Offshore Energy – Environmental and Energy Law Program

Regulatory Tracker

BSEE Blowout Preventer and Well Control Rule

Following the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill, DOI altered its regulatory scheme and consolidated blowout prevention and well control requirements in the Well Control Rule. The Trump administration is now proposing to roll back portions of the rule.

February 22, 2026

Regulatory Tracker

Federal Offshore Wind Deployment

President Trump issued a memorandum withdrawing areas for wind energy leasing and ordering agency heads not to issue approvals for wind projects; a court vacated agencies’ implementation of that order in Dec. 2025. Also in Dec. 2025, DOI paused leases for five large-scale offshore wind projects.

February 17, 2026

Regulatory Tracker

Federal Offshore Oil and Gas Leasing Program

The Department of the Interior proposed a new 5-year program for offshore oil and gas lease sales that will cover 1.3 billion acres. The administration also rolled out a schedule for additional offshore oil and gas lease sales to implement provisions in the OBBBA.

February 5, 2026

Regulatory Tracker

Deep Sea Mining

Following the April 2025 executive order Unleashing America’s Offshore Critical Minerals and Resources, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have taken steps to facilitate commercial deep sea critical minerals mining.

January 29, 2026

CleanLaw Podcast

CleanLaw—Proposed Offshore Drilling Safety Rules

HLS graduate Lowry Yankwich speaks with Earthjustice attorney Chris Eaton about the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement’s proposed Blowout Preventer Systems and Well Control Revisions rule for oil and gas operations in the Outer Continental Shelf.

January 30, 2023

Legal Analysis

The IRA Offshore Energy Leasing Provisions’ Potential Impacts

August 25, 2022

CleanLaw Podcast

CleanLaw: The South Fork Wind Project with Lowry Yankwich and Doug Christel

January 5, 2022

The Implications of BOEM’s Decision on the South Fork Wind Farm

Download this paper (PDF) The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is currently reviewing the construction and operations plan (COP) for the South Fork Wind Farm and South Fork Export […]

November 16, 2021

Legal Analysis

The Problems and Opportunities of Offshore Wind: Recommendations for Collaborative Governance

Offshore wind farms are coming to the US. After decades of NIMBYism and a lethargic regulatory process, there are now two pilot projects in US waters and commercial-scale development on […]

March 31, 2021