On March 9, 2026, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issued a proposed rule updating the risk management and financial assurance framework governing Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) lease and grant obligations. This proposed rule seeks to provide regulatory relief from requirements that the Office of Advocacy (Advocacy) warned in 2023 would create unnecessary harm primarily to affected small businesses.
On May 14, 2026, Advocacy submitted public comments to BOEM on the proposed rule. Advocacy strongly supports the proposed rule and commends BOEM for its efforts to provide regulatory relief. The proposed changes include explicitly recognizing the financial strength of predecessor lessees, recalibrating the creditworthiness to BB-, and utilizing a more balanced decommissioning cost estimate. These strike an appropriate balance between protecting the public and unburdening small businesses.
BOEM’s proposed rule directly addresses small business concerns by eliminating duplicative bonding requirements and avoiding excessively high liability estimates. BOEM estimates that these changes will result in an approximate 90 percent burden reduction for small businesses, reducing obligations by more than $6 billion and saving small entities an estimated $498 million per year in insurance premiums.
Access our Regulatory Alerts to view and submit comments on important proposed regulations.