Page 1 GAO-14-187R OCS Air Emissions

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January 9, 2014

Congressional Committees 

Air Emissions: Status of Regulatory Activities and Permitting on Alaska’s Outer 

Continental Shelf

Air emissions from certain oil and gas related operations on the outer continental shelf (OCS), 

such as from oil and gas exploration, development, and production, are subject to one of two 

different regulatory programs, depending on the location of the operation.1 Operations are 

regulated by either the Department of the Interior or the Environmental Protection Agency 

(EPA). According to a Congressional Research Service report,2 Interior and EPA’s regulatory 

programs have fundamental differences, in part because they stem from different statutory 

authorities. Interior’s authority is based on the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953, as 

amended,3 which has a goal of offshore energy development and also requires Interior to issue 

and amend as necessary regulations for compliance with certain national ambient air quality 

standards to the extent that offshore energy activities significantly affect the air quality of any 

state. EPA’s authority is based on the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990,4 which focus on air 

quality.5 Interior has jurisdiction over air emissions from operations on the OCS in the western 

Gulf of Mexico and most of the central Gulf. Additionally, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2012, amended the Clean Air Act to transfer regulatory authority for air emissions on the OCS 

off Alaska’s north coast, including the Chukchi and Beaufort seas, from EPA to Interior.6

 

1

The OCS refers to the submerged lands outside the territorial jurisdiction of the states, but within U.S. jurisdiction 

and control. The portion of the North American continental edge that is federally designated as the OCS generally 

begins 3 geographical miles off the coastline and extends seaward to at least 200 nautical miles.

Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is responsible for reviewing and 

approving plans for exploration, development, and production activities; this process includes 

projections of air emissions. EPA has regulatory authority for air emissions from similar sources 

in all other portions of the OCS. In addition to moving regulatory authority over air emissions 

from EPA to Interior for the OCS off Alaska’s north coast, the act also mandates GAO to report 

2

CRS, Controlling Air Emissions from Outer Continental Shelf Sources: A Comparison of Two Programs—EPA and 

DOI. R42123 (Washington, D. C.: Nov. 26, 2012).

3

Codified as amended at 43 U.S.C. §§ 1331-1356 (2013). 

4

Pub. L. No. 101-549, Title VIII, § 801, 104 Stat. 2685 (1990), codified as amended at 42 U.S.C. § 7627 (2013). 

5

For more information on EPA’s and Interior’s regulatory programs and statutory authorities, please see CRS, 

Offshore Oil and Gas Development: Legal Framework, RL33404 (Washington, D.C.: June 25, 2013).

6

Pub.L. No. 112-74, Title IV, § 432(b)-(d), 125 Stat. 1048-49 (2011). The specific area for which the act transferred 

regulatory authority to Interior is the area offshore of the North Slope Borough of the State of Alaska. Id., 42 U.S.C. § 

7627(a)(1), (b) (2013).
Page 2 GAO-14-187R OCS Air Emissions

to Congress on the processes for Interior and EPA permitting of OCS air emission activities in 

this area.7 This report discusses the status of such activities.8

To determine the status of Interior and EPA’s regulatory activities since the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2012, was passed on December 23, 2011, including any permitting, related 

to air emissions on the OCS north of Alaska, we reviewed laws, reports, and pertinent Interior 

and EPA documents. We chose the date the law passed to review the status of activities 

because this is also the date when regulatory authority generally changed from EPA to Interior. 

We also interviewed Interior and EPA officials. We conducted this performance audit from 

October 2013 to January 2014 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing 

standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, 

appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on 

our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our 

findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.

Results

Since the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 was passed on December 23, 2011, there has 

been limited activity subject to air emission regulations or permitting on the OCS off Alaska’s 

north coast, according to Interior and EPA officials. Before the act was passed, EPA had issued 

to Shell Gulf of Mexico Inc. and Shell Offshore, Inc., collectively, three air emission permits for 

drilling, exploratory drilling, and other activities on the OCS off Alaska’s north coast. According 

to an official in BOEM’s Office of Policy, Regulation, and Analysis, after the act passed, Shell 

conducted exploratory drilling on the OCS off Alaska’s north coast in 2012, but it did so under its 

existing air emission permits from EPA. Ancillary activities, such as geological and geotechnical 

surveys,9

Interior’s air quality regulations have not been substantively updated since 1988, and the 

department is developing a proposal to amend its current oil and gas air quality regulations. 

According to BOEM officials, the proposed rule under development will address not only the 

change in jurisdiction from EPA to Interior for the OCS off Alaska’s north coast, but also update 

the regulations to reflect changes in pollution standards, modeling, and technology. For 

example, Interior officials said the proposed rule will incorporate by reference current EPAdefined national ambient air quality standards and certain modeling criteria. Interior officials said 

that the department is still developing the proposed rule changes, including defining the issues 

have also been conducted, but do not require a permit or authorization for air 

emissions, according to Interior officials. On November 6, 2013, Shell requested that its EPA 

permits be terminated. On the same day, Shell filed an exploration plan with Interior for the 2014 

open water season in the Chukchi Sea; Interior officials were reviewing Shell’s plan at the time 

this report was issued. According to Interior officials, this is the first proposed project to which 

BOEM’s current regulations are expected to be applied to the OCS off Alaska’s north coast 

since the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 passed. 

 

7

Pub.L. No. 112-74, Title IV, § 432(e), 125 Stat. 1049 (2011). 

8

Although the act's language requires GAO to compare "air quality permitting" of OCS sources by EPA (past) and 

Interior (current and future), only EPA issues air quality permits. Interior regulates air quality of OCS sources as part 

of its leasing process, but it does not issue specific air quality permits. Thus, in order to respond as closely as 

possible to the act’s mandate, we treated Interior's air quality regulatory process as the point of comparison with 

EPA’s permitting process. 

9

Geological and geotechnical surveys are conducted using sonar and other instruments to characterize the seafloor 

sediments before drilling is conducted. 
Page 3 GAO-14-187R OCS Air Emissions

that will be addressed in this or future rulemakings, as well as the expected time frames for 

completion. 

Agency Comments

We provided Interior and EPA a draft of this report for review and comment. Both Interior and 

EPA responded on December 18, 2013, via e-mail and provided technical comments that we 

incorporated as appropriate.

- - - - - 

We are sending copies of this report to the appropriate congressional committees, the Secretary 

of the Interior, Administrator of EPA, and other interested parties. In addition, this report is 

available at no charge on the GAO website at http://www.gao.gov. 

If you or your staff members have any questions concerning this report, please contact me at 

(202) 512-3841 or gomezj@gao.gov. Contact points for our Offices of Congressional Relations 

and Public Affairs may be found on the last page of this report. Key contributors to this report 

were Janet Frisch (Assistant Director), Elizabeth Beardsley, and Wyatt R. Hundrup.

J. Alfredo Gómez

Director, Natural Resources and Environment
Page 4 GAO-14-187R OCS Air Emissions

List of Committees

The Honorable Jack Reed

Chairman

The Honorable Lisa Murkowski

Ranking Member

Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies 

Committee on Appropriations 

United States Senate

The Honorable Al Franken 

Chairman

The Honorable James E. Risch

Ranking Member

Subcommittee on Energy 

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

United States Senate

The Honorable Ken Calvert

Chairman

The Honorable Jim Moran

Ranking Member

Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies 

Committee on Appropriations

House of Representatives

The Honorable Ed Whitfield

Chairman

The Honorable Bobby L. Rush

Ranking Member

Subcommittee on Energy and Power 

Committee on Energy and Commerce

House of Representatives

(361536)
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