The NewsRoom
Release: #3238
Date: February 17, 2005

MMS Incorporates New Document into Regulations

The U. S. Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service has issued a final regulation that incorporates a new American Petroleum Institute document into existing MMS regulations governing oil and gas and sulphur operations in the Outer Continental Shelf.

The rule incorporates, by reference, into MMS regulations the provisions of the Eighth Edition of API 510 ‘‘Pressure Vessel Inspection Code: Maintenance Inspection, Rating, Repair, and Alteration.’’ MMS believes incorporating the document into its regulations will ensure lessees use the best available and safest technologies while maintaining, repairing and altering pressure vessels in the OCS. The final rule is effective March 16, 2005.

MMS uses standards, specifications, and recommended practices developed by standard-setting organizations, such as API, and the oil and gas industry for establishing requirements for activities on the OCS.

MMS, part of the U.S. Department of the Interior, oversees 1.76 billion acres of the Outer Continental Shelf, managing offshore energy and minerals while protecting the human, marine, and coastal environments through advanced science and technology research. The OCS provides 30 percent of oil and 23 percent of natural gas produced domestically, and sand used for coastal restoration. MMS collects, accounts for, and disburses mineral revenues from Federal and American Indian lands, with fiscal year 2004 disbursements of around $8 billion and more than $143 billion since 1982. The Land and Water Conservation Fund, which pays for acquisition of state and federal park and recreation land, gets nearly $1 billion a year.

Relevant Web Sites:
   MMS Main Website

Media Contacts:
   Nicolette Nye
   (703) 737-1011

MMS: Securing Ocean Energy & Economic Value for America
U.S. Department of the Interior
 

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