Decommissioning Paperwork Renewal: Business as Usual
Published Date: 9/22/2026
Notice
Summary
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement wants to keep collecting info about decommissioning activities, which means safely shutting down oil and gas sites. This affects companies involved in these activities and asks for public feedback by October 22, 2026. There’s no new cost or big changes, just a renewal to keep things running smoothly.
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 3 costs, 1 mixed.
Listed application and decommissioning fees
The notice reports total annual non‑hour costs of $745,142 tied to decommissioning activities. It itemizes fees including a $4,684 fee charged 114 times (total $533,976), a $1,142 long-term decommission fee charged 88 times (total $100,496), and a $2,170 right‑of‑way decommissioning fee charged 51 times (total $110,670).
Mandatory decommissioning reporting continues
If you are a federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil, gas, or sulfur lessee/operator or a holder of a pipeline right-of-way, you must continue to submit decommissioning information under 30 CFR 250 Subpart Q. The renewal covers about 555 potential respondents and 984 annual responses, with each response taking between 1 and 47 hours to complete; submission is mandatory.
Estimated annual burden hours rose
BSEE increased the estimated annual burden hours for this information collection from 15,997 hours to 19,965 hours, an increase of 3,968 hours. That higher estimate reflects greater industry time needed for regulatory submissions and paperwork.
Data may affect financial assurance levels
BSEE will use collected decommissioning information to estimate future decommissioning costs for OCS leases, rights-of-way, and rights of use and easements. Those estimates may be used by BOEM to set financial assurance levels to minimize government abandonment liability.
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Key Dates
Department and Agencies
Related Federal Register Documents
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