Under contract to the Office of Leasing Policy Development (LPDO), Jack Faucett Associates is currently undertaking the description and analysis of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) regulatory process to determine the nature of time delays that affect OCS production of oil and gas. This report represents the results of the first phase of research under this contract, the description and analysis of regulatory activity associated with exploration activities on the Federal OCS. Volume 1 contains the following three sections: (1) study results; (2) Federal regulatory activities during exploration of Federal OCS leases which involved the US Geological Survey, Environmental Protection Agency, US Coast Guard, Corps of Engineers, and National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration; and (3) state regulatory activities during exploration of Federal OCS leases of Alaska, California, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina and Texas. Volume II contains appendices of US Geological Survey, Environmental Protection Agency, Coast Guard, Corps of Engineers, the Coastal Zone Management Act, and Alaska. The major causes of delay in the regulatory process governing exploration was summarized in four broad categories: (1) the long and tedious process associated with the Environmental Protection Agency's implementation of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit; (2) thelack of mandated time periods for the completion of individual activities in the permitting process; (3) the lack of overall coordination of OCS exploratory regulation; and (4) the inexperience of states, the Federal government and industry relating to the appropriate level of regulation for first-time lease sale areas.
