Coast Guard official chosen to police offshore drilling

U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. James A. Watson IV, who played a key role in the BP oil spill response, is moving to the Interior Department to run the newly launched Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).

The move will plunge Watson into the bruising politics of offshore drilling at a time when Republicans and industry groups are attacking the pace of drilling permits and other Interior decisions.

His arrival paves the way for the departure of Michael Bromwich, the former Justice Department official who oversaw the restructuring of Interior’s long-troubled offshore drilling oversight in the wake of the 2010 spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Watson — the Coast Guard’s director of prevention policy for marine safety, security and stewardship — served as the federal on-scene coordinator for the BP spill last year.

“Admiral Watson has the experience, leadership, and vision that BSEE needs to be successful in establishing and enforcing safety and environmental protections for offshore oil and gas operations,” said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in a statement. 

He will oversee the agency that handles permitting, enforcement of environmental and safety rules and other tasks.

“The safe and responsible production of oil and gas from our nation's oceans is vital to our energy security,” Watson said. “I look forward to leading the dedicated BSEE professionals to ensure each and every offshore operation is safe, secure, and environmentally sound.”

Salazar said in late September that the person to step into the role would need to be able to handle the heated politics that come with the turf, and Bromwich said some candidates had rejected the job due to the intense politics surrounding it. 

“Admiral Watson will bring to the job a distinguished record, a commitment to tough and fair-minded enforcement, and the determination to advance our reform agenda for the benefit of the American people and industry,” Salazar said.
 
Watson, who has also served as deputy commander of the Coast Guard Atlantic Area, will take over for Bromwich in December. Bromwich plans to remain with Interior through the end of December as a counselor to Salazar.

BSEE is one of two agencies that launched Oct. 1 (the other is the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management) that have replaced the former Minerals Management Service, the long-troubled agency that faced withering scrutiny of its oversight in the wake of the BP spill.

Interior last year began restructuring MMS and rebranded it the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, and also moved offshore revenue collections into another part of the department. The moves were part of an effort to end what Salazar called “inherently conflicting missions” at the old MMS.

Bromwich was brought in last year to oversee the overhaul and the beefing up of drilling safety rules in the wake of the BP disaster.

It was not immediately clear Monday what comes next for Bromwich, who was serving as BSEE director on an interim basis and was most recently a partner at Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson before joining Interior.

E2 profiled Bromwich here.

He said in a statement Monday that it has been a “profound honor and privilege” to serve at Interior for the past 17 months.

Bromwich added:

The challenges we faced at the outset were daunting, but we have made offshore exploration and production safer and more environmentally responsible than ever before. The work of strengthening offshore safety and environmental protection is not complete, and never will be. It is an ongoing project that will require continued vigilance on the part of government, industry and the public. I wish Admiral Watson, Secretary Salazar, and the men and women of BSEE the very best in addressing the important challenges that lie ahead.