With news about President Trump’s budget emphasizing deep cuts across multiple agencies, there remains one area related to coastal and offshore industries where the budget proposes slight increases: the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).
The President has proposed a $204.9 million Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 budget for BSEE, a $600,000 increase above the FY 2017 continuing resolution level. It includes $112.0 million in current appropriations and $92.9 million in revenue from rental receipts, cost recoveries, and inspection fees. The proposed budget increases are aligned with goals outlined in the President’s recent speech touting an increased emphasis on American offshore drilling.
The proposed 2018 budget provides for the continued training and retention of expert engineers, scientists, inspectors, and oil spill planning, prevention, and response specialists and other disciplines. Requests includes a $1.2 million increase for training, including expansion of staff development efforts for BSEE's field inspectors and engineers.
The budget request for BSEE also includes $12.7 million for oil spill research to address knowledge and technology gaps in oil spill response, with a focus on deepwater and Arctic environments.