View source for Minerals Management Service

{{Short description|Former United States government agency}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2012}}
{{Infobox government agency
|agency_name   = Minerals Management Service
|seal          = Minerals management service seal.PNG
|seal_width    = 
|headquarters  = [[Washington, D.C.]]
|formed        = {{Start date|1982|01|19}}
|dissolved     = {{End date|2011|10|01}}
|superseding   = [[Bureau of Ocean Energy Management]]<br/>[[Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement]]<br/>[[Office of Natural Resources Revenue]]
|coordinates   = 
|employees     = 1,614 (2009)
|budget        = {{US$|310 million}} (2009)
|parent_agency = {{nowrap|[[United States Department of the Interior|Department of the Interior]]}}
|chief1_name     = [[Michael Bromwich]]
|chief1_position = Director (June 15, 2010 – October 1, 2011)
|footnotes     =<ref name=2010budgjust>{{Cite report |title=Budget Justifications and Performance Information, Fiscal Year 2010: Minerals Management Service |url=http://www.mms.gov/adm/PFD/2010BudgetJustification.pdf |author=Materials Management Service |year=2010 |publisher=United States Department of the Interior |access-date=April 17, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706022746/http://www.mms.gov/adm/PFD/2010BudgetJustification.pdf |archive-date=July 6, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}  See Table 1, page 13.  Figure for 2008 was ~$297 million; proposal for 2010 was ~$347 million.</ref><ref name=contactus>{{cite web |url=http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/newweb/contactus.htm |title=Contact Us |at=The News Room |publisher=Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement |access-date=April 17, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110418231351/http://www.boemre.gov/ooc/newweb/contactus.htm |archive-date=April 18, 2011 |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref name=mmsoverview/>
}}

The '''Minerals Management Service''' ('''MMS''') was an agency of the [[United States Department of the Interior]] that managed the nation's natural gas, oil and other mineral resources on the [[outer continental shelf]] (OCS).<ref name=SO3302>{{Citation |last=Salazar |first=Ken |author-link=Ken Salazar |title=Secretarial Order Nº 3302 |format=PDF |access-date=June 28, 2010 |url=http://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&PageID=35872 |date=June 18, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100627173826/http://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/loader.cfm?csModule=security%2Fgetfile&PageID=35872 |archive-date=June 27, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref name="BOEMRE">{{cite press release
 |title=Salazar Swears in Michael R. Bromwich to Lead Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement 
 |publisher=Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement 
 |date=June 21, 2010 
 |url=http://www.mms.gov/ooc/press/2010/press0621.htm 
 |access-date=April 17, 2010 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100626003005/http://www.mms.gov/ooc/press/2010/press0621.htm 
 |archive-date=June 26, 2010 
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Ed O'Keefe |at=Federal Eye |format=blog posting
 |url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/federal-eye/2010/06/salazar_swears_in_new_boss_at.html
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110302174845/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/federal-eye/2010/06/salazar_swears_in_new_boss_at.html
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-date=March 2, 2011
 |date=June 21, 2010 |access-date=2010-06-21 |newspaper=Washington Post |title=Salazar swears in new boss at <s>MMS</s> BOEMRE
 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mms.gov/aboutmms/ |title=About the Minerals Management Service
 |work=Minerals Management Service |publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior |access-date=June 10, 2010
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100701031314/http://www.mms.gov/aboutmms/ |archive-date=July 1, 2010
 }}</ref><ref name=about>{{cite web |url=http://www.boemre.gov/aboutBOEMRE/ |title=About BOEMRE |work=Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement |publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior |access-date=April 17, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110418231344/http://www.boemre.gov/aboutBOEMRE/ |archive-date=April 18, 2011 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

Due to perceived [[conflict of interest]] and poor regulatory oversight following the [[Deepwater Horizon oil spill]] and [[Office of the Inspector General|Inspector General]] investigations, Secretary of the Interior [[Ken Salazar]] issued a secretarial order on May 19, 2010, splitting MMS into three new federal agencies: the [[Bureau of Ocean Energy Management]], the [[Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement]], and the [[Office of Natural Resources Revenue]].<ref name="SO3299">
{{Citation|last=Salazar|first=Ken|author-link=Ken Salazar|title=Secretarial Order Nº 3299|url=http://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&PageID=32475|format=PDF|access-date=May 21, 2010|date=May 19, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100520165825/http://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/loader.cfm?csModule=security%2Fgetfile&PageID=32475|archive-date=May 20, 2010|df=mdy-all}}</ref> MMS was temporarily renamed the '''Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement''' ('''BOEMRE''') during this reorganization before being formally dissolved on October 1, 2011.

Headquartered in [[Washington, DC]],<ref name=contactus/> the Agency received most of its revenue from leasing [[federal lands]] and waters to oil and natural gas companies with a profit margin of 98%.<ref name="politifact.com">{{cite news |access-date=April 17, 2011
 |url=http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/may/06/darrell-issa/issa-says-oil-royalties-trail-only-taxes-generalti/
 |title=Issa says oil royalties trail only taxes in generating revenue for the federal government
 |at=[[PolitiFact.com]] |newspaper=[[St. Petersburg Times]] |location=[[St. Petersburg, Florida]]
 }}</ref>  It was among the top five revenue sources to the federal government, the IRS being number one.<ref name="politifact.com"/>  As the MMS (before transition to BOEMRE), the Agency's signature feature according to an informational trifold was that it had "become our Nation's leader in offshore energy development and the collection of royalties on behalf of the American Public."<ref name=mmsoverview>{{cite web |url=http://www.boemre.gov/jobs/Assets/PDF/MMSOverview.pdf |title=The Minerals Management Service |publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior |format=PDF; trifold |access-date=April 17, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100722084843/http://www.boemre.gov/jobs/Assets/PDF/MMSOverview.pdf |archive-date=July 22, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>  With respect to enforcement of regulations and safety, this same publication indicated that the "MMS also funds advanced scientific studies and enforces the highest safety and environmental standards."<ref name=mmsoverview/>  The Agency's [[mission statement]] was put more formally in its 2010 Budget Proposal:<ref name=2010budgjust/>

{{quote|text=MMS's mission is to manage the energy and mineral resources on the Outer Continental Shelf and Federal and American Indian mineral revenues to enhance public and trust benefits, promote responsible use, and realize fair value.}}

==History==
{{further|#Criticism and controversies}}
The Minerals Management Service was created on January 19, 1982.<ref name=mmsoverview/>  In January 1983, Congress passed the [[Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act]] with the stated purpose:<ref name=royaltymngtact1982>{{cite web |url=http://www.mrm.mms.gov/Laws_R_D/PubLaws/PDFDocs/97-451.pdf |access-date=April 17, 2011 |title=Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982 |author=97th United States Congress |author-link=97th United States Congress |date=January 12, 1983 |work=96 STAT. 2447 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527175653/http://www.mrm.mms.gov/Laws_R_D/PubLaws/PDFDocs/97-451.pdf |archive-date=May 27, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

{{quote|text=To ensure that all oil and gas originated on the public lands and on the Outer Continental Shelf are properly accounted for under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, and for other purposes.}}

The Secretary of the Interior at the time, [[James G. Watt]], designated MMS as the administrative agency responsible for execution of activities under the Act.<ref>{{cite web |title=OCS Lands Act History |access-date=April 17, 2011 |url=http://www.boemre.gov/aboutBOEMRE/OCSLA/ocslahistory.htm |work=Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement |publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110420185419/http://www.boemre.gov/aboutBOEMRE/OCSLA/ocslahistory.htm |archive-date=April 20, 2011 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

With the passage of the [[Energy Policy Act of 2005]], MMS was given authority to develop renewable energy projects, such as wave, wind and current energy, on the Outer Continental Shelf.<ref name=mmsoverview/>  As of 2010, the agency was composed of two operating units, the MRM and OEMM.<ref name=2010budgjust/>
* Offshore Energy and Minerals Management (OEMM) – Under the guidance of the 1953 [[Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act]], the OEMM managed energy and mineral development in over 1.71 billion offshore acres of the [[Outer Continental Shelf]] (OCS) and annually disburses to the [[U.S. Treasury]] expected of $5 billion in minerals revenue in 2010.<ref name=2010budgjust/>
* Minerals Revenue Management (MRM) – Through the MRM program, the agency collected, accounted for, and disbursed mineral revenues from federal and American Indian leases.
The agency's offshore renewable energy program included development of renewable energy, such as wind, wave, and solar.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.saveoursound.org/site/PageServer?pagename=CapeWind_Threats_PermitProcess 
 |title=Cape Wind Threats: Permit Process 
 |publisher=Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound 
 |year=2007 
 |access-date=2007-12-05 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013142206/http://www.saveoursound.org/site/PageServer?pagename=CapeWind_Threats_PermitProcess 
 |archive-date=October 13, 2007 
 |url-status=dead 
}}</ref>

Since its inception in 1982 through [[Fiscal year#United States|FY]]2008, the agency had disbursed approximately $200 billion to federal, state, and American Indian accounts.<ref name=2010budgjust/>

On June 21, 2010, the Minerals Management Service was renamed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement and reorganized.<ref name=BOEMRE/>

==Operations==
As of 2009, the Agency employed about 1,600 people, which was proposed to grow by less than one hundred in 2010.<ref name=2010budgjust/>

===Organization===
The BOEMRE was reorganized in May 2010 under the direction of Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar following the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The bureau is organized into these three newly created agencies:<ref name=BOEMRE/><ref name=SO3299/>

* [[Bureau of Ocean Energy Management]] – Responsible for leasing areas of the Outer Continental Shelf for conventional and renewable energy resources.
* [[Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement]] – Responsible for ensuring comprehensive oversight, safety, and environmental protection in all offshore energy activities.
* [[Office of Natural Resources Revenue]] – Responsible for royalty and revenue management, including collection and distribution of revenue, auditing and compliance, and asset management.<ref>[http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-oil-spill-20100520,0,710625.story Interior secretary orders division of federal oil regulator] ([[Los Angeles Times]], May 19, 2010)</ref>

==Criticism and controversies==
{{See also|United States Department of the Interior#Controversy|l1=Department of the Interior Controversies}}
Since the inception of the MMS, and in particular since the 1990s, the Agency has been embroiled or implicated in numerous scandals.  For example, in 1990 MMS employees were linked to prostitution,<ref name=nprjb20110414>{{cite news
 |title=Sex Scandal At Federal Agency Is Not New |author=Jeff Brady |author-link=Jeff Brady (reporter)
 |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94525281 |format=radio program transcript
 |publisher=[[NPR]] |date=September 11, 2008 |at=All Things Considered |access-date=April 17, 2011 }}</ref> and in 2008 the Department of Interior's Inspector General reported that MMS employees had participated in drug use and sexual activity with employees from the very energy firms they were to be regulating.<ref name=wapo529>{{cite news |author=Juliet Eilperin |author2=Madonna Lebling
 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/28/AR2010052804599.html?hpid=topnews
 |title=MMS's troubled past |date=May 29, 2010 |newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=May 30, 2010 }}</ref>

=== Collection of oil and gas royalties ===
{{more citations needed section|date=April 2011}}
[[File:Earl E. Devaney.jpg|thumb|200px|Inspector General [[Earl Devaney]] gave testimony on his investigation of the MMS gifts scandal: "I think there is a bar &#91;''against corporations offering gifts''&#93;, but I think in this case a decision was made at the Department of Justice ... to approach the oil and gas people in a different way."<ref>[http://www.c-spanarchives.org/program/ID/195000&start=2933&end=7733 testimony] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313114211/http://www.c-spanarchives.org/program/ID/195000%26start%3D2933%26end%3D7733 |date=March 13, 2012 }}</ref>]]
From the 1950s to at least 2002, drilling for oil and gas on federal lands and waters produced the second largest source of revenue for the federal government other than taxes.<ref>{{citation |date=July 2004 |publisher=United States Department of Interior, Minerals Management Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region |location=[[New Orleans]] |title=Interim Report on the History of the Offshore Oil and Gas Industry in Southern Louisiana |url=http://www.gomr.boemre.gov/homepg/regulate/environ/studies/2004/2004-049.pdf |page=30 |author=Diane Austin |author2=Bob Carriker |author3=Tom McGuire |author4=Joseph Pratt |author5=Tyler Priest |author6=Allan G. Pulsipher |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721032940/http://www.gomr.boemre.gov/homepg/regulate/environ/studies/2004/2004-049.pdf |archive-date=July 21, 2011 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>  The Minerals Revenue Management (MRM) division of MMS was responsible for managing all royalties associated with both onshore and offshore oil and gas production from federal mineral leases.  In 1997, in light of evidence that industry was getting around royalty regulations and underpaying royalties to the tune of billions of dollars,<ref>{{cite news |title=Feds neglect to collect billions from big oil |author=Scott Hiaasen
 |author2=Curtis Morgan |url=http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/22/1643510/feds-neglect-to-collect-billions.html
 |newspaper=Miami Herald |publisher=McClatchy |date=May 22, 2010 |access-date=April 17, 2011 |quote=Along with lax enforcement of safety rules, the agency that regulates drilling has failed to collect billions in fees
 }}</ref>  MMS proposed a more stringent rule to collect [[Royalties#Non-renewable resource royalties|royalty payments in value (RIV)]], meaning in the form of cash payments from companies producing from federal leases.  In response to that rule-making, industry proposed an alternative—"royalty-in-kind" (RIK) meaning in the form of actual oil or gas production.  In fact, the industry opposed cash payments (RIV) and planned legal challenges to government efforts to establish regulations for fair market-based royalty payments.<ref name=api20010320>{{citation |date=March 20, 2001 |access-date=2010-05-13
 |author=Jim Ford |publisher=[[American Petroleum Institute]] |title=Appendix D: Memo from Jim Ford, Federal Relations Director of the American Petroleum Institute to Vice President Cheney's Energy Task Force
 |url= http://pogoarchives.org/m/nr/rik/appendix-d-20010320.pdf }}</ref>  A pilot test of the RIK concept was conducted.  The Bush administration allowed the pilot to expand to a full program, with industry support,<ref name=api20010320/> even though the bill authorizing the program failed to pass in Congress.  In FY2008, the RIK program accounted for more than 50% of the Agency's revenue collections.<ref name=bloom2009-09-16>{{cite news |title=Oil, Gas Royalty-In-Kind Program to End, Salazar Says
 |author=Daniel Whitten |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=amtN_wUEgr2o |agency=Bloomberg
 |publisher=Bloomberg |date=September 16, 2010 |access-date=2010-05-14
 }}</ref><ref name=eenews2009-09-14>{{cite news |author=Ben Geman
 |title=Oil And Gas: Royalty-in-kind oversight problems costing millions in revenue — GAO |location=[[Washington, D.C.]]
 |url=http://www.eenews.net/public/eenewspm/2009/09/14/4 |publisher=Environment and Energy (E&E) Publishing
 |date=September 14, 2009 |newspaper=E&E News PM |access-date=2010-05-13 }}</ref>  When MRM collected royalties-in-kind, the oil or gas received from producers was offered for sale by the U.S. Government on the open market and the proceeds from these sales were taken as revenues.<ref name=eenews2009-09-14/>  The RIK program within MRM was responsible for managing these in-kind sales.<ref name=OIG2008-08-07>{{citation|date=August 7, 2008 |access-date=2010-05-13 |publisher=Department of Interior, Office of Inspector General |title=Investigative Report: Gregory W. Smith |url=http://www.doioig.gov/upload/Smith%20REDACTED%20FINAL_080708%20Final%20with%20transmittal%209_10%20date.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100522182317/http://www.doioig.gov/upload/Smith%20REDACTED%20FINAL_080708%20Final%20with%20transmittal%209_10%20date.pdf |archive-date=May 22, 2010 }}</ref>

In 2003, the [[General Accounting Office]] (GAO) noted that the MMS had failed to develop "clear strategic objectives linked to statutory requirements nor collected the necessary information to effectively monitor and evaluate the Royalty-in-Kind Program".<ref>The name "General Accounting Office" is being used here rather than the new name "Government Accountability Office" because that change did not take place until 2004.</ref><ref name=GAO3296>{{citation |id=GAO-03-296 |access-date=2010-05-13 |publisher=General Accounting Office |date=January 2003
 |title=Mineral Revenues: A More Systematic Evaluation of the Royalty-in-kind Pilots is Needed
 |url=http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03296.pdf |type=Report to Congressional Requesters}}</ref>  From 2003 to 2008, the GAO consistently challenged the legitimacy of the statistics published by the MMS that it used to support its claims that the RIK program was a success and justify its expansion.<ref name=GAO3296/><ref name=GAO04448>{{citation |id=GAO-04-448
 |publisher=General Accounting Office |date=April 2004 |type=Report to Congressional Requesters |title=Mineral Revenues: Cost and Revenue Information Needed to Compare Different Approaches for Collecting Federal and Gas Royalties
 |url=http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04448.pdf |access-date=April 17, 2011
 }}</ref><ref name=GAO07682>{{citation |publisher=General Accounting Office |id=GAO-07-682T |access-date=2010-05-13
 |title=Royalties Collection: Ongoing Problems with Interior's Efforts to Ensure A Fair Return for Taxpayers Require Attention
 |type=Testimony Before Committee on Natural Resources, U.S. House of Representatives |date=March 28, 2007
 |url=http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d07682t.pdf
 }}</ref><ref>{{citation |publisher=General Accounting Office |id=GAO-08-560T |access-date=2010-05-13
 |title=Mineral Revenues: Data Management Problems and Reliance on Self-Reported Data for Compliance Efforts Put MMS Royalty Collections at Risk
 |type=Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, Committee on Natural Resources, House of Representatives
 |date=March 11, 2008 |page=4 |url=http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08560t.pdf
 }}</ref>  Deficits in accounting practices, policies and procedures, and information systems used by the MMS led to concerns that the industry was significantly underpaying on their royalty obligations.<ref name=GAO09744/>  Computer systems in use by the Agency were considered to be sufficiently inadequate that a failure to report revenue or provide RIK by an industry member could not be reliably detected.<ref name=GAO08893R>{{citation |publisher=Government Accountability Office |id=GAO-08-893R |page=5
 |title=Mineral Revenues: Data Management Problems and Reliance on Self-Reported Data for Compliance Efforts Put MMS Royalty Collections at Risk
 |url=http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08893r.pdf |date=September 12, 2008 |access-date=2010-05-14 }}</ref>  For instance, the GAO estimated that underpayments amounted to ~$160 million USD in 2006.<ref name=bloom2009-09-16/>  The GAO also disputed the practice of tracking oil and gas RIK deliveries on a monthly rather than daily basis, a practice used by the MMS and supported by the Department of the Interior, but potentially prone to abuse by producers.<ref name=eenews2009-09-14/><ref name=GAO09744>{{citation |publisher=General Accounting Office |id=GAO-09-744 |access-date=April 18, 2011 |type=Report to Congressional Requesters |date=August 2009
 |title=Royalty-in-Kind Program: MMS Does Not Provide Reasonable Assurance It Receives Its Share of Gas, Resulting in Millions in Forgone Revenue
 |url=http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09744.pdf
 }}</ref>  Other contributing factors to the placing the accuracy of revenue streams at risk were insufficiently trained personnel and insufficient numbers of personnel working in the RIK program and a lack of standard reporting method by industry members, leading to manual rather than computer-based processing of more than half of the data required for RIK data inputs.<ref name=GAO09744/>

Citing its scandals and the persistent incapacity of the RIK program to fulfill its statutory obligations, Interior Secretary Salazar announced in September 2009 that the RIK program would be shut down.  Due to existing lease contracts with RIK provisions, the program as of 2010 is still winding down.<ref name=bloom2009-09-16/>  On October 7, 2009, the U.S. House Oversight Committee reported the loss of billions in revenue resulting from MMS mismanagement and cozy relationships with industry officials.<ref name=wapo529/> According to [[Darrell Issa]], the top Republican on the [[United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform]], there may be a conflict of interest for the Minerals Management Service to collect revenue and also oversee safety.

=== Gifts, gratuities and the revolving door ===
In September 2008, reports by the Inspector General of the Interior Department, [[Earl E. Devaney]], were released that implicated over a dozen officials of the MMS of unethical and criminal conduct in the performance of their duties. The investigation found MMS employees had used cocaine and marijuana, and had sex with energy company representatives. MMS staff had also accepted gifts and free holidays amid "a culture of ethical failure", according to the investigation.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/10/AR2008091001829.html |title=Report Says Oil Agency Ran Amok: Interior Dept. Inquiry Finds Sex, Corruption |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=2008-09-11 | first1=Derek | last1=Kravitz | date=September 11, 2008}}</ref>  The New York Times's summary states the investigation revealed "a dysfunctional organization that has been riddled with conflicts of interest, unprofessional behavior and a free-for-all atmosphere for much of the Bush administration's watch."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/11/washington/11royalty.html |title=Sex, Drug Use and Graft Cited in Interior Department |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=2008-09-11 | first=Charlie | last=Savage | date=September 11, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/52243.html |title=Oil companies gave sex, drinks, gifts to federal overseers |publisher=McClatchy Newspapers |access-date=2008-09-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080912070321/http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/52243.html |archive-date=September 12, 2008 |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://media.mcclatchydc.com/smedia/2008/09/10/18/Gordon-OIG-Cover-Letter.source.prod_affiliate.91.pdf |title=Memorandum [cover letter by inspector general] |access-date=2008-09-11}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/investigative/documents/smith-080708.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080912203504/http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/investigative/documents/smith-080708.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2008-09-12 |title=Investigative Report of Gregory W. Smith (Redacted) |access-date=2008-09-11 | newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/investigative/documents/mmsoil-081908.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080912203507/http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/investigative/documents/mmsoil-081908.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2008-09-12 |title=Investigative Report of MMS Oil Marketing Group - Lakewood (Redacted) |access-date=2008-09-11 | newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/10/rik-ethics-rules |title=Government Officials Tried To Rewrite Ethics Rules To Accommodate Their Partying |website=[[ThinkProgress]] |access-date=2008-09-11}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/10/smith-cocaine |title=Official increased employee's 'performance award' for providing him with cocaine |website=[[ThinkProgress]] |access-date=2008-09-11}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/14/oil.whistleblower/index.html|title=Whistleblower: Oil watchdog agency 'cult of corruption'|last=Simon|first=Dan|author2=David Fitzpatrick|date=October 14, 2008|publisher=[[CNN.com]]|access-date=2008-10-15}}</ref>

A May 2010 inspector general investigation revealed that MMS regulators in the Gulf region had allowed industry officials to fill in their own inspection reports in pencil and then turned them over to the regulators, who traced over them in pen before submitting the reports to the agency. MMS staff had routinely accepted meals, tickets to sporting events, and gifts from oil companies.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/us/25mms.html Inspector General Faults Minerals Management Service (New York Times, May 24, 2010)]</ref> Staffers also used government computers to view pornography.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100528212454/http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hSsGsiZ18JYxHwuLGeC7Tu4T2nLwD9FTTNVG0 Salazar: IG drilling findings 'deeply disturbing' - Associated Press, 5/25/10]</ref> In 2009 the regional supervisor of the Gulf region for MMS pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a year's probation in federal court for lying about receiving gifts from an offshore drilling contractor. "This deeply disturbing report is further evidence of the cozy relationship between MMS and the oil and gas industry," Salazar said.<ref>[https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704026204575266112115488640 Regulators Accepted Gifts From Oil Industry, Report Says (Wall Street Journal, May 25, 2010)]</ref><ref>[https://abcnews.go.com/images/Politics/MMS_inspector_general_report_pdf.pdf Investigative Report, Office of Inspector General, U.S. Dept of Interior, May 25, 2010]</ref>

The [[Project On Government Oversight]] (POGO) alleges that MMS has suffered from a systemic [[revolving door (politics)|revolving door]] problem between the Department of Interior and the oil and gas industries.  For example, thirteen months after departing as MMS director, Bush appointee [[Randall Luthi]] became president of the [[National Oceans Industries Association]] (NOIA) whose mission is "to secure reliable access and a favorable regulatory and economic environment for the companies that develop the nation's valuable offshore energy resources in an environmentally responsible manner."<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.noia.org/website/article.asp?id=7|title=NOIA home page|publisher=National Oceans Industries Association|access-date=2010-05-13|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100511205832/http://www.noia.org/website/article.asp?id=7|archive-date=May 11, 2010|df=mdy-all}}</ref>  Luthi succeeded Tom Fry, who was MMS director under the Clinton administration.  Luthi and Fry represented precisely the industries their agency was tasked with being a watchdog over.<ref>{{citation| url= http://pogoblog.typepad.com/pogo/2010/04/mms-scandal-where-are-they-now-deepwater-horizon-edition.html| title=MMS Scandal: Where Are They Now? Deepwater Horizon Edition|date=April 30, 2010|access-date=2010-05-13|publisher=[[Project On Government Oversight]]|author=Mandy Smithberger}}</ref>  Lower level administrators influencing MMS have also gone on to work for the companies they once regulated:<ref>{{citation| url= http://www.pogo.org/pogo-files/reports/natural-resources/drilling-the-taxpayer/nr-rik-20080918.html#Revolving_Door| title=Drilling the Taxpayer: Department of Interior's Royalty-In-Kind Program|date=September 18, 2008|access-date=2010-05-13|publisher=[[Project On Government Oversight]]}}</ref> In addition,  Jimmy Mayberry served as Special Assistant to the Associate Director of Minerals Revenue Management (MRM), managed by MMS, from 2000 to January 2003.  After he left, he created an energy consulting company that was awarded an MMS contract via a rigged bid.  He was convicted along with a former MMS coworker Milton Dial who also came to work at the company.  Both were found guilty of felony violation of conflict of interest law.<ref>{{citation|publisher=Department of Interior, Office of Inspector General |title=Investigative Report: Federal Business Solutions Contracts |date=September 4, 2008 |url=http://www.doioig.gov/upload/FBS%20REDACTED%20with%20Transmittal%209_10%20date.pdf |access-date=2010-05-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100404005853/http://www.doioig.gov/upload/FBS%20REDACTED%20with%20Transmittal%209_10%20date.pdf |archive-date=April 4, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{citation|publisher=[[United States Department of Justice]]|title=Former Department of Interior Official Pleads Guilty to Conflict of Interest Charge|date=July 30, 2008 | url= http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2008/July/08-crm-672.html|access-date=2010-05-13}}</ref><ref>{{citation|publisher=[[United States Department of Justice]]|title=Former Department of Interior Official Pleads Guilty to Felony Violation of Post Employment Conflict Law|date=September 15, 2008 | url= http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2008/September/08-crm-818.html|access-date=2010-05-13}}</ref>

=== Deepwater Horizon catastrophe and restructuring ===
{{Main|Deepwater Horizon oil spill}}
[[File:Bromwich-director.jpg|thumb|[[United States Secretary of the Interior|Secretary of the Interior]] [[Ken Salazar]] swears in [[Michael Bromwich]] as the new director of the Bureau on June 21, 2010. Betsy Hildebrandt, Department of Interior Communications Director holds the [[Bible]].]]
On May 11, 2010, in response to the [[Deepwater Horizon oil spill]],  Secretary of the Interior [[Ken Salazar]] announced that MMS would be restructured so that the safety and environmental functions are carried out by a unit with full independence from MMS in order to ensure that federal inspectors will have more tools, resources, and greater authority to enforce laws and regulations that apply to oil and gas companies operating on the Outer Continental Shelf.<ref>{{citation|title=Salazar Launches Safety and Environmental Protection Reforms to Toughen Oversight of Offshore Oil and Gas Operations|publisher=Department of the Interior|date=May 11, 2010|url=http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/Salazar-Launches-Safety-and-Environmental-Protection-Reforms-to-Toughen-Oversight-of-Offshore-Oil-and-Gas-Operations.cfm|access-date=2010-05-13}}</ref> Another outcome of the spill was the retirement of the associate director for offshore energy and minerals management at the time of the spill, [[Chris Oynes]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Independent probe of BP oil spill in works |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212080936/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/17/AR2010051702123.html?hpid=topnews |archive-date=2023-02-12 |url-status=live |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/17/AR2010051702123.html?hpid=topnews}}</ref>

MMS's regulatory decisions contributing to the 2010 oil spill included, in negligence, the decision that an acoustically controlled shut-off valve ([[Blowout preventer|BOP]]) would not be required as a last resort against underwater spills at the site,<ref name="hous1">{{citation|url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/deepwaterhorizon/6996736.html|title= Critics blame energy lobby for lax safety rules|author=Richard S. Dunham|author2=Stewart Powell|publisher=Houston Chronicle|date=May 9, 2010|access-date=2010-05-13}}</ref> MMS's failure to suggest other "fail-safe" mechanisms after a 2004 report raised questions about the reliability of the electrical remote-control devices.,<ref name="hous1"/> and the fact that MMS gave permission to dozens of oil companies to drill in the Gulf of Mexico without first getting required permits from the [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]] that assess threats to endangered species and to assess the impact the drilling was likely to have on the gulf.<ref name="urbina2010-10-13">{{citation|author= Ian Urbina|access-date=2010-05-14|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/14/us/14agency.html?pagewanted=print|title= U.S. Said to Allow Drilling Without Needed Permits|work=New York Times|date=May 13, 2010}}</ref>

On May 19, 2010 Salazar announced that MMS will be broken up into three separate divisions, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, and the Office of Natural Resources Revenue, which will separately oversee energy leasing, safety enforcement, and revenue collection.<ref name="SO3299"/>

[[Elizabeth Birnbaum|S. Elizabeth (Liz) Birnbaum]] served as the Director of the then named Minerals Management Service from July 15, 2009 to her resignation on May 27, 2010 amidst the [[Deepwater Horizon oil spill]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100604073214/http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/0510/on_her_own_terms_94dd5a32-1a14-467b-ad1c-154046533adb.html Salazar on Birnbaum's resignation], Politico.com, Capital News Co., May 27, 2010</ref> On June 15, 2010 President Obama named [[Michael R. Bromwich]], a former federal prosecutor and [[inspector general]] for the Justice Department, to head up efforts to restructure BOEMRE. Bob Abbey, then director of the Bureau of Land Management, took over as Acting Director of BOEMRE until his replacement could be confirmed.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/06/16/16greenwire-interiors-new-oil-industry-watchdog-has-little-43108.html Interior's New Oil Industry Watchdog Has Little Energy Experience (New York Times, June 16, 2010)]</ref> Amidst efforts to reorganize the beleaguered agency, on June 21, 2010, Bromwich was sworn in as BOEMRE's new director, and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar issued a [[Secretarial Order]] that renamed the Minerals Management Service the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement.<ref name="BOEMRE"/>  Almost a year later, [[William K. Reilly]], who co-chaired the commission charged with investigating the Horizon blowout, was quoted as saying "they changed the name, but all the people are the same" and "it's embarrassing" in reference to the current situation.<ref>{{cite news |title=Regulation of Offshore Rigs Is a Work in Progress
 |author=John M. Broder |author2=Clifford Krauss |newspaper=New York Times |date=April 17, 2011 |access-date=April 17, 2011
 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/us/politics/17regulate.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2 |at=Politics }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|United States|Politics}}
*[[Regulatory capture]]
*[[Center for Biological Diversity]]
*[[Deep Water Royalty Relief Act]]
*[[Endangered Species Act]]
*[[Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972]]
*[[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]]
*[[Offshore oil and gas in the United States]]
*[[Worst Case Discharge]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
*{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/31/us/politics/31drill.html|title=Reforms Slow to Arrive at Drilling Agency|last=BRODER and|first=JOHN M.|author2=MICHAEL LUO|date=May 30, 2010|newspaper=New York Times|access-date=May 31, 2010}}
* {{cite web|title=Minerals Management Service |url=http://www.mms.gov/ |access-date=2005-11-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051126001158/http://www.mms.gov/ |archive-date=November 26, 2005 }}
* [http://www.pogo.org Project On Government Oversight]
* {{citation|work=New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/03/business/yourmoney/03whistle.html?ex=1322802000&en=e782d957e752a4b1&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss|title= Blowing the Whistle on Big Oil|date=December 3, 2006|access-date=2010-05-14 | first=Edmund L. | last=Andrews}}
* {{citation|publisher=Anderson Cooper 360 |url=http://www.pogo.org/m/ep/ep-CNN-01182007.pdf |title=Keeping Them Honest: Oil Royalties |date=January 18, 2007 |access-date=2010-05-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081030061211/http://www.pogo.org/m/ep/ep-CNN-01182007.pdf |archive-date=October 30, 2008 }} 
* {{citation|publisher=U.S. News & World Report|url=https://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/061210/18oil.htm|title= A billion here, a billion there|date= December 10, 2006|access-date=2010-05-14}}
* {{citation|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/06/AR2006050600905.htmlFirms|title= Harvesting Energy From Public Land May Owe U.S.|date=May 7, 2006}}{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
* {{citation|publisher=Miami Herald|url=http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/22/1643510/feds-neglect-to-collect-billions.htmlFirms|title= Feds neglect to collect billions from big oil: Along with lax enforcement of safety rules, the agency that regulates drilling has failed to collect billions in fees|date=May 22, 2010}}
* {{citation|publisher=PBS NOW|url=https://www.pbs.org/now/shows/224/index.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130415162505/http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/224/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 15, 2013|title= Crude Awakening|date=June 16, 2006}}
* {{citation |publisher=Minerals Management Service |url=http://www.mms.gov/revaldiv/PDFs/2006NationalAssessmentBrochure.pdf |title=Assessment of Undiscovered Technically Recoverable Oil and Gas Resources of the Nation's Outer Continental Shelf, 2006 |date=February 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080912205005/http://www.mms.gov/revaldiv/PDFs/2006NationalAssessmentBrochure.pdf |archive-date=September 12, 2008 |df=mdy-all }}

{{Presidency of Ronald Reagan}}
{{DOI agencies}}
{{ES Government}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Government agencies established in 1982]]
[[Category:United States Department of the Interior agencies]]
[[Category:Oil wells]]
[[Category:Deepwater Horizon oil spill]]
[[Category:Natural resources agencies in the United States]]
[[Category:Environmental agencies in the United States]]
[[Category:1982 establishments in the United States]]
[[Category:Government agencies disestablished in 2011]]
[[Category:2011 disestablishments in the United States]]