Salazar: Nix Agency Overseeing Offshore Drilling
The Obama administration is proposing to abolish the beleaguered agency that oversees offshore drilling and replace it with three separate entities.
The plan by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar would eliminate the Minerals Management Service and replace it with two bureaus and a revenue collection office. The name Minerals Management Service would no longer exist.
One bureau would inspect oil rigs and enforce safety regulations, another would oversee development of offshore drilling. A third office would collect billions of dollars in royalties for onshore and offshore drilling.
The minerals agency has long been accused of being too cozy with the oil and natural gas industry.
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