mexico is too mature for a return to tract selection; employing that approach after 40 years of area-wide leasing is likely to generate less revenue and production.

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Almost 15 years ago, the first US offshore CCS Project was proposed for the Atlantic

Posted in CCS, energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged , , , on November 22, 2021| Leave a Comment »

The plan was for SCS Energy’s PurGen One plant in Linden, NJ to burn coal to generate electricity and produce fertilizer. SCS proposed to inject 90% of the CO2 into subsurface reservoirs 70 miles offshore. The project faced strong opposition and was ultimately nixed by the State. The plan had been presented to the Federal offshore regulator (MMS), but the company was advised that there was no legal framework for disposing CO2 beneath the OCS.

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Often attempted in industry and government, but seldom successfully executed 😃

Posted in energy policy, Regulation, Uncategorized, tagged on November 15, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Legal engineer | Feature | Law Gazette
Law Society Gazette

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OSHA vaccine mandate on ice

Posted in hurricanes, Regulation, tagged , , on November 7, 2021| Leave a Comment »

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted an emergency stay of the requirement by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration that those workers be vaccinated by Jan. 4 or face mask requirements and weekly tests.

NPR

This court action was completely predictable from the outset. OSHA no doubt knew this but had no option but to dedicate substantial resources to the task. In all likelihood, the ETS/regulation will never be finalized.

Many (probably most) proposed regulations are never completed. Others never get beyond the concept stage. Establishing an OSHA rule takes an average of 7 years. That is not at all atypical for Federal regulators. There are much better ways to accomplish the regulatory objectives as was demonstrated after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. Unfortunately our political system frowns on collaborative approaches so we do things the hard way – accomplishing much less in much more time and at a far greater cost.

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Vaccination mandate: feeling OSHA’s pain (sort of)

Posted in Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged , , , on November 5, 2021| Leave a Comment »

  • Executive Branch fiats don’t work in this country (and we can be thankful for that), but those in power sometimes don’t get that (or don’t care). Fortunately, we (MMS) weren’t tasked with many political rules, largely to the credit of our leadership.
  • OSHA had done a good job of reinventing itself and improving its reputation and image. Now this.
  • OSHA has a no-win assignment: issue a complex rule disguised as an Emergency Temporary Standard (a convenient regulatory hook that is being challenged legally).
  • This is a very labor intensive exercise for OSHA. The 490 page rule standard that was issued today is just the beginning.
  • Well managed companies should have already developed a policy that best serves their business interest and fully considers the needs of customers and employees.
  • The OSHA directive takes the lagging companies off the hook. Rather than actually managing, corporate execs can simply point to the government directive.
  • It looks like enforcement falls on the companies which “must maintain a record and a roster of each employee’s vaccination status.”
  • OSHA is a bit late to the party. BSEE has been collaboratively working COVID issues with the offshore industry for nearly 2 years. Will they now be asked to inspect facility COVID records and enforce the OSHA mandate?
  • For the record, 100% of BOE’s employees are thrice vaccinated for COVID (initial Pfizer doses plus the booster).😃

The legal challenges are already in motion, and the arguments are compelling:

“The order is unconscionable. OSHA does not know how to run our companies. We do,” said Steve Fettig, Secretary and Treasurer of Tankcraft and Plasticraft. “OSHA does not know how to keep our employees safe. We do. And we have done so successfully since the start of the pandemic without the interference of a federal bureaucracy. We respect our employees’ fundamental right to make their own private, difficult medical choices.”

Milwaukee Journal

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