 | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | October 1, 2011 |
| Preceding agency | |
| Headquarters | Main Interior Building Washington, D.C. |
| Employees | N/A |
| Annual budget | N/A |
| Agency executive |
|
| Parent agency | Department of the Interior |
| Website | www.boem.gov |
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior, established in 2010 by Secretarial Order.
On May 19, 2010, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar signed a Secretarial Order dividing the Minerals Management Service (MMS) into three independent entities: BOEM, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, and the Office of Natural Resources Revenue. [1] The most important legislation for BOEM is the Outer continental shelf (OCS) Lands Act to facilitate the federal government’s leasing of its offshore mineral resources and energy resources.
In addition to the OCS Lands Act, the Submerged Lands Act (SLA) of 1953 grants individual states rights to the natural resources of submerged lands from the coastline to no more than 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) into the Atlantic, Pacific, the Arctic Oceans, and the Gulf of Mexico. The only exceptions are Texas and the west coast of Florida, where state jurisdiction extends from the coastline to no more than 3 marine leagues (16.2 km) into the Gulf of Mexico.