Gulf-Drilling Gets Green-Light.....

[Mr. Shaman]

.....from accountable-people!!!!!​

"The U.S. released environmental guidelines subjecting oil and natural-gas drilling in deep water to full environmental reviews while offering assurances that operations in shallow waters can proceed.

Blanket exemptions such as one granted to BP Plc before its Gulf of Mexico spill won’t be allowed for deep-water projects during a pending review of environmental requirements, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said today in a statement. Such categorical exclusions from the reviews required by law will be restricted to drilling projects that involve “limited environmental risk,” he said.

Following the spill, President Barack Obama announced a drilling moratorium in water deeper than 500 feet during a study into what went wrong. Confusion over the ban among regulators at the Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and industry effectively halted permits in shallow water as well, Noe said.

Noe said permitting staff at the bureau, which replaced the Minerals Management Service in a reorganization, asked themselves, “Will they lose their job, will they be scrutinized or questioned, if they allow the use of categorical exclusions?”

The guidelines announced today will allow regulators “to move forward with new permits” in shallow water, the Interior Department said in the statement."