U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

1 

89–012 2010

111th Congress, 2d Session – – – – – – – – – – – – House Document 111–144 

REQUESTS FOR FY 2011 BUDGET AMENDMENTS 

COMMUNICATION 

FROM

THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 

TRANSMITTING

A REQUEST FOR BUDGET AMENDMENTS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2011 

PROPOSALS IN THE FISCAL YEAR 2011 BUDGET FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

SEPTEMBER 22, 2010.—Referred to the Committee on Appropriations and 

ordered to be printed 


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THE WHITE HOUSE, 

Washington, September 13, 2010. 

Hon. NANCY PELOSI, 

Speaker of the House of Representatives, 

Washington, DC. 

DEAR MADAM SPEAKER: I ask the Congress to consider the enclosed Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 Budget amendments for the Department of the Interior. Overall, the discretionary budget authority 

proposed in my FY 2011 Budget would not be increased by these 

requests. 

These amendments are necessary to strengthen oversight of offshore oil and gas operations, address deficiencies in mineral revenue collection, and facilitate the reorganization of the Bureau of 

Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement—formerly known as the Minerals Management Service. 

The details of these requests are set forth in the enclosed letter 

from the Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget. 

Sincerely, 

BARACK OBAMA. 

Enclosure. 


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Estimate No. 11, 111th Congress, 2d Sess. 

EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, 

OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET, 

Washington, DC, September 13, 2010. 

The PRESIDENT, The White House. 

Submitted for your consideration are amendments to your Fiscal 

Year (FY) 2011 Budget for the Department of the Interior. 

The amendments would support efforts to: Strengthen oversight 

of offshore oil and gas operations to address safety and environmental concerns highlighted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 

the Gulf of Mexico; address deficiencies in Federal mineral revenue 

collections; and facilitate the reorganization of the Bureau of Ocean 

Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE) 

within the Department of the Interior. 

The revised request would be fully offset by increasing inspection 

fees on offshore oil and gas operations, cancelling prior-year balances not needed for the BOEMRE Outer Continental Shelf Connect project, and prohibiting the expenditure of mandatory spending authorized in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 for oil and gas research and development. 

Overall, the discretionary budget authority proposed in FY 2011 

would not be increased by these requests. 

Recommendation 

I have reviewed these requests and am satisfied that they are 

necessary at this time. Therefore, I join the Secretary of the Interior in recommending that you transmit the proposals to the Congress. 

Sincerely, 

JEFFREY D. ZIENTS, 

Acting Director. 

Enclosures. 


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE

ROYALTY AND OFFSHORE MINERALS MANAGEMENT

FY 2011 Budget Appendix Page: 657 

FY 2011 Pending Request: $183,587,000 

Proposed Amendment: $66,380,000 

Revised Request: $249,967,000 

(In the appropriations language under the above Agency, delete 

the bureau title ‘‘Minerals Management Service’’ and substitute 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement; in the first paragraph, delete ‘‘$183,587,000’’ and substitute 

$249,967,000; delete ‘‘$100,404,000’’ and substitute $118,504,000; 

and delete ‘‘Director of MMS’’ and substitute Director of the Bureau 

of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement; and in 

the second paragraph, delete ‘‘$20,000,000’’ in both places it appears and substitute $45,000,000.) 

This amendment would increase by $66 million the budget authority requested in the FY 2011 Budget. These funds would be 

used to facilitate the reorganization of the Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE), formerly 

the Minerals Management Service, into the following three entities: 

Office of Natural Resources Revenue; Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management; and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. The new organizational structure is based on the premise 

that the missions within BOEMRE—including Outer Continental 

Shelf management, safety and environmental oversight and enforcement, and revenue collection—need to be clearly defined and 

distinct from each other. 

The majority of the additional resources would be used to 

strengthen core programs within BOEMRE to address safety and 

environmental concerns highlighted by the Deepwater Horizon oil 

spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The additional resources would also be 

used to address known deficiencies in Federal mineral revenue collection activities, including those raised in a recent Government 

Accountability Office review, and establish an investigation and review unit within the agency. 

In addition to the $66 million increase in budget authority, the 

amendment would provide access to an additional $25 million in 

revenue. In conjunction with an accompanying amendment to general provision section 109, this additional revenue would be derived 

by more than doubling the offshore oil and gas operation inspection 

fees collected in FY 2011 (from $20 million to $45 million). As a 

result, BOEMRE would have available an additional $91 million in 

total resources in FY 2011 for the efforts described above. 


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

BUREAU OF OCEAN ENERGY MANAGEMENT, REGULATION, AND

ENFORCEMENT

OIL SPILL RESEARCH

FY 2011 Budget Appendix Page: 662 

FY 2011 Pending Request: $6,303,000 

Proposed Amendment: $8,620,000 

Revised Request: $14,923,000 

(In the appropriations language under the above heading, delete 

‘‘$6,303,000’’ and substitute $14,923,000.) 

This amendment would be used to address key research gaps 

brought to light by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of 

Mexico and the associated spill containment and response efforts. 

Deep oil and gas spill containment capabilities need to be improved, along with the understanding of how best to respond to 

deep oil and gas spills. This research will be coordinated with other 

Federal agencies and non-Federal partners. 

This amendment would increase the budget authority requested 

in the FY 2011 Budget by $9 million, which would be fully offset 

by proposed reductions to other accounts within the Department of 

the Interior, as described in the accompanying amendments. 


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

GENERAL PROVISIONS

FY 2011 Budget Appendix Page: 729 

FY 2011 Pending Request: — 

Proposed Amendment: Language 

Revised Request: — 

(In the appropriations language under the above heading, in section 109, in subsection (a), delete ‘‘Minerals Management Service 

(MMS)’’ and substitute Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE), and delete the second reference to ‘‘MMS’’ and substitute BOEMRE; in subsection (b), delete 

‘‘$4,000’’ and substitute $9,000, delete ‘‘$6,500’’ and substitute 

$14,625, and delete ‘‘$12,000’’ and substitute $27,000; and in subsection (c), delete ‘‘MMS’’ and substitute BOEMRE.) 

This amendment, in conjunction with the amendment to the Royalty and Offshore Minerals Management account, would increase 

collections of offshore oil and gas operation inspection fees by $25 

million, which would be available to the Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management, Regulation, and Enforcement. This would offset the 

$25 million in increased spending in the Royalty and Offshore Minerals Management account, as described in an accompanying 

amendment. 


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

GENERAL PROVISIONS

FY 2011 Budget Appendix Page: 731 

FY 2011 Pending Request: — 

Proposed Amendment: Language 

Revised Request: — 

(In the appropriations language under the above heading, insert 

the following three new sections immediately following section 

113:) 

Sec. 114. The Secretary of the Interior, after consultation with the 

relevant congressional committees, may implement a reorganization 

of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement and, as part of the reorganization, may make transfers 

pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 1531 and take other necessary administrative 

actions. 

This amendment would allow the creation of new accounts and 

the transfer of funds among accounts during the reorganization of 

the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE), which is scheduled to begin on October 1, 

2010. It would provide the flexibility required by the Department 

of the Interior (DOI) to move funds among various accounts and 

programs including balances as the reorganization progresses. 

Sec. 115. Of the prior year unobligated balances available in the 

Royalty and Offshore Minerals Management Account, $25,000,000 

are hereby permanently cancelled. 

This amendment would permanently cancel $25 million in unobligated balances, which would partially offset the proposed increase 

in funding for the reorganization of BOEMRE, as described in an 

accompanying amendment. 

Sec. 116. None of the funds in this or any other Act shall be used 

to deposit funds from any Federal royalties, rents, and bonuses derived from Federal onshore and offshore oil and gas leases issued 

under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et 

seq.) and the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) into the 

Ultra-Deepwater and Unconventional Natural Gas and Other Petroleum Research Fund in Fiscal Year 2011. 

This amendment would prohibit DOI from transferring $50 million in FY 2011 oil and gas receipts to an oil and gas research and 

development program that promotes fossil fuel production. This 

transfer, as directed by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, provides 

mandatory spending for the Ultra-Deepwater and Unconventional 

Natural Gas and Other Petroleum Research program. The oil and 

gas industry has the incentive and resources to undertake this 

work without this Federal subsidy. Instead, both the industry and 

the public would be better served by reallocating these funds to 

strengthen the core programs of BOEMRE that regulate and facilitate offshore energy development. 

This amendment would offset by $50 million proposed increases 

to other accounts within DOI, as described in the accompanying 

amendments. 

Æ 


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