The Coast Guard is responsible for protecting the marine environment, promoting the safety of life and property, and ensuring security on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Based on authorities provided under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), the Coast Guard regulates facilities, MODUs, and vessels engaged in or supporting OCS activities. The tragic loss of life and environmental disaster resulting from the Macondo incident in April 2010 focused significant attention on the U.S. OCS, where industry employs tens of thousands of U.S. mariners and offshore workers on over 4,100 U.S. and foreign flagged facilities and vessels engaged in oil and gas exploration and production activities.rnThough the Macondo incident was not initiated by failures within areas of Coast Guard jurisdiction and the Coast Guard-regulated safety systems generally performed well under the extreme conditions, the Coast Guard is reviewing its regulatory construct and seeking "lessons learned" from this tragic incident. A contemporary and effective regulatory regime needs to be maintained and consistently applied to all vessels and facilities engaged in operations on the U.S. OCS.rnThis paper discusses the Coast Guard's regulatory approach for effectively mitigating the risk to people, property, and the environment on the U.S. continental shelf. It includes recent work to keep pace with the rapidly evolving technology employed on the OCS and efforts to ensure contemporary and sensible safety standards are promulgated and enforced.
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