U.S. Minerals Management Service plans to give Outer Continental Shelf operators another year to fine tune their safety and environmental management programs (SEMPs).
MMS introduced the SEMP concept in July 1991. It tries to prevent the exploration and production accidents caused by human and organizational error, rather than relying on additional regulations that focus on hardware and engineering.
SEMP initiative
MMS launched the SEMP initiative after two studies showed MMS' traditional, prescriptive regulatory approach had caused OCS operators to concentrate more on complying with existing rules than systematically identifying and mitigating all risks posed by their operations.
The agency said technological advances have provided industry with such reliable equipment that most accidents now are due to human or organizational failures.
An MMS official said, "We want to approach our relationship with the offshore industry more as a partner than a policeman. We need to create an atmosphere where the primary concern is to fix the problem, not the blame."
MMS said, "Implementation of SEMP squarely places the responsibility for protection of people, facilities, and the environment on the shoulders of OCS operators."
The concept is no longer a radical one. The International Maritime Organization, International Exploration and Production Forum, and U.S. Coast Guard have been promoting similar programs to reduce the human element in accidents.
After MMS proposed the program, OCS operators asked if they could help develop it. MMS joined with an industry committee to refine the concept under the sponsorship of the American Petroleum Institute.
Their recommendations were published in May 1993 as API's Recommended Practice 75. MMS said it "generally captured the agency's perception of what a SEMP should contain."
MMS then agreed to give OCS operators 2 years to voluntarily adopt RP75, deferring its regulatory activity related to SEMP issues for that period.
Now that the moratorium has expired, MMS does not think it has sufficient information yet to determine the eventual success of a voluntary SEMP program and will continue to assess industry progress during the next 12 months.
Survey results
MMS conducted a survey in January with API and other industry groups that represented 95% of OCS operators and 99% of OCS production.
It said the study showed "OCS operators as a whole are well on their way to implementing SEMP plans that they have been developing during the past 2 years.
"If progress is maintained, MMS expects that many of these companies' SEMP plans will be fully implemented in the field within the next 2 years."
Meanwhile, MMS plans to urge companies to adopt or speed their SEMP plans, develop ways to measure SEMP performance, and seek further regulatory reform for "companies that conscientiously develop, implement, and undertake to improve SEMPs. "
Copyright 1996 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.
