Interior, Coast Guard forge agreement on oil spill planning and response

The Interior Department and U.S. Coast Guard have inked a formal agreement that lays out their roles and collaboration in offshore oil spill preparation and response, a step that comes ahead of the two-year anniversary of the BP disaster.

The “memorandum of agreement” signed April 3 between Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and the Coast Guard addresses inspections, training, response to accidents and other matters.

The agencies share jurisdiction in regulating offshore oil-and-gas activities, but the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill laid bare the need for better federal and industry accident preparation.

“This agreement with the Coast Guard allows us to continue this close working relationship, strengthening our coordinated efforts to protect the environment and workers offshore each and every day,” said BSEE Deputy Director Margaret N. Schneider in a statement.

The agreement arrives almost two years after the April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon disaster that killed 11 workers and dumped several million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

The accident prompted a major overhaul of Interior’s long-troubled offshore drilling regulation and led to tougher rules around safety, spill response and other matters.

The Coast Guard has also bolstered its inspection efforts.

The new memorandum is available here.