The Bureau’s mission is to manage the ocean 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.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE), a bureau in the U.S. Department of the Interior, is the Federal agency that manages the nation's natural gas, oil and other mineral resources on the outer continental shelf (OCS). It also collects, accounts for and disburses an average of $13.7 billion per year in revenues from Federal offshore mineral leases and from onshore mineral leases on Federal and American Indian lands. The program is national in scope and is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

The Bureau is comprised of two major programs: Offshore Energy and Minerals Management and Minerals Revenue Management. The Offshore program, which manages the mineral resources on the OCS, is comprised of three regions: Alaska, Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific.

Contact

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement
Chief of Public Affairs
1849 C Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20240
(202) 208-3985 (phone)

(The BOEMRE home page offers a Directory of Key BOEMRE Officials.)

OCS Regional Offices

• Gulf of Mexico OCS Region
• Alaska OCS Region
• Pacific OCS Region

Produced Water Management Practices and Applicable Regulations

The BOEMRE regulations governing oil and gas operations in the OCS are codified at 30 CFR Part 250 (Oil and Gas and Sulphur Operations in the Outer Continental Shelf). Notices to Lessees (NTLs) clarify, describe, or interpret offshore regulations or standards. NTLs also may provide guidelines on special lease stipulations, explain the Bureau's interpretation of requirements, or transmit administrative information. There are two types of NTLs — those issued at the regional level, pertinent to a particular region, and those issued nationally that are effective nationwide for all BOEMRE regions. The Gulf of Mexico OCS Region (GOMR) has published NTL No. 2009-G35, Guidelines for the Sub-Seabed Disposal and Offshore Storage of Solid Wastes.

In U.S. offshore areas, operators may inject produced water that originates on the OCS into injection wells, covered by the E&P exemption under RCRA. Each application for underground injection must be authorized on a case-by-case basis by the BOEMRE (see 30 CFR §250.300(b)(2)).

Injection Criteria — If operators plan to inject produced waters through underground injection wells for purposes of disposal, the receiving formation (1) must be located below the deepest underground source of drinking water, (2) must be isolated above and below by shale layers, and (3) may not contain any producing wells. Operators must demonstrate that injection wells have mechanical integrity. In contrast to disposal operations, reinjection of produced water for enhanced recovery is considered part of processing not subject to the NTL. BOEMRE officials note that most produced water is discharged overboard (subject to all applicable requirements) and that enhanced recovery operations are in the majority of cases conducted through gas injection.

Other
Following the large oil spill from BP’s Macondo platform in April 2010, the Minerals Management Service was reorganized into the new BOEMRE. BOEMRE is evaluating revisions to its overall program. Regulatory requirements relating to drilling wastes may be changed. Readers are encouraged to check the BOEMRE website or to contact one of the regional BOEMRE offices to get up-to-date revisions.