Oil Spill Response and Research (OSRR) Program

Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) is the principal United States federal agency that through the Oil Spill Response Research (OSRR) Program, funds oil spill response research. For more than 25 years, the Bureau has maintained a comprehensive, long-term research program to improve oil spill response technologies. The major focus of the program is to improve the knowledge and technologies used for the detection, containment and cleanup of oil spills that may occur on the U. S. Outer Continental Shelf.

The OSRR program is responsive to the information and technological needs of the Bureau’s regional and district offices and to specific requirements and limitations in the BSEE authority. Information derived from the OSRR program is directly integrated into BSEE’s offshore operations and is used to make regulatory decisions pertaining to permitting and approving plans, safety and pollution inspections, enforcement actions, and training requirements. Conducting an effective OSRR program means that the best available response technologies are identified, developed and made available to combat any spills that may occur. Response technologies identified by the OSRR program focus on preventing offshore operational spills reaching sensitive coastal environments and habitats.

The BSEE OSRR program is an openly-cooperative effort bringing together funding and expertise from research partners in government agencies, industry, and the international community for the sole purpose of participating in research and development (R&D) projects. Many of these projects are Joint Industry Projects, where the Bureau partners with other stakeholders to maximize research dollars. The Bureau has cooperated in the exchange of technological information with Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Norway and the United Kingdom through informal contacts, workshops, and technical meetings such as the International Oil Spill Conference. Most procurements of R&D projects are competitive. Requests for White Papers and proposals are prepared by the BSEE OSRR program staff and published in a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) that is published in FedBizOps. Contractors are selected by the Bureau based on responsiveness to BSEE requirements, technical quality, and estimated costs of the proposed work.

The BSEE disseminates the results of R&D projects as widely as possible in publications through appropriate scientific and technical journals, technical reports, and public information documents. The intent is to make this information widely available to oil spill response personnel and organizations world wide.

Funding for the OSRR program and operation of Ohmsett – The National Oil Spill Response Test Facility are appropriated from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund (OSLTF). The OSLTF received funds from a $0.05 tax on each barrel of oil produced or imported into or out of the United States. This tax was suspended when the fund reached $1 billion dollars. Currently funds for the OSLTF are derived from interest on the fund, cost recovery from responsible parties, and penalties. The tax can be re-implemented if the fund falls below the billion dollar level. As intended by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, potential polluters, companies that produce and transport oil are supporting research to improve oil spill response capabilities.

The current OSRR projects cover a wide spectrum of oil spill response issues and include laboratory, meso-scale and full-scale field experiments. Major topic areas include:

	Remote sensing and detection
	Physical and chemical properties of crude oil
	Mechanical containment and recovery
	Chemical treating agents and dispersants
	In situ burning
	Deepwater operations
	Operation of Ohmsett – The National Oil Spill Response Test Facility

The link below will take you to a table that contains a master list of all BSEE funded OSRR projects.

For more information on BSEE Oil Spill Response Research (OSRR) Program, contact Hung Nguyen