GAO Report Released: Interior’s Reorganization Complete, but Challenges Remain in Implementing New Requirements

Recently the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its report, titled
Interior’s Reorganization Complete, but Challenges Remain in Implementing New Requirement GAO-12-423 (July 30, 2012). This 143 page report, available here, was conducted by the GAO in the wake of the Deepwater Drilling incident in order to:

assess[ ] (1) Interior’s reorganization of its oversight of offshore oil and gas activities; (2) how key policy changes Interior has implemented since this incident have affected Interior’s environmental analyses, plan reviews, and drilling permit reviews; (3) the extent to which Interior’s inspections of drilling rigs and production platforms in the Gulf identify violations or result in civil penalty assessments; (4) when stakeholders provided input to Interior on proposed oil and gas activities, and the extent which they believe Interior considered their concerns; and (5) key challenges, if any, Interior faces in overseeing offshore oil and gas activities in the Gulf.

Based on its research the GAO recommended that the Department of the Interior improve the efficacy of its inspections with the "timely input of violation correction data, its capacity for categorizing oil and gas activities according to risk, and its strategic planning for information technology and workforce efforts."