G/TBT/N/USA/1205  
 
10 October 2016  
(16-5417) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
  NOTIFICATION  
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6  
 
1. Notifying Member : UNITED STATES OF AME RICA  
If applicable, name of local government involved  (Article 3.2 and 7.2) :   
2. Agency responsible:  Bureau of Safety a nd Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), 
Department of Interior [1225]  
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers , email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification  shall be in dicated if different from above : Please submit 
comments to: USA WTO TBT Enquiry Point, Email: usatbtep@nist.gov  
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [    ], 2.10.1 [    ], 5.6.2 [    ], 5.7.1 [    ], other: X 
4. Products c overed (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading. 
ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):  Oil and gas production 
systems . Petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons. (HS 2711) . Environmental 
protection (ICS 13. 020), Extraction and processing of  petroleum and natural gas 
(ICS 75.020), Equipment for petroleum and natural gas industries (ICS 75.180)  
5. Title, number of pages  and language(s)  of the notified document:  Oil and Gas and 
Sulfur Operations on the Outer C ontinental Shelf - Oil and Gas Production Safety Systems 
(107 pages, in English).     
6. Description of content:  The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) is 
amending and updating the regulations regarding oil and natural gas production sa fety on 
the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) by addressing issues such as: Safety and pollution 
prevention equipment design and maintenance, production safety systems, subsurface 
safety devices, and safety device testing. The rule differentiates the requireme nts for 
operating dry tree and subsea tree production systems and divides the current BSEE 
regulations regarding oil and gas production safety systems into multiple sections to make 
the regulations easier to read and understand. The changes in this rule ar e necessary to 
improve human safety, environmental protection, and regulatory oversight of critical 
equipment involving production safety systems.  
7. Objective and rationale , including the nature of urgent problems where applicable: 
Protection of Human h ealth or Safety ; Protection of the environment  
8. Relevant documents:  81 Federal Register (FR) 61833, 7 September 2016; Title 30 Code 
of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 250.  
Oil and Gas and Sulphur Operations on the Outer Continental Shelf --Oil and Gas 
Production Safety Systems proposed rule published 22 August 2013:  
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR -2013-08-22/html/2013 -19861.htm  
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR -2013-08-22/pdf/2013 -19861.pdf    G/TBT/N/USA/1205  
 
- 2 - 
 
  9. Proposed date of adoption: 7 November 2016   
Proposed date of entry into force: 7 November 2016    
10. Final date for comments:  None 
11. Texts available from : National enquiry point  [  ] or address, telephone and fax 
number s and e mail and website address es, if available , of other body:   
https://members .wto.org/crnattachments/2016/TBT/USA/16_4247_00_e.pdf