Posted on August 26, 2013 by Jennifer A. Dlouhy
Oil and gas companies drilling in U.S. waters have a new regulator in the nation’s capital, as a Coast Guard veteran formally took the helm of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement on Monday.
Former Coast Guard Vice Admiral Brian Salerno was sworn in as bureau director at the Interior Department, making him the third person to head the agency during its brief three-year life.
Salerno is succeeding James Watson, who will take over as president of the Americas division of the maritime classification society ABS.
Watson is staying until the end of the month to ease Salerno’s transition, which comes as the agency is drafting new rules for offshore production systems and emergency equipment used to safeguard coastal drilling. The safety bureau last week unveiled a 149-page proposal to update decades-old standards for oil and gas production systems used offshore...
